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Yesterday [12 Nov], at the Shoreditch Town Hall, Dr. Macdonald, M.P., the coroner for the North- Eastern District of Middlesex, opened his inquiry relative to the death of Marie Jeanette Kelly, the woman whose body was discovered on Friday morning, terribly mutilated, in a room on the ground floor of 26, Dorset-street, entrance to which was by a side door in Miller's-court. Superintendent T. Arnold, H Division; Inspector Abberline, of the Criminal Investigation Department, and Inspector Nairn represented the police. The deputy coroner, Mr. Hodgkinson, was present during the proceedings. The Coroner (to the juror, severely): Do you think that we do not know what we are doing here, and that we do not know our own district? The jury are summoned in the ordinary way, and they have no business to object. If they persist in their objection I shall know how to deal with them. Does any juror persist in objecting ? The Juror: We are summoned for the Shoreditch district. This affair happened in Spitalfields. The Coroner: It happened within my district. The jury having made no further objection, they were duly sworn, and were conducted by Inspector Abberline to view the body, which, decently coffined, was at the mortuary adjoining Shoreditch Church, and subsequently the jury inspected the room, in Miller's-court, Dorset- street, where the murder was committed. The apartment, a plan of which was given in yesterday's Daily Telegraph, is poorly furnished, and uncarpeted. The position of the two tables was not altered. One of them was placed near the bed, behind the door, and the other next to the largest of the two windows which look upon the yard in which the dustbin and water-tap are situated. Joseph Barnett deposed : I was a fish-porter, and I work as a labourer and fruit- porter. Until Saturday last I lived at 24, New-street, Bishopsgate, and have since stayed at my sister's, 21, Portpool-lane, Gray's Inn-road. I have lived with the deceased one year and eight months. Her name was Marie Jeanette Kelly with the French spelling as described to me. Kelly was her maiden name. I have seen the body, and I identify it by the ear and eyes, which are all that I can recognise; but I am positive it is the same woman I knew. I lived with her in No. 13 room, at Miller's-court for eight months. I separated from her on Oct. 30. [Coroner] Why did you leave her ? - Because she had a woman of bad character there, whom she took in out of compassion, and I objected to it. That was the only reason. I left her on the Tuesday between five and six p.m. I last saw her alive between half-past seven and a quarter to eight on Thursday night last, when I called upon her. I stayed there for a quarter of an hour. [Coroner] Were you on good terms ? - Yes, on friendly terms; but when we parted I told her I had no work, and had nothing to give her, for which I was very sorry. [Coroner] Did you drink together ? - No, sir. She was quite sober. [Coroner] Was she, generally speaking, of sober habits ? - When she was with me I found her of sober habits, but she has been drunk several times in my presence. [Coroner] Was there any one else there on the Thursday evening ? - Yes, a woman who lives in the court. She left first, and I followed shortly afterwards. [Coroner] Have you had conversation with deceased about her parents ? - Yes, frequently. She said she was born in Limerick, and went when very young to Wales. She did not say how long she lived there, but that she came to London about four years ago. Her father's name was John Kelly, a "gaffer" or foreman in an iron works in Carnarvonshire, or Carmarthen. She said she had one sister, who was respectable, who travelled from market place to market place. This sister was very fond of her. There were six brothers living in London, and one was in the army. One of them was named Henry. I never saw the brothers to my knowledge. She said she was married when very young in Wales to a collier. I think the name was Davis or Davies. She said she had lived with him until he was killed in an explosion, but I cannot say how many years since that was. Her age was, I believe, 16 when she married. After her husband's death deceased went to Cardiff to a cousin. [Coroner] Did she live there long ? - Yes, she was in an infirmary there for eight or nine months. She was following a bad life with her cousin, who, as I reckon, and as I often told her, was the cause of her downfall. [Coroner] After she left Cardiff did she come direct to London ? - Yes. She was in a gay house in the West-end, but in what part she did not say. A gentleman came there to her and asked her if she would like to go to France. [Coroner] Did she go to France ? - Yes; but she did not remain long. She said she did not like the part, but whether it was the part or purpose I cannot say. She was not there more than a fortnight, and she returned to England, and went to Ratcliffe-highway. She must have lived there for some time. Afterwards she lived with a man opposite the Commercial Gas Works, Stepney. The man's name was Morganstone. [Coroner] Have you seen that man ? - Never. I don't know how long she lived with him. [Coroner] Was Morganstone the last man she lived with ? - I cannot answer that question, but she described a man named Joseph Fleming, who came to Pennington-street, a bad house, where she stayed. I don't know when this was. She was very fond of him. He was a mason's plasterer, and lodged in the Bethnal-green-road. [Coroner] Was that all you knew of her history when you lived with her? - Yes. After she lived with Morganstone or Fleming - I don't know which one was the last - she lived with me. [Coroner] Where did you pick up with her first ? - In Commercial-street. We then had a drink together, and I made arrangements to see her on the following day - a Saturday. On that day we both of us agreed that we should remain together. I took lodgings in George-street, Commercial-street, where I was known. I lived with her, until I left her, on very friendly terms. [Coroner] Did she express fear of any particular individual ? - No, sir. Our own quarrels were very soon over. Thomas Bowyer stated: I live at 37, Dorset-street, and am employed by Mr. McCarthy. I serve in his chandler's shop, 27, Dorset-street. At a quarter to eleven a.m., on Friday morning, I was ordered by McCarthy to go to Mary Jane's room, No. 13. I did not know the deceased by the name of Kelly. I went for rent, which was in arrears. Knocking at the door, I got no answer, and I knocked again and again. Receiving no reply, I passed round the corner by the gutter spout where there is a broken window - it is the smallest window. Charles Ledger, an inspector of police, G Division, produced a plan of the premises. Bowyer pointed out the window, which was the one nearest the entrance. He [Bowyer] continued: There was a curtain. I put my hand through the broken pane and lifted the curtain. I saw two pieces of flesh lying on the table. [Coroner] Where was this table ? - In front of the bed, close to it. The second time I looked I saw a body on this bed, and blood on the floor. I at once went very quietly to Mr. McCarthy. We then stood in the shop, and I told him what I had seen. We both went to the police-station, but first of all we went to the window, and McCarthy looked in to satisfy himself. We told the inspector at the police-station of what we had seen. Nobody else knew of the matter. The inspector returned with us. [Coroner] Did you see the deceased constantly ? - I have often seen her. I knew the last witness, Barnett. I have seen the deceased drunk once. John McCarthy, grocer and lodging-house keeper, testified: I live at 27, Dorset- street. On Friday morning, about a quarter to eleven, I sent my man Bowyer to Room 13 to call for rent. He came back in five minutes, saying, "Guv'nor, I knocked at the door, and could not make any one answer; I looked through the window and saw a lot of blood." I accompanied him, and looked through the window myself, saw the blood and the woman. For a moment I could not say anything, and I then said: "You had better fetch the police." I knew the deceased as Mary Jane Kelly, and had no doubt at all about her identity. I followed Bowyer to Commercial-street Police-station, where I saw Inspector Beck. I inquired at first for Inspector Reid. Inspector Beck returned with me at once. [Coroner] How long had the deceased lived in the room ? - Ten months. She lived with Barnett. I did not know whether they were married or not; they lived comfortably together, but they had a row when the window was broken. The bedstead, bed-clothes, table, and every article of furniture belonged to me. [Coroner] What rent was paid for this room ? - It was supposed to be 4s 6d a week. Deceased was in arrears 29s. I was to be paid the rent weekly. Arrears are got as best you can. I frequently saw the deceased the worse for drink. When sober she was an exceptionally quiet woman, but when in drink she had more to say. She was able to walk about, and was not helpless. [Coroner] Where was this ? - In Dorset-street. She went up the court, a few steps in front of me. [Coroner] Was anybody with her ? - A short, stout man, shabbily dressed. He had on a longish coat, very shabby, and carried a pot of ale in his hand. [Coroner] What was the colour of the coat ? - A dark coat. [Coroner] What hat had he ? - A round hard billycock. [Coroner] Long or short hair ? - I did not notice. He had a blotchy face, and full carrotty moustache. [Coroner] The chin was shaven ? - Yes. A lamp faced the door. [Coroner] Did you see them go into her room ? - Yes; I said "Good night, Mary," and she turned round and banged the door. [Coroner] Had he anything in his hands but the can ? - No. [Coroner] Did she say anything ? - She said "Good night, I am going to have a song." As I went in she sang "A violet I plucked from my mother's grave when a boy." I remained a quarter of an hour in my room and went out. Deceased was still singing at one o'clock when I returned. I remained in the room for a minute to warm my hands as it was raining, and went out again. She was singing still, and I returned to my room at three o'clock. The light was then out and there was no noise. [Coroner] Did you go to sleep ? - No; I was upset. I did not undress at all. I did not sleep at all. I must have heard what went on in the court. I heard no noise or cry of "Murder," but men went out to work in the market. [Coroner] How many men live in the court who work in Spitalfields Market ? - One. At a quarter- past six I heard a man go down the court. That was too late for the market. [Coroner] From what house did he go ? - I don't know. [Coroner] Did you hear the door bang after him ? - No. [Coroner] Then he must have walked up the court and back again? - Yes. [Coroner] It might have been a policeman ? - It might have been. [Coroner] What would you take the stout man's age to be ? - Six-and-thirty. [Coroner] Did you notice the colour of his trousers ? - All his clothes were dark. [Coroner] Did his boots sound as if the heels were heavy ? - There was no sound as he went up the court. [Coroner] Then you think that his boots were down at heels ? - He made no noise. [Coroner] What clothes had Mary Jane on ? - She had no hat; a red pelerine and a shabby skirt. [Coroner] You say she was drunk ? - I did not notice she was drunk until she said good night. The man closed the door. By the Jury: There was a light in the window, but I saw nothing, as the blinds were down. I should know the man again, if I saw him. [Coroner] Do you often hear cries of "Murder?" - It is nothing unusual in the street. I did not take particular notice. [Coroner] Did you hear it a second time? - No. [Coroner] Did you hear beds or tables being pulled about? - None whatever. I went asleep, and was awake again at five a.m. I passed down the stairs, and saw some men harnessing horses. At a quarter to six I was in the Ten Bells. [Coroner] Could the witness, Mary Ann Cox, have come down the entry between one and half-past one o'clock without your knowledge ? - Yes, she could have done so. [Coroner] Did you see any strangers at the Ten Bells ? - No. I went back to bed and slept until eleven. [Coroner] You heard no singing downstairs ? - None whatever. I should have heard the singing distinctly. It was quite quiet at half-past one o'clock. Caroline Maxewell, 14, Dorset-street, said: My husband is a lodging-house deputy. I knew the deceased for about four months. I believe she was an unfortunate. On two occasions I spoke to her. [Coroner] Did you speak to her ? - Yes; it was an unusual thing to see her up. She was a young woman who never associated with any one. I spoke across the street, "What, Mary, brings you up so early ?" She said, "Oh, Carrie, I do feel so bad." [Coroner] And yet you say you had only spoken to her twice previously; you knew her name and she knew yours ? - Oh, yes; by being about in the lodging-house. [Coroner] What did she say ? - She said, "I've had a glass of beer, and I've brought it up again"; and it was in the road. I imagined she had been in the Britannia beer-shop at the corner of the street. I left her, saying that I could pity her feelings. I went to Bishopsgate-street to get my husband's breakfast. Returning I saw her outside the Britannia public-house, talking to a man. [Coroner] This would be about what time ? - Between eight and nine o'clock. I was absent about half-an-hour. It was about a quarter to nine. [Coroner] What description can you give of this man ? - I could not give you any, as they were at some distance. [Coroner] What sort of dress had the deceased ? - A dark skirt, a velvet body, a maroon shawl, and no hat. [Coroner] Have you ever seen her the worse for drink ? - I have seen her in drink, but she was not a notorious character. Sarah Lewis deposed: I live at 24, Great Pearl-street, and am a laundress. I know Mrs. Keyler, in Miller's-court, and went to her house at 2, Miller's-court, at 2.30a.m. on Friday. It is the first house. I noticed the time by the Spitalfields' Church clock. When I went into the court, opposite the lodging-house I saw a man with a wideawake. There was no one talking to him. He was a stout-looking man, and not very tall. The hat was black. I did not take any notice of his clothes. The man was looking up the court; he seemed to be waiting or looking for some one. Further on there was a man and woman - the later being in drink. There was nobody in the court. I dozed in a chair at Mrs. Keyler's, and woke at about half- past three. I heard the clock strike. [Coroner] What woke you up ? - I could not sleep. I sat awake until nearly four, when I heard a female's voice shouting "Murder" loudly. It seemed like the voice of a young woman. It sounded at our door. There was only one scream. [Coroner] Were you afraid ? Did you wake anybody up ? - No, I took no notice, as I only heard the one scream. [Coroner] You stayed at Keyler's house until what time ? - Half-past five p.m. on Friday. The police would not let us out of the court. [Coroner] Have you seen any suspicious persons in the district ? - On Wednesday night I was going along the Bethnal-green-road, with a woman, about eight o'clock, when a gentleman passed us. He followed us and spoke to us, and wanted us to follow him into an entry. He had a shiny leather bag with him. [Coroner] Did he want both of you ? - No; only one. I refused. He went away and came back again, saying he would treat us. He put down his bag and picked it up again, saying, "What are you frightened about ? Do you think I've got anything in the bag ?" We then ran away, as we were frightened. [Coroner] Was he a tall man ? - He was short, pale-faced, with a black moustache, rather small. His age was about forty. [Coroner] Was it a large bag ? - No, about 6in to 9in long. His hat was a high round hat. He had a brownish overcoat, with a black short coat underneath. His trousers were a dark pepper-and- salt. [Coroner] After he left you what did you do ? - We ran away. [Coroner] Have you seen him since ? - On Friday morning, about half-past two a.m., when I was going to Miller's-court, I met the same man with a woman in Commercial-street, near Mr. Ringer's public-house (the Britannia). He had no overcoat on. [Coroner] Had he the black bag ? - Yes. [Coroner] Were the man and woman quarrelling ? - No; they were talking. As I passed he looked at me. I don't know whether he recognised me. There was no policeman about. Mr. George Bagster Phillips, divisional surgeon of police, said: I was called by the police on Friday morning at eleven o'clock, and on proceeding to Miller's-court, which I entered at 11.15, I found a room, the door of which led out of the passage at the side of 26, Dorset-street, photographs of which I produce. It had two windows in the court. Two panes in the lesser window were broken, and as the door was locked I looked through the lower of the broken panes and satisfied myself that the mutilated corpse lying on the bed was not in need of any immediate attention from me, and I also came to the conclusion that there was nobody else upon the bed, or within view, to whom I could render any professional assistance. Having ascertained that probably it was advisable that no entrance should be made into the room at that time, I remained until about 1.30p.m., when the door was broken open by McCarthy, under the direction of Superintendent Arnold. On the door being opened it knocked against a table which was close to the left-hand side of the bedstead, and the bedstead was close against the wooden partition. The mutilated remains of a woman were lying two- thirds over, towards the edge of the bedstead, nearest the door. Deceased had only an under- linen garment upon her, and by subsequent examination I am sure the body had been removed, after the injury which caused death, from that side of the bedstead which was nearest to the wooden partition previously mentioned. The large quantity of blood under the bedstead, the saturated condition of the palliasse, pillow, and sheet at the top corner of the bedstead nearest to the partition leads me to the conclusion that the severance of the right carotid artery, which was the immediate cause of death, was inflicted while the deceased was lying at the right side of the bedstead and her head and neck in the top right-hand corner. the coroner said: It has come to my ears that somebody has been making a statement to some of the jury as to their right and duty of being here. Has any one during the interval spoken to the jury, saying that they should not be here to-day ? Julia Vanturney [Van Turney], 1, Miller's-court, a charwoman, living with Harry Owen, said: I knew the deceased for some time as Kelly, and I knew Joe Barnett, who lived with her. He would not allow her to go on the streets. Deceased often got drunk. She said she was fond of another man, also named Joe. I never saw this man. I believe he was a costermonger. [Coroner] When did you last see the deceased alive ? - On Thursday morning, at about ten o'clock. I slept in the court on Thursday night, and went to bed about eight. I could not rest at all during the night. [Coroner] Did you hear any noises in the court ? - I did not. I heard no screams of "Murder," nor any one singing. [Coroner] Were you in the house when Joe Barnett called ? - Yes. I said, "Well, Mary Jane, I shall not see you this evening again," and I left with her two men's dirty shirts, a little boy's shirt, a black overcoat, a black crepe bonnet with black satin strings, a pawn-ticket for a grey shawl, upon which 2s had been lent, and a little girls white petticoat. [Coroner] Have you seen any of these articles since? - Yes; I saw the black overcoat in a room in the court on Friday afternoon. [Coroner] Did the deceased ever speak to you about being afraid of any man ? - She did not. Inspector Beck, H Division, deposed that, having sent for the doctor, he gave orders to prevent any persons leaving the court, and he directed officers to make a search. He had not been aware that the deceased was known to the police. [Coroner] Was it by your orders that the door was forced ? - No; I had an intimation from Inspector Beck that the bloodhounds had been sent for, and the reply had been received that they were on the way. Dr. Phillips was unwilling to force the door, as it would be very much better to test the dogs, if they were coming. We remained until about 1.30 p.m., when Superintendent Arnold arrived, and he informed me that the order in regard to the dogs had been countermanded, and he gave orders for the door to be forced. I agree with the medical evidence as to the condition of the room. I subsequently took an inventory of the contents of the room. There were traces of a large fire having been kept up in the grate, so much so that it had melted the spout of a kettle off. We have since gone through the ashes in the fireplace; there were remnants of clothing, a portion of a brim of a hat, and a skirt, and it appeared as if a large quantity of women's clothing had been burnt. [Coroner] Can you give any reason why they were burnt ? - I can only imagine that it was to make a light for the man to see what he was doing. There was only one small candle in the room, on the top of a broken wine-glass. An impression has gone abroad that the murderer took away the key of the room. Barnett informs me that it has been missing some time, and since it has been lost they have put their hand through the broken window, and moved back the catch. It is quite easy. There was a man's clay pipe in the room, and Barnett informed me that he smoked it. [Coroner] Is there anything further the jury ought to know ? - No; if there should be I can communicate with you, sir.

2019-04-25T04:55:47Z

https://www.casebook.org/official_documents/inquests/inquest_kelly.html

The Eastern Playoff race has been decided. The Carolina Hurricanes have drawn the first wildcard spot and will face the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs. The New York Islanders will be the second seed in the Metro and will have to square off against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the Atlantic Division, the Columbus Blue Jackets end up with a tough match-up as they will face the Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs will meet once again, as everyone has known about for quite some time. The final results of the night will determine how the Western Conference Shakes out. The Colorado Avalanche’s Mikko Rantanen was spotted on the ice Saturday in San Jose wearing a non-contact jersey, according to The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark. The injured forward, who hasn’t seen action since March 21st with an undisclosed injury, traveled with the team but will sit out once again. While that doesn’t sound like great news, considering the playoffs are right around the corner it is better to have him skating than not. If Colorado has any chance of advancing out of the first round, they will need their young scorer. The 22-year-old will have played eight less games than last year, but has a career high 31 goals and 87 points in his sophomore season. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said later today that he is hopeful that Rantanen will be available for the playoffs, according to BSN’s Adrian Dater. Speaking of injuries, the Pittsburgh Penguins got some good news as defenseman Brian Dumoulin skated on his own after missing the past three games with a lower-body injury, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Dumoulin, who normally skates alongside Kris Letang, would make a big impact on a lineup that is preparing for the playoffs and could use the player tied for fifth in the NHL with a +31 rating. “The fact that Dumo is on the ice is really encouraging from our standpoint,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. He added that the injury isn’t considered major and Doumolin remains day-to-day. The St. Louis Blues expect to get back defenseman Colton Parayko, who has sat out the past two games with an undisclosed injury. The 25-year-old defender is expected to play in the playoffs, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas. Thomas added that Tyler Bozak was just held out for precautionary reasons Saturday after he was in a car accident getting to the game. The veteran center was rear-ended, but wasn’t seriously hurt. He too is expected back for the playoff opener. As the Blackhawks pass through another disappointing season, the team must continue to focus on development. The team has a nice group of prospects coming up the pipeline, but there are many that are starting to worry about whether the Blackhawks are doing the right thing with defenseman Henri Jokiharju, their 2017 first-rounder. The Blackhawks, not known for developing defensemen recently, loaned Jokiharju out to Finland for the World Junior Championships, against the youngster’s wishes even though they eventually won the gold medal. Since his return, the team has changed course in his development, moving him over to the left side, his off-side which will help make room next season for right-hand shot Adam Boqvist, and has had his ice-time cut, according to The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required). He even was a healthy scratch recently. Head coach Jeremy Colliton said the changes are being made to make sure the youngster won’t burn out like many rookies do during their first season. The Colorado Avalanche suffered a key loss Saturday as the team will be without defenseman Erik Johnson, who suffered a concussion during their game against Los Angeles. The veteran defenseman is expected to be out for the next two games and head coach Jared Bednar hopes he’ll be back after the All-Star break, according to The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark. The defensive-minded blueliner averages 21:42 of ATOI and is a key figure on the team’s defense. The Avalanche also had good news in practice as defensive prospect Conor Timmins, who has missed all of the 2018-19 season so far with a concussion, practiced today with the team even if it was in a non-contact jersey, according to BSN’s AJ Haefele. Bednar said after the practice that Timmins will begin ramping up activities over the next couple of weeks and they will see if he’s ready to go when the team returns after the All-Star break. Timmins, the team’s second-round pick in 2017, could help the team down the stretch if he’s deemed ready. Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun looks back at the first half of the season now that the team hits their bye and All-Star week, suggesting that while many things have gone right for the Jets, perhaps the most disappointing part of the season has been the play of star forward Patrik Laine. The scribe writes that the third-year winger is having a miserable season despite having 25 goals at this point. Despite an 18-goal November, Laine has tallied just seven goals combined in the other three months and often looks like a rookie on the ice. Of course, he’s only 20 years old still, so patience is needed. After struggling for much of the season and recently seeing his ice time dwindle, Tyson Jost is headed back to the AHL. The Colorado Avalanche today assigned Jost and Ryan Graves to the Colorado Eagles, giving them just 21 players on the roster. Jost, 20, was the tenth overall pick in 2016 but has yet to really establish himself in the NHL. After a great freshmen season at the University of North Dakota, the offensive center signed his entry-level contract and made his debut down the stretch for the Avalanche. Last year he returned to the lineup full-time and recorded 22 points in 65 games, but has failed to really take a step forward in 2018-19. Jost hasn’t been asked to play center on a regular basis this season given his struggles in the faceoff circle, and it’s not clear exactly where he fits into the lineup in a perfect scenario. That fit will have to be determined through his play in the minor leagues, as the young forward was clearly not progressing in the NHL. In 43 games he has just 15 points, despite being given ample opportunities on the powerplay for much of the year. Given that he does not penalty kill and is seeing fewer than ten minutes of even-strength ice time in recent weeks, playing in a top-six role for the Eagles is probably the best for his development. Jost can obviously be recalled at a moment’s notice given the proximity of the AHL team, and currently does not require waivers. Graves meanwhile could be back up before the Avalanche hit the ice on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings, but he too had been used extremely sparingly by head coach Jared Bednar during his time in the NHL. The 23-year old defenseman has logged fewer than 12 minutes of ice time in each of his eight appearances, though he does have two goals already to show for his short NHL career. Poll: Should Colorado Move Semyon Varlamov? The Colorado Avalanche returned third-string goalie Pavel Francouz to the AHL today. Yet, at this point in their season, it is fair to ask whether that move actually makes the team better. The Avs finally snapped a six-game win-less streak on Friday night against the New York Rangers and have fallen out of the once-competitive Central Division race over the past month. Colorado’s struggles are not singular in nature – a lack of secondary scoring and a struggling penalty kill have played a part – but poor performance in net has been the most pressing issue facing the team. After a hot start to the season, Semyon Varlamov has regressed to a .912 save percentage and 2.80 GAA and has missed the team’s past two games with a lower-body injury. Off-season acquisition Philipp Grubauer has yet to settle in with Colorado, holding a career-worst .902 save percentage and 3.13 GAA thus far. Considering that Varlamov’s play is not currently winning games for the Avalanche, the team could opt to move on from the veteran keeper. Despite Varlamov’s recent slump, the impending unrestricted free agent would still be a valued name on the trade market as the NHL Trade Deadline grows closer. Several teams will be looking for a rental for the stretch run and postseason and Varlamov could potentially be the closest thing to a bona fide starter that could hit the market. Why then would the playoff-bound Avalanche want to move Varlamov if he’s still a top NHL option? The return would be substantial and could – either directly or by flipping part of the return – result in Colorado adding the forward depth they so desperately need. It was recently reported that the Avs are hesitant to move their top prospects and young roster players for help, which could force them to move an established veteran like Varlamov. The Avalanche could benefit from some addition by subtraction when it comes to Varlamov as well. The aforementioned Francouz, in his first season in North America after an illustrious European career, has made the transition look easy this season. Recently named an AHL All-Star, Francouz, 28, has a .919 save percentage and 2.65 GAA through 23 games with the Colorado Eagles. Perhaps more impressively, Francouz has made two NHL relief appearances and has saved 33 of the 35 shots that he faced (.943 SV%). The Denver Post’s Sean Keeler writes that head coach Jared Bednar considered making Francouz the starter over Grubauer last night and opined that the current third-string could be the X-factor for the Avs this season. Francouz is also an impending UFA and the team should take a longer look at him this season to determine if he could be a long-term option alongside Gruabauer. An extended stay in Denver this season would certainly help convince Francouz to stick around as well. Of course, if the Avalanche were to trade Varlamov this season, it would very likely hurt their chances at a Stanley Cup title. Despite his struggles, Varlamov has outplayed Grubauer and has years of success to fall back on, as opposed to his young backup and Francouz, an unproven import. Colorado would likely have to turn around and add another option in net if they were to trade Varlamov. However, given that the Avs face a probable playoff route through the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets this season, it could be that they favor improving the team for the future rather than clinging to slim title chances. The team could also feel that addressing their needs at forward is a priority compared to maintaining depth in net. What do you think? Should the Avalanche change things up by trading Varlamov for young pieces or forward help and hand the reins to Grubauer and Francouz? Or should they hold on to their established starter in hopes that it is their best chance at a Cup run this season? The Colorado Avalanche announced they have recalled goaltender Pavel Francouz from the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. Head coach Jared Bednar said that Semyon Varlamov was a little banged up and Francouz was recalled as a precaution. The 28-year-old was up earlier this month and was impressive in a relief stint on Dec. 22 when he saved 21 of 22 shots against Arizona in 29 minutes of work. Francouz, who signed as a free agent with Colorado in the offseason out of the KHL has performed well in the AHL as well, posting a 13-7-1 record and a .919 save percentage. With Varlamov expected to hit free agency at the end of the season, Francouz could be a strong candidate to fill the backup role next season. The Carolina Hurricanes have assigned forward Janne Kuokkanen to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, according to CapFriendly. The 20-year-old prospect has had trouble finding a positive role with the Hurricanes, despite being dominant in the AHL. Kuokkanen has yet to score in seven games and has seen his playing time dwindle to under 10 minutes in the past three games. He will return to Charlotte where he has already equaled his goal output from last year and can continue working on his game. The team followed that up announcing the promotion of Saku Maenalanen from Charlotte to fill Kuokkanen’s shoes. Maenalanen has appeared in just one game for the Hurricanes, but has scored seven goals and 14 points in 31 games for the Checkers. While it’s already been reported that the Chicago Blackhawks’ recent trade acquisition Jason Garrison cleared waivers earlier today, NBC Sports Charlie Roumeliotis reports that Blackhawks’ general manager Stan Bowman said Garrison will be assigned to the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL. Garrison, picked up in Sunday’s trade with Drake Caggulia for Brandon Manning, has played in 17 games with the Oilers this year. He did play 58 games with the Chicago Wolves last season when playing for the Vegas franchise. After two years in the Swiss League, former NHLer Bobby Sanguinetti has returned to North America, as the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL announced they have signed the 30-year-old veteran to an AHL deal. The defenseman, who played 45 games with the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, played with the Checkers for three years before spending the last two years in Switzerland. Sanguinetti, a former first-round pick in 2006, will hope to resurrect his career there. The Nashville Predators announced they have assigned Nicholas Baptiste to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. The team recalled him Monday to serve as an emergency player for their game against Washington, but now have returned the 23-year-old without getting him into a game. Baptiste has played 34 games for Milwaukee and has six goals and 14 points. The Minnesota Wild have recalled defenseman Ryan Murphy from AHL Iowa per a team release. This will be the 25-year-old’s first stint in the NHL this season but he has 172 games of NHL experience between Carolina and Minnesota over the past six seasons. Murphy has played in 27 games in the minors this season with three goals and 10 assists. The Colorado Avalanche went out of its way to bring in goaltender Philipp Grubauer via trade during the offseason to be their heir apparent in goal, but with Semyon Varlamov playing well throughout this season, Grubauer hasn’t had much of a chance to claim that role. However, that might be changing. With the team having lost five of their last seven games and Varlamov struggling, the team got a brilliant performance from Grubauer on Tuesday as he saved 35 shots in a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. After that performance, The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark (subscription required) wonders if this is the turning point where Grubauer takes over as the team’s No. 1 goaltender. With Varlamov slated to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, the team needs for Grubauer to take that next step and that looks to be the case. In the last six starts (not including Friday’s 2-1 loss to Chicago), the 27-year-old is 5-0-1 with a 2.29 GAA and a .936 save percentage. “(Grubauer) gives us a chance. He gives us a real good chance,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “He keeps it at 1-0 and guys are saying the right things on the bench. … I just felt like he looked really solid in the net. Like he was in control tonight. I haven’t felt that way about our goaltending for the last little bit and that’s what we need. The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that when winger Brendan Perlini was traded from the Arizona Coyotes to Chicago Blackhawks, he had high hopes that a change of scenery would jumpstart his career as he has struggled to put up points. However, while the Blackhawks liked what they have seen from center Dylan Strome, Perlini quickly found himself on the team’s fourth line and even found himself a healthy scratch early on. “To be honest, you never like to sit, but it’s good because I can watch the game and say, OK, here’s certain spots where maybe I can get the puck or things like that or realize watching I can settle down there, there’s a lot more time than I actually think. Like I said, you never like watching, but you can take good things from it. I think I’ve done that and just try to build off it and learn every day.” Perlini since then has looked much more comfortable and has picked up a couple of goals in the past four games. The hope is he continues to make adjustments in Chicago’s lineup. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun writes that with the impressive play shown by Winnipeg Jets’ goaltender Laurent Brossoit can be attributed back to last year when the back-up lost his job in Edmonton to Al Montoya and he found himself in the AHL for the remainder of the season. That experience made him work harder to get back to the NHL. “Now I’m more aware of who I am as a goalie and as a professional, if that makes any sense,” said Brossoit. “It was unfortunate I had to go through those growing pains during my biggest opportunity with that club. I wouldn’t say that I performed at the level I normally do.” Brossoit was offered to return to Edmonton, but instead opted to start fresh in Winnipeg. The NHL has issued a $2,000 fine to Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen, citing two instances in which he broke Rule 64 for Diving/Embellishment this season. Fines will increase for Rantanen for any subsequent instances, and eventually include financial punishment to head coach Jared Bednar as well. The first incident, which garnered just a warning, was on October 16th against the New York Rangers, while the latest was during a November 14th game against the Boston Bruins. Rantanen has been one of the league’s brightest stars this season and still leads the entire NHL in scoring with 32 points. His play alongside Nathan MacKinnon has been a revelation, and has the Avalanche poised to become one of the league’s most dangerous offensive teams. Unfortunately with this history, he’ll now be watched even more closely by the officials and may not get the benefit of the doubt on close calls. He also could very well draw the ire of his coaching staff if he causes them to be fined, or costs his team with an ill-timed penalty. With a dominant top line that includes Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, the Colorado Avalanche can’t be happier as they have combined for 75 points so far this season. However, the biggest concern for the team has been their secondary scoring, which most recently seems to have improved when the team re-inserted center Tyson Jost together with wingers Alex Kerfoot and Colin Wilson, according to Kyle Newman of the Denver Post. Jost had spent some time with that line earlier this year, but between a demotion to the team’s fourth line and an injury that kept him out for four games, Jost finally got a chance to center the two wingers and has made the most of his opportunity with a pair of goals in the past week as well as improved play from both Wilson and Kerfoot.

2019-04-26T02:31:08Z

https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/coaches/jared-bednar

Share your tips and tricks and anything you feel important for our little community! wow thanks for the very nice comment and request. We put this on the next to do list but of course first have to finish the 4 other routes making the Vancouver Calgary to a collectible series. Can you email me you Trainz username to keep your name private here. If you like something see different on this website let me know also if it does what it needs to do and no overkill. Any other subject feel free to talk about. I'm having trouble with a couple of the turnouts in the Revelstoke engine terminal, specifically P01 Revelstoke C and P03 Revelstoke C. The points on 03 seem to be frozen; even though the indicator arrows switch from red to green, the points stay in the same position. Also, whenever I try to run a loco through either turnout, it derails! Close visual inspection does not reveal any immediately obvious reason for this to be happening, and I am moving at less than 10 mph with the points properly set, so I can't see that it's anything I'm doing, either. Help??? PlS NEVER feel bad if something is not working(lucky happen very rare!) as we all know very well certain things(N3V bugs) we have no control but can repair luckily at least so i feel good when i can help. by tonight or tomorrow dec. 31st latest I will have a updated version of CPR Mountiain Sub and Rogers Pass both under release 1.0.2. If you are interested to receive please email me on roystrainz together with information on your username so I can provide each one with a newer version. update contains replaced corrupted switches, repaired textures dissolved left and right and also a new speed and signal update. The signal update will cover Viktor Lake till half way Lake Kinbasket to Donald Station. Please report any missing, corrupt or not working item so we can update them in the next version end of january 2013. thanks for all the nice post and help to get this blog getting better and more lively. Please post any remark, suggestion, idea, wish, comment in general as llong as it is constructive and positive. Many thanks again and happy, happy new year!!! Ok this morning test revealed signal 1100S is flashing yellow top left. the V2 HUD is showing green. I consider this not to bad and would accept the HUD not to be correct. The more once the train passed the signal it turned yellow for S 1095S so proofed the HUD is little bit off. Your take and please do not be shy to post something here. Trouble with the 1.0.2 download. I'm getting a file not found error. Possibly because the link says crp rather than cpr? Happy New Year to all of you!!!!!!!! I confirm that the download of version 1.0.2 and the installation in Trainz went as expected, ie. no problems at all. Thanks for such good service and for such a superb route. Thanks Gilles most other Roy's trainzers confirmed also good execution of the new release and yes works as expected, thanks for the ice comment. Hi everyone! I want to thank Roy for an AMAZING route (I bought the 3-in-1 CPR Mountain Sub)!! The detail is ridiculous and I cannot even imagine the effort and time it took to create this route. Today I spent some time reading the new PDF instructions for the CMTM System (http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showt...7-CMTM-Upgrade) and was wondering if anyone else other than myself is crazy enough to attempt creating at least one session utilizing it. It seems like a daunting endeavor and I have no doubt that it would be an intense effort. However, I believe that a few of us dedicated enough may be able to team up and put something quite impressive together for this equally impressive route. Anyone have any thoughts or ideas? I especially would like Roy to chime in here too. Thanks! Enough industries to do the first steps with lumber industries rolling stock and truck bringing the lumber from the forest..eg. 64WarHorse, yes, I think that there are enough industries, esp if you include the whole Mountain Sub. Not to even mention what Roy here has proposed (integrating it into his upcoming additional route(s)). CMTM does support all sorts of cool scenarios as mentioned by Roy, not just yard/switching duties specifically. I am in the process of learning the new CMTM version (v.4) and would gladly contribute as much time/effort that I can to developing some sessions if we do it in a team fashion. :) Maybe we can start small at first and make some very basic sessions/scenarios to see how it goes. If all works out well then we can collaborate and come up with some truly epic sessions for these awesome routes! This idea is very exciting for me and if some of you share my enthusiasm (esp Roy), I really think we could build something legendary here. Idk. Maybe we can pull DAP (CMTM creator) into this somehow too. Okay, colour me intrigued. So where do we start? I suppose the first question would be, do we need to modify any rolling stock for CMTM? This is the most expensive ad-on I have ever bought, but I consider it worth every penny. Keep the spirit high. :) I really look forward to following the devlopment of Your project. Steve i agree i will tell Ray to change the background in a neutral easy to read color monday! promise! ChrisD yeeeehhh wow that feels good you like it as so many did already before you and yes it is a marvel and yes worth every penny you spent There is so much to discover it will take you a lot of time to find out and still not see it all,........that means yes i spent a lot of time creating this and hope to finish the next section soon. Railworks user here that just had to see what Trainz was capable of in its most extreme! Picked up Trainz on 75% discount and bought the Rogers Pass route from your site. The level of detail in this route is amazing. Im a routebuilder in Railworks, and I know how long it takes to build anything. I cant imagine it being any different in Trainz.. Your work is really and I mean really fantastic! Its all in the details as they say and your route has it all. Take care all and thanks again for your hard work Roy! Hello all! Sorry for the few days absence but I've been quite busy lately. Anyway, I am almost done reading and re-reading the CMTM documentation and would soon like to start collaborating with those of you interested in helping me out with some basic CMTM session ideas and subsequently creation. All of those interested should PM me on the main Trainz forums thread and send me their e-mail addresses so we can communicate more efficiently. Or, feel free to e-mail me directly at runthat1@gmail.com. saw that one too1 I did straighten a track segment and did not realize the signposts were separate and so got this cosmetic error. Moved the post and fixed already, thanks for reporting. Thank you for this nice route it is wel very long to drive cpr mountain sub -)) my wife is killing me. Guillaume, i cannot advice you what is a less of more painful death, killed by your wife or trainz excitement, lol. Thanks 4 sharing, Ning laughs she understand. Hopefully this will work in TS12, seeing errors as I install, previous versions errors, warnings. All help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for the routes! all related to JVC grass items by author jankvis. missing deps or unknown deps 99% of the time are caused by to many cdp's installed at the same time in Content Manager Program! So if jankvis has unknown ora ny other look for the author and reinstall that group like here for Jankvis go to group 3 dependencies you downloaded and reinstall the group J in there, should work flawless honest. hmm working in my dungeon on Mount Stephens/Spirals/Lake Louise area Laggan sub.....sssst top secret. "Roy, the screenshots of the Mountain Subdivision are phenomenal. Have you done the whole thing to absolute scale? What sources did you use (or are you a railroader)? What version of Trainz will this run on and are there related kuids included?" Like Google real scale and detail as far as possible. Running TS12 latest version 49922. Thanks a million Roy! You are a wonderful and patient support. Everything is up and going, beautifully! Now for that latte, sit back, relax and enjoy. Thursday Feb 27th I will upload release 1.03 of the CPR Mountain Sub. Claim yours by sending an email to me and i will link an upload for you. Have a great week! did you have any succes implementing the CMTM system for our routes? let us know what the current status is ok? Hello! Sorry for the lack of updates, but I was out-of-state enjoying Mardi Gras in New Orleans for a few weeks. :) But yes, CMTM DOES work with the routes and it works quite well actually. I had started to collaborate with another member here but he hasn't replied to my last e-mail. He had some VERY good session ideas which I was excited to work on with him. He had suggested doing multiple CMTM sessions, each one building upon the previous one(s). I will attempt to contact him again. Otherwise, I, myself, have begun testing CMTM implementation on the CPR Mountain Sub route (3-in-1) and am now trying to come up with some of my own session ideas. If ANYONE else here would like to help, PLEASE contact me via e-mail or PM on the forums. Mardi Gras that has been a while for me.... very nice time! Well CMTM that sounds good, let me know when you have something for me to test here and give ideas to you as feedback. If lucky not to long we have a connection to the Laggan sub to run real CMTM! Keep up the excellent work and keep me in the pict. CPR Mountain Sub release 1.0.3 is ready for dl. email me and I open in your account for dl! Hello all! I must apologize for the delay in providing any updates regarding implementing CMTM 4 on the CPR Mountain Sub. I am just starting to get over a nasty bout with bronchitis/upper respiratory infection and have not been able to devote much time to Trainz or much else aside from sleep (and coughing my lungs out). Steve (I am now unsure of his Trainz username here) contacted me awhile ago about his interest and desire to help me get some CMTM sessions thought-out and started. I will be contacting him later today to continue to work out the details of some of his ideas (which are really awesome btw!!). Not going to ruin the surprise or anticipation, but due to the route's huge size and unique layout of industries, yards, and portals to subsequent routes that Roy has mentioned, the sessions Steve has suggested as some possibilities really do a great job of taking those factors into account. Roy, yes!, CMTM 4 can and DOES work with the route(s) and YES!, it should definitely be something you take into consideration for future updates, upgrades, and new routes/expansions. Steve and I both came to the same conclusion that adding CMTM to existing rolling stock is a very simple matter of just adding some lines to the config.txt files. However this poses a potential problem with the original content creators' licensing/hosting mandates. I am not sure what to do about this potential issue, but I am sure we will find a way. kep up the good work guys, i work hard to get the daunting task of texturing over and over again certain areas to my liking but as i get older (like all of you) every day, day by day I get more picky and say to myself time is not of the essence, quality, pride of work and fun of doing it makes the difference. if this continues I close the blog and concentrate only on supporting you guys my unbelievable nice cosy and great roys trainz family. SP1 is the door closer for me with trainz although I will support you guys to the end of the 5 major routes for the next years to come and look seriously for another alternative than N3V. i not understand what fun they have spamming this blog. there is no financial gain nor fight or dispute of any kind related unless they show their face like we do. ugly but it seems to make them happen. Garbage not only fills our oceans and kills habitat. I just finished testing a way around the grotesque bug existing for years far as TRS 2009 and now even blocking my routes from working with tunnels. It is not a copmplete guarantee it should work now for you to so pls dl it and test it once I uploaded only CPR marked as 57720_CPR. i not upgrade any smaller route instead I will teach you how to spli them yourselves from a certain release for your own enjoyment. Kepp all routes updated is to much work right now and easier to split the biog one local at your desk. Yess, they failed to block me here is a version that will work at least it does on my computer 57720! I will now start prep upload for the route with tunnels working but its new tunnels not the old one i did change little things in the config too of the tunnels. Ok just uploade the latest CPR version working with big tunnels in 57720 SP1 and also uploade the 577203rdparty_fix for deps new tunnels you need to dl again. sorry for the incovenience but thank N3V for all the mishap and fuzz they create and deny. I am not sure how to update my Rogers Pass to SP1. Please advise. Niels send me an email and acc namr and see what we can do ok? Maybe You should take a look at Open Rails when You get a few moments to spare. This is where I have moved after giving up on TS12 and its "Service Pack". This freeware Train Simulator (at 0.8 rev 1561) uses at present existing MSTS Routes, but is running on 4 cores and is revised several times each week. Bug reporting and fixing is a breeze compared to N3V, and the team even works for nothing. Visual range from the CAB, where I am supposed to be when I drive a train, is 4 Km´s and can be set even higher If You want to, but 4 Km´s is GREAT sustaining a 100+ frame rate. The driving experience is CLASSES Higher than Trainz. Sorry for rubbing salt in Your wound, but my wound is just as great thanks to N3V, and You said in a previous post that You might change platform. Just wanted to let you know that after a fresh install of TS12 SP1 and CPR Mountain Sub 57720 I am simply amazed. Never before have I been able to run with 5000MT draw successfully. Usually I cannot even open up the CPR as it locks up my computer. I have never been able to run it with all sliders maxed out but with TS12 SP1 and CPR 57720 I have no problems. The graphics are a huge improvement as is the sound. In fact the only minor issue I have is a slight stutter when the scenery detail slider is on normal or high with the other sliders at max value. Smooth as silk if scenery detail is on low. this is unheard of on my humble computer. I will play with the slider settings a little more as I am sure there is a better compromise re the stutter. I have kept the TS12 pre SP1 install just in case, but I am really loving the 57720 version so much. I will report back after testing in a heavy yard area and with other trains about. That's all for now, Andrew. sorry to hear you leave. Well if Open rails has a modeller similar to trainz or better, if the dbase of 3rd party freeware objects to choose from is similar or better, if there is a way to "move" "recreate the same DEM, networks, road,splines and locations of existing objects ....what else. I know the problem, and there is no easy solution. As for the assets, there may be a way forward. Most assets are built with some kind of 3D modeller, and if the raw files (before export to Trainz) is at hand they can be exported to MSTS as well. I am sure we will never get to a quater of a million assets, but right now N3V is voiding a batch of these, so.. I not need all dls items so far 400 are faulty in my trainz dbase. ouch but can live with it for the moment. thanks for your support dear friend say hello home from all of us!! New version of CPR Mountain Sub TS14 release 1.0.5 now available. just uploaded the 1.0.5 release which runs very nice and is the best ever driver version so far in 10 years! Scenery and quality is beyond expectations and a complete surprise probably for N3V too they never check or report things anyway. OGL is now finally the way to go and has better fps too when tweaking your Nvidia. Personally I am most happy with driver as the speedtrees and my textures now do VERY well!!! I just made a free roam around Your route and the memory usage peaked at 2,454,000 Kb, so Trainz definately uses more than the usual 2 Gb. And, no locking or long thinking pauses. Roy, thanks again, I have donwloaded all 1.0.5, do I need all these if I have the previous version? If you dl already earlier revs deps you not need to dl again same. Chris thanks for the link it seems to work better than expected! Is there a way to undo the 4GB patch? My trainz.exe file is changed, cannot apply patch #2. Thanks. you run into the same booby trap too like me. Currently i make some backups of older TS212 versions to an old HDD but a slow one. After done I will than carefully upgrdae another 57720 on my SSD and install same way you do. I lost my major HDD backup disk incl my original TS12 files from trainz setup. Not in the mood now to see if i can dl them again from trainz... Maybe when we finished supplying N#V with all the bugs they will fix them for the next TS14 for sure and use us as their testers like always. there is and never will be a rollback from them so when goes wrong you have to uninstall reinstall crazy but true as far as I know. keep me us posted and you can post in roy doors thread so other can learn from it. That is Your original file. Just delete the Trainz.exe and rename tha backup. Ok guys this evening uploaded tons of kuids upgraded to trainz build 3.5 to be used in TS12 49922 and 87898. If your interested dl the 5 groups on the deps page of your profile. Roy, just found your website by chance, looked at your route pics. they are the best I've seen. You are an artist. For all those using the CPR Mountain freeware route with s301 ZR grasses which unfortunately not do the job at all. I did replace them today but the route is not updated yet. Here is a way to use replace assets and you can dl via your profile the Pofig-JVC frewware cdp with the grasses needed. I did work on a proper replacement for the S301 grasses for the freeware grass version of the CPR route. I thought that those from jvc in the pofig lib could do the job till one decides to change/upgrade to ST_2 grasses if he/she likes them more. find near track following item "ZR~(Gr-1)Grass R-Dark green-2 mtr" open in surveyor main menu replace assets and place this object in left side as assets to replace! click current selection only to make it replace all in the route! "3D1_Pg-JVC_gr1_22" is asset to replace with! 3D1_Pg-JVC_gr2_58 asset to replace with! In case you are not familiar with I can make tomorrow a short video how to but bet you know this command how to use. Roy, a query please. I am in the process of writing a Session for CPR to be uploaded (hopefully) to the DLS. I have the freeware S301 grasses at the moment. If I replace them with the 3D1 grasses does your map still retain your kuid? If I upload a Session with S301 grasses will other players with other versions of grasses still be able to download and play a Session from the DLS? I not have experience with creating sessions to that level of detail how trainz would handle it bit from the surveyor handling this it should work as long as the other side has the same grass it will show that grass. Most probably the session would have missing deps (grasses) if the other party not have those grasses in his/her dbase. We have to test this and see or discuss with other more experienced session users on the forum. The eeasiest and most forward way for you however would be to make these grasses Gr... now used mandatory to dl and install when someone dl your session. I have never used Replace Assets before so I'm not sure if it also replaces your kuid with mine for the map. That would be no good to upload a Session to the DLS. I'll play safe for the moment and keep to the S301 grasses until my Session is released. After that I can experiment. I think you are right in that another player would have missing deps but that should'nt affect the playability of the Session. BTW, what is the correct spelling. Illecillweat or Illecillwaet? Both are used in the map. I would like to know the correct one for use in html messages. Before you release any session on the dls make sure that not inadvertedly parts of the payware route are linked or available thru the session on the dls. I never used sessions in depth but I think i saw once a large route file linked in the sessions data file that was the major part of the route. This we have to avoid you understand. Replace asset is easy and handy so pls use it and let me now the new grasses do the job. Illecillewaet is the correct name. I understand your concerns about people getting hold of your route through other means. That will not happen with me. I shall be uploading 2 files to the DLS when ready. One is the Session and the other is a HTML file which will contain the instructions, messages, etc. Nothing of your route is included apart from your kuid in the Session config.txt that gives the map being used. What this means is that if someone hasn't bought the route and downloads the Session, they won't be able to play it as the route will be a 'Missing Dependency'. With your permission I'll add into the DLS description that the Session uses a Payware route only available from you at Roy's Trainz. You never know, it might bring in a few extra sales! If someone has already bought the route then everything is peachy. I've started the Session at Revelstoke CPR Yard and have now reached Illecillewaet (correct spelling thanks). I'll tidy up here and save a backup to external HD before I try replacing the grasses. thanks for the nice post and agree with you. Sorry for the late approval of the post. My webmaster adviced me to go this cumbersome way to approve outside posts since hackers/spammers keep bombarding the website relentlessly what fun they think they have is unclear to me but this world has more unclear habits and things happening. Thanks for the reply. I agree with you, these hackers are a menace. I installed the grasses ok but what I feared would happen, did. I could only save them in a new map with my kuid. This of course is no good as I need to upload a Session for use with your map, your kuid. What I think I'll do is to continue on to Wakely and stop there. I'll upload the Session and explain that it can only be played with your S301 map. I'll wait and see if there is any positive interest/feedback before deciding whether to carry on to Golden. Don't bother replying to this post. I'll put future posts on the Forum and let N3V worry about the hackers. If you go into the config of your session and change the route map the session refers to than, anyone who has the CPR in any form but different grasses eg should be able to run the route/session. When you have a test for me i can proof what I say when you ready. I have done this dozen times when a session linked to an older CPR version I wanted to link to a newer, changed the config map kuid the session has to run on and done. I understand what you mean when updating Sessions but this is your own kuid on your own computer and Trainz recognises this. When I replaced the grasses I can only save it in my kuid which Trainz gives me, like it or not. For instance: your map 122860:100035, after installing and saving the new grasses has now become 90608:100027, the 90608 being my kuid. This is fine as long as I don't want to upload the map to anywhere. It may now be in my kuid but doesn't belong to me. I think the way to go is to release the Session with the default map 122860:100035. I will add an instruction on how to change the map kuid in the Session to whatever they have on their system. This will not infringe your copyright as any player must have bought your original map before they can update grasses. All very complicated so I'll leave that for now until I get the Session finished. I'll come back to you at that time to see about testing. defying 58414 little critters and bugs the Rogers Pass passed my QA tests with "flying colors" after crashing first time after 2 hours without any normal reason than the exisitng Trainz bug. The route is now ready for dl for those interested in a 58414 1.07 version of this section. About wich trainz TS12 versions support my routes. Simple and straight forward ALL releases work 100% and dependencies of the route are all working and links for dl provided. It cannot be more simple and all in one place.If for any reason you feel well with the 49922 version dl this one from your account profile.I use the 58414 as the driver here runs particularly well, but earlier versions no problem. Can i ask what the file size is for the whole Route please Roy ?, Like to download the whole thing mate i am on a limited wireless service here and it would take for ever to download if the Route and Deps is too big. And does it only come in a winter version ?. Loks pretty cool the whole thing. sorry I just now checked the blog to see for comments that need approval. Many times hackers and sorts of try to ruin one's day and for unknown reason and sick pleasure that never works at least not with us. Ok the size of the entire route is a cdp/zip 199 MB! not that big even for a limited internet connection and my site has fast acces so dl would work fine. The deps are all grouped in smaller ones and also setup to fit as you said ltd acces internet connections. I am very pleased to see you around here and we would be more than happy to welcome you to our community. You will love it and yes the winter/seasonal groundtextures for a auto pre and post winter experience is included. Check my thread there are somewhere also winterpictures around. This should get you on the tracks with Roy's trainz. Thanks Roy i'll certainly grab it at sum stage mate, Few other projects i want to take care of first though so thanks again. Hate to be a pain again mate sorry but can i ask one more question, If i have not updated to the latest patchs for TS12 can i still use your Route ?. Or would i have to patch to the latest build ?. Thanks Roy. yes when you purchase my routes it will show you what to dowload for eg. 49922 WIN and MAC version and in case the 58414 release the coresponding CPR route working/updated for the version of TS12. Also I did "update a lot of built-in and other used cdp's to actualize them as far as feasible to run well on 58414. these routes look awesome, i'm currently downloading alot of stuff for other software and will buy CPR Mountain Subdivision in a couple of hours. I hope the download includes everything needed to run the route because i'm new to Trainz12. Thank You Roy for your work of Art :) Harry from Montreal, Canada. you make my birthday a complete success. thanks for the very nice comment. Welcome to Roys Trainz and YES there is one page containing ALL needed deps at your fingertips. OMG, WOW! Roy you're awesome! I just finished installing "Rogers Pass" and I am in shock at how beautiful the route looks in TS12. Your payware even looks better than Railworks TS2014......BRAVO! Do you remember if I have all the routes when I bought the $70 combo? If not, which one do I not have? Curious, thank you for all your hard work and beautiful creative things. The 3 in combo means that you bought the CPR Mountain Sub from Ottertail all the way to west of Revelstoke. I made for a limited time 3 separate "smaller" routes cutting/overlapping with the huge CPR MOUNTAIN connecting them via Iportals. The "smaller 3 sep routes" where temporarily I want to allow people to taste at "entry" level before deciding to go for the big one. Some users liked the smaller ones to run a few hours i.o. of 9 up all day. 99% bought and uses the CPR MOUNTAIN SUB. I did not anticipate so much work due to several bugs in any trainz version when cutting. Imagine eg deleting a baseboard does not mean all data within and crossing is deleted and you and up with "invisble floating elements" ouside your cut route. this morning Richard post on my trainz forum threads very touching post indeed! "Hi Roy and everyone else who views this thread. 5 days ago I had been in Trainz exile for around 4 years. If I am totally honest I didn't think I would ever take an interest in Trainz again having drifted onto other things. On Sunday afternoon I stumbled across The Kickstarter Project "Trainz Simulator - A New Era". Initially I made a modest pledge, I liked the idea and the more I read about it, the more my interest in the future of Trainz was growing. The fire was lit and within a few hours I was back on the Kickstarter page increasing my pledge. At this point I was going to take a back seat and strap myself in for the ride and watch the next 4 weeks unfold. It didn't stop there though, I still couldn't stop at pledge number 2. I decided I needed a bigger slice of the action and pledge number 3 was made within 24 hours of me starting all this. Having got this far and making a commitment to the future of Trainz it was time to dust down my last version of the game Trainz 2009 and take a look. I had remembered fondly how much I enjoyed Trainz 2004 and Trainz 2006 along with Trainz classics, although if I am honest winding the clock back 4 years and looking at Trainz 2009 did little to enhance my new found enthusiasm for the Trainz Kickstarter project. Taking the above into consideration it was time to research the current version of trainz and try and establish what the best available routes for Trainz 12 were. This is where I stumbled across Roys Trainz and after browsing his site and the forums I knew instantly I wasn't going to wait for my Get Trainz Now selection from the Kickstarter Pledge. I bought Trainz 12 along with CPR-Mountain-Sub TS14 and It's one of the best decisions I have ever made. The Route is absolutely stunning Roy and is a credit to you. I look forward to seeing your work hit new heights in future versions of trains. ain't that something wow feels good and gives lots of energy. The day after Dec.17th we all feel much better KS first step reached and more streched goals will make it for sure. Thanks all the trainzers who supported vie my website and of course all those that pledged on the official KS and trainz website!!! For those new to my website asking how come this blog is not very active, the reason is simple we use the main Trainz forum my trheads and thus reach at the same time other trainzers not part (yet) of the Roy's Trainz family. If you like to share on my threads that you pledged also thru my routes please post over there and here of course. I respect eachothers privacy and not publish a list. Happy Holidays and Happy New Trainz year and 2014! william asked me today in an email if my routes work on TS 12 he bought from steam. Yes all my routes work on TS12 and all versions, see on this website when you click more on the CPR Mountain Sub it show TS12 version number and windows and or MAC version number. Well, finally we did it the Laggan sub section West is ready to download. further posts and comments we do as usual on the trainz forum in my threads Canadian rocky Mountains 2011 and others i opened there. "I just downloaded the Columbia River Basin and it is the most amazing, most detailed route in trainz! It took me in a CP ES44AC running at track speed almost 3 hours to get done! of course I met 2 trains along the way and had to follow a northbound CN grain, but it was amazing! Super fun, super realistic, and totally worth the $25! Every person that has trainz 12 download this now!!!!" Mid summer for most on this globe activity still high on roystrainz!! Most users know this blog is kind of sleepy as most activity blog etc is on trainz forum so please follow up over there to avoid double traffic. At this moment i try to solve a mysterious bug on a beautiful very intelligent way of session automated traffic for CPR Mountain Sub created by my good dutch fellow friend Henk. His sessions works flawless on his computers but mine seem to love to bug a few AI trains so this and next week i will try to re-create his work from scratch and will keep you guys updated on the results. In case you are interested in the results email me or post on my threads on trainz forum. Well we did it and cleared all winter tracks into Ottertail and further to Viktor Lake. Now ready for download is the all NEW CPR MOUNTAIN SUB SEASONAL with 4 seasons and much more and yes for future TANE use ready to migrate to that level when they are ready. In the mean time you can enjoy this gem the fullest in TS12 and maybe appreciate more now that TS12 with the so many shortcomings still is a nice piece of sim. It is sad to say how people ravage over TANE CE a not finished product (never should be released) as most trainzer have no clue what it takes to get a finished product until the final day of official release. So i released yesterday some 300 plus seasonal assets. you will find them on the download page when you have bought the CPR Mountain Sub 1.0.9 look for the route 1.0.9 seasonal. Still some more to do but that is for later now finish the TANE speedtrees first release for my routes. Well at least the curtain starts moving in the TANE 3D theatre announcing wazz up and coming "soon". Yes they start with the Columbia River Basin followed by all the other one's all new routes so much bigger,wider,more details than ever before and much much more to come all in super realistic mode and not to forget protypical!! Once all routes in TANe are out there the TS12 routes will fade out slowly and close an era we all enjoyed so much. You can post here but I prefer you do on my Canadian Rocky Mountains thread in the trainz frorum. A little bit more patience to iron out little critters and cracks by the N3V crew. they have a mountain of routes from me to get ready so give them credit and energy to get things done the soonest and well. Glad Roy is still up and kickin'!!!

2019-04-19T10:45:15Z

http://www.roystrainz.com/blog/post/so-here-we-are-ready-start-blog-division-roys-trainz/

Thanks to @Citi Foundation #ProgressMakers, Lesbia makes her career dream a reality! When Lesbia was very young, her parents made a difficult decision. They wanted a better future for their family, so they moved from Central America to the U.S. to find it. During that period, her parents were back and forth between the countries, and Lesbia rarely saw them. Six years later, she finally joined them on American soil. When she started school, Lesbia couldn’t speak English. Other kids made fun of her name. She struggled. But eventually, she learned to stop caring what other people thought. She realized that this new country held a wealth of opportunities. As time went on and they worked to adjust to the U.S., other members of Lesbia’s family found Hispanic Unity of Florida (HUF). They referred her, and after obtaining a work permit, she was able to get temporary child care assistance at HUF. HUF changed Lesbia’s life. She was supported by multiple HUF programs, including Income Support, Financial Literacy, and the Bridge Program, where she completed the Customer Service and Sales Training, as well as the Patient Care Technician EKG/Phlebotomy Training. She’s currently finishing a class in math at Sheridan Technical School, and has a bright future. Thanks to HUF, Lesbia’s family will no longer live paycheck to paycheck, and she, her husband, and her children will live better lives. The Bridge Program at Hispanic Unity opens up a world of opportunities! With the generous support of @Citi Foundation and the Community #ProgressMakers grant, program participants have access to tuition assistance for career pathways in high demand fields, including national certifications in Patient Care Technician (PCT) and Customer Service and Sales Training (CSST). Thanks to @Citi Foundation #ProgressMakers, Marisol makes her dream a reality! From Boston, to Puerto Rico, to Miami, Marisol has been following her American dream since birth. Born in Boston, she spent several years in the historic city before her family relocated to Puerto Rico, where she grew up and attended school. As an adult, Marisol made the difficult decision to move to Florida in search of a better future for her family. She sought more safety and security. Marisol was excited and deeply committed to grow and thrive in her new home! Starting fresh presented numerous challenges, however. She struggled to find work while caring for her two beloved children. Luckily, Marisol found Hispanic Unity of Florida. Her brother had participated in HUF’s Center for Working Families program and referred her. Marisol took the many opportunities offered by HUF and ran with them. She received income support through gift cards, child care assistance, hurricane relief help, and affordable housing. She also entered the Bridge Program where she became certified through HUF’s Customer Service and Sales Representative (CSR) training. Shortly thereafter, she was able to secure part-time employment. Marisol says that the training helped her be more in touch with clients and better understand their needs. The hard-working mother wanted to take things further and thrive in a new career, so she completed HUF’s Patient Care Technician Program (PCT) at Sheridan Technical College – a highly specialized training with a focus on EKG and Phlebotomy. Countless new opportunities are now available to Marisol, and she plans to move on into the Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) Program. Eventually, she’ll work in a private practice, and she credits HUF for helping her to empower herself and help ensure her family’s successful future. The Urban Institute recently released a research report titled Upskilling the Immigrant Workforce to Meet Employer Demand for Skilled Workers. The report takes a look at the whole US but supplements its findings through site visits and interviews with a variety of stakeholders in three metro areas, Seattle, Dallas and Miami-Fort Lauderdale. Hispanic Unity of Florida (HUF) participated in the study and shared with the researchers our own insights into the work we do assisting immigrants who are both unemployed as well as, underemployed. How many of us know that Broward County’s percentage of foreign-born residents is nearly 33% – or 3 out every 10 residents? The implications are significant for our community. Our immigrant population is mostly first generation. And the needs of this population are different then communities where the immigrants are second or third generation or where the immigrants are English literate and highly educated. Local communities with large foreign born residents must invest in foundational resources to assist these immigrants in their integration – which in turn – benefits the whole community. At HUF where we serve immigrants from 30 different nations, our work is focused on English language instruction, education (for both parents and children), economic development (employment, small business creation, asset building, health and child care supports) and civic engagement. This from the research report: This diversity within the immigrant workforce—with high numbers at both ends of the educational spectrum—is important context for our focus in this report on opportunities for immigrants employed in lower- and middle-skilled jobs. At HUF, we simultaneously work with former professionals such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, etc. as well as individuals who never completed high school. This diversity within the immigrant community requires different approaches to the work community organizations such as HUF undertakes. For us, it means providing core services that are fundamental to all clients while providing “add-ons” such as information on how to have educational credentials certified for immigrants with college or advanced degrees. “One out of every six workers in the US are immigrants.” The research report’s conclusions offers guidance for all our community’s stakeholders: state and local policy makers, workforce development service providers, funders and employers. Woven throughout the report are the community based organizations that are often at the frontlines of the work with immigrants. South Florida is at full employment. Now is the time to support and address the needs of our whole community including communities of color and the immigrant community. This article was originally published on June 6, 2018 on the UnidosUS website. As of this posting, Florida is the only state in the nation to not have a federally approved accountability plan. On April 20, 2018, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) submitted its revised Florida Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Plan to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE). Hispanic Unity of Florida is a member of a coalition of civil rights organizations that earlier this year during Florida’s Legislative Session, proposed legislation that would align Florida’s school accountability system with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the largest federal law governing K-12 education. Florida’s current system neglects to factor into its school grades the test scores of many English learner (EL) and Latino students, and fails to use a native language assessment when appropriate for the 10% of Florida’s K-12 students who are learning English. Effective implementation of ESSA at the state and district level is key to ensuring that educators and ELs have the data and tools they need to become English proficient and academically successful as swiftly as possible. Under ESSA, in exchange for federal funds, states must track and report the performance of subgroups of students—racial and ethnic minorities, those from low-income families, ELs, and those with disabilities—when assessing school performance. Florida’s revised ESSA plan, however, sidesteps the intent of the federal law by bundling together the lowest-performing students regardless of subgroup. That means schools that are not meeting the needs of every subgroup can still get a passing grade, and parents are not aware. The revised Florida plan creates the new “Federal Percent of Points Earned Index” (FPPEI) of which subgroup performance and an English Language Proficiency Indicator will be components. The fact that Florida created the FPPEI is a good sign that the state recognizes its obligation to align the state’s system with federal law. The FPPEI, a new section of a Florida school’s report card, in effect creates a parallel accountability system. The calculation of a school’s grade still does not take into account subgroup performance and English language proficiency. This decision is problematic, confusing and unnecessary. What’s more, while the federal government urges states, when appropriate, to test students in their native language to better assess what they know—Florida chose not to meet this requirement, despite being home to one of the nation’s largest EL population. A recent report by UnidosUS (formerly NCLR) study highlights that Florida educates the third-largest K–12 EL population in the nation. ELs make up 10% of Florida’s student population; nearly 290,000 students. The majority of ELs—75%—in the state speak Spanish. According to recent Florida state assessment results, double-digit gaps exist in graduation rates and academic achievement between ELs and their non–EL peers. As a result of the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, it is estimated that Florida is now home to between 10,000 to 12,000 Puerto Rican students. While these students are American citizens, they also are predominately ELs. For more information about ESSA and education issues impacting the Latino community, visit unidosus.org and UnidosUS’s education-focused website, Progress Report: Ensuring the Success of All Students. Have conversations about ESSA with parents, teachers, principals, superintendents, candidates and state elected officials. Bring up the “Advocate Questions” in the conversation. Engage parents and other stakeholders in your area by hosting an ESSA meeting at your school or a community-based organization. Follow and Vote: Follow what local and statewide candidates have to say about education. Vote for candidates in the Primary Election on August 28, 2018, and the General Election, November 6, 2018 who are committed to all K-12 students. As voters we can and must make education a top campaign issue this election cycle! Learn more: LULAC Florida will host an Organizational Roundtable and Community Forum on June 15, 2018 in Miami, at the Dadeland Marriott at 5:30 p.m. To learn more about why activists are urging Secretary DeVos to reject Florida’s ESSA Plan, read this Education Week article. The Pathways to Citizenship program offers free weekly citizenship classes, assistance with the naturalization interview and application, and financial coaching. Classes are open at eight library locations: Little Havana, North Miami Beach, Homestead, Kendall, Miami, Aventura, Sunny Isles and Hialeah. For general information or registration, please visit: http://www.HUFcitizen.org or contact: (305) 562-1796. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data shows that more than 88,000 people obtained legal permanent resident (LPR) status in South Florida in 2016. That makes our region, the third highest ranking in the country for people obtaining LPR status, following New York City and Los Angeles. In the last decade, HUF has empowered more than 12,000 aspiring citizens from more than 30 countries to achieve their goal of U.S. citizenship. In 2017, more than 5,000 eligible students attended classes at HUF and at partnering Broward and Miami-Dade libraries, and more than 30 trained volunteers contributed more than 2,300 hours as instructors last year. The Pathways to Citizenship program led by the Office of New Americans (ONA) of Miami-Dade County and Hispanic Unity of Florida, Inc. is a county-wide initiative made possible with the support from our Corporate Founding Partner Citi Community Development and the generosity of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. Partners in Miami-Dade County include: Miami-Dade Public Library System and the City of North Miami Beach and their North Miami Beach Library. Media partners include Univision 23, UniMas 69, Amor 107.5, Mix 98.3, WQBA and Radio Mambi. The Citi Foundation today announced that Hispanic Unity of Florida (HUF) was selected as the recipient of a $500,000 grant as part of the 2018 Community Progress Makers Fund. The Fund is a $20 million, two-year initiative by the Citi Foundation to support high-impact community organizations that are driving economic opportunities in our communities, by bringing together residents, nonprofits, businesses, and municipal agencies. HUF joins a group of 40 change agents (five in south Florida) that are playing a key role in coordinating the efforts of multiple partners toward common goals and working in new ways to address urban challenges in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami/South Florida, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington D.C. Through the fund, HUF will have the opportunity to offer low- and moderate-income families with access to customized vocational training programs, credentials and career pathways for middle-skill jobs in high demand. by commenting on this blog and on our Facebook post. We are pleased to announce our new Board officers, as well as the full slate of Board members for 2018. Charles Tatelbaum, a Director with the Ft. Lauderdale law firm of Tripp Scott, P.A., has been elected to serve as Chair of the HUF Board of Directors. Mr. Tatelbaum has been a Board member and officer for the past five years and served as the Chair of the HUF Development Committee. He succeeds Guillermo Gomez (Woodforest National Bank) who served as the Board Chair in 2017. Rounding out the Executive Committee, are the following elected officers: Lucia Rodriguez (Comcast) as Chair-Elect; Emma Pfister (Templeton & Company) as Treasurer, and Christina Paradowski (Tripp Scott, P.A) as Secretary. Guillermo Gomez will continue to serve as an officer as Past-Chair. Mr. Tatelbaum expressed his pleasure and excitement in embarking on this opportunity to lead the Board of an organization that provides so many vital and needed services to the South Florida community. He stated that with the unique diversity of the South Florida community, he welcomes the opportunity to chair HUF’s Board of Directors so that he can be part of augmenting the services provided to the community by HUF. In addition to his more than 50 years of practice as an attorney focusing on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights issues, complex business litigation, Uniform Commercial Code transactions and lender liability litigation, Mr. Tatelbaum has been active in the South Florida community. He has served as a member (and Chair) of the Board of Friends of WLRN, a volunteer for Broward Partnership for the Homeless, as well as serving on the Board of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. Lucia Rodriguez (Chair-Elect) is Sr. Director of Sales and Marketing Communications at Comcast. She has more than 20 years of experience in the Television/ Telecommunications industry, with a proven-track record in Multicultural Marketing and Management. Educated in Venezuela and the United States, she holds a degree in Advertising and Public Relations from Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, and a Master’s degree in Broadcast Administration from Boston University. Emma Pfister (Treasurer) is a Partner in Templeton & Company LLP’s Tax Services Division. She has more than 30 years of experience in providing tax services, planning and consulting. She is based in the firms’ Fort Lauderdale office. A longtime resident of Broward County, she is active on the Board of the Friends for Jack & Jill Children’s Center in Fort Lauderdale and has been active in the St. Anthony Parish School in Fort Lauderdale serving in past leadership positions. Christina V. Paradowski (Secretary) is an attorney with Tripp Scott, P.A., and focuses her practice in the areas of creditors’ rights, commercial litigation, and general civil litigation. In addition to her service on HUF’s Board, she is also a member of the current Leadership Broward class (Class XXXVI), a graduate of Women Leading Broward (Class IV), and the Immediate Past President of the Broward County Gator Club (an official affiliate of the University of Florida Alumni Association). Willy Gomez (Past-Chair) has served on the Board of Hispanic Unity for three years and will remain on the Executive Board. Mr. Gomez is Florida’s Regional President for Commercial Banking at Woodforest National Bank. He is a graduate of the University of Miami. Previously, he served nine years on the Board of the Make a Wish Foundation of Southern Florida with one year as Chairman of the Board, and served on the Board of the Miami Science Museum for 12 years. HUF is proud to welcome six new members to the Board of Directors: Dr. Rolando Garcia (Broward College), Daniel Herz (DFH Business Consultants Inc.), Daphne Maingot (Crowe Horwath LLP), Angie Stone (Citrix), Daniel Schevis (Community Volunteer) and Carolina Cardozo, Esq. (attorney). Continuing in their roles as members of the Board are: Melida Akiti (Memorial Healthcare System), John Guerrero (JM Family Enterprises, Inc.), Hector Lima (Citrix), Al Quintana (Edward Jones Investments), and Steve Sampier (Community Volunteer). Catalina Avalos serves as HUF’s non-voting and pro bono legal counsel. To learn more about HUF’s volunteer leadership on the board and on its committees, contact Felina Furer at 954-862-7693 to schedule a private tour. Join us today in congratulating our 2018 Board in our Facebook page.

2019-04-20T06:49:08Z

https://hufempowermentcenter.org/

The Institute of Preventive Medicine Environmental and Occupational Health - Prolepsis is a civil non for profit organization which was established in 1990 in Athens, Greece. With a strong belief in health being a fundamental right, Prolepsis has undertaken a leading role in the field of public health, by designing and implementing initiatives on various health issues and in different sectors targeting a wide range of audiences, such as children and adolescents, women, senior citizens, migrants and refugees, different types of occupational groups, such as health professionals, as well as policy makers, other NGOs and decision makers. Prolepsis Institute has initiated and collaborated on a diverse range of public health projects that operate on national, European and international levels. The majority of the implemented initiatives entail multifaceted objectives and activities, including research protocols, critical analysis and literature reviews, epidemiological studies, statistical analysis, development of technical guidance and educative resource materials, training and education of groups/professionals on topics related to preventive medicine as well as collection and dissemination of information. The Institute also designs and implements wide scale health promotion programs tackling important health related problems such as obesity, smoking and alcohol. During the years Prolepsis has led or participated in projects and initiatives that deal with migrant and refugee health such as the EU-funded project on the promotion of vaccinations for migrant populations in Europe – the PROMOVAX project. Moreover, Prolepsis participated in the “Sunia Geel” project, which was a response to the need to protect women and children against all forms of violence, focused on domestic violence, in particular within minority groups and migrants population. Prolepsis has also organized the Pan-European Conference on the “Integration of Immigrants: Good practices in the sectors of Health, Welfare & Social Security” in Greece (6/2011). CARDET is one of the leading research and training centres in the eastern Mediterranean region with global expertise in project design and implementation, project management, training, and e-learning. CARDET has completed numerous projects relating to the development of adult and vocational training initiatives in the areas of financial literacy, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Members of its team and board represent European and International Higher education institutions, training centres and international organizations, and have in-depth knowledge of the adult training sector, social justice, e-learning approaches, and social progress. CARDET brings together an international team of experts with decades of global expertise in adult training, capacity building, curriculum development, social entrepreneurship, vocational training, design thinking, innovation, education research, evaluation, and human resource development. Members of the CARDET team have successfully participated in more than 200 projects in more than 30 countries, several of which were supported by the European Commission, the United Nations Development Program, Microsoft, the Commonwealth of Learning, international agencies, and governments from around the world. The EHESP French School of Public Health is the leading school of public health in France. EHESP trains top senior public sector, health and social services managers, inspectors and controllers ; it provides postgraduate and doctoral education and conducts research in all major disciplines linked to public health. Thus, EHESP offers a unique combination of professional and research based training courses in French and English language and leads a multidisciplinary network of graduate schools. Ninety lecturers, grouped into 4 departments, provide training for senior management in health and welfare services, in a national and international context (training programs for healthcare professionals, Masters, post-masters, doctoral degrees and Institution-specific Diplomas). EHESP also offers certificates and more than 400 “short” training programs both in class setting and through distance learning, as well as training courses tailored to the needs of each facility, that are updated each year in various public health fields. Besides, EHESP offers preparatory courses for civil service examinations. The relevance and quality of teaching are an integral part of applied research. Research is carried out by 2 joint labs and 2 research teams, 1 environmental health research laboratory (LERES), research chairs in partnership and a doctoral network. The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) is a research-oriented pub-lic university covering a wide spectrum of scientific fields. Its vision is to promote excel-lence in education and innovation in research, scholarly and other creative endeavours and also be actively involved with local, national and global communities. Inaugurated in 1837 under the original name “Othonian University”, it is the oldest high-er education institution of the modern Greek state and the first university in the Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean area. In 1932 it was formally renamed as “The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens”, a public, self-governed legal entity, under the auspi-ces of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs. The University consists of eight (8) Schools — Theology; Law; Economics and Political Sciences; Philosophy; Sciences; Health Sciences, Education, Physical Education and Sport Science — and thirty three (33) Departments. Each department offers one Bache-lor’s degree, postgraduate and doctoral programmes. The mission of the NKUA is to advance knowledge and education in sciences and arts. In all academic units our researchers and faculty strive for innovation and seek to de-velop the passion for excellence as well as the ability to think critically, to contribute in research and innovation and to public policy-making. Internationalization of the Univer-sity and its openness towards our stakeholders is key to collaborating effectively with other institutions and organisations - national and international. The aim at NKUA is to maximize the benefits of research by advancing fundamental knowledge and contributing to improved public policy, better health outcomes, economic prosperity, social cohesion, international development, community identity, the arts, cul-ture and the quality of life. Research and innovation are integral to academic excellence and a is a priority for the academic community, thus promoting the publication of re-search results in scientific journals, at academic conferences, contribution to books/monographs/chapters in edited volumes and book reviews, etc. NKUA collabo-rates with leading university networks, public sector bodies and business sector units – in Greece and internationally. The Central Union of Greek Municipalities (KEDE) is a legal entity of private law representing the first level of self governance in Greece (municipalities). It was established in 1927 during the first Conference of the Mayors of Greece. KEDE holds its headquarters in the centre of Athens and employees 35 persons in a modern building with all the necessary equipment to hold official international meetings. It also has scientific advisory bodies: the Hellenic Agency of Local Development and Local Government (EETAA) / Information-Training- Local Development SA (PETA) and the Institute of Local Government (ITA). KEDE also works in the level of its thematic committees that apply for relevant decisions to the administrative board after the discussions held within their framework on several topics concerning local self-governance such as : civil society, employment and social economy, education and Youth, health and social caring, insularity and mountain areas policy, institutions and equality, rural development, spatial planning, e-governance, National Strategic Reference Framework 2014-2020 ect. The registered association Ethno-Medical Centre (Ethno-Medizinisches Zentrum e.V., short: EMZ) is a German non-profit organization operating nationwide and internationally. The EMZ aims at connecting people with different professional, cultural and social backgrounds. As a centre of excellence for health and social inclusion, the EMZ makes healthcare and educational systems more accessible to migrants and refugees. It promotes and supports refugees’, migrant laborers’ and ethnic minorities’ health. It is based in Hanover (Germany) and was founded in 1989. Its members, board and staff are mainly composed of people with migration background, various actors in the sphere of public health, as well as medical research and teaching. Its mission is the empowerment and integration of migrants in the fields of health, social affairs, labor and education. The association also consolidates the competence of intercultural actions of institutions and health professionals by providing training, research and publications. The EMZ was the first non-governmental organization in Germany implementing programmes on migrant and refugee health in the early 1990s, including the first professional community interpreter service in Germany. The core activity of the EMZ is the project “Health ¬– with Migrants for Migrants in Europe” (MiMi) (see also below). The MiMi project is improving migrants’ and refugees’ access to health services by increasing their health literacy and by capacity building in the field of public health. MiMi´s key technology for social inclusion includes executive education for intercultural mediators, health campaigns in migrant communities, multilingual health guides to explain health systems, related health topics or healthy life styles, networking and evaluation. It is conducted in more than 15 languages and has been implemented in more than 70 cities throughout Europe. The project was subject to a WHO case study and won various awards (e.g. Future Award, Sustainability Award, Prevention Award and Quality Award, European Health Award in 2015). The EMZ and its work is funded by local and governmental authorities like the German Health Ministry, the Ministry for Social Affairs, Health and Equality of Lower Saxony, the City and Region of Hanover, the Bavarian State Ministry for Health and Care, the Schleswig- Holstein Ministry for Social Affairs and Health, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Furthermore, it receives funding by health insurance funds (“BKK Betriebskrankenkassen” – Federal association for the statutory health insurers), the German Pension Insurance and by several private companies and foundations. From 2008-2011 the EMZ was leading partner of the EAHC project Aids&Mobility Europe. Kopin works for human rights and children’s rights with the aim to empower its beneficiaries as key agents for social change and advancement. It is a hybrid, operating in three interconnected fields: international sustainable development cooperation, refugee support and education. Set up 16 years ago, it is one of the few professional NGOs working in the human rights field in Malta. It is supervised by a Board of five members, managed by an executive team, has five employees and around 20 volunteers and interns. Kopin’s team is made up of professionals with diverse backgrounds providing an innovative package of services – Kopin supports marginalised communities where other institutions struggle and provides its services in a sustainable way, is a main provider of Development Education in Malta and one of the few Maltese entities focusing on children’s rights. The organisation is a partner of over 100 institutions in Malta, across Europe and East Africa, ranging from NGOs to ministries, local authorities, universities and international organisations. Kopin envisions a global and inclusive society, where citizens are equally empowered to contribute to a world that is free of poverty and any other forms of injustice. Monitoring political processes and engaging in policy dialogue with decision makers to influence the debate on Maltese and European policies related to development, migration and children’s rights. Kopin is legally registered with the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations (VO/0200). EKEPY’s areas of intervention are, in a few words, Crisis Management in the Health Sector, Accidents and Devastations, Pre-Hospital Health Care, In-Hospital Health Care, Primary Care. After the recent refugee crisis, EKEPY has been named as the main public body that coordinates all health care units and NGOs, in every official or unofficial refugee camp all over Greece. NaHOC will contribute in the dissemination strategy by offering to the Consortium to benefit from the organization of continuous targeted meetings under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Health. These meetings will include presidents and directors from all health sector organizations (Health Regions, Public Hospitals, Private Sector’s Hospitals and Medical Schools & Universities) and also representatives from authorities, organizations and NGOs that deal with refugees and migrants. Finally we will be assisting in the development of scientific publications to relevant journals if the results allow for that. The Research Institute on Social Welfare Policy (POLIBIENESTAR) is one of the research institutes at University of Valencia. Well-known internationally, its main research areas are innovation in social technology, technical advising and training in the social policy field. Polibienestar is made up of an interdisciplinary team led by Jorge Garcés Ferrer, and more than 100 researchers shape the team. They come from University of Valencia and other 7 Spanish universities and three international universities. It has been doing both basic and applied research on the economic, social, political and technical sustainability aspects of welfare systems. Furthermore, Polibienestar has been advising both the Administration and private companies on the planning, design and implementation of social welfare and sustainable resources and policies. Areas of research: Health and Social policies, Vulnerable groups, Governance and public administrations, Corporate economics, Smart Cities, Tourism. Oxfam is one of the most important international confederations in the world specializing in humanitarian aid and development projects, consisting of 17 organizations from different countries who work with 3,000 local partners in over 90 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. Oxfam Italy, which acceded in 2010 to the international confederation of Oxfam, was created by Ucodep, an Italian non-governmental organization, which for over 30 years is fighting to improve the living conditions of thousands of poor people in the world and give them the power and the 'energy to build their own future, to control and direct. Oxfam Italy has chosen an integrated approach between development programs and emergency interventions, campaigns and educational initiatives to improve the living conditions of thousands of people in the world by allowing them to exercise their rights and to build a decent future. The Region of Sterea Ellada is the second larger Greek region, located in the centre of the country, with major motorway and railway axes connecting North and South Greece. At North it shares borders with Thessaly, at West with Western Greece and at South with Attica. It is surrounded by the Aegean Sea and the Gulf of Evia at the east and by the Corinthian Gulf at the South. The Region has a population of 546.870 inhabitants, corresponding to 5.07% of the total population of the country. The 33% of the population in Sterea Ellada is urban, concentrated mainly in the departments of Euvoia (210.210 inhabitants) and Fthiotitda (158.220 inhabitants), the 15% is semi-urban and the 52% is rural. Sterea Ellada occupies a total area of 15,549 sq. km., corresponding to 11,8% of the total area of Greece and consists of 735,8 million hectares of mountain area, 497,1 million hectares of semi-mountainous area and 322,2 million hectares of lowland area. The two main islands of the Region, Evia and Skyros, are pole of tourist attraction. Sterea Ellada is the industrial centre of Greece, nevertheless it has rural areas too. It is worth noting that only 3% of the total area is residential. The main mountainous area of Sterea Ellada is formed around its centre. Forests cover the 25% of the total regional area, while 2% is covered by water. The cultivated areas of the region occupy the 26% of total area, while the 43% is used in farming activities. The Region is rich in special and rare ecosystems; 18 special environmental sites of the Region are being protected according to the NATURA 2000 framework, while there are 3 Special Protection Areas. Sterea Ellada is famous for its world-renown hot springs and spa. Τhe share of the population that is economically active is 33%, from of which 9,4 % works in the primary sector, 51,5% in the secondary sector and 42,1 % in the tertiary sector. The unemployment rate accounts for the 16,1% of the population and lies slightly above the national average. Immigration flows have importantly affected the demography of the region, as the immigrants’ share in the composition of the regional population accounts for 8%, one of the highest in Greece. Due to favorable conditions and because of its proximity to Attiki, the Region of Sterea Ellada has emerged as one of the industrial centres of Greece with important industrial and manufacturing activities, accounting for the 46% of the regional GDP. Moreover, activites related to the tertiary sector account for the 43% of the regional GDP and gravitate mostly real estate and public services. The tourism sector, on the other hand, counts up only for the 4,4% of the regional GDP and is less developed than the national average, however, it has great potential for further growth due to the region’s natural hot springs and spa (Kamena Vourla, Edipsos), archaeological sites and geographic location. The agricultural sector counts up only for the 8% percent of the regional GDP% and is estimated to be subject of further decline in the future. Rural activities concentrate in the production of olive oil, wheat, fruits and vegetables, as well as in the breeding of livestock. Numerous agricultural products of the Region have been enlisted in the Protected Designation Origin EU scheme, such as, the Olives of Stylida, Konservolia of Amfissa and Atalanti, Katiki Domokou (goat cheese), Formaela (goat cheese),Fistiki of Ftiotida and Dry Figs of Kimi. The Region interconnects North and South Greece, not only geographically, but also with major infrastructure and motorways. It is crossed by the main road and rail axes in Greece, also included in the wider European Network of Transports. The transport network of the Sterea Ellada is supported by small regional ports, straits and marinas, yet of low capacity but with potential of further development. Moreover, the location of Sterea Ellada in the centre of Greece provides great potential for the development of a strong transportation network. Uppsala University, founded in 1477, is the oldest university in Sweden and all Nordic countries. It ranks among the world's 100 best universities in several high-profile international rankings. The university has nine faculties with various programmes including more than 40,000 students with international frontline research at nine faculties and a variety of diverse educational choices at Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD levels. The Department of Sociology at Uppsala University is the oldest department of sociology in Sweden. Its main subjects are Sociology and Social psychology. Undergraduate education is also offered in Sociology. Verein Multikulturell – Tyrolean Integration Centre is a non-governmental organisation founded in 1993. We aim to enhance the intercultural dialogue and education. Our main objective is to promote the professional, social and cultural integration of migrants. Our association actively promotes the social and professional skills of migrants in collaboration with the government and other state institutions (such as the Chamber of Commerce), job centres, schools as well as social organizations and societies. Throughout the years, we have gained tremendous experience in designing and leading national as well as international projects or in taking up the active role of a transnational project partner. The National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD) is a national institution with the status of scientific organization under the Ministry of Health, which aims to develop the scientific foundations of the fight against infectious diseases and methods for its implementation. This determines intensive research regarding ethiology, pathogenesis, immune reactivity, epidemiological characteristics, laboratory diagnostics, treatment and prophylactics of bacterial and viral infections (including nosocomial) and parasitic invasions. NCIPD is the only non-tertiary institution in the country that is accredited since 1999 by the National Agency for Assessment and Accreditation Agency (NEAA) Council of Ministers as a university in the field of infectology with rights to train students and conduct postgraduate training in epidemiology, microbiology, virology, parasitology and immunology and allergy. Long tradition is annually organized dozens of training courses for specialists from home and abroad with several hundred participants. In NCIPD are all National Reference Laboratory (NRL) in various bacterial, viral and parasitic infections, united in so Laboratory test Complex (LTC), which is only for now in our country accredited by the Bulgarian Accreditation Service (BAS) in 2003 under the European requirements of standard BS ISO EN 17025 for high quality work. 1998 NRL are under constant international external laboratory control of the German accreditation system Instand. NCIPD by national reference laboratories from 1998 held a national external laboratory quality control of laboratory diagnostics performed by all microbiology, virology and parasitology laboratories in the country, with a successful result enables them to conclude contracts with the NHIF. 2007 NCIPD was declared a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations on epidemiological surveillance of communicable diseases and antibiotic resistance with the task of responding to these trends and training of personnel for the countries of South East Europe and Asian countries former USSR. In 2007, the National Inspectorate was set by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) in Stockholm as a leading responsible national organization etc. "National competent body" in the field of infectious and parasitic diseases. NCIPD, together with the Ministry of Health, performs daily broad anti-epidemic and organizational -metodichna work with highly skilled and expert advice, specialized laboratory diagnostics, organization of workshops, seminars, etc., The issue of specialized scientific and applied scientific journals as Infectology, Problems of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, newsletter and other informational and educational materials. In NCIPD is performed laboratory and production activities of several original biological preparations for the needs of our healthcare and export: allergenic products for the diagnosis and immunotherapy of allergic diseases, monoclonal antibodies to determine the blood group substances and lymphocyte markers and preparations for the diagnosis of parasitic invasions. They are produced under conditions of Good Practice has been manufactured according to requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia and standard ISO 9001/9000. NCIPD carried out extensive international cooperation in research activities, postgraduate education and anti-surveillance of communicable diseases with WHO, ETSKZ, the Global Fund at the United Nations, European Union programs Phare, Copernicus, Interreg, Tempus, NATO and a number of foreign universities and institutes on a bilateral or multilateral basis. All exposed convincingly shows the very important and responsible position that occupies NCIPD in national and international health systems and fully corresponds to the motto adopted and implemented daily by its employees: "In the name of science - for the good of the people." NCIPD is the oldest scientific-practical institute in the field of healthcare in Bulgaria. Created in 1881, immediately after the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule, it was the beginning of the modern fight against infectious and parasitic diseases in the country on the basis of the latest achievements of world science. Contributes significantly in this regard the construction and equipment of this building NCIPD with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1932-1935. Passed more than 125 years of development, won over the years large national and international reputation NCIPD today is a major national unit in the field of health collaborators who develop the scientific foundations and methodological approaches for successful control of communicable diseases - their ethion-pathogenesis , epidemiology, laboratory diagnostics, immunotherapy and specific and non-specific immunization, according to the latest achievements of science and requirements of the WHO and the European Union. In this regard they have contributed very long tradition, continuity, broad international contacts and many good laboratory facilities in NCIPD, as well as high requirements for specialists working in it. All this makes today NCIPD very authoritative and respected national and international research and applied research institution. Special mention should be made of complex, multidisciplinary approach to solve all scientific and practical problems and tasks in the fight against infectious and parasitic diseases based on close cooperation of specialists from different fields: epidemiologists, microbiologists, virologists, parasitologists, immunologists, chemists, biochemists, veterinarians and others working in the National Inspectorate, which is a guarantee of success. Production of certain biological products for the diagnosis, treatment and immunization.

2019-04-21T02:12:23Z

http://www.mighealthcare.eu/partners

The question arises, of course, “Who are or what are they calling?” Some say that the cry is for the four horsemen to come forth. Others say that they are calling for John to come and see. But it seems to me that the cry to “Come” is most consistently used in the book of Revelation to cry out to the Lamb to come and establish His kingdom. But when this happens, as we see in chapter six, the Lamb and His people encounter intense resistance and opposition. Four times, the living creatures call out “Come!” Four times, a horseman rides out. The first is armed with a bow (a weapon frequently associated with the enemies of God in Scripture). He goes out conquering and to conquer, we read in verse 2. Ironically, when God’s enemies believe that they are conquering Him and His people (13:7), they are actually being conquered (17:14). The second horseman (v.3) is permitted the right to kill God’s people with the sword. Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:34 are likely being alluded to here when He says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” The third horseman (v.5) brings economic hardship upon those who follow the Lamb. They are forced to pay inflated prices or given restricted access to the basic necessities of life. This type of economic oppression is a common tactic of persecutors the world over and it grinds God’s people down. It is one thing to suffer hunger yourself but to watch your children suffer hunger and deprivation because of your faith can be demoralizing and make the temptation to deny Christ all the more attractive. Finally the fourth horseman rides out (v.7), bringing disease and death to the people of God. Deprived, oppressed, and mistreated, it would almost appear that the prayer to “Come” is disastrous to the people of God. But then the fifth seal is broken. And so we read in verse 11, “Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” This is how God will accomplish His purposes; through those who sacrificially do His will even unto death. Jesus will come back. The prayers of God’s people and the four living creatures will finally be answered. According to Revelation 6:11, it is when the last martyr has been killed; the last witness has been slain because of his/her testimony. Then God will say, “It is finished!” (16:17), the gates will be closed, heaven will be sealed, and Christ will return to judge the world. This is seen with the breaking of the sixth seal in 6:12-14. Notice that with this broken seal, as with the previous five, there are prayers being uttered, but this time the prayers ushered forth are from those who have participated in opposing God’s purposes. Rich and poor, powerful and powerless, slave and free, they, like Adam, attempt to hide from the One they opposed.[ii] As creation dissolves into chaos at His coming, they cry out “Who can stand in the day of God’s wrath?” The answer is found in the next chapter; only those who belong to the Lamb are able to stand (7:3)! While the Church may seem to be wounded and bleeding in this world, those wounds are, like those of the Lamb; evidence that Christ’s kingdom is, indeed, coming (Matt. 6:10). In Acts 1:3, Luke introduces his account by informing Theophilus that in the time between Jesus resurrection and His ascension, Jesus gave commands to His disciples and "presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:1-3). In Luke 24:13-35, he recounts how Jesus met up with two of His followers on the road to Emmaus, probably heading away from Jerusalem to a place of safety. Jerusalem had become a hostile place for the followers of Jesus. They had witnessed the crucifixion of their Lord, and despite reports that Jesus had risen from the dead, they obviously had their doubts. They decided that it was time to move on before the followers of Jesus were tracked down as well. As they traveled to Emmaus, Luke records that these two unidentified disciples found themselves engaged in conversation with a fellow traveler about the events that had just taken place in Jerusalem and how Jesus had been killed. The traveler listens to them explaining what they had heard and gone through. Finally he interjects, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (Luke 24:25-26). With that as a basic outline, - suffering followed by glory – He walked them through the entire story of Scripture (verse 27). With Christ at the centre of it all, the events in Jerusalem began to make sense. The Servant of God had to suffer in order to be glorified. When the disciples were finally allowed to realize that it had been Jesus, Himself, who had been speaking to them, they raced back to Jerusalem to report to the other disciples what they had experienced. There they found them in a barricaded room, obviously in fear of their lives. As the two disciples recount how Jesus spoke with them, suddenly Jesus appeared in their midst. In verse 45, we read that He opened their minds to understand the Scripture, "and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem ( Luke 24:46-47). Christ’s suffering and rising from the dead was to be shared worldwide. It could not be restricted to one group in one room in one city. The global expansion of the gospel would start with them in Jerusalem, but it would not end there. During the next thirty-nine days, we read in Acts 1 that Jesus went over the theme of the kingdom of God many times with His disciples. He stresses in verse 4 that they are not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. Telling people not to leave town may seem like a strange way to launch a worldwide missionary movement. Acts 1: 8 reads, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." The first seven chapters deal with the spread of the gospel in Jerusalem. Chapters 8:1-11:18 record how the message of Jesus is spread throughout Judea and Samaria. Starting in 11:19, the focus is the spread of the gospel to the "ends of the earth". When Luke’s account ends in chapter 28, it does so rather suddenly as if to emphasize that the story is not complete; we, the readers, continue the mission. It is clear that Luke’s focus in chapter 28 is not on Paul’s fate but the progress of the gospel. The book does not close with the end of Paul’s life or martyrdom but with Paul, "proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance." These last words stand as an encouragement for all followers of Christ to do the same as the gospel continues to be carried "to the ends of the earth." The spread of the gospel, however, begins in Jerusalem. This begs the question, "Why? Why was this necessary? Why did the proclamation of the gospel have to start in Jerusalem?" Before we address this question, however, we need to put aside three inadequate explanations that are sometimes proposed. First, the gospel did not begin in Jerusalem because it was home to the disciples and thus they would find a more ready or receptive audience. Jerusalem was not home for any of the disciples. They were from Galilee, not Jerusalem. The angels in Acts 1:11 addressed them as "Men of Galilee." The people of Jerusalem could easily pick out the disciples by their Galilean accents, even in the dark (cf. Matt.26:73, Luke 22:59). Regional prejudices would not have made Galileans the most suitable messengers for the more urbane citizens of Jerusalem, nor would the disciples have felt at home in the city. Their home was in the smaller towns and rural areas of Galilee. The reality is that there was only one beginning of the gospel. In God’s history there will never be another subsequent Pentecost point. Every later initiative is a down-line fruition of that outpouring and obedience. We are now in the "the uttermost parts," not repeating the scenario reaching of "our-own-Jerusalem." Acts 1:8 is a geographical reference as much as it is a historical one. Secondly, the spread of gospel did not begin in Jerusalem because it would be the safest place to start and the disciples would be able to get experience in witnessing before moving on to more difficult or resistant areas. Rather the opposite was true. The most dangerous place on earth for the disciples to start their ministry was in Jerusalem. Avowed enemies with the power to throw them in prison had tried to arrest them in the garden of Gethsemane only days before (Mark 14:50-52; John 18:8-9). They would likely try again. Thirdly, Jerusalem was not chosen to be the starting place for the spread of the gospel because the city was familiar territory for the disciples where ministry experience would prepare them for more unfamiliar ministry later on. Looking at the gospels, one finds that Jesus and His disciples spent relatively little time in Jerusalem. The urban setting of Jerusalem was unfamiliar to the rural Galileans. As noted earlier, there was a regional rivalry between those of Jerusalem and those of Galilee. Neither thought overly fondly of the other. Had Jesus wanted the disciples to start in more familiar territory to gain experience, He undoubtedly would not have chosen Jerusalem. Besides, the disciples were hardly novices to ministry. They had spent over three years with Jesus. He had sent them out on at least two mission trips already. They were fully prepared apart from one thing: they lacked the Holy Spirit. The implications of this promise [i.e. Acts 1:8] are enormous. First of all, it tells the disciples that they will not be alone in the battle; the Holy Spirit will be in them and with them. Secondly, it makes them aware that this battle is actually not their own; it is God’s initiative and God’s action and concern. They are His ambassadors, fully endowed with His authority and power. Thirdly, whatever they will achieve will be God’s achievement, because God’s Spirit has acted through them. Jesus spoke seldom of the Holy Spirit’s function, but when He did so, frequently described Him as helper and comforter in persecution (Matt. 10:17-20; Mark 13:9-11; Luke 21:12-19). No wonder that Paul follows the Lord’s example in his catalogue of his sufferings by attributing his endurance to the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 6:6). In Philippians 1:19, he writes, "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." He reminds the Thessalonians, that "ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost" (1 Thess 1:6-7). Second, Jerusalem was God’s appointed starting place for the spread of the gospel because there were considerable missiological and theological reasons for doing so. While some might argue that the disciples might have drifted back to the comfort zone of their homes in Galilee had they been allowed to leave Jerusalem, I think it more likely that Jesus' instructions were more missiologically and theologically oriented. Jerusalem was the centre of monotheistic worship on the globe. It was the focal point of God's covenant with mankind. Christianity needed to be seen to be in continuity with what had gone on before in God’s plan, rather than being potentially labeled as a Galilean sect. The ultimate reason for the collection project rests upon the fact that Paul was constrained by prophecies which spoke of the nations coming to Israel to worship its King (cf. Is. 60:4-14; 66:19-24; Ps. 72:8-11). As a result of seeing believing Gentiles coming to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4 with 21:15-19), Paul hoped that Israel would be provoked to jealousy so that it might repent and accept Jesus as its Messiah (cf., Rom. 10:1; 11:11-24). Accordingly, Paul’s priestly gift is the Gentiles themselves (Rom. 15:16) to verify that the God of Israel had also become the God of the Gentiles and that there is now only one people of God comprised of all nations (Gal. 3:28-29; Eph. 3:4-6). Hence, Paul was careful to make sure to emphasize the continuity between Jerusalem and how God had worked in the past, with the present spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth among the Gentiles. The latter was a result of the unfolding plan of God begun with the Jews, fulfilled in Christ and proclaimed through the Church. I maintain that this is why the disciples stayed in Jerusalem, just as they had been instructed. When the Spirit came upon them, they immediately began to witness publicly, despite the risk. When persecution came, they did not scatter. They remained in Jerusalem where it was most strategic – and the most dangerous. They were arrested, shamed, beaten, censured, but they continued. Eventually, one of them, James, was killed (12:2), but even then they remained, refusing to flee. They made no attempt to hide themselves. They knew that for the gospel to spread most effectively, they needed to remain in Jerusalem. It was only after an angel broke Peter out of prison and told him to leave, that he finally found a safer place out of town, but there is no indication that the rest of the apostles left or that Peter stayed away any longer than was necessary. Were the disciples being disobedient to the commission of Christ by staying in Jerusalem? I do not think so. They were being the catalyst by which the Church, itself, spread throughout the world. They were busy laying the foundations for a movement that would shake the known world of their day. They worked in ways that consciously served to advance the spread of the gospel (Acts 6:4). They monitored carefully the expansion of the gospel and when they heard of the gospel advancing, they moved immediately to validate, bless and support it (Acts 8:14-25; 11:22). When it became clear that the churches had multiplied throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, Peter, himself, toured the entire region, helping the Church to increase (9:31-32). It was during this time, that God used him to share the gospel with the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, demonstrating that God accepts all people into His family, regardless of race. Because the disciples were faithful in remaining in Jerusalem, despite the risks, they were in a position to walk through the door that God had opened to all nations. What are some of the common themes that come out of this survey? Persecution provides more opportunities to witness. When they fled, the disciples did not go "underground". They continued to preach. In Acts, witnessing is always public. Opposition inevitably followed the preaching of the gospel. While persecution does cause the Church to scatter in Acts, thereby spreading the gospel, it would be a mistake to conclude the relationship between persecution and church growth is best defined thus. The testimony of Acts is not so much that persecution causes church growth but that church growth and the spread of the gospel tends to cause persecution, as religious and political leaders rise up and try to stop this movement that has "caused trouble all over the world and has now come here" (Acts 17:6). Persecution came from various sources and in a variety of ways. The explanation for why the believers were persecuted in the book of Acts cannot be traced back to one single reason. 24:16 indicates that the disciples were kept from recognizing Him and 21:30 speaks of their eyes being "opened." No fault should be laid on the disciples for failing to recognize their Lord. Steven Hawthorne, "Acts of Obedience" in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader 3rd edition. William Carey Library, 1999:126. Josef Ton, Suffering, Martyrdom and Rewards in Heaven. University of America Press, 1997: 315. cf. Günther Bornkamm, "The Letter to the Romans As Paul's Last Will and Testament" in The Romans Debate. ed. Karl P. Donfried. Augsburg Publishing House, 1977: 19. Bornkamm: 18-19 also makes the astute observation that Paul was obviously concerned that the Jewish Christians might not accept this collection and accept such a demonstrate of unity between Jew and Gentile in the church and so he asks for the Roman church to pray that that his service to the saints in Jerusalem would be acceptable to them (15:31). Christopher Little, "Whatever Happened to the Apostle Paul?" Mission Frontiers, September 2001: 27. This concept was first introduced to me by Vernon J. Sterk in his article "You Can help the Persecuted Church," International Journal of Missionary Research. January 1999: 15-18, as he discussed the growth of the Church in the Mexican state of Chiapas. His field research and doctrinal dissertation on the dynamics of persecution led him to conclude that 1) the acceptance of the gospel message leads to persecution, and 2) persecution negatively affects the growth of the Church. However, he notes, the damaging effects can be minimized through an adequate preparation for, and proper response to, persecution. He also notes that an essential part of that response must be the prayers and involvement of the worldwide Church. On a personal note, my research on the biblical theology of persecution and discipleship has been born out of a desire to help prepare the church for and in persecution.

2019-04-19T09:21:04Z

http://theologyofpersecution.blogspot.com/2009/05/

Let ICIWorld do the advertising, marketing and networking locally and worldwide for you 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 356 days per year. You just have to plant the seeds. Place a Have and/or Want. Search from time to time! ICIWorld markets your information 24/7 on the Internet world wide until you delete or change it. One Time – Order the ICIWorld Widgets of Listings for your website. They work 24/7 updating themselves in real time automatically. Once installed, the very next person who visits your website and sees any one of these listings . . . has to call YOU for more information. If you do not have these ICIWorld Widgets of listings for your website, you are actually missing triggering leads now for yourself and do not realize it. When someone wants more information on any of 30,000+ listings . . . they would have to call you. One time setup by your website designer. Do business and do referrals. And . . . promote your website. Special global databases and information distribution services make your information available . . . globally. Special events promotion, advertising, networking, conventions, conferences, expos, Realtor Quests, trade publications and much more drive traffic for your listings and the links in your listings drive traffic to your website. Generate leads the rest of your life. SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR THOSE CONSIDERING RETIREMENT. Do not give up your license. See www.retiredbrokers.com It is all about doing referrals from the leads you generate from a website that you keep running for the rest of your life. Have fun doing referrals! Would you mind doing the odd five minute referral and making $3,000 to $10,000+ when you are retired? One Re/Max agent has done fifteen referrals ie: 75 minutes of time and made $45,000 A N D provided a great service for people. Recommended one time orientation 30 minute Webinar Workshop. Call 416-840-6227 and make an appointment.Within 30 minutes we make sure you are aware how to search, how to place listings and reasons to keep them up to date every 30-60 days, how to place exclusive information(75% of information on ICIWorld is unique), know the resources and services available to you, connect with social media to stay in touch with industry announcements, education, networking and events.See help videos: How To Add A Want. How To Add a Have, etc.Plant the seeds by placing your listings, Haves and Wants is like advertising to the world that works 24/7 on the Internet that triggers response from people. THIS IS LEAD GENERATION. Work your real estate board listings.Learn how to work exclusive information. This is something you can not do on a real estate board. Work what your buyers are looking for. Make all your opportunities available to the public on the Internet not just real estate board listings. Qualify the leads the way you normally do. Every member should have a minimum of fifteen opportunities on the Internet.This can greatly increase your revenue. If not , you are missing out and do not realize it. This service helps you to maximize your potential in real estate. Several hundred real estate brokers can’t be wrong. See 50 pages of testimonials of deals being done uniquely started on ICIWorld here on the Internet. This is all cutting edge technology built for the real estate industry world wide. compatible with the industry. Widgets for your website. Order them. This is a one time sending of an EMail of instructions to your website programmer. That’s it!!ICIWorld Widgets trigger leads from your website. Install them on your website. Customers visiting your website have to call you for more information. THIS IS LEAD GENERATION FOR YOU. It is listings that trigger leads. People want more information.We send the instructions to install widgets on your website to you by EMail. You should forward them to your website designer. One call to our office 416-840-6227 and we send you the instructions.Once they are installed, call us and we can check them to make sure they are working properly for you. Handle all inquiries the same as you would from receiving a call off a classified ad from a newspaper. Setup showings, and do referrals, do business, make money. No Website? No Problem! One Time Setup and it works 24/7 on your behalf while you are doing other things!See Samples.One time setup for a website completely setup to make you money – 90 minutes.We recommend everyone can have more than one website because they are like billboards. THIS IS LEAD GENERATION. They can all generate leads. Link them together.The workshop is usually done in two webinar workshop sessions, one of 30 minutes one of 60 minutes or vice versa. This design process requires your input for preferences so you can personalize it for colours, graphics, button selection choices, wording, listings, installing of IDX links from your real estate board (people can search MLS from your website), setting up a possible DDF Feed (when you hand in an MLS listing to your office it can automatically go on to your website), etc. We do it all for you, with you. We tailor it for your geographic area no matter where in the world you are located and we tailor it for the kind of business you would like to do and for generating referral opportunities.Websites are free for one month then $199/year if you want to keep it.They are mobile optimized so people can search listings from YOUR website, they send out new listings to your customers, they have residential and commercial real estate listings, MLS AND Exclusive, specially setup for your geographic area and specialties if any.Mobile websites are the new Internet Revolution on going now and you will have the absolute most powerful website on the planet. Ask for a demo and then you be the judge. Add listings, Haves and Wants from time to time and search from time to time. We recommend updating your listings every 30-60 days. Never let them go more than 90 days old. It takes only two clicks to update a listing. Everyone should have a minimum of fifteen Haves and Wants on ICIWorld or you are missing out. Ask us in a Webinar workshop how every single licensed real estate salesperson in the world should have at least fifteen opportunities on ICIWorld. Keep your listings up to date. Only listings less than 90 days old appear in the ICIWorld Global Apps default settings.Make sure the widgets are working on you website. If you have one of our distributed websites, you must log in to the web site a minimum of once per month for five or ten minutes and look after your To Do List and a quick checkup to make sure things are working properly. ie: all listings showing, etc.This includes approving new handshakes with new brokers who join the service. You should allow their listings to be on your website. Otherwise people visiting your website do not see all the possible listings and you can easily be missing doing a deal and not every realize it. Look after the renewal of your domain name. Check to see if listings appear on the buttons on your website, etc. Checking to see if there are new Widgets or services from ICIWorld that you can install. It is like a monthly checkup for your website to make sure things are working properly. All brokers should check their websites regularly. This is your office building and image to the public for all people in your sphere of influence and demonstrates how well connected you are in the marketplace. This is a tremendous Internet tool. One lead can make one a lot of money. Promote your website and the content on it.Why? One inquiry off your website makes you a lot of money. With the ICIWorld Widgets people must call you for more information. THIS IS LEAD GENERATION. This gives you a chance to be of service. This is like your office building on the Internet. Let people know you have exclusive AND MLS listings on your website, residential AND commercial investment properties. If you get just one person going to the web site this week and they call you on a listing, you have a chance to make a lot of money. This is so important that we provide a once per month Webinar called How To Promote Your Website and we record them so you can see them at your convenience. See them in the Training Videos number 15. How do you measure if the information tools on ICIWorld are working for you? Every single member 90 days must and should be doing business, either generating deals or at the very least generating leads that you feel will lead to doing business otherwise you call us and let us do our 2 minute checklist. If you are not doing business every 90 days, call us. Click here and may we get you started. And it can be very quickly if you wish. Any questions, issues or for assistance contact us. Post your information and reach 20,000+/- subscribers within 24 hours and . . . 40,000+/- people in 138 countries over time. Join Today. Thousands now receive a daily digest of new listings by EMail . . . free. For commercial real estate we recommend that you select the DIGEST METHOD for your state or province or general area like GTA. This way you only receive one email with all the new listings in it, whether there are 2 new listings or 10 new listings. 75% of the information is of an exclusive nature not on real estate boards! For Residential in Ontario we recommend subscribe for your city! Look for Business Category – Residential Estates to find EMail List Servers. Select you own city or choose an overall area like GTA for just one email with new listings in it. These list servers are being built for states / provinces on demand. Unsubscribe directly from any EMail. Information is placed by licensed real estate brokers and salespeople. Information includes exclusive information not available on any other service. Delivering Real Estate Haves and Wants daily to the public, to the industry . . . free. For real estate and businesses of all kinds, including Industrial, Commercial, Investment and Residential Real Estate. 20,000+/- EMails deliver new real estate Listings, Haves and Wants to subscribers, to the public, to the industry . . . Daily! Request an EMail List Server Can be by company, group, organization, association, city, country and more. See the List Server for the Central Canada CCIM Chapter. This can be built for any group to network Haves and Wants. When leadership of your group promotes it, it is inevitable for everyone to connect with others to do business. 75% of the listings are exclusive not available on any other service. Power of Sales, and more! Tenants looking for Retail, Office and Industrial space to lease, tenant mandates, and more. You must be a licensed real estate broker or salesperson Executive Member of ICIWorld to have your Haves and Wants distributed to 20,000+ people daily and displayed to the world to 50,000+/- people regularly. Reach new people interested in real estate for all your listings all year long distributed daily. GMail places a lot of legitimate incoming mail into SPAM. So legitimate email from ICIWorld can be trapped in your SPAM FOLDER. Yet each EMail contains information for contacts for potential real estate transactions. The spam folder is is different from junk. Look for a column of folders one called “more.” You will find a spam folder there. You can put a check mark on the listing and click on Not Spam. If you have not done this before, you will probably find other mail that should not be spam. However marking mail as not spam does not seem to work all the time. Mail seems to continue to go to spam. So GMail has another option. Another way you can try to keep it out of spam you have to set a filter. Gmail’s filters allow you to manage the flow of incoming messages. Using filters, you can automatically label, archive, delete, star, or forward your mail, even keep it out of Spam. There is a Filter Choice to choose Not Spam. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6579?hl=en&ctx=mail This is a work in progress to figure out how to get google to allow all our legitimate mail to get through to you properly without always going to spam. Database 2 FSBO Area – Executive Members of ICIWorld can subscribe to receive EMail from the FSBO (For Sale By Owner) EMail List Servers. Buyers and sellers of real estate can add their Haves and Wants free. They are distributed to members. If you are a seller of real estate would you like a member to contact you if they have a buyer who could be interested? If you are a buyer would you like a member to let you know about a property that might match what you are looking for? All buyers and sellers should post their Haves and Wants here. It is opportunities to do business and the success can help free you up to get on with your plans. For all EMail check your spam folder if you are not receiving mail. Make it Not Spam. When you sign up for various email lists you should ‘whitelist’ @iciworld.ca because Digest emails can easily land in the Spam or a junk folder. If I join and place my haves and wants do they get sent out by email and if so to how many? approximately 20,000 EMails deliver information daily to the public and the real estate industry DAILY. members can add as many Haves and Wants all year long and they get delivered to the industry by EMail. How do members benefit from this service? Your contact information is made available to them, phone numbers, links to your website, EMail, etc. The listing is also sent out to the industry by email – 20,000+/- daily to the public and the real estate industry with all your contact information, website address, links, phone numbers and option to EMail you. Members and the public are informed of new listings in Database 1, everyone can contact you directly. Members only are informed of new listings in Database 2 – This is where all of the coveted FSBO’s are! One member sold a $9M apartment building within 3 days. That is how fast it can work. A few seconds daily scanning this email can be the difference of doing your next deal or missing out. When you have any questions please feel free to contact us. When: Register and if you can not attend, you will receive a copy of the Recorded Webinar by EMail after the event. Who Should Attend: Licensed Real Estate Brokers and Salespeople World Wide. Relevance: For all licensed real estate brokers and salespeople in the world. learn how to have services similar to classified ads in a newspaper for your website where YOU get the calls. learn how to send out exclusive information not on real estate boards . . . all automatically done by your website. learn how to make your website a resource for your prospects, clients and . . . for your community. A: Gary has enlivened me. Brought back the zeal I’ve had in my earlier days, before my car accident. Thankfully!. A: A bit more about Meta Tags and their importance, please. A: I haven’t met another person with such an abundance of knowledge in the Real Estate field willing to share such. A: Thrilled with the knowledge that Gary infuses into me each time I have a meeting with him! A: I heartily recommend anyone in the Real Estate field to join ICI World and gain the knowledge that I have from Gary. He overflows with enthusiasm and it is contagious!. After 36 years, I thought I knew a lot, but now I know I could learn so much more with the right leader! This Webinar is included free for Executive Members of ICIWorld, for non-members the cost is $319 plus applicable taxes. Real Estate provides the Highest Return On Investment (ROI) of any industry on the Internet. Why? Because one lead can make $3,000 to $10,000 in referrals alone! See testimonials of it being done! What good is a website if don’t have any traffic? You might as well not even have a website! The Power of a Real Estate Website is in the Listings – You should also promote this fact. If you have thousands of listings; both residential, commercial choices, MLS AND exclusive, you can maximize the opportunities for the public and . . . more opportunities to provide service! 90% of people search the Internet for real estate and if you have a great choice, then you have a better than average chance of triggering interest. We invite you to our How To Promote Your Website Webinar, it’s not just about Search Engine Optimization, it’s much more. Your website is your office building on the Internet! If you had 100 salespeople working for you and they all had websites generating leads for the company that would be great! A salesperson can have more than one website because they’re like billboards. If you have a billboard at Yonge and Dundas and another on Lakeshore Road and they are all generating leads why not? You can link them together. You only need one domain name on your business card because when people visit that one, you will have a link on that one to your other one. They can all generate leads. We support all your web sites. Call us anytime if you would like some feedback and recommendations for your website. There’s is no charge, even for non-members! This is a free complimentary offer! We have recorded several past sessions that Executive Members can see in training videos. Real Estate Have and Want Information Is The Gold That Is On The Internet. ICIWorld helps Real Estate Professionals market and network Real Estate. Get an ICIWorld App for your smartphone. Go to the App Store or Play Store on your device and search the word iciworld and install it. It is information at your fingertips! All devices including Androids and iPhones, Blackberries, Windows devices, etc. should also use your browser and go to https://iciworld.mobi Then add this link onto your home screen. Apple and Android products will have two applications, the ICIWorld App AND the mobile version https://iciworld.mobi on their device. Let us know which you like better or use more. On this page you will learn how everyone should be able to print a list of contacts for buyers or sellers for any kind of real estate literally within a minute. You should be able to produce a list of contacts for buyers or sellers by Business Area and Business Category, use key words, all within a matter of seconds. You should learn to search by date or age of listing and Status. We do not delete old listings. The buildings are still there. The people are still alive. Older listings are used for networking purposes. Make sure you know how to search the latest listings that in many cases provide for immediate showings and deals. See the age field and date of listing field. Listings contain contact names and phone numbers that you can print out and to follow up. Reply and send emails, visit a real estate salesperson’s website that contains real estate information that you can search and resources to serve you. Request a short demo. Contact us. Why is this important? Because if you miss a connection for one transaction you can be missing doing a deal and not realize it. You will learn how to get a list of real estate professionals by geographic area, specialty, language spoken. All with contact names and phone numbers and websites, etc. Executive Members and Referral Network. See the latest new search tools below such as searching the latest listings by date, etc. You can restrict searches by date, by status, by area, by property type. If it is taking you any longer after you tried to learn, simply contact us. Before you can finish a cup of coffee, we should be able to answer questions, or any concerns that you may have. Some properties are sold within a few days. You will be plugged in. We recommend a demo workshop for one on one assistance. https://www.iciworld.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/worldfingertip-1.pngOnce you learn, you will have the latest buyers and/or selling opportunities at your fingertips. 75% of the information on ICIWorld is exclusive not on real estate boards. So you will now have the best of both worlds through members on the service. One contact, one showing and if they like it, one deal. This is making a lot of people a lot of money, providing a great service to a lot of people, and helping the public achieve their real estate and investment goals. Everyone makes connections to do business or you call us. See Our Pledge. Database 1 Search over 18,000 Have and Want Ads placed by Executive Members who are licensed real estate brokers and salespeople. About 5,000 have publicly available contact information. For members, it is unlimited networking of Have and Want Ads for a year with a nominal membership fee. Members have full access to everything on the service. Readership and circulation is locally and to over 40,000+ people from over 100 countries plus 20,000+/- EMails deliver Have and Want information daily to the public by way of EMail List Servers. Free to subscribe. Database 2 FSBO Area Search over 14,000 Have and Want ads placed by the public free. Limited View. Details. Full Contact Information is available and circulated to Executive Members only. Contact a member for more information on any listing in this area. Free for the public to post. Make your own arrangements for compensation. This service is becoming one of the largest searchable databases of real estate Haves and Wants in the world. See just a few of the deals being done. Readership is world wide with people from over 100 countries. See Statistics. For the Public: Find the newest buyers and selling opportunities within 15-60 seconds with new search tools below or contact us. And there are four ways to make a connection otherwise if you miss one, you can easily be missing doing a deal and . . . not realize it. Search the latest new Have/Want Age Field search tool in World Commercial with Ontario key words and cities and World Residential with Ontario Key Words and Cities, and more for the latest new real estate Haves and Wants. Install the ICIWorld App on your mobile device for these information search tools. Add https://iciworld.mobi to your home screen of your mobile device. Search your city, key word, etc. daily within seconds for daily new listings. Search Advanced and use the Date of Listing Between Calendar Tool. Print the latest list with contact names and phone numbers within a minute. Subscribe/Unsubscribe to a Digest of new listings by a daily EMail Contact info in the EMail. Be the first to know. One transaction can make one a lot of money. This service operates in real time with every listing dated. We do not delete listings. You set your own search parameters for age of listings and status. All listings are used for networking and contact purposes. Once you have searched, many members keep up to date with the new listings daily by EMail or click on the Latest listings for your city or property type and area or set the date field for just Active Status Listings within the last 30 days. This applies whether you are looking for buyers or sellers. Some developers for instance look for the latest tenants looking for retail, industrial or office space. Investors search the latest apartment buildings coming for sale, etc. We recommend you set your own number of months to search. Many members make their contacts and do business with the older listings which identify people with whom they may be able to do business with. We recommend every member update their listings every 30-60 days and in no event let them go longer than 90 days old. This is the new default setting on ICIWorld Apps now being rolled out for all mobile devices. A real estate information service is more like classified ads in a newspaper unlike a real estate board type listing service. In many cases, there is limited information to highlight the opportunity. The advantage is that people who know about these opportunities can present them here for you in the marketplace not available on any other service. More opportunities become available to you as a result. There also can be a link to the full page of information on the brokers or salesperson’s web site if it is on MLS. Make sure you always check Internet Links in each Have or Want. Sometimes the owners of properties or the Executive Member of ICIWorld who are mainly licensed real estate brokers and salespeople are not at liberty to give you an exact address. This is because there are a lot of exclusive opportunity type properties that are not on real estate boards. Sometimes an agreement to show the property has to be put in place first before showing you the property or divulging the address of the property to you or identifying the property. So you might see Toronto Restaurant $350,000 Making money . . . and that’s it! You must call the member of ICIWorld, develop and business relationship with him/her and go from there and give them a chance to put an agreement in place first. They may have to put an agreement in place first to show you the property. There are many search methods on ICIWorld to find information. It is helpful for you to understand key word searching. The letters otel are part of the word hotel and part of the word motel. So search the subject line with these letters can find hotels and motels. Try typing otel here in the subject line. You get both hotels and motels because otel is part of each word. Search the subject line and type in your city Try typing you city here in the subject line. Naturally you can select a Business AREA along with it, as well as Have or Want. And now with the age field you can select to search Haves and Wants 30 days old, or 60 -180 days and more. Old listings might be old listings but the buildings are still there, the people are still alive hopefully so the contact information can easily lead to networking with the other person to do business. This is one of the true values of this service, is introducing you to people with whom you may be able to do business both on and off the service. Develop a good business relationship with people and it can easily lead to doing other business. Haves are the properties for sale and for lease. Wants are what people are looking for. If you are looking for a property, search the Haves. If you are looking for a buyer for your property, search the Wants. Almost everyone in the world now has a mobile device. You can do these searches on ICIWorld on any mobile device. Click here for details and to install the ICIWorld App on you phone. It is our goal to eventually to have everyone in the world interested in real estate to have this app and be able to search real estate on ICIWorld. A greater degree of safety and competence of this information is achieved by having licensed real estate brokers and salespeople filter this information through their hands. Brokers and salespeople are best positioned in the marketplace to recognize and display this exclusive information in a competent fashion industry wide. We invite all licensed real estate salespeople in the world to join. We invite all members of the public to visit a members web site in your area. Search Members and see their web site. They should have more local information available and resources available to you. Make sure you place your Wants with them as well as your Haves. They have industry wide networking power through the thousands of web sites that we have provided links for them to display your information. Prepared searches can be found clicking on Search on ICIWorld. A search matrix is something special. It can give you one page, make a choice and within seconds your results for your possible next deal are on the screen. Search Advanced You Tube Video On our new iciworld.com site you will find Advanced Searches as a feature that you can click on. If you are only interested in one specialty like a certain kind of business. There is a search that produces that result. If you add this to your home screen on your mobile device you can check it every once in a while for new Haves and/or Wants. That way you are up to the second knowledgeable. Send us an email of the result you would like to reproduce on your mobile device and then you can add it to your home screen. THIS IS A BIG TIME SAVER. CLICK ONE BUTTON AND SEE THE RESULTS WITHIN A FEW SECONDS. Latest Shopping Centers (or any business category on ICIWorld) for sale in your province, state, city. Latest buyers for Apartment Buildings (or any business category on ICIWorld) for your city, state, province. Latest buyers and sellers for any kind of business. Latest tenants looking for retail, office, industrial space to lease. When we say Latest, this is up to the second in real time listings. If something was put on 10 seconds ago, you will see it if you have a Latest (for your city) button on your mobile device. In some cases you will see Principals Only in the subject line. Click here to see how to understand what is going on and how to deal with it. This is information at your fingertips. You are only one click away from seeing the latest listings!!! There is a no charge to help you set this up on your mobile device. This is complimentary for every person who is interested. We like helping you because it helps you connect our members to do business. 90% of the millionaires in the world today did it through real estate. Developing good business relationships makes it happen. Meet people through this service and qualify and develop your network of people to do business with. Get excited. Designed as a self service, automatically operating system, with minimal ads. This presents very exciting opportunities for the licensed real estate industry to do more business than they are presently doing. How many listings do you have on a real estate board? Everyone on ICIWorld should have a minimum of fifteen opportunities because it is information not just a signed listing. Everyone should get a signed listing before showing the property or divulging the address of a property when it is information. Licensed real estate salespeople can trade in real estate information. We believe there is ten times more information that an individual salesperson can work on ICIWorld than can be worked on a real estate board. And in fact we will be making submissions to real estate boards to adopt and promote this service to all their members. ICIWorld can handle all the information that can not be placed on a real estate board. It can be done in a competent and professional manner as our members have been doing since 1994. Many do not want to search the older listings . . . you do not have to if you do not want to. But for others this is a gold mine as well. So we give everyone choices. There are also dates on every single listing. Older listings and in fact all listings are used networking purposes. They help identify people with whom you may be able to do business. Develop good business relationships with them and you will find out about other properties not on the service, other properties that come for sale in the next couple of weeks, etc. They might call you back and say a property matching the description of what you are looking for has just come available, want to see it? This service serves the world. There are five billion people who access the Internet in various ways and ICIWorld now makes all information available to the world to see. This brings traffic to ever single member from the listings and the links in the listings to members websites. Real estate has so many intricacies that it is impossible to show one way to search. This is because searching residential is different that searching commercial. There are special ways to zero in on exactly what you wish to search. You just have to learn them. There are also varying skill sets to search by the public and by the licensed real estate industry. Searching advanced is different that clicking on a prepared search. Prepared searches are presented for you to be the fastest, easiest way to search. go to iciworld.com click on Search, click on a country or continent, make choices and bingo the results are on the screen. However some people want to zero in on things a little more so an advanced search may be in order. We have heard the comment that ICIWorld is too much information. It is true and we call it a gold mine of information. But you sometimes have to dig for the gold. This page will help you get to the gold in the fastest possible way in the world today. The following are examples. Can you do these searches? How to do any of these searches within seconds. With a view to doing business. if no cooperation find out why, maybe if there is no commission from the seller, you should get it from the buyer. There is a responsibility on the part of the members to update their information. Call or email ICIWorld and we will contact the member and see what has happened with a view to rectify the situation. ICIWorld Provides Residential Marketing Exposure and Networking World Wide. Most all of our members do residential as well as commercial. Residential real estate brokers and salespeople have many advantages that help them serve the public and they make money doing it. world wide exposure – people from over 100 countries of the world access information regularly. advertise and network exclusive listings and opportunities not just real estate board listings. includes luxury, estate properties, waterfront, condos, vacation properties, cottages, condo’s, townhouses, any and all residential type real estate. includes links to your web site. these listings will also appear on other brokers web sites. members can include the links to residential on their web site. exposure now on Apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry, Windows devices. the residential web sites we supply are the most powerful on the planet earth and are used by 300,000 real estate professionals. They are powerful because of the extensive listings that are provided in links that are set up by ICIWorld. See sample web sites. It has residential listings with photos and virtual slide show displays in all areas of the world displayed for your prospects and clients in a way that YOU get the calls. Automatic delivery of listings by EMail that match the description of what your prospects and clients and looking for. It displays exclusive listings condos, residential properties that are not on real estate boards. We install the IDX link to listings for your real estate board or association if it is available. We also set you up with a DDF Feed, (Data Distribution Facility) which means when you add a listing to MLS it is also added to your web site. Includes SEO, search engine optimization and forty different ways to promote your web site. These are the most powerful web sites on the planet and suggest you see our presentation why. Do open houses and program buyers into your web site to receive listings and much more. Install the ICIWorld App on your device (See Apps) look for the Business Category called Residential Estates, Single Family Homes, Condos, Cottages, Vacation Properties and more. Executive Members of ICIWorld also have a residential buttons on their web site. When you add a listing it is not just added to one web site but it is added to a thousand web sites. Now that’s marketing exposure! On ICIWorld.com look for residential – there will be MLS AND Exclusive Listings Advertised. You should place your Want with a member. The circulation is industry wide within hours. You should subscribe to receive new listings from their web site. It is free and there is no obligation to buy from them. You can zero in on neighborhoods, price ranges, types of property. When a new listing matches the description of what you are looking for, bingo you get a copy by EMail. If you need to see it, call the broker and make an appointment. This way you are assured of getting the latest listings because of technology. Contact a member today You can search a market area, specialty and by language spoken. Visit their web site to see the residential exclusives as well as their real estate board listings. They say that 90% of the millionaires in the world made it in real estate. Almost every single member can relate about someone that they have helped to create this wealth. There are many other important reasons to use a licensed real estate salesperson. Having the best choice in the market place is just one of them.

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https://www.iciworld.com/category/member-training/page/2/

FULL-SCREEN MODEMODE: Click PLAY, then pass your mouse over the bottom right corner of the video screen. The outline of a square will appear. Clicking on it will toggle Full Screen Mode. Press ESC to return to the original format. Note: Google Earth software reads the actual topography and ignores roads, cuttings, tunnels, bridges and excavations. The Google Earth vertical-profile animation generates a number of parallax errors, so the profile is only a general guide of what to expect in terms of gradients, distance and elevation. The graph may present some impossible and improbably sharp spikes, which should be ignored. Getting there: To approach from the northern side, the pass can be accessed off the R407 about 4 km south of Prince Albert. It is clearly signposted and easy to locate. Head south on the R328 for 2,3 km where the road crosses the Dorpsarivier via a concrete bridge. This point marks the northern start of the Swartberg Pass. This is the direction in which we filmed the pass. Eerste Water in the northern sector of the pass makes for a perfect spot / Photo: Trygve RobertsFor those wanting to approach from the south, there are a number of options, but we will describe here the obvious main route. Drive north from Oudsthoorn on the tarred R328 via Schoemanskloof. Just after the Wilgewandel Guest Farm (with the camels) there is a fork in the road. The right hand fork heads directly to the Cango Caves. Turn left here (GPS S33.402020 E22.216309) The road (still tarred) heads east for a further 13 km where another guest farm is reached called 'Cobus se Gat'. This marks the southern start of the pass. The road becomes gravel after a further 2 km. The nearest town is Prince Albert - just 4 km from the northern end of the pass. There is plenty see, from flora to fauna, and some mind boggling geology. The fynbos is at its best in winter and spring with proteas, ericas, restios and pin-cushions in profusion. The pass is a national monument and, like its sister pass (Montagu Pass), stands in proud defiance of modern technology. It would be a shame if these roads were ever tarred as their core charm would be lost forever. A plaque commerorating the efforts of the men who built the pass was unveiled on the pass's centenary celebrations in 1988. It stands at the western side of the road at the summit. This was the last pass that Thomas Bain built in the Cape and it was surely his opus magnum. The final cost of the pass, including a few kilometers of access roads, was 14,500 Pounds Sterling, excluding the value of the convict labour, which was free. From the northern start at the crossing of the Dorpsrivier, the road traverses a short stretch of open plain, but the massive bulk of the looming Swartberg blocks the way ahead, other than a single, narrow gorge through which the road winds. The highest peak visible at this stage is unnamed at 1532m on your left (east), whilst the slightly lower Voetpadsberg on the right (west) tops out at 1402m. Amazing geology on display in the northern sector / Photo: Trygve RobertsA low dry packed wall appears on the left as the mountains begin hemming the river and the road in. These walls are the first of hundreds of such examples that you will see along the length of the pass. They were the work of Thomas Bain, then at the height of his engineering prowess as a road builder. The small river, which appears as a docile litlle stream, becomes a raging and destructive torrent when flash floods occur. During the night of April 10th, 2017, such a flash flood, swept down the kloof, destroying everything in it's path. Thomas Bain's retaining walls, which had been standing guard against the river for 130 years, buckled under the might of the river and the 2 km section of road from Malvadraai through to the northern exit of the poort were completely devastated. It took modern equipment and techniques almost 10 months to repair most of the damage, taking due care to rebuild the wallls to appear as close to Bain's original work as possible. The Swartberg Nature Reserve is large - (180,000 hectares) and provides hiking, picnicking, 4x4 routes, bird-watching, swimming and just being close to nature. The majority of the pass falls within the control of the Swartberg Nature Reserve / Photo: SA VenuesThe moment the kloof is entered, the sunlight is blocked off and the mountains tower vertically up on either side of the road in a dazzling display of contorted sandstone. The rocks often appear blood red, depending on the time of day. The photographic opportunities are endless and there are enough places to pull off the narrow roadway and park safely. Some bluegum trees appear on the left and a clearing pops up on the right - a large flat clearing where some ruins are evident. Apparently the house was used by Bain as a work station during the construction phase. Immediately after the clearing, the road bends sharply to the left and approaches the second river crossing via a concreted drift. This is normally shallow and should present no problems for any vehicle. This lovely spot is known as Eerste Water (First Water) and was the first point where oxen and horses could be watered, before tackling the big climb to the summit. There is a rock near this spot - a tall thin slab of rock, which looks like a clock. There is lots of shade at this spot and it makes for a great picnic spot and is well protetcted from the wind too. The pass in the 1800's with its designer - Thomas Bain / Photo: Swartberg Mountain ToursOnce over the river, the road bends to the right and follows the eastern bank of the river. The road has been hewn out of the mountain here and is very narrow. If you meet an approaching vehicle, one of you will need to reverse to a wider section to facilitate passing. Soon the road crosses the river for a third time, this time via a low level concrete bridge, which is called Tweede Water (Second Water). Around the next corner is another excellent picnic spot, named Malvadraai. (Wild Geranium Corner) - so named for the wild geraniums that grow there. The section from Tweede Water to Malvadraai also got severely damaged during the 2017 flood. On the left hand side (east) of the river, you will notice a footpath snaking up the mountain-side towards a saddle. This is the 6 hour Malvadraai Hiking Trail and is apparently a lot tougher than its gentle name suggests. Malvadraai is a rest area next to the river, where one normally finds wild geraniums at any time of the year. The river is spotlessly clean and this is a good spot to have a swim on a hot summers day. The road now enters a series of S-bends, and swings away into the south-west up a major kloof, known as Mullers Kloof. This kloof also gave Bain the most trouble. In May 1885 a devastating flood swept across the Swartberg Mountains, washing away most of the road in the adjacent Meiringspoort and causing a long closure. Bains' brand new road also suffered damage, but Bain learned his lessons well and rebuilt the damaged sections of road further away from the river's flood levels. The road also begins climbing more steeply here, reaching a gradient of 1:9. At the 4,4 km mark, there is a layby on the right, which allows access to the ruins, marked as Blikstasie. These ruins were once the convicts home, who constructed the pass. Access to the ruins is awkward and requires some physical effort. Shrubs and trees have overgrown the ruins, but if you have the physical capacity to scramble the few metres up the slope, you will be rewarded with a perfect view of the old walls. These are approximately 2ft thick and consist of rocks and stones held together by mud. The building apparently had an iron roof, hence the name Blikstasie (Tin Station). From the ruins, if you look up the slope to the left of the road, you will get perfect views of the massive retaing walls that support the road ascending up Mullers Kloof. These are the most impressive of all the walls and at places reach a height of 13 metres! This is also the kloof that was featured in the TV commercial with well known South African singer, song-writer, playwright and actor - David Kramer, chasing his beloved Volksie Bus up one of the hairpins in his trademark red "veldskoens". The road climbs steeply into the south-west towards a huge slab of exposed and contorted rockface. It is marked as Droe Waterval (Dry Waterfall) as most of the year this riivulet is without water. If you get to drive this pass around sunset, this rock face glows a deep and fiery red in the setting sun and has earned itself the nickname of "Wall of Fire" Here you are likely to see baboons and klipspringers, the latter which seem to float up the mountainside with no apparent effort. If you have the time, you will see that as part Bain's dry-walled roads, he constructed underground tunnels to disperse flood waters. The man was a genius and way ahead of his time. An example of this work can still be seen at the "Droe Waterfall" which is mostly just a trickle (and aptly named), but when the heavy rains arrive, the gorge is filled with a destructive torrent of white water, capable of sweeping away even the largest of rocks. At Droe Waterval the road curves sharply through 120 degrees to the left and climbs steeply in the process, reaching a gradient of 1:8. Coming up are the famous four hairpins that feature in so many photos of the Swartberg Pass. Drive slowly and carefully and be constantly aware of approaching traffic as the road is narrow here and both vehicles will need to move as far left as possible and pass each other at a crawling speed. Some drivers get so engrossed in the scenery that they forget to keep left. Be constantly aware of meeting an oncoming vehicle on the wrong side of the road. There aren't many places to pull over safely, but there is one good spot right before the third hairpin, which allows a wide scope for photography. It's a great spot to stop and breathe in the clear mountain air and savour the majesty of the impressive landscape. This is one of the Top 5 highlights of the Swartberg Pass. Once up onto the ridge, the gradient eases off a bit to around 1:14 and follows the spine of a long ridge, as the road climbs inexorably towards the viewsite known as Teeberg. The road is wider here and passing oncoming traffic is easier. The Teeberg viewsite is located at the apex of a very sharp right hand bend of 160 degrees. It's at an altutude of 1394m exactly 9 km from the northern start. There is a concrete picnic table here and sufficient parking for about 6 vehicles. The name Teeberg does not appear on any of the topographical maps and the mountain spine that leads upwards terminates at 1535m and is actually called Platberg. Looking north one gets a majestic view over the 500m deep chasm that runs all the way down to Malvadraai. The views are quite amazing and if you arrive at this view site on a wind free day, it is a marvellous place to find your soul. The views are 360 degrees and offer so much variety that it's almost impossible to take it all in. Cautionary: There have been a few incidents on this pass, where people have left there vehicles to take a photograph and not fully applied the handbrake and in one instance, not at all. A minivan rolled almost 400m down the cliffs and was obviously a total write-off. Luckily the occupants were out of the vehicle at the time. When stopping at any of the viewsites, it is best practice to switch the engine off, engage 1st or reverse gear if manual, and PARK if automatic PLUS fully apply the handbrake. There are baboons, grysbok, grey rhebuck, klipsringer, leopards and caracal - with the last two seldom being sighted. The road is narrow in certain sections and some reversing might be required to get past an oncoming vehicle. Etiquette is to give way to the ascending vehicle. There are no heavy vehicles or caravans allowed. Drive at the speed limit or slower - this road can be dangerous in bad weather. If you plan on stopping at the top for a photo or two, have a windbreaker ready - it can be ice cold out of the car and almost always windy. From Teeberg the road heads due west as it skirts a side ravine and maintains a fairly level altitude. At the 9,9 km mark, there is a sharp left hand bend, which changes the direction into the SSE, as a flatter section of the upper plateau is traversed. Here the mountain slopes are covered in dense stands of proteas and ericas and if you visit in winter or spring, you will be richly rewarded. The road starts climbing again at a gradient of 1:16 and an intersection is reached at the 10,8 km mark, with another gravel road heading away into the west. This is the turn-off to the famous Gamkaskloof . It is not recommended to drive this road unless you are well prepared, have sufficient fuel, knowledge, and preferably have booked accommodation overnight at Die Hel. This road is slow and a lot rougher than the Swartberg Pass. CAUTIONARY: Do not drive this road (Gamkaskloof/Die Hel) unless you have a high clearance vehicle and preferably a 4x4. It is a minimum of a 4 hour trip there and back excluding any stops. It is far better to prebook accommodation at Die Hel and overnight there. The road is a dead-end and consists of about 9 small passes and one big one at the end (Elands Pass). You will be doing this route an injustice by attempting to drive it in a single day. This road is much rougher than the Swartberg Pass. Sign at the summit now obliterated with stickers / Photo: Sncdn.comAfter negotiating another big right hand bend of 140 degrees and at the 10,8 km mark, the buildings of the old toll house and Swartberg Nature Reserve appear at the next bend. These are used by hikers tackling the Swartberg Hiking Trail. The road now swings through another big S-bend which brings the heading into the east, as the next set of switchbacks begins at the 12,4 km point. You will also notice a locked and gated jeep track heading eastwards just after the picnic spot. This is a known 4x4 route which is some 75 km long. Permits can be obtained from Cape Nature and/or the Swartberg Nature Reserve. There is a minimum number of vehicles required per trip for safety reasons. Immediately before the jeep track junction, some green roofed buildings appear on the left of the road, almost directly below the pass summit. This was originally the site of the road camp where the convicts were housed and perished that snowy night 120 years ago, when their roof caved in. Today, the buildings have been restored and serve as an information centre for the Swartberg Nature Reserve, as well as an overnight hikers hut and a tearoom. The next set of switchbacks consists of four hairpins and whilst they are most impressive, they are not quite in the league of those in Mullers Kloof. The road is also not so narrow and there are more opportunities to stop for sight seeing and photography. Looking south from the summit of the pass / Photo: BlogsausbettiesThe third hairpin changes the heading into the west, as the final pull up to the 1575m summit is tackled. Be prepared for cold, blustery conditions at the summit and be aware that there is limited parking. A sticker plastered sign announces: '"DIE TOP". This is not the optimum view site on the pass and the weather often spoils things as the wind can really howl through the neck, often reaching gale force conditions. It is much better to stop at one of the three viewsites along the southern descent. From Die Top, which is a natural saddle in the mountain, you will have expansive views to the south of most of the Klein Karoo, with it's patchwork of green farmlands, whilst the northern vista is entirely different, displaying much drier mountains with a massive gorge splitting the upper mountain plateau into two. It is along the western side of this gorge, that the road has delivered you. From the summit point, the road can be visually traced all the way back to Teeberg. If you are lucky enough to be at the summit alone, switch your car's engine off and listen to the incredible silence or the wind whistling past the rocks at Die Top. The moment the road curves through the sharp left hander at the summit, huge views of green fields and distant grey mountains open up. It is completely different to what has been on offer for the previous 40 minutes. All along the descent there are wonderful examples of Thomas Bain's perfectly constructed dry packed walls. Perfect examples of the dry packed supporting walls on the southern side / Photo: PanoramioThe descent is mainly into the east and other than dozens of bends, corners and curves, this direction is maintaned all the way to the valley floor. Maintain a slow and steady speed and make sure you keep well left on all the blind corners. CAUTIONARY: The Swartberg Pass is enormously popular with both local and international travellers as can be attested by the many hire cars that can be seen on the pass 7 days per week. Tourists tend to drift completely onto the wrong side of the road as they take in the grand scenery. On the day of filming we had two incidents where we would have had head on collisions, had we been driving faster. Be extra vigilant, blow your hooter as you enter a blind corner, drive with your headlights on and anticipate. There are four view/picnic sites on the southern ascent. If you are planning a picnic, the lowest site might be the most pleasant, as there is nearly always strong wind and cooler temperatures near the summit. The descent lasts for 10,3 kms and should take about 20 minutes to drive excluding stops. Although the pass carries the route number R328 it's administrative number is P0369. The second view site, named Skelmdraai is very good (if the wind is not blowing) with wonderful views and sufficient parking space for about 5 vehicles. From this site, there are excellent perspectives of Bain's propped up walls that run for 2,3 kilometres without a break. At the 18 km mark, there is a substantial ruin on the left hand side of the road (north), followed soon by a big picnic and view site. This is the last view site along the descent, if you intend taking a break. There are another four hairpins coming up, which commence at a ruin called Stalletjie, followed in quick succession by Witdraai. These start at the 20,4 km mark. Near the southern end of the Swartberg Pass looking west/ Photo: Thorsten KuttigThe road begins flattening out a little and the road surface improves as the foot of the pass is approached. After the last hairpin (which clears a side ravine), the road changes direction into the south and the road surface switches to tar at the 23,3 km point. The descent gradient remains reasonable and soon a large guest farm makes its appearance on the right hand side, which is Cobus se Gat. This is a good place to get some refreshment, reinflate your tyres and savour all the wonderful memories of driving the amazing Swartberg Pass. As you exit the final section of the pass and access the tar, you will be left with a feeling of awe, relief and disappointment all in one. Relief that you made it through without mishap and disappointment that it's all over. This pass ranks amongst the top 10 South African passes in terms of the total package. There are others which are higher, longer, sharper, more dangerous, but there is only one Swartberg Pass. This is the one pass you must experience at least once in your lifetime. It leaves one with the sense that those responsible for naming the various points up the pass, had exhausted their creative energies by the time they reached the summit (1575m ASL) as the best name they could come up with was Die Top. It must have been a monumental effort. The pass is a national monument / Photo: GoogleHistory: Thomas Bain, with the help of some 250 convict labourers built the pass from 1883 to 1886. He managed to keep the gradient lower than 1:8 throughout the pass, compared to the steeper 1:6 of the Montagu Pass. Bain cleverly used the ridges of the foothills for a comfortable 'altitude gaining' approach to the looming bulk of the Swartberg range, where he chose the lowest saddle as his target. It was tough going and there are many stories that abound about the hardships endured by these pioneering men. When the crest of the pass had been reached during the second winter, a road builders camp had been set up close to the summit. After a particularly heavy snowfall, the roof of the camp collapsed, killing several of the convicts. By this stage of his road building career Bain had developed several unique techniques employing his knowledge of science. One was his dry-walling construction using the principles of cohesion and friction, using no cement at all. This technique was first brought into South Africa by John Montagu and Charles Michell and the first known examples of dry walling to support roads dates to the Montagu Pass (built by Michell) and Bainskloof (built by Thomas Bain's father, Andrew Bain). The other was using heat and water to break big rocks up. A large fire would be lit under or near a difficult rock and then cold water would be poured over it, resulting in the rock cracking into smaller, more manageable pieces. Thomas acquired most of these skills from his father, (and to whom he was apprenticed for a several years), who had an intimate understanding of geology. In these early pioneering days, the tools employed were very rudimentary and consisted primarily of picks, shovels, sledgehammers, gunpowder and hard labour. Zoom in and out; rotate in any direction. Use the Get Route'feature (directly beneath the map): type in your address to get a personalised route straight from where you are to the pass, with time and distance included. Detailed written and printable directions. Drag the 'little orange man' icon onto the pass for a complete 360° tiltable "street view".

2019-04-24T12:22:36Z

https://mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za/find-a-pass/western-cape/item/126-swartberg-pass-part-1.html

Happy Halloween: Smiley’s Dog Costumes! Our first event came up unexpectedly, the Bridge and Tunnel Brewery was just a five minute walk from our apartment but we had no costume! I quickly cut out an avocado out of Dollar Tree cardboard paper and it was a success! Smiley won some toys and we got a growler for our fun last-minute costume. You may have noticed the dog pictures on my Instagram, or read the two posts I wrote about our rescue Smiley – you may have even read the viral Dodo article about his rescue story! Our unexpected adoption (it only took two weeks of fostering to realize that Smiley belonged with us forever) changed all our plans. All those crazy Halloween parties we wanted to go to turned into us going to dog-friendly pub events, the dog parade and tonight we’ll be going to the big NYC Halloween Parade with Smiley in tow. We ended up going to another last minute event, the Tompkins Square dog parade, so Smiley wore his same avocadog costume and got outshined by popes and other crazy intricate creative costumes! It was a lot of fun and we’re definitely going again next year with a better costume. Although most dogs wore hot dogs, delivery costumes and they rocked them, as a crafter I got inspired to do something a little more creative! Tonight, the parade is mainly for people but Smiley will hopefully steal the show – as long as he actually wears the costume I made him and it doesn’t fall apart. Stay tuned for photos of tonights shenanigans. Author olenakaguiPosted on October 31, 2018 Categories Animals and Pets, New YorkTags Avocadog, Halloween, Halloween parade, Halloween party, New York, Smiley, TompkinsLeave a comment on Happy Halloween: Smiley’s Dog Costumes! Two days ago we sent a $300 adoption fee to Pound Hounds Res-Q, the place that pulled Smiley from Brooklyn’s high kill shelter, NYACC. We had originally planned on fostering Smiley, the cute 6 year old pit mix who was abandoned because his former owners got pregnant. We were in no position to get a dog – we don’t make enough money and live in a small apartment, but we couldn’t let Smiley die. We ended up adopting Smiley after just two weeks of fostering, mostly because we fell in love with our foster boy and also because of Pound Hounds Res-Q. In addition to the fee, we also gave a small donation because of everything the rescue has done for us. Donating to rescues helps them save more dogs so I encourage everyone to do the same! The amazing thing about fostering, is that it’s practically free and saves lives! Shelters such as the NYACC become overcrowded and put animals on the kill list very quickly. They barely get a chance to get adopted! If you foster a dog, a rescue will cover the vet bills and any necessary training. Then you help the dog get decompressed, preferably crate trained and then you help them find a new forever home. Fostering is a great way to help animals without making a lifetime commitment, that many people can’t do. If we hadn’t ended up adopting Smiley, we would have likely kept fostering, because it has been so rewarding. Let me tell you a bit about it! Smiley went from the NYACC to the vet to get neutered, then a special service was hired to bring him to us. We had never met him or even see him in real life! Smiley was friendly and curious but he wouldn’t look up at me or make eye contact. He also didn’t respond to commands, although we were told that he knew to sit, stay and come. When I brought him inside, he explored the place, sniffing every corner and demanding to know what was behind every door. It took over an hour to get him to slow down and rest on his doggy bed. He lay there for a while until I tried to put his harness on for a walk. He wouldn’t let me put it on I’m and bared his teeth, so I backed off and let him sleep. A few hours later, after my husband came home, he let us put the harness on without any fuss. On his first walk with us, he pulled like crazy, giving us rope burn. He was so strong and wouldn’t listen at all outside. We immediately ordered a front pulling harness, but got dragged around painfully for three whole days. We also watched some videos on how to get a dogs attention on walks and we tried to implement them, which only half worked. The first evening while we watched TV, we saw him watching us from his bed. It was the first time he looked at us. Not surprising after being handed off from one person to another for ten days. He was scared and confused. We crated him that first night as instructed by the rescue. People want to adopt crate trained dogs and we had to try our best although we didn’t like the idea of him being in a small cage. He barked a bit but quickly went to sleep. The next morning he woke up wagging his tail at us, it was progress! The second day he acted like a spoiled child, pushing his boundaries. He would jump on the sofa, demand treats and he pulled me even harder outside. I may have had one or two breakdowns that day because I couldn’t connect with him. I couldn’t see anyone adopting a dog that was this crazy and I also didn’t know how long I could spend with him, but I didn’t want to disappoint him like humans have in the past. That night he barked more in his crate at night, and I was stressed knowing that we would have to leave him alone for up to six hours the next day. Everyone reassured me that he would be okay, as long as he wore a cone – he was recently neutered and could rip his stitches. When we came home after our trip, that we couldn’t cancel although we had wanted to, we found his cone out of shape and he was practically hanging by it because a piece got stuck in his crate. It was around his neck so tight that he coughed when I cut it off. He seemed fine otherwise and extra friendly, but I was traumatized by the experience. I was too scared of putting him back in the crate while he had his cone, so we let him sleep in our bedroom on his bed. When he woke up that Sunday (we had gotten him in the afternoon on Thursday) he was a completely different dog. He was so calm at home, looked at us, asked us for pats and actually listened when we gave him commands. That day we took him to a beer festival because we didn’t want to leave him home alone. We had been told that he shouldn’t be around other dogs or kids so we were extra careful. But he was calm around kids, accepting treats gently and he wagged his tail when he saw other dogs. We let him sniff a few and it seemed fine, we were starting to doubt everything that the kill shelter had said about him. We found a quiet spot at the chaotic festival and he sat with us, observing. People came over to meet him and he was so friendly and loving to everyone. No one believed that we had just rescued him. The next day we had received a front clipping harness and the moment we put it on him, he stopped pulling on walks. He still got distracted outside but he was so much better at walking calmly. We let him sniff more dogs and discovered that he was super friendly but couldn’t tell between dogs that wanted to play or fight. The following week he started to feel at home. We let him sit with us on the couch but still kept him out of bed. He behaved better every day. Except the one time he jumped on the bed when I screamed because I saw a spider – but that’s because I screamed and I assume that he was trying to protect me. During the week we also let him play with some dogs while leashed. He seemed to get along with everyone, ignoring the dogs who were aggressive and he backed away when an angry cat jumped out at him. He was clearly a good gentle boy! That second weekend we had him, we took him to an amazing day care Petbuddy Services for a trial day. We were nervous to see how he would get a long with other dogs but it went really well! After a day of playing with dogs, he was even calmer on walks and less jumpy when he met new dogs. The day he spent at doggy daycare we went out, but came home before picking Smiley up. Our home felt so empty without him even though he had only been there for ten days! That’s when we decided that we’d be keeping him. But we wanted to wait in case there were any issues with our landlord, although those were unlikely. On Wednesday we took him to the vet again, and even though the rescue knew we were 99% likely to adopt him, Pound Hounds Res-Q paid his bill. Later that evening, we officially paid his adoption fee and he became a part of our family. The next day, I let him play off leash with a bunch of friendly dogs at the park and he did so well, people didn’t believe me that he was a new rescue. Since getting Smiley there has been more stress in my life – we need to figure out where he will be while we’re on holiday. We need to worry about him getting sick, hurting himself or feeling lonely when he’s alone at home. I also have a companion at home now, a smiling face that makes me happier and I can’t walk him down the street without him getting compliments left and right. Oh, he also gets me out of the house more and breathing that fresh New York air! I’ve even met a few local dog owners that are quickly becoming friends. Of course I’m already worrying about Smiley dying one day, but that’s just how my brain works. He has already made my life so much better and more worthwhile. As much as I think that everyone should adopt a dog, or five, immediately, I understand that not everyone is int he position to do so. Foster! If you can’t adopt. Donate to rescues, if you want to help but can’t foster. Dogs, and animals in general, bring so much happiness and unconditional love to our hectic lives. They deserve our help and love, they should all feel safe and happy – the same way they make us feel. Please consider donating to Pound Hounds Res-Q today, without them we wouldn’t have this beautiful dog as a part of our family! We’ve been to Tonsai twice now – once in December and the second time in July. December was hot, dry, lively and exciting! In July it was dead, everything was closed, the weather was miserable! Tonsai is a great place that’s still pretty empty compared to Phi Phi Island and even neighboring beaches. While it’s the perfect getaway during high (and dry) season, it’s really not enjoyable during the low (monsoon) season. Unless you enjoy being one of 10 tourists on a hard to get to spot with only two available restaurants that mainly serve fried food. If you come any other time, you can enjoy a long tail boat ride to the beach, a choice of many restaurants, food vendors and bars, there are lots of people hanging out on the beach or at the hostels but there are also thieving mischievous monkeys! We’re Fostering a Dog Saved from the Kill Shelter! Smiley was pulled from the NYACC by Pound Hounds Res-Q. We are considering adopting him ourselves because he’s such a good boy. The Dodo wrote about him a week ago with the hopes that his story will inspire others to adopt, foster and rescue dogs in need! Author olenakaguiPosted on October 23, 2018 October 22, 2018 Categories Animals and Pets, New YorkTags dog saved, foster, fostering, kill shelter, Pound Hounds, Pound Hounds Resq, rescue, rescue dog, SmileyLeave a comment on We’re Fostering a Dog Saved from the Kill Shelter! The second time we visited Thailand was the middle of July, which is right when monsoon season is wreaking havoc on the island and keeping all those selfie-taking tourists away – but clearly not all of them. The first time we visited Thailand was during the dry winter months when it’s hot, overpopulated with tourists and low tied can ruin boat rides, kayaking and other water adventures. The second time we came in the middle of July, which is right when monsoon season is wreaking havoc on the island and keeping all those selfie-taking tourists away – but clearly not all of them. A week before we arrived the famous case of football camp boys who were stuck in a flooded cave and a ferry had sunk, drowning many on board. We didn’t know about this when we booked and it was quite scary to be there. We got lucky and the weather ended up clearing up, but all ferry and boat rides were rough, scary and puke-inducing. Puffballs of all sizes grow in the forest, alongside roads, in the middle of a green grassy lawn, they can really grow anywhere! You can stir fry them, cook them in the oven and my absolute favorite, is pretending they are pancakes! It’s prime mushroom picking season but it’s quickly cooling down. You might be seeing mushrooms all around you, even in city parks and on the side of highways! There’s still some time to go out and forage before winter chases us indoors for Netflix, hot chocolate and hibernation. However, most mushrooms take a lot of experience to identify which can be scary and discouraging. It is also extremely dangerous to eat anything that you’re not certain about. Although there are many YouTube videos and Facebook groups are not always a reliable way to be sure that you will be safe. Even after you read this article, go talk to experienced mushroom pickers, join a mycological society and always be overly careful. It is not legal to pick mushrooms everywhere. Ask a police officer, park ranger or at the info center where you can pick them. If you go anywhere else, you risk getting a hefty fine. In NYC it can be up to $250! Wild mushrooms are not like the ones you buy at the store. Some people might experience an allergy to a specific type even though they are not allergic to others. Some edible mushrooms have skins that certain people might react to with a stomach ache. Although I am lucky to be allergy free and tolerate everything I’ve tried so far, I’m aware that I might eat a perfectly good edible mushroom that might make me feel sick. Let’s get down to business, there are mushrooms that are growing everywhere around New York right now and they happen to taste delicious! The giant puffball (tiny ones are good too) is really easy to identify, grows to be huge so it’s satisfying to find and it’s a great way to begin your mushroom picking lifestyle. Puffballs come in round shapes and in various sizes. They don’t have any gills, or stems, they grow right out of the ground. The regular kind is small, round, white/grayish/yellowish with tiny bumps and they get dark and dry when they are ready to release their spores. When they are dry, you can stomp on them and they will puff out dark-colored spores, which is why they are called puffballs. Giant puffballs don’t taste any better than small ones, arguably they taste worse. But one big puffball can feed a family of three for a day. They can grow to be larger than your head! In their prime they are pure white on the outside and inside. If they are any there color, or have any markings, be cautious. Unlike the hen-of-the-woods that I wrote about earlier this week, giant puffballs do have a very poisonous lookalike, but it’s extremely easy to differentiate them! Once you pick a puffball, cut it down the middle from top to bottom, an edible puffball will have firm purely white firm flesh without any markings. It should look like sliced mozzarella! If the mushroom is off-white, it’s an edible kind that’s past it’s prime. Don’t eat it! There are several stages of a puffball going bad. First, the inside will get yellower but will remain firm. Then it’ll get wetter and darker, at this point the outside might be getting yellower too. Finally, it dries up and releases dark gray/black spores. Even when a puffball is yellow, it’s technically not poisonous. The only type of puffball that is poisonous, is one with black lines that look like intricate designs. These will be on the outside and on the inside. These puffballs are very poisonous and should NOT be consumed. Puffballs of all sizes grow in the forest, alongside roads, in the middle of a green grassy lawn, they can really grow anywhere! Just make sure to cut every single mushroom in half, and throw any puffball that isn’t pure white on the inside. The rule of thumb with mushrooms is, if there is any doubts, leave it behind. If you thought that the hen-of-the-woods had many recipes, just wait until you bring home a haul of puffballs. You can stir fry them, cook them in the oven and my absolute favorite, is pretending they are pancakes! All you need to do is cut 3/4 inch slices, fry them in the oven or on the pan with some coconut oil and cinnamon and serve with maple syrup. If you cook them long enough you can barely taste the difference – they are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Delicious. Here are some other recipes. Just a quick reminder, some people don’t react well to the skin of puffball mushrooms (or any mushroom skins). Some mushrooms have tough skin that’s supposed to protect the mushroom from being eaten, this skin can be hard to digest and some people are more sensitive than others. It’s very similar to the skin on certain nuts, if you’ve ever pooped out an intact almond, you know what I’m talking about. Personally, I eat the skin but please be aware that you might have a reaction to it! You can always start by eating a small piece with the skin on, wait a few hours and see how you feel. It can be scary to feel sick after eating a wild mushroom and not know why. Do you have any stories to share about puffballs? What’s your record find (size or amount)? What’s your favorite recipe? Share your puffball stories with us in the comments below! I find these mushrooms the most rewarding to pick, because even a small one is enough as a side dish to any meal and the bigger ones can feed an entire family! Every time I’ve looked for hens, I found at least one and usually had 2-4 kilos (4-9 pounds) in just 30 minutes of searching. Of course, you can also find a single mushroom that weighs 13+ kilos (30+ pounds). Let’s get down to business, there are mushrooms that are growing everywhere around New York right now and they happen to taste delicious! The hen-of-the-woods (maitake) doesn’t have any poisonous look alikes, grows to be huge so it’s satisfying to find and it’s a great way to begin your mushroom picking lifestyle. The hen-of-the-woods looks a little like the fluffy feathers of a hen, hence it’s name. Here are some photos of how they can look at different stages of growth. Don’t confuse the hen-of-the-woods with the chicken-of-the-woods. Chickens can grow higher up on the tree, they are orange and they grow in layers. I have heard a lot about these mushrooms and I’m told they’re delicious, however I haven’t found any yet and I don’t know how to tell them apart from the many other orange mushrooms that grow on trees! Stick with hens at the beginning, you can’t go wrong with them and there are plenty to go around! Hen-of-the-woods mushrooms typically grow on oak trees, so if you see acorns on the ground you’re in the right spot. If you look at the roots of an oak, you’ll notice that they have a clumpy shape with many little lumps which is very similar to the hen mushroom. From a distance, you might confuse a hen mushroom with some dried leaves. Always go check it out, and take a look around the entire tree. They tend to grow on bigger, wider oaks and there can be a several clusters of them around a single tree! Hen-of-the-woods are either off-white, kind of beige/grayish or more brownish, especially around it’s rounded edges. They always grow in clumps, so from a distance you could confuse them with clustered mushrooms – remember that even though it looks like a cluster, it’s one big mushroom that spreads out and looks fluffy. If you cut it at the stem and you see many individual mushrooms, it’s not a hen. If you see any gills (pictured below) it is NOT a hen. Hens are smooth, fluffy looking, single-stemmed mushrooms. Remember, the picture above is NOT a hen-of-the-woods. It’s an example of gills, that hens do NOT have. Sometimes, the hen-of-the-woods grows on trees other than oaks. If you want to be extra safe, you can stick to only eating the ones that you find on oak trees, although like I already said, there isn’t any dangerous look-a-like. Hens are very unique looking. Don’t forget to bring some common sense with you to the forest. If there are too many bugs on the hen, if it looks dry or off-color, then it’s probably not good for eating. While most insects are pretty safe to eat if cooked correctly, you should stay away from unintentional entomophagy. Plus, insects can cause allergic reactions in people who are also allergic to shellfish. Another common sense move is to avoid picking mushrooms in forests where there’s a mark on the tree, or a colorful rope tied around an area. These could mark a protected area, a sick tree, some sort of pest, pollution, disease, etc. If it looks questionable, don’t go there. Same goes for roadside mushrooms. Think about the pollution that they are exposed to. Would you like some car exhaust with your mushrooms? I don’t think so. Don’t pick anything that looks unclean (not including natural forest dirt) or could be polluted. Similarly to road exhaust, some places could be using pesticides or other chemicals in the area. Although most of us are already exposed to them from the food we buy in supermarkets, the less chemicals we consume, the better. When you find a hen and bring it home, watch a video on how to clean it correctly. It has many layers, the thick white stem isn’t as yummy as the rest of it so you want to cut that off and if possible, clean it outside or in a large tub to avoid clogging your drain with forest debris. If you see any holes, cut into them and remove any insects, spiders or slugs. How do you cook a hen? There are so many ways to cook these mushrooms! Chop them into tiny pieces and stir fry, with other veggies, or if you’re not vegetarian then maybe some meat, lard or eggs to make the perfect mushroomy omelette. The nutritional value of hens varies depending on the website, but everyone agrees that they have very little fat or protein and lots of vitamin D. Some websites claim that they have very few carbs, others claim that they are 70% carbs. Almost everyone agrees that they are a healthy addition to a balanced diet! I tend to use too much olive oil and caramelized onions to make a fatty, crispy, scrumptious meal but there are much healthier alternatives. You can cook them in the oven with coconut oil, you can steam them, boil them, grill them probably even air fry them. Whatever you chose to do, make sure to cook them well as they can be a bit chewy and hard on the stomach if you undercook hens, although this is true for mushrooms in general. You can find various recipes here. If you didn’t manage to find any, or didn’t want to risk picking the wrong mushroom, you can still enjoy eating wild hen-of-the-woods. Check out your local farmers markets from August until November and I guarantee that you’ll find some hens – generally for $1 per pound! Do you enjoy picking mushrooms? Have you tried hen-of-the-woods? Share your stories, tips, recipes and favorite mushroom picking spots in the comments below! Silkworms are popular insects in China because they are native to the region. In school, instead of watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly, people watch silkworms turn into moths! Soi Cowboy is the crazy street in Thailand known for strip clubs and prostitutes, but there are no ping-pong shows here! We visited the street just to people watch and it was quite a show. We saw women aggressively dragging single men into the clubs and offering all sorts of services. Soi Cowboy is the crazy street in Thailand known for strip clubs and prostitutes, but there are no ping-pong shows here! We visited the street just to people watch and it was quite a show. We saw women aggressively dragging single men into the clubs and offering all sorts of services. They also had a great happy hour deals which I enjoyed and it was an interesting place to visit. Of course, you couldn’t film inside and I only went in quickly to use the bathroom!

2019-04-22T10:48:02Z

https://thetravelbugbite.com/2018/10/

The day is drawing near when the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will celebrate the fourth centenary of the union between the Bishops of the Metropolia of Kievan Rus' and the Apostolic See. The union was effected at the meeting of representatives of the Metropolia of Kiev with the Pope on 23 December 1595 and was solemnly proclaimed at Brest-Litovsk on the River Bug on 16 October 1596. Pope Clement VIII, in the Apostolic Constitution Magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis,1 announced the union to the whole Church and in the Apostolic Letter Benedictus sit Pastor2 he addressed the Bishops of the Metropolia, informing them that the union had taken place. The Union of Brest opened a new page in the history of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine.4 Today that Church wishes to sing with joy a hymn of thanksgiving and praise to the One who, once more, has brought it back from death to life, and it wishes to set forth with renewed enthusiasm on the path marked out by the Second Vatican Council. Joining the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in this thanksgiving and petition are the Greek Catholic Churches of the diaspora which date back to the Union of Brest, together with the other Eastern Catholic Churches and the entire Church. As the Bishop of Rome, I too wish to unite myself to the Catholics of the Byzantine tradition in those lands. For many years, during my pastoral ministry in Poland, I sensed a physical as well as a spiritual closeness with that Church, which was then undergoing such difficult trials. After my election to the See of Peter, I considered it a pressing duty, following the example of my Predecessors, to speak out in defence of its right to exist and freely to profess its faith, at a time when both these rights were being denied. I now have the privilege of joyfully sharing in its celebration of these days of regained freedom. 2. The celebrations commemorating the Union of Brest must be seen in the context of the Millennium of the Baptism of the Rus'. Seven years ago, in 1988, that event was celebrated with great solemnity. For the occasion I published two documents: the Apostolic Letter Euntes in mundum of 25 January 1988,5 for the whole Church, and the Message Magnum Baptismi donum, of 14 February of the same year,6 addressed to Ukrainian Catholics. It was an occasion for celebrating a moment of fundamental importance for the Christian and cultural identity of those peoples, a moment of unique significance, since at that time the Churches of the Byzantine tradition and the Church of Rome were still living in full communion. After the division which damaged the unity between the West and the Byzantine East, frequent and intense efforts were made to restore full communion. I wish to mention two particularly significant events: the Second Council of Lyons in 1274, and above all the Council of Florence in 1439, when protocols of union with the Eastern Churches were signed. Unfortunately, various causes prevented the promise and potential of those agreements from being realized. The Bishops of the Metropolia of Kiev, in restoring communion with Rome, made explicit reference to the decisions of the Council of Florence, a Council which had numbered among its participants representatives from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In this context, the figure of Metropolitan Isidore of Kiev stands out. As a faithful interpreter and defender of the decisions of that Council, he had to endure exile for his convictions. The Bishops who promoted the union and the members of their Church retained a lively awareness of their original close ties to their Orthodox brethren, together with a full consciousness of the Oriental identity of their Metropolia, an identity which was also to be upheld after the union. In the history of the Catholic Church, it is a highly significant fact that this just desire was respected and that the act of union did not involve passing over to the Latin tradition, as some thought would happen. Their Church saw an acknowledgment of its right to be governed by its own hierarchy with a specific discipline and to maintain its Eastern liturgical and spiritual heritage. 3. After the union, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church enjoyed a period in which its ecclesiastical structures flourished, with resulting benefits for religious life, the education of the clergy and the spiritual commitment of the faithful. With remarkable farsightedness, great importance was attached to education. Thanks to the valuable contribution of the Basilian Order and other Religious Congregations, there was a great growth in the study of the sacred sciences and the nation's culture. In the present century, a figure of extraordinary prestige, in this regard as well as in his witness of suffering borne for Christ, was Metropolitan Andrii Sheptyckyi, whose education and fine spiritual qualities were combined with outstanding organizational gifts. He founded schools and academies, supported theological studies and the human sciences, the press and sacred art, and sought to preserve historical memories. And yet, all this ecclesial vitality was continually marked by the tragedy of misunderstanding and opposition. An illustrious victim in this regard was the Archbishop of Polock and Vitebsk, Josaphat Kuntsevych, whose martyrdom merited the unfading crown of eternal glory. His body now lies in the Vatican Basilica, where it is continuously venerated with devotion and gratitude by Catholics from throughout the world. Outstanding among the heroic witnesses to the rights not only of the faith but also of human conscience in those difficult years is the figure of Metropolitan Josyf Slipyj: his courage in enduring exile and prison for 18 years and his indomitable confidence in the resurrection of his Church make him one of the most powerful figures among the confessors of the faith in our time. Nor should his many companions in punishment be forgotten, particularly Bishops Hryhory Khomyshyn and Josaphat Kocylowskyj. These tempestuous events shook the Church in the homeland to its roots. But Divine Providence had already begun to make it possible for many of its members to find a way of escape for themselves and their people. From the beginning of the 19th century onwards, great waves of emigrants began to cross the ocean, settling above all in Canada, the United States of America, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. The Holy See took care to be close to them, by providing assistance and establishing pastoral structures for them in their new homes, including the establishment of their own Eparchies. At the time of trial, during the atheistic persecution in their native land, the voice of these believers could thus be raised, in full freedom, with strength and courage. In the international forum they defended the right of their persecuted brethren to religious freedom, and thus strengthened the Second Vatican Council's appeal for religious freedom,8 and the efforts made in this regard by the Holy See. 4. The whole Catholic Community recalls with deep emotion the victims of such great suffering: the martyrs and confessors of the faith of the Church in Ukraine offer us a magnificent lesson in fidelity even at the price of life itself. And we, the favoured witnesses of their sacrifice, are aware that they helped to maintain the dignity of a world which seemed overwhelmed by atrocities. They knew the truth, and the truth set them free. Christians in Europe and throughout the world, pausing in prayer before the concentration camps and prisons, should be grateful for the light which they gave: it was the light of Christ, which they caused to shine in the darkness. For long years the darkness seemed in the eyes of the world to prevail, but it was not able to extinguish that light, which was the light of God and the light of man, wounded but not laid low. This inheritance of suffering and glory today stands at a historic crossroads: now that the chains of imprisonment have been broken, the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine has begun again to breathe in freedom and to regain fully its own active role in the Church and in history. This task, difficult yet providential, today calls for particular reflection, that it may be carried out with wisdom and farsightedness. 5. The celebration of the Union of Brest should be lived and interpreted in the light of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. This is perhaps the most important aspect for understanding the significance of the anniversary. It is well known that the Second Vatican Council made a special point of studying the mystery of the Church, and that one of the most important documents which it produced was the Constitution Lumen gentium. Precisely because of this detailed study the Council takes on a particular ecumenical significance. This is confirmed by the Decree Unitatis redintegratio, which presents a very enlightened programme of activities to be carried out in the work for Christian unity. Thirty years after the conclusion of the Council, I wished to reiterate this programme with my Encyclical Letter Ut unum sint, published on 25 May of this year.9 This Encyclical traces the ecumenical progress which has been made since the Second Vatican Council and, at the same time, looking to the third millennium of the Christian era, it seeks to open up new possibilities for the future. Putting the celebrations of the coming year in the context of a reflection on the Church, as proposed by the Council, I am anxious above all to encourage a deeper understanding of the proper role which the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is called to play today in the ecumenical movement. To promote dialogue with the Byzantine Orthodox Churches, there was set up, after the Second Vatican Council, a special Mixed Commission which also included among its members representatives of the Eastern Catholic Churches. In various documents efforts have been made to arrive at a deeper and greater understanding between the Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Catholic Churches, efforts which have not been without positive results. In my Apostolic Letter Orientale lumen11 and in my Encyclical Letter Ut unum sint12 I have already written of the elements of sanctification and truth13 common to Eastern and Western Christianity, and of the desirable path to follow in the search for full communion between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches, in the light of the greater ecclesiological understanding brought about by the Second Vatican Council: "Today we know that unity can be achieved through the love of God only if the Churches want it together, in full respect for the traditions of each and for necessary autonomy. We know that this can take place only on the basis of the love of Churches which feel increasingly called to manifest the one Church of Christ, born from one Baptism and from one Eucharist, and which want to be sisters".14 The deepening of knowledge of the doctrine on the Church, brought about by the Council and continuing since the Council, has marked out what can be called a new path on the journey to unity: the path of the dialogue of truth nourished and sustained by the dialogue of charity (cf. Eph 4: 15). 7. The shift from an underground existence has meant a radical change in the situation of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: this Church has found itself facing the grave problems of rebuilding the structures of which it had been completely deprived and, more generally, it has had to commit itself to rediscovering itself fully, not only from within, but also in relation to the other Churches. Thanks be to God for having enabled it to celebrate this jubilee with religious freedom regained. Thanks be to God also for the growth of the dialogue of charity, whereby significant progress has been made on the road to the much desired reconciliation with the Orthodox Churches. Numerous migrations and deportations have redrawn the religious geography of those lands; many years of official State atheism have profoundly affected people's minds; there is still not enough clergy to respond to the immense needs of religious and moral reconstruction: these are some of the more dramatic challenges facing all of the Churches. In the face of these difficulties a common witness of charity is required, in order that the proclamation of the Gospel may not be impeded. As I said in my Apostolic Letter Orientale lumen, "today we can co-operate in proclaiming the Kingdom or we can become the upholders of new divisions".15 May the Lord guide our feet into the way of peace. 8. In the new-found freedom we cannot forget the persecution and martyrdom which the Churches of that region, both Catholic and Orthodox, suffered in their own flesh. This is an important aspect for the Church of all times, as I recalled in my Apostolic Letter Tertio millennio adveniente.16 It concerns a particularly significant heritage of the Churches of Europe, which remain profoundly marked by it: this needs to be studied in the light of the Word of God. Remembrance of the martyrs cannot be erased from the memory of the Church or of humanity: whether victims of the ideologies of the East or of the West, all of them are brought together in fellowship by the violence whereby hatred for the faith violated the dignity of the human person, created by God "in his image and likeness". Pope John XXIII was fond of repeating: "What unites us is much greater than what divides us". I am convinced that this attitude can be a great benefit to all the Churches. More than 30 years have gone by since the Pope made this statement. In this period of time there have been many indications which suggest to us that Christians have made progress in this direction. Eloquent signs of this progress have been the fraternal meetings between Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I, and those which I myself have had with the Ecumenical Patriarchs Dimitrios and, more recently, Bartholomaios, and with other venerable Patriarchs of the Churches of the East. All this, together with the many initiatives involving meetings and dialogue which are being promoted everywhere in the Church, encourages us to have hope: the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of unity, does not cease to work among Christians still separated from one another. And yet human weakness and sin continue to resist the Spirit of unity. Sometimes one even has the impression that there are forces ready to do almost anything in order to slow down, and even put an end to, the movement towards Christian unity. But we cannot give in: daily we must find the courage and strength, which at one and the same time are the gift of the Spirit and the result of human effort, to continue on the path already undertaken. 10. In recalling the Union of Brest we must ask ourselves what this event means today. It was a union which concerned only a particular geographical region, but it is relevant for the entire field of ecumenism. The Eastern Catholic Churches can make a very important contribution to ecumenism. The Council's Decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum reminds us that "the Eastern Churches in communion with the Apostolic See of Rome have a special role to play in promoting the unity of all Christians, particularly Easterners, according to the principles of this sacred Synod's Decree on Ecumenism: first of all by prayer, then by the example of their lives, by religious fidelity to ancient Eastern traditions, by greater mutual knowledge, by collaboration, and by a brotherly regard for objects and attitudes".20 From this it follows that Eastern Catholics are to commit themselves to living profoundly what the Decree lays out. They are asked to make a confession of faith full of humility and gratitude to the Holy Spirit, who guides the Church towards the fulfilment promised her by the Redeemer of the world. 11. Prayer will therefore be the fundamental element which should mark the celebration of this jubilee. Such prayer above all involves giving thanks for all that has been accomplished, down the centuries, by commitment to the Church's unity, and especially for the impulse given to the search for unity as a result of the Second Vatican Council. This prayer is one of thanksgiving to the Lord, who guides the unfolding of history, for the situation of new-found religious freedom in which this jubilee is being celebrated. It is also an appeal to the Spirit-Paraclete, that he may cause to flourish everything which promotes unity, and may give courage and strength to all those who commit themselves, according to the guidelines of the Council's Decree Unitatis redintegratio, to this work blessed by God. It is a plea for the gift of brotherly love, and for the forgiveness of offences and injustices suffered in the course of history. It is a petition that the power of the living God will bring good even out of the cruel and many-faceted evil caused by acts of human malice. This prayer also expresses hope for the future of the ecumenical journey: the power of God is greater than all human weaknesses, whether old or new. If this jubilee of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, on the threshold of the third millennium, marks a step forward towards full Christian unity, this result will be first of all the work of the Holy Spirit. 12. The jubilee celebrations should also be a time of reflection. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church must first of all ask itself what full communion with the Apostolic See meant for it in the past, and what it will mean for it in the future. In a spirit of humble thanksgiving, the Greek Catholic Church will give glory to God, for its heroic fidelity to the Successor of Peter and, under the action of the Holy Spirit, it will understand that today this same fidelity commits it to fostering the unity of all the Churches. This fidelity cost it sufferings and martyrdom in the past: this is a sacrifice offered to God in order to implore the hoped-for union. 13. We cannot fail to entrust the yearning for full Christian unity to the Mother of Christ, she who is ever present in the work of the Lord and of his Church. Chapter Eight of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium points to her as the one who goes before us on our earthly pilgrimage of faith and is tenderly present to the Church which, at the end of the second millennium, is working to re-establish among all those who believe in Christ that unity which the Lord wills for them. Because she is the Mother of the one Christ, she is the Mother of unity. Since Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, gave birth to the Son of God, who received from her his human body, she ardently wills the visible unity of all believers who make up the Mystical Body of Christ. The veneration of Mary, which unites East and West so intimately, will serve, I am convinced, the cause of unity. The Most Holy Virgin, already present everywhere in our midst both in so many sacred buildings and in the life of faith of so many families continuously speaks of unity, a unity for which she constantly intercedes. If today, in commemorating the Union of Brest, we recall the marvellous wealth of veneration that the Christian people of the Ukraine have offered to the Mother of God, we cannot but draw from this admiration for the history, spirituality and prayer of those peoples the consequences for unity which are so closely linked to those treasures. Mary, who has inspired in their trials fathers and mothers, young people, the sick and the aged; Mary, the column of fire capable of guiding so many martyrs of the faith, is certainly at work in preparing the hoped-for union of all Christians: in the light of this, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church certainly has its own role to play. To Mary the Church offers her thanks and asks her to make us share her concern for unity. With filial trust let us abandon ourselves to her, that we may be with her where God will be all in all. To you, dear Brothers and Sisters, I impart my Apostolic Blessing. From the Vatican, on 12 November, Memorial of Saint Josaphat, in the year 1995, the eighteenth of my Pontificate. 1) Cf. Bullarium romanum V/2 (1594-1602), 87-92. 2) Cf. A. Welykyj, Documenta Pontificum Romanorum Historiam Ucrainae illustrantia, t. I, p. 257-259. 3) Cf. AAS 38 (1946), 33-63. 5) Cf. AAS 80 (1988), 935-956. 7) Cf. AAS 38 (1946), 54-57. Those fears would be disturbingly confirmed a few years later, as the same Pope precisely brought out in the Encyclical Epistle Orientales Ecclesias (15 December 1952): AAS 45 (1953), 7-10. 8) Cf. Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis humanae. 9) Cf. L'Osservatore Romano, 31 May 1995, 1-8. 10) Ibid., n. 14, loc. cit., 2. 11) Cf. nn. 18-19; L'Osservatore Romano, 2-3 May 1995, 4. 12) Cf. nn. 12-14; L'Osservatore Romano, 31 May 1995, 2. 13) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis redintegratio, n. 3. 14) John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Orientale lumen (2 May 1995), n. 20; L'Osservatore Romano, 2-3 May 1995, 4. 15) N. 19; L'Osservatore Romano, 2-3 May 1995, 4. 16) Cf. AAS 87 (1995), 29-30; Encyclical Letter Ut unum sint, n. 84; L'Osservatore Romano, 31 May 1995, 7. 17) Apol. 50, 13: CCL I, 171. 18) John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ut unum sint, n. 84: L'Osservatore Romano, 31 May 1995, 7. 19) Ibid., n. 50, loc. cit., 5.

2019-04-23T16:01:40Z

http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1995/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19951112_iv-cent-union-brest.html

We all have read the tales told of Jesus in the Gospels, but few people really have a good idea of their context. Yet it is quite enlightening to examine them against the background of the time and place in which they were written, and my goal here is to help you do just that. There is abundant evidence that these were times replete with kooks and quacks of all varieties, from sincere lunatics to ingenious frauds, even innocent men mistaken for divine, and there was no end to the fools and loons who would follow and praise them. Placed in this context, the gospels no longer seem to be so remarkable, and this leads us to an important fact: when the Gospels were written, skeptics and informed or critical minds were a small minority. Although the gullible, the credulous, and those ready to believe or exaggerate stories of the supernatural are still abundant today, they were much more common in antiquity, and taken far more seriously. If the people of that time were so gullible or credulous or superstitious, then we have to be very cautious when assessing the reliability of witnesses of Jesus. As Thomas Jefferson believed when he composed his own version of the gospels, Jesus may have been an entirely different person than the Gospels tell us, since the supernatural and other facts about him, even some of his parables or moral sayings, could easily have been added or exaggerated by unreliable witnesses or storytellers. Thus, this essay is not about whether Jesus was real or how much of what we are told about him is true. It is not even about Jesus. Rather, this essay is a warning and a standard, by which we can assess how likely or easily what we are told about Jesus may be false or exaggerated, and how little we can trust anyone who claims to be a witness of what he said and did. For if all of these other stories below could be told and believed, even by Christians themselves, it follows that the Gospels, being of entirely the same kind, can all too easily be inaccurate, tainted by the gullibility, credulity, or fondness for the spectacular which characterized most people of the time. Even in Acts, we get an idea of just how gullible people could be. Surviving a snake bite was evidently enough for the inhabitants of Malta to believe that Paul himself was a god (28:6). And Paul and his comrade Barnabas had to go to some lengths to convince the Lycaonians of Lystra that they were not deities. For the locals immediately sought to sacrifice to them as manifestations of Hermes and Zeus, simply because a man with bad feet stood up (14:8-18). These stories show how ready people were to believe that gods can take on human form and walk among them, and that a simple show was sufficient to convince them that mere men were such divine beings. And this evidence is in the bible itself. Beyond the bible, the historian Josephus supplies some insights. Writing toward the end of the first century, himself an eye-witness of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D, he tells us that the region was filled with "cheats and deceivers claiming divine inspiration" (Jewish War, 2.259-60; Jewish Antiquities, 20.167), entrancing the masses and leading them like sheep, usually to their doom. The most successful of these "tricksters" appears to be "the Egyptian" who led a flock of 30,000 believers around Palestine (Jewish War, 2.261-2; Paul is mistaken for him by a Roman officer in Acts 21:38). This fellow even claimed he could topple the walls of Jerusalem with a single word (Jewish Antiquities, 20.170), yet it took a massacre at the hands of Roman troops to finally instill doubt in his followers. Twenty years later, a common weaver named Jonathan would attract a mob of the poor and needy, promising to show them many signs and portents (Jewish War, 7.437-8). Again, it took military intervention to disband the movement. Josephus also names a certain Theudas, another "trickster" who gathered an impressive following in Cyrene around 46 A.D., claiming he was a prophet and could part the river Jordan (Jewish Antiquities, 20.97). This could be the same Theudas mentioned in Acts 5:36. Stories like these also remind us of the faithful following that Simon was reported to have had in Acts 8:9-11, again showing how easy it was to make people believe you had "the power of god" at your disposal. Jesus was not unique in that respect. Miracles were also a dime a dozen in this era. The biographer Plutarch, a contemporary of Josephus, engages in a lengthy digression to prove that a statue of Tyche did not really speak in the early Republic (Life of Coriolanus 37.3). He claims it must have been a hallucination inspired by the deep religious faith of the onlookers, since there were, he says, too many reliable witnesses to dismiss the story as an invention (38.1-3). He even digresses further to explain why other miracles such as weeping or bleeding--even moaning--statues could be explained as natural phenomena, showing a modest but refreshing degree of skeptical reasoning that would make the Amazing Randi proud. What is notable is not that Plutarch proves himself to have some good sense, but that he felt it was necessary to make such an argument at all. Clearly, such miracles were still reported and believed in his own time. I find this to be a particularly interesting passage, since we have thousands of believers flocking to weeping and bleeding statues even today. Certainly the pagan gods must also exist if they could make their statues weep and bleed as well! Miraculous healings were also commonplace. Suetonius, another biographer writing a generation after Plutarch, reports that even the emperor Vespasian once cured the blind and lame (Life of Vespasian 7.13; this "power" being attributed to the god Serapis--incidentally the Egyptian counterpart to Asclepius; cf. also Tacitus, Histories 4.81). Likewise, statues with healing powers were common attractions for sick people of this era. Lucian mentions the famous healing powers of a statue of Polydamas, an athlete, at Olympia, as well as the statue of Theagenes at Thasos (Council of the Gods 12). Both are again mentioned by Pausanias, in his "tour guide" of the Roman world (6.5.4-9, 11.2-9). Lucian also mentions the curative powers of the statue of a certain General Pellichos (Philopseudes 18-20). And Athenagoras, in his Legatio pro Christianis (26), polemicizes against the commonplace belief in the healing powers of statues, mentioning, in addition to the statue of a certain Neryllinus, the statues of Proteus and Alexander, the same two men I discuss in detail below. But above all these, the "pagans" had Asclepius, their own healing savior, centuries before, and after, the ministry of Christ. Surviving testimonies to his influence and healing power throughout the classical age are common enough to fill a two-volume book (Edelstein and Edelstein, Asclepius: A Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies, in two volumes, 1945--entries 423-450 contain the most vivid testimonials). Of greatest interest are the inscriptions set up for those healed at his temples. These give us almost first hand testimony, more reliable evidence than anything we have for the miracles of Jesus, of the blind, the lame, the mute, even the victims of kidney stones, paralytics, and one fellow with a spearhead stuck in his jaw (see the work cited above, p. 232), all being cured by this pagan "savior." And this testimony goes on for centuries. Inscriptions span from the 4th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. and later, all over the Roman Empire. Clearly, the people of this time were quite ready to believe such tales. They were not remarkable tales at all. This more general evidence of credulity in the Roman Empire shows the prevalence of belief in divine miracle working of all kinds. I will now present you with three historical individuals who truly flesh out the picture. Apollonius, Peregrinus, and Alexander are three rather interesting religious founders about whom we know even more than we do of Jesus. The first, Apollonius of Tyana, is often called the "pagan Christ," since he also lived during the first century, and performed a similar ministry of miracle-working, preaching his own brand of ascetic Pythagoreanism--he was also viewed as the son of a god, resurrected the dead, ascended to heaven, performed various miracles, and criticized the authorities with pithy wisdom much like Jesus did. Naturally, his story is one that no doubt grew into more and more fantastic legends over time, until he becomes an even more impressive miracle-worker than Jesus in the largest surviving work on him, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, written by Philostratus around 220 A.D. This work is available today in two volumes as part of the Loeb Classical Library, published by Harvard University Press, a set that also includes the surviving fragments of Apollonius' own writings (if only Jesus had bothered to write something!) as well as the Treatise against him by the Christian historian Eusebius. There were other books written about him immediately after his death, but none survive. Even Eusebius, in his Treatise against Apollonius, does not question his existence, or the reality of many of his miracles--rather, he usually tries to attribute them to trickery or demons. This shows the credulity of the times, even among educated defenders of the Christian faith, but it also shows how easy it was to deceive. Since they readily believed in demons and magical powers, it should not surprise us that they believed in resurrections and transmutations of water to wine. We also know that the cult that grew up around Apollonius survived for many centuries after his death. An inscription from as late as the 3rd century names him as a sort of pagan "absolver of sins," sent from heaven (Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed., 1996). The emperor Caracalla erected a shrine to him in Tyana around 215 A.D (Dio Cassius, 78.18; for a miraculous display of clairvoyance on the part of Apollonius, see 67.18). According to one account, the ghost of Apollonius even appeared to the emperor Aurelian to convince him to stop his siege of Tyana, whereupon he also erected a shrine to him around 274 A.D. (Historia Augusta: Vita Aureliani 24.2-6). Later Arabic sources even discuss the fame and potency of certain relics associated with him, which remained in use well into the sixth and seventh centuries, the last of them apparently destroyed by crusaders in 1204 A.D. So popular was the belief in the power of these "talismans" that the Church was forced to accept their use, even while condemning Apollonius and his shrines as demonic (see sources below). And so, we see here an independent confirmation that blind belief in the divine status and miraculous powers of mere mortals easily captivated the people of this time, a fact that even modern Christians must admit. An even more colorful story is that of a crazy fellow called Peregrinus, nicknamed "Proteus," who set himself on fire during the Olympic games in 165 A.D. to prove his faith in reincarnation. The notion of suicide as a proof of such faith was not new. Indian Brahmans had immolated themselves before Western audiences on several occasions before, the most famous being Calanus, at Susa, in front of Alexander the Great, and Zarmarus, at Athens, in front of Augustus (Plutarch, Alexander 69.8). What is most relevant, however, is the fascinating story told about him by the skeptic Lucian in his satirical work, "The Death of Peregrinus." Lucian knew Proteus personally, and he gives us a look at what the story of Jesus might have been had a skeptic been around to give us a different account. While Aulus Gellius had also met this man in Athens, and was impressed enough to call him a man of "dignity and fortitude" (Attic Nights 11.1-7), Lucian had another point of view. He describes the vainglorious motivations of Proteus, and the duped mobs clamoring for a miracle. He also mentions the gullibility of Christians, who, he says, were easily duped by scam artists (13). Indeed, after the death of Peregrinus, people reported that he was, like Jesus, risen from the dead, wearing white raiment, and that he ascended to heaven in the form of a vulture (40). The punch line is that this latter story may have been a deliberate invention of Lucian himself (39), told to gullible followers, and later recounted to him as if it were fact, showing the effects of the rumor mill at work. Indeed, even people who were in the same city at the time were ready to believe that an earthquake accompanied his death, reminding us of the absurd miracles surrounding the death of Jesus recounted without a blush in Matthew 27:51-54. How easy it was for such stories to be believed! Even if this tale is filled with rhetoric on the part of Lucian, his criticism of gullibility would have no weight if it did not ring true. Peregrinus also had a small cult following after his death. His staff was treated as a religious relic (Lucian, The Ignorant Book Collector 14), his disciples preached his doctrine (Lucian, Runaways), and his statue healed the sick and gave oracles (Athenagoras, cited above). But his bid for religious glory was not as successful as another man, Alexander of Abonuteichos. Lucian dedicates an even longer and more vicious account of his personal contacts with this man, whom he calls "the quack prophet." The account alone is detailed and entertaining, but for our present purpose it illustrates how easy it was to invent a god and watch the masses scurry to worship it. His scam began around 150 A.D. and lasted well beyond his death in 170 A.D., drawing the patronage of emperors and provincial governors as well as the commons. His cult may have even lasted into the 4th century, although the evidence is unclear. The official story was that a snake-god with a human head was born as an incarnation of Asclepius, and Alexander was his keeper and intermediary. With this arrangement Alexander gave oracles, offered intercessory prayers, and even began his own mystery religion. Lucian tells us the inside story. Glycon was in fact a trained snake with a puppet head, and all the miracles surrounding him were either tall tales or the ingenious tricks of Alexander himself. But what might we think had there been no Lucian to tell us this? So credulous was the public as well as the government, that a petition to change the name of the town where the god lived, and to strike a special coin in his honor (Lucian, Alexander 58), was heeded, and we have direct confirmation of both facts: such coins have been found, dating from the reign of Antoninus Pius and continuing up into the 3rd century, bearing the unique image of a human-headed snake god. Likewise, the town of Abonuteichos was petitioned to be renamed Ionopolis, and the town is today known as Ineboli, a clear derivation. Even statues, inscriptions, and other carvings survive, attesting to this Alexander and his god Glycon and their ensuing cult (Culture and Society in Lucian, pp. 138, 143). As for his influence, Lucian tells us that Severianus, the governor of Cappadocia, was killed in Armenia because he believed an oracle of Alexander's (27), and Rutilianus, the governor of Moesia and Asia, was also a devout follower, and even married Alexander's daughter. Indeed, Alexander's "god" was so popular that people rushed all the way from Rome to consult him (30), and even the emperor Marcus Aurelius sought his prophecy (48). From this it is all the more apparent that religious crazes were a dime a dozen in the time and place of the Gospels, helping to explain why a new and strange religion like Christianity could become so popular, and its claims--which to us sound absurd--could be so readily believed. The final lesson from the case of Alexander and Peregrinus is that Lucian's skeptical debunking never persuaded any believers, showing that even the rare skeptic, no matter how convincing his arguments and evidence, could have no practical effect on the credulous. The vast majority would never read or hear anything he wrote, and most of those who did would dismiss it. Indeed, believers were hostile to critical thought and would shout the skeptics down and drive off even suspected doubters in their midst, as actually happened in the case of Alexander: before every ceremony, the congregation would cry "Away with the Epicureans! Away with the Christians!" (and atheists and unbelievers in general: 38) since these two groups had a reputation for trying to debunk popular religion (this hostility could even come to slander and violence: 25). In effect, this was like clamping their hands over their ears and humming, deliberately refusing even to hear reasonable arguments, much less to consider their force. From all of this one thing should be apparent: the age of Jesus was not an age of critical reflection and remarkable religious acumen. It was an era filled with con artists, gullible believers, martyrs without a cause, and reputed miracles of every variety. In light of this picture, the tales of the Gospels do not seem very remarkable. Even if they were false in every detail, there is no evidence that they would have been disbelieved or rejected as absurd by many people, who at the time had little in the way of education or critical thinking skills. They had no newspapers, telephones, photographs, or public documents to consult to check a story. If they were not a witness, all they had was a man's word. And even if they were a witness, the tales above tell us that even then their skills of critical reflection were lacking. Certainly, this age did not lack keen and educated skeptics--it is not that there were no skilled and skeptical observers. There were. Rather, the shouts of the credulous rabble overpowered their voice and seized the world from them, boldly leading them all into the darkness of a thousand years of chaos. Perhaps we should not repeat the same mistake. After all, the wise learn from history. The fool ignores it. Glenn Miller has written a rebuttal to this essay ("Were the Miracles of Jesus invented by the Disciples/Evangelists?" 2002), in response to which I changed some of the language above so as not to give a mistaken impression of my meaning. Miller's title has little to do with my essay, since I am not arguing here (even if I do elsewhere) that anyone in particular "invented" the miracles of Jesus. Rather, I am merely presenting a survey of the social and intellectual context in which those miracles came to be believed. As to the remainder of Miller's criticism of this essay specifically, I plan to respond in a future rebuttal (which will be announced here). But one simple point must be made even now: almost all of Miller's relevant evidence comes from the educated or even scholarly elite (like Lucian), and thus in no way represents the average man or woman in antiquity, who by their very circumstance wrote nothing for Miller to examine. I would guess that skilled skeptics and skeptical viewpoints like those Miller finds probably could not be found in much more than 10% of the population of the time, if even that--but whose existence I acknowledged even in the original draft of this essay. The fact that pagan miracle working is not much heard of today is in large part due to the more effective Christian propaganda during the Empire and, of course, a thousand years of censorship afterward. An excellent discussion of the former, and how it contributed to the eventual success of the Church, is given by Thomas Matthews in The Clash of the Gods: A Reinterpretation of Christian Art (1993). For a broad comparative study of holy men of all faiths (Christian, pagan, and Jewish) in the time of Jesus, an excellent source is Sage, Saint, and Sophist: Holy Men and their Associates in the Early Roman Empire, by Graham Anderson (1994). Both are highly recommended. The most extensive study on the historicity of Apollonius as well as his cult and legend can be found in the otherwise dry work by Maria Dzielska, Apollonius of Tyana in Legend and History, translated by Piotr Pienkowski (L'Erma di Bretschneider, 1986). Interested scholars should begin there. In particular, the source tradition on his magic "talismans" is a complicated affair, but their history and reluctant acceptance by the Church is discussed at great length by Dzielska in chapter 3. As for Lucian, his works about Peregrinus and Alexander are available in a very readable and engaging English translation in Lionel Casson's Selected Satires of Lucian (1962). These two stories are a very fun read, and well worth seeking out. An excellent survey and analysis of Lucian's works and his surrounding culture is available in Culture and Society in Lucian by C. P. Jones (1986). This is, in fact, a must-read for anyone interested in the contrast between free thought and gullibility in the Roman Empire. It has entire chapters dedicated to Peregrinus and Alexander. Finally, Lucian's Philopseudes (or "Lover of Lies") is a virtual treasure trove of examples of ancient credulity and superstition that is a must-read source on the subject (it can be found in vol. 3 of Lucian's works in the Loeb Classical Library).

2019-04-21T18:52:02Z

https://infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/kooks.html

Adult Open Hip Hop- All 10 classes discount $195 Drop in Rate: $23 available at the front desk. She has taught the French Language continuously for decades and has been in Seattle teaching French for Highline Community College for the past for 11 years. She will be offering a 5 week course in the French Language at WSPA that will be held before her Ballet Class. Sylvie is comfortable teaching a multi- level class with beginners and those experienced in the French Language. She creates a warm and encouraging environment for learning and teens and adults are invited to join in this workshop. We warmly welcome Sylvie to our Faculty. Ballet 1 is an introductory level that builds on the concepts of locomotion, body awareness, pathways, dance vocabulary, sequencing and a strong sense of anatomy. An 18 week curriculum is followed that bases each class on a strong concept of movement, space or the body and how it works. A twist on the traditional classical ballet class we will start each with a class with a vigorous series of locomotor movements across the floor, for example: skips, gallops, chasses, and prances. Ballet 1 digs deeper into the classical ballet vocabulary with a beginner barre , center floor and jumping sections of class. Peer to peer correction, French vocabulary and the use of musical terms such as ; Adagio, moderato, allegro, presto etc are all woven into the class for a full experience. Teaching philosophy: I have a very strong philosophy of respect in the classroom. Student to teacher, Teacher to Student ,Students to each other, the space and the learning environment. Every student is an individual that learns in a unique way. My job as a teacher is to choose the best language and examples to create a stimulating and playful learning environment. I choose to eliminate negative words in the classroom like” No”,” not” or” wrong.” I believe in transparency. I crave an authentic and healthy relationship with both my students and their families. Ballet 2 can be used as an introductory level or one that builds on Creative, Pre-Ballet and Ballet 1. The concepts of locomotion, body awareness, pathways, dance vocabulary, sequencing ,musicality, and a strong emphasis on anatomy, core strength and the use of proper alignment are strongly taught at this level. An 18 week curriculum is followed that bases each class on concepts of movement, space or the body and how it functions. A rehearsal component is included in this class to prepare them to perform in the Seasonal Concert. A twist on the traditional classical ballet class we will class with a vigorous series of locomotor movements across the floor, for example: skips, gallops, chasses, and prances. Ballet 2 does include a full barre, center work and petite allegro and grand allegro exercises. It digs deeper into the classical ballet vocabulary French vocabulary and the use of musical terms such as ; Adagio, moderato, allegro, presto etc are all woven into the class for a full experience. Teaching philosophy: I have a very strong philosophy of respect in the classroom. Student to teacher, Teacher to Student ,Students to each other, the space and the learning environment. Every student is an individual that learns in a unique way. My job as a teacher is to choose the best language and examples to create a stimulating and playful learning environment. I choose to eliminate negative words in the classroom like” No”,” not” or” wrong.” I believe in transparency. I crave an authentic and healthy relationship with both my students and their families. Ballet 3 can be used as an introductory level for those students 10-11 years who show the maturity to dive in and work hard. Students would be asked to take a placement class if they are new to dance and have not taken ballet in the past 2 years. Ballet 3 can also can be taken as a sequential class following Ballet 2. The concepts of locomotion, body awareness, pathways, dance vocabulary, sequencing, musicality, and a strong emphasis on anatomy, core strength and the use of proper alignment are strongly taught at this level. An 18 week curriculum is followed that bases each class on concepts of movement, space or the body and how it functions. A twist on the traditional classical ballet class we will begin each class with a vigorous series of locomotor movements across the floor, for example: skips, gallops, chasses, and prances. Ballet 3 continues with a full barre, center work petite allegro and grand allegro exercises. It continues to dig deeper into the classical ballet vocabulary French vocabulary and the use of musical terms such as; Adagio, moderato, allegro, and presto. This is strictly a technique class. Students wishing to need to register for Rehearsal 3 which meets after class on Wednesdays. Those enrolled will have 2-3 dances in our Seasonal Concert. Contemporary /Modern 3 is highly recommended along with Rehearsal for this level. Rehearsal 4 Nutcrackeron Mondays following Technique class for those students who crave working on more choreography for Nutcracker and will be in a minimum of 3 dances. Ballet 4 is a minimum of a two to three year intermediate/advanced technical level. On the rare occasion a student can audition to start dance in level 4/5 if they have had previous experience or show exceptional talent to jump levels to begin. Ballet 4/5 is a love that prepares young girls for pointe and young males for exceptional. The concepts of locomotion, body awareness, pathways, dance vocabulary, sequencing, musicality, and a strong emphasis on anatomy, core strength in the use of proper alignment are strongly taught at this level. An 18 week curriculum is followed that bases each class on concepts of movement, space or the body and how it functions. Stretching will be heavily included to increase range of motion. Ballet 4/5continues with a full barre, center work petite allegro and grand allegro exercises. It continues to dig deeper into the classical ballet vocabulary French vocabulary and the use of musical terms Students are invited to start Pre-Pointe in year 2 once they show proficiency in holding alignment, strength and turn out. Rehearsal 5 Nutcracker Fridays following Technique class for those students who crave working on more choreography for Nutcracker and will be in a minimum of 3 dances. Ballet 5 is a minimum of a two to three year intermediate/advanced technical level. On the rare occasion a student can audition to start dance in level 4/5 if they have had previous experience or show exceptional talent to jump levels to begin. Ballet 4/5 is a love that prepares young girls for pointe and young males for exceptional. The concepts of locomotion, body awareness, pathways, dance vocabulary, sequencing, musicality, and a strong emphasis on anatomy, core strength in the use of proper alignment are strongly taught at this level. An 18 week curriculum is followed that bases each class on concepts of movement, space or the body and how it functions. Stretching will be heavily included to increase range of motion. Ballet 4/5continues with a full barre, center work petite allegro and grand allegro exercises. It continues to dig deeper into the classical ballet vocabulary French vocabulary and the use of musical terms Students are invited to start Pre-Pointe in year 2 once they show proficiency in holding alignment, strength and turn out. Students are invited to enroll in Pointe Technique.. This is strictly a technique class. Students wishing to perform need to register for Rehearsal 6/7 on Saturdays. Those enrolled will have 2-3 dances in our Seasonal Winter Concert. Contemporary Modern 5 , Jazz 4/5 and Lyrical 6/7 are highly recommended as a performance component to this class. Teaching philosophy: I have a very strong philosophy of respect in the classroom. Student to teacher, teacher to student ,students to each other, the space and the learning environment. Every student is an individual that learns in a unique way. My job, as a teacher, is to choose the best language and examples to create a stimulating and playful learning environment. I choose to eliminate negative words in the classroom like” No”,” not” or” wrong.” I believe in transparency. I crave an authentic and healthy relationship with both my students and their families. This class is taken along with Ballet 4 and provides additional time with a choreographer for upcoming performances. Dancers who study in rehearsals classes perform 2-3 additional dances in Nutcracker. Executive Director of West Seattle Performing Arts, has been directing dance programs for the past 23 years. She has served as the Summer Dance Coordinator directing a national program and teaching for the Preparatory Dance Faculty at Cornish College of the Arts since 1994. She is part of the External Programming team for the college. She has been the acting Director of Dance for Vashon Center for the Arts since 1996 on Vashon Island, WA and the Artistic Director of the Vashon Center for the Arts, a pre-professional dance company, Christine has dedicated two decades bringing the classical and contemporary arts to communities in the Seattle area . She has directed and taught dance to diverse populations for the past 34 years.. Christine has also served on the dance faculty of Washington University in St. Louis. She holds a M.S. from Indiana University in Modern dance and Physical Sciences and a B.S. in Ballet and Music from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Christine is a Master Artist in Residence for the state of Washington and enjoys collaborative projects annually with classroom teachers integrating academics and movement She has staged numerous full length ballets. Christine is thrilled to introduce her program and stellar faculty to the artists of the community. Instructor:Anne Motl BFA in Dance, Cornish College of the Arts. Beg/Intermediate Modern embraces a full spectrum of movement including working through a rounded spine as well as tilted balances, movement on the floor and patterns across the floor. Working with the music, understanding tempo and rhythmic patterns will be taught. Combinations will be built in each class and reviewed the following week to gain confidence and mastery. Attire: Black Leggings, Solid colored black leotard- T-shirts may be worn. Hair must be back in a ponytail. If you cannot make all 12 classes pro-ration is available / Rolling Enrollment come in when you can and join. If you are not taking all 12 classes come to the front desk and purchase a class or punch card for the amount of classes you would like to take. Adult Beginner Ballet is a perfect class for those wishing to learn the fundamentals of classical Ballet or to build on a foundation of classical training already in place. There will be a focus on building strong core and proper alignment to allow the body to work economically and easily within it's structure. Barre work, stretching, center floor exercises and combinations across the floor will be introduced and taught for all types of learners. Jumping exercises will also be taught and options for lower impact jumps will be offered as an alternative. A love of moving, music, and camaraderie will all be embraced in this adult class. Invite a friend to join you. Introductory Tap 5-7 years and is open to new students who are ready to learn the basics and more. Students should have a strong desire to learn. Class will encompass strong locomotion across the floor, traditional footwork and repetition of musical rhythms and strong sense of musicality. Body percussion and basic combinations will also be taught. More complex combination will be introduced as student’s progress. Dress code is loose fitting clothing that easy to move in and tap shoes. Hair back and no jewelry. ;Vanesa Wylie holds a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts. She is currently on faculty at Cornish's Preparatory Dance Program and for Vashon Center for Dance where she heads the Modern program. Vanesa is a nurturing and energetic teacher who treasures her students and inspires them to challenge themselves. Contemporary Modern/ Modern will present class techniques and contemporary styles in this 18 week course that embraces a full spectrum of movement including working through a rounded spine as well as tilted balances, movement on the floor and patterns across the floor. Working with the music, understanding tempo and rhythmic patterns will be taught. Combinations will be built in each class and reviewed the following week to gain confidence and mastery. Pre- Requisite: It is suggested that Dancers have ballet training or be taking a ballet class as a companion class while taking Contemporary Modern 4. Ballet training will support the understanding of alignment, balance, footwork and turning. Suggested classes Ballet 4, Pre- Teen/ Teen Ballet for Other Techniques or Teen Adult Ballet. Attire: Girls pink tights, pink leotard, pink ballet slippers NO SKIRTS they cover the legs and inhibit movement. Leotard Bloch Girls Essential Tank Leotard Pink. This icon will purchase one of our performance DVD's from our Spring Performance "Rodeo and Original Works ." May 20th at Chief Sealth Auditorium. The office will call you when your DVD is ready for pick up before June 11th. This icon will purchase one of our performance DVD's from our Spring Performance ." May 20st at Chief Sealth Auditorium. The office will call you when your DVD is ready for pick up before June 11th. Hip Hop is open to students that have had hip hop in the past or those that want to enter into the class for the first time. Traditional hip hop combinations will be offered along with popping and animation to broaden the urban street style experience. High energy and control of the body. Hip Hop 3/4 will be taught at an intermediate level. Quick learners are also welcome. Fun up-beat environment. $390 production fee includes performance May 19- 20. CHeif Sealth Auditorium. Kisha Vaughan, born in Biloxi, Mississippi and raised in Sacramento, CA has been dancing in and around Seattle for the past 10 years with a focus on hip hop. Kisha has had the privilege to be a part of various crews including Breaking Point Dance Company, In Effect Hip Hop, and Seattle Storm Hip Hop Squad. Most recently Kisha was a back up dancer for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis where she was invited to tour the U.S. and Canada. Performances include Showtime at the Apollo, Folklife, Capitol Hill Block Party, Conan O'Brien, MTV Movie Awards, Billboard Awards, and Bumbershoot. Currently Kisha teaches hip hop and choreographs. Her work has been seen at various competitions and shows including Monsters of Hip Hop and World of Dance. Kisha's newest venture are the Poison Poppies. Hip Hop 6/7 Teen/ Adult Advanced requires previous dance training and will move at a fast pace. Warm up and center floor sequences will be crafted into a piece of choreography. Each week will build on the class prior. We are thrilled to be welcoming Kisha to our faculty. Her national performing experience and work with a major international pop star brings great perspective to our students on the state of hip hop today. Hip Hop 2 in an introductory level and is open to students that have had hip hop in the past or those that want to enter into the class for the first time. Traditional hip hop combinations will be offered along with popping and animation to broaden the urban street style experience. High energy and control of the body. Hip Hop 2 will be taught at an intermediate level. Quick learners are also welcome. Fun up-beat environment. Introductory Hip Hop invites the new students to build coordination, musicality, along with the fun dynamics of hip hop combinations and sequences. Fall term has a goal of making our dancers comfortable in class and embrace a wider movement vocabulary and sense of style. Join us! Generally every three weeks there will be a new set of choreography to new music which will vary in movement and feeling while still having a more Hip Hop influence. Warm up consists of dynamic stability exercises, isolations, rocking, bouncing, freestyling, and learning to feel the music, class may end with a freestyle/improv circle with everyone having fun and vibing with one another if they choose to do so. Come ready to be yourself, have of fun, and challenge yourself! Philosophy: "Always a student, never a master.” In this world things are constantly changing and we are constantly learning. I may be a teacher but I learn from my students just as much as they learn from me. We are here to challenge and grow together. Dress Code: Relaxed,comfortable clothing, sneakers. . Hip Hop 4 requires previous hip op training or a placement class to determine that this is the correct level. Traditional hip hop combinations will be offered along with popping and animation to broaden the urban street style experience. High energy and control of the body. Hip Hop 3/4 will be taught at an intermediate level. Quick learners are also welcome. Fun up-beat environment. This class is currently postponed due to a teacher change. If you are interested please contact us at 206-935- 3777 to be put on the waiting list. Attire: Black Leggings or shorts, Solid colored leotard any style. Black Jazz shoes. Hair must be worn in a ponytail or up. Options for Ballet classes include all Ballet 3,4,5,6,7 or Teen/Adult Ballet Mondays or Pre- Teen/ Teen Ballet for Other Techniques Wednesdays 5:45-7:00 p.m. No Registration, Production or costume fees. Modern 2 is an 18 week course that embraces a full spectrum of movement including working through a rounded spine as well as tilted balances, movement on the floor and patterns across the floor. Working with the music, understanding tempo and rhythmic patterns will be taught. Combinations will be built in each class and reviewed the following week to gain confidence and mastery. Basic fundamental ballet training is highly recommended for this class. Suggested classes Ballet 1 or Ballet 2 ( can be taken one a week as a companion class). Call with questions 206 935-3777. Contemporary Modern 3-4 requires previous dance training. Modern and Contemporary dance techniques and contemporary styles in this 18 week course that embraces a full spectrum of movement including working through a rounded spine as well as tilted balances, movement on the floor and patterns across the floor. Working with the music, understanding tempo and rhythmic patterns will be taught. Combinations will be built in each class and reviewed the following week to gain confidence and mastery. Pre- Requisite: It is suggested that Dancers have ballet training or be taking a ballet class as a companion class while taking Contemporary Modern 3. Ballet training will support the understanding of alignment, balance, footwork and turning. Suggested classes Ballet 2 or Ballet 3 or Pre- Starter Pre-Teen/ Teen Ballet . $295 includes production fee for Spring Performance May 19- 20th Chief Sealth Auditorium. Introduction to Children's Modern is a fun step into the world of modern dance where movement is curved and down and up from the floor, shapes, rounded backs flexed feet are introduced as part of the technique. Creative improvisation and the exploration of movement concepts such as dab, punch, wring, float, slash, glide and so many more are introduced and explored in a 3 dimensional setting. This class takes creative movement to the next step by including technique and composition where dancers make movement choices and compose there own movement phrases and become developing choreographers. Pre- Ballet Level 1 (5). is for students who are turning 5 before or around December . This is an introductory class that will emphasize and build on locomotion, fine motor skills, basic ballet movement vocabulary, an introduction to stretching and balancing at the barre, improvisational guided exercises. A strong introduction to tempo, counting, Rhythm, percussion instruments and sequencing. Fun imagery, props and joy are all a recipe for Pre- Ballet level 1.

2019-04-18T15:11:05Z

https://westseattleperformingarts.org/collections/all/dance

(1) The scope of the individual services is based on the current service description in force at the time of placing the order. (2) If no other agreement has been expressly reached, the provider shall also be entitled to instruct expert staff or third parties to provide the services incumbent upon him. If active co-operation is required on the customer’s part on another server, e.g. during the transfer of a web space package or other data stored on the provider’s servers, the customer shall provide such co-operation in accordance with the provider’s instructions and within the stipulated time. (3) If no other agreement has been reached the provider shall be entitled to demand payment in advance for all services ordered by the customer for the respective period. All webhosting packages (“virtual servers”) offered by the provider (Tomattos) assume a minimum service period of twelve months with an automatic extension of the agreement and the corresponding domains/servers for twelve months. All server packages (dedicated servers, colocated servers, VPS, game servers) offered by the provider (Tomattos) assume a minimum service period selected by the customer when placing the order with an automatic extension of the contract and the corresponding domains/servers for the minium service period chosen by the customer. (4) Once the payment which had been made by the customer in advance for the agreed term has expired the contract is automatically terminated. The domains associated with the packages/servers however, are charged for the complete contract period (this is dependent upon the domain extension and can be seen here) and must be terminated at least 4 weeks before expiry of the contract period in order to prevent automatic extension of the agreement (an extension is equivalent to renewed registration in respect of the contract period). If the package/server is terminated before the end of the contract for the relevant domain(s) or if the contract has not yet ended or has not yet been renewed, you will be charged separately to cover the remaining months of the domain service. The amount charged depends on the extension of the domain (for a complete list, please click here). (5) Given that the customer is placing the order as a private customer (as defined by § 13 BGB), the following applies: The customer has to pay the provider an appropriate fee which equals the the ratio of the services already rendered in relation to the total services intially intended for the contract, up to the point when the customer informed the provider about the enactment of his right of revocation regarding the contract. This is true in particular for yearly costs of ordering Internet domains. The reason for this is that these Internet domains are ordered individually according to the customer’s wish from the responsible registry and such orders have to be paid by the provider for one year in advance. This is why advances rendered by the customer will be withheld, in general. Due to the installation and start of operation of the hosting services ordered by the customer (setup and configuration of the web space or server, the domain or the colocation space as well as the Internet uplink required, setup of upgrades, etc.), which the provider is contractually obligated to perform, the provider explicitly reserves the right to demand appropriate compensation for lost value if the costs for the services rendered by the provider in relation to the total services intended for the contract are not covered by advances made by the customer. (6) Should the provider be commissioned by the customer to provide services that are over and above the duties and responsibilities detailed in these General Terms and Conditions and in the service description (e.g. software-configuration, correction of errors or problems etc., that were not caused by the provider) the provider shall be entitled to demand adequate remuneration. In this case, a standard payment of € 25.00 per 15 minute unit of work shall be agreed. The provider may vary from this payment for the benefit of the customer as he sees fit. (7) The responsibility for backups of his data lies with the customer, not the provider. (8) The provider shall be entitled to to increase fees up to once per quarter. Such an increase requires the agreement of the customer. The agreement of the customer shall be given if he does not dissent within 4 weeks after receipt of the message informing him about the change. The provider is obliged to inform the customer about the repercussions of not dissenting within 4 weeks. As long as the main obligation, i.e. the obligation of payment of the basic usage-independent monthly remuneration, is not concerned, the provider determins the remuneration according to equitable discretion. (9) In case the value-added tax is increased, the provider shall be entitled to adjust the remuneration for goods and services, which are adduced or delivered within a continuing obligation, accordingly, starting at the point of time the value-added tax-change comes into effect. (10) It is agreed that payments made by the customer will not be refunded regardless of their original purpose – except in the case of an effective revocation, but then by inclusion of § 1(5). In case the customer made a payment higher than the amount of fees being required until the end of the contract and the fees for ordered services until then, it is agreed that the balance will not forfeit. Instead of a refund, the balance will be used for the provision of other / new services which the customer can order from the provider at any time. (1) The customer expressly assures that the provision and publication of web page content created either by himself and/or web pages created for him by the provider based on information provided by the customer neither infringes Bangladeshi law nor any other law applicable in the customer’s country of residence, in particular copyright, data protection and competition law. The provider reserves the right to remove any pages from storage on his server that appear to be of dubious content. The provider shall immediately inform the supplier about any intended deletion of pages. The same shall apply if the provider is requested by third parties to change or delete contents of web pages because they allegedly violate third party rights. (2) The provider shall be entitled to delete any such web pages from hard disk storage on his web server if such pages are likely to infringe third party rights. He shall also be entitled to prevent access by third parties by taking any appropriate action. The provider undertakes to notify the customer immediately about any such measure. Should the customer be able to provide proof that there are no concerns regarding infringement of third party rights the provider shall make the web pages concerned available again to third parties. The customer hereby agrees to hold the provider harmless from any claims by third parties resulting from the content of materials on the customer’s website(s). (3) The clauses 1 and 2 are also applicable for all other products offered by the provider which are suitable for publishing data, such as VPS or colocated servers. (1) Should domain registration or domain hosting form part of the services offered to the customer, the provider shall act only in the capacity of mediator between the customer, DENIC, InterNIC or other domain registration authority. Agreements with such organisations have the sole purpose of governing the customer’s rights and obligations. (2) The provider has no influence on the delegation of domain names. He therefore cannot warrant that the registered domain names are not subject to claims by third parties or that they are unique or permanent. This also applies to sub-domains allocated within the provider’s domain. (3) If the customer should be requested by a third party to surrender a domain because it may infringe third party rights, he shall inform the provider immediately. In such cases the provider shall be entitled to surrender the Internet domain on behalf of the customer. The customer hereby agrees to hold the provider harmless from any claims by third parties resulting from disputes regarding inadmissible use of domain names. (4) The customer hereby warrants to the provider that the address information (consisting of at least his name, address, telephone number and e-mail address) provided during registration or setting up a new account is correct and complete. Should this information change then the provider must be notified immediately in writing (letter, e-mail, fax). This and under certain conditions further information, will also be used for domains ordered by the customer from the provider. (1) If the provision of e-mail addresses or e-mail services forms part of the services offered by the provider, the limitations set out in § 3 shall apply analogously to e-mail addresses provided for the customer. The provider reserves the right to delete the customers e-mail messages if they are not retrieved from the mail server within 4 weeks of receipt. (2) If provision of access to public discussion forums (newsgroups) forms part of the services offered by the provider the time period over which public news is stored shall depend upon operational considerations of the provider. (3) The provider shall not be responsible for the e-mail addresses he provides; their use and management is outside the control of the provider. In the case of misuse, the provider shall be entitled to suspend all or individual e-mail addresses. The customer shall be informed immediately about such measures. (1) For webspace-packages, the following applies: The customer must ensure that his web site is designed such that the server is not excessively loaded, e.g. caused by CGI/PHP scripts requiring considerable computing power or above average memory usage. Excessive loading shall be defined as such usage of the aforementioned resources such that the operation of a Tomattos server is noticeably impaired or even crashes. Tomattos reserves the right to prohibit customers or third parties from accessing pages that do not comply with the aforementioned requirements. (3) For game servers, the following applies: Clan Servers will be supplied by the provider solely with password protection, so that players can only connect to them and participate in ongoing games after typing in a password. This password set by the provider may never be removed by the customer. Moreover, the password may never be completely or in part nor in any other way which will make it guessable or restorable be published in the server name or elsewhere. The password is to be kept secret by the customer and may only be passed on within his clan or a comparable community – to each player individually. The customer has to make sure that players who receive the password strictly adhere to this paragraph. (4) For game servers, the following applies: If the customer has ordered the upgrade “Tomattos branding” for his game server, the name of the server will be extended by an advertisement supplied by the provider (e.g. ‘by Tomattos.com’). This extension by the provider may never – also not in part – be removed by the customer. (5) Should clause 1 to 4 be applicable, the provider reserves the right to immediately suspend the webspace package or server. This course of action will also be implemented should other sites stored on the server be affected by the customer’s site. The customer shall be informed about any such suspension. (6) In case of such a suspension, solely the customer, not the provider shall be accountable for infringements of contracts. In any case the provider’s claim of payment of remuneration remains, for the entire contract period. (1) The provider concedes complete and sole administration-rights on rented/colocated servers to the customer. Only the customer knows the individual administration-password of the server, not the provider. The provider is therefore unable to administrate the rented/colocated server. Hence the customer is solely and entirely responsible for administration and security of his servers, at his own expenses and risks. It is his duty to install necessary security-software and to inform himself constantly regarding security issues as well as to fix such by himself. Installation of maintenance software or other software does not absolve the customer from this duty. (2) Should customers receive fixed IP-addresses, the provider reserves the right to change these when technical needs arise and to inform the customer about his new IP-address. (3) If necessary and reasonable, the customer will assist at simple configuration changes, such as entering the login-data anew, or simple changes of his systems. (4) It is the customer’s duty to configure his programs in such a way that they are restarted automatically when the hardware or the operating system is restarted. (5) For game servers, the following applies: The provider concedes complete and sole administration-rights on the rented game server to the customer, within the limits of the functional range of the web interface supplied by the provider. The customer, however, does not receive complete root or SSH access for the used game host server. The startup parameters of the game server cannot be changed by the customer. (1) The provider guarantees an annual mean 95%-availability of the physical connection of his webspace packages, dedicated, colocated, virtual servers and game servers. Exempted hereof are periods of time in which the servers are not reachable over the internet due to technical or other problems which do not lie within the provider’s sphere of influence (force majeure, faults of third parties or of the customer). (2) The servers located in the datacenters of the provider are connected to the internet over a complex network infrastructure. Data traffic is routed over different active and passive network components (routers, switches, and other devices), which have a certain maximum data throughput. Therefore data throughput capacities can be limited for particular servers at particular points and not be equal to the maximum allowed data throughput of the respective switch-port. Unless otherwise agreed, the provider cannot give a guarantee for the amount of actually available bandwidth for individual servers, but makes available bandwidth depending on the technical capability of the datacenter, taking into account obligations towards other customers. (3) Customers can use the servers of the provider or own colocated servers for an manageable amount of different applications and use various software programms to this purpose, at their own discretion. Because of this, millions of different configurations are possible. The sheer diversity of these option does not permit the provider to give guarantees for the utilizability and compatibility of servers for a certain purpose. Except for the specifications made in the description of the offer, the provider cannot give guarantees for the actual resources available for individual webspace packages, VPS and game servers. Rather, the provider makes available resouces depending on technical possibilities, taking into account obligations towards other customers. (1) The customer agrees that his personal data (basic data) and other information concerning use of the service (e.g. time, number and duration of connections, access passwords, uploads and downloads) may be stored by the provider during the period of the agreement should this be necessary for fulfilling the purpose of the contract, particularly for invoicing. The customer agrees to the storage of data. The provider may also processes and utilise such personal data that has been collected for the purpose of advising his customers, for advertising and market research for his own purposes and for structuring his telecommunication services in accordance with requirements. The customer shall be entitled to object to such use of his personal data. (2) Upon request by the customer the provider undertakes at any time and at no charge to provide full access to stored personal data pertaining to the customer. The provider shall not disclose this data or any of the customer’s personal messages to third parties unless he is legally required to do so, in particular to government bodies or should this be required by internationally recognised technical standards. (3) The provider expressly points out that the protection of data privacy for data transmission across open networks such as the Internet cannot be fully guaranteed with current technology. The customer acknowledges and accepts that the provider is entitled at any time to view the websites stored on his server and, under certain conditions, any of the customer’s data stored there if technical requirements so dictate. Other unauthorised Internet users may also be technically able to interfere with network security and control the flow of messages. The customer warrants that all information he has given to Tomattos is correct and complete. Upon request the customer agrees to immediately inform Tomattos of any changes and to reconfirm that the data is currently correct within 7 days of receiving any such request. – and if the customer provides his own name server, the IP addresses of the primary and secondary name servers including the names of these servers. (4) The clauses in § 8 do not affect § 16(4). The provider shall be liable for any damages caused by him or factors, servants and assignees through gross negligence or intent. In cases of violation of essential contractual obligations and slight negligence which lead to financial losses liability shall be limited to a liability insurance procured by the provider (with regard to the amount of liability) and to predictable, imminent losses (with regard to the type of liability).The limitations of liability stated above do not concern claims of the customer regarding product liability and especially do not apply for damage caused to the customer’s health (or loss of life) attributable to the provider. Otherwise, liability is excluded. The customer indemnifies the provider against all possible third party claims arising from any illegal action by the customer or from errors in the information provided by the latter. This applies in particular to copyright, data protection and competition law violations. Tomattos shall not be obliged to check the customer’s websites for possible legal violations. (1) Applicable law is that of the The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. (2) Any dispute resulting from this agreement shall be referred solely to a court of competent jurisdiction at the place of business of the provider. (2) In the case of incorrect direct debits/credit card debits (possibly caused by an overdrawn account, incorrect account data etc.) additional bank charges and increased administrative costs will arise for the provider. The provider will therefore charge a flat fee of € 15.00 for an incorrect direct debit and a flat fee of € 30.00 for an incorrect credit card debit. (3) In the case of a failed debit collection, the provider may immediately claim default interest fixed by law. Additionally, the provider shall be entitled to discontinue the service contract until payment is made. The provider shall be entitled to suspend the contract and reallocate the rented capacities. Data loss cannot be ruled out in this case. A one-time-fee of € 30.00 is computed by the provider when re-activating the service for the customer. In the case of a non-payment until the second date mentioned in the demand note an additional fee of € 58.00 is computed for mandating a lawyer. (4) The provisions set out in paragraph 3 shall also apply in the case of non-payment if the customer has selected the payment option “bank transfer”, “PayPal”, “Skrill”, “Western Union” or a similar, comparable payment option. Delay of payment is the case when, at the first of a given month, the services of the provider have not been prepaid for the entire month. (5) In case of NGO/NPO offers there is no refund or credit back. Any claim of such refubd or credit back will be not entertained. In additional lawyer charges may applicable in case of any legal procedure needed to perform. (6) In case of custom quoted servers, the non-refund and no credit back will applicable too. (7) Payment Policy Page terms will be also applicable except special cases. The customer thus agrees to comply with the corresponding provisions and is responsible for observing them correctly. These provisions may result in only having restricted or even not having the possibility to use otherwise purchased licenses of the customer with the servers of the provider. The provider will supply a license for all customer orders of Microsoft software products considering the Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement. This license allows the monthly use of the Microsoft software product on the server and limits its utilization permission with regard to some aspects. The customer particularly must not use Microsoft products which require additional or other licenses according to SPUR. The customer is obligated to comply with all these provisions on his own and is liable for violations against this usage policy to the provider and Microsoft. (1) The provider is obliged to enable a connection to the internet and a storing position for the server according to the respective product description. (2) The provider does not provide any guarantee for hardware damage which can result, for example, from transport to the datacenter, back to the customer or during going concern. (3) The provider grants the customer access to his server-system during the office-times published on the homepage of the provider in order to allow the customer to work on the server-system. This requires, however, a written request which has to be addressed to the support-department of the provider, at least 48 hours in advance. To access the server-system, the ID Card of the customer or a statement of authority signed by the customer is necessary. During the customer’s presence in the datacenter, the provider has to fulfill various duties of supervision and control. Since this requires the attendance of the provider’s personnel, costs of € 50.00 per started hour incur. With prior agreement, the provider can abstain from this at his sole discretion. If the appointment is not kept, the customer has to cancel it at least 2 hours in advance (if during office hours) or at least 12 hours in advance (if outside of office hours). If there is no cancellation within the stated time periods and the appointment is not kept, the customer will be billed for € 30.00. (4) Reboots are provided for free by the provider at the customer’s request unless stated otherwise in the product description and unless the amount of reboots per month does not create disproportional effort. (5) Other technical support services are not included with the offer. If the help of a technician is required, costs of € 25.00 per started 15 minutes incur. – In case of an outage / non-availability of electricity, UPS or air conditioning, the provider will immediately, at the latest during the next working day, undertake all measures necessary to restore going concern. (7) Claims resulting from operational outage of peripherals (air conditioning, electricity) can only be asserted in case of violation of the guarantees mentioned in clause 6 up to the monthly amount for the colocated server and only if the outage has been lasting for over 72 hours (continuously, without breaks). If financial losses are claimed, these have to be substantiated and will be redeemed after verification up to an amout of € 500.00. In case of an bandwidth-outage such claims are only valid if the guarantees regarding bandwidth made in § 7 clause 1 are undercut. (8) The provider does not assume liability for damage or loss of data. (9) The customer is responsible that the colocated equipment is flawless so that no negative impact for other devices can emanate from it. (10) The customer is liable for possible damages emanating from the server and is responsible for an adequate insurance. (11) If the provider informs the customer immediately, at least one month in advance, that he has decided to move to a different location, each party has a special cancellation right and can cancel the performances specified in this contract that are provided in the location which will change using written form. The cancellation will come into effect on the day the location is about to change. Given that the provider has informed the customer accordingly and neither party has made use of their special cancellation right, the contract continues unchanged at the new location. This clause does not come into effect if the reason for the change of the location is an instant dismissal of the rental agreement between the provider and his lessor. In this case, only clause 12 applies. (12) The customer is aware of the fact that the provider himself has to rent the datafloor. If this contract concerns the housing and bandwidth provided in the datacenter, the contract concerning this performance ends automatically at the point of time when the rental agreement between the provider and his lessor ends by means of an instant dismissal and the provider has been unable to find a suitable new location. The provider will inform the customer immediately. Other agreements remain untouched. (13) If the server of the customer needs more electricity or space than specified in the rented offer, additional housing-modules need to be rented – when only noticed later, this change will be retroactive. The number and price of the required additional modules is specified on the homepage of the provider. – The customer is informed immediately about such a change. – The customer has a special cancellation right for bandwidth and housing in the affected datacenter: He can cancel affected subscriptions within three months upon receipt of the message informing him about the change. This special cancellation right is valid during the mentioned three months-period. If it is not used, the contract continues under the adjusted conditions. (15) The customer agrees to the fact that the provider opens the case of the colocated server and adds a ‘Web Resetter’ to the reset-pin of the mainboard. Using this device, the provider is able to restart the server of the customer at any time if the customer requests it. Furthermore, the customer is able to reboot the server himself using the aforementioned device if he orders the necessary upgrade. In case the server is returned to the customer, the provider will remove the ‘Web Resetter’ again. (16) The customer is aware of and agrees to the fact that the provider publishes (Live-)video material and static pictures of his datacenter and that these videos/images might picture equipment or servers of the customer. (17) If the customer is in delay of payment for any performance between him and the provider, the provider has the right to keep the server and/or equipment of the customer in his posession until payment is made in full. (18) The customer grants the provider a lien on colocated servers and other equipment to back claims resulting from the contract between the provider and the customer. The lien only expires once all debt resulting from the contract between the provider and the customer has been paid and the contract has ended. Starting with the inception of treaty, the customer has to inform the provider immediately should the server not be or cease to be his property, be pledged or assigned. If the customer is entitled to other rights to the colocated server, especially expectant right, he assigns these to the provider in order to back debts resulting from the contract between the provider and the customer. (19) The lien and the contractual lien can also be asserted for claims resulting from former services or other claims. (20) If the provider excercises his lien, it shall suffice to send a written notice to the last known address of the customer. No further notice is required. (21) Legal liens are unaffected by these terms. (22) If the customer does not retrieve his server / other equipment within four weeks after the contract has ended, the provider will stock the items for a fee of € 10 per item and per month. The provider has the right to change the subject terms of this contract as long as the changes are reasonable, taking into account the interests of the provider. The agreement of the customer shall be given if he does not dissent within 4 weeks after receipt of the message informing him about the change. The provider is obliged to inform the customer about the repercussions of not dissenting within 4 weeks.n. (1) Amendments or additions to this contract are only valid if they have been agreed to in writing. This also applies to any amendment of this clause relating to written notification. (2) All communications by the provider may be sent to the customer by electronic means. This also applies to invoices sent for services provided under the agreement. (3) The customer may only set off claims against the provider if such claims are established as undisputed or legally binding. (4) The provider is authorised to list the customer as a reference-customer without being obliged to pay a refund. (5) All prices quoted are not binding unless they are confirmed contractually. Errors and omissions in our prices excepted. (6) If any provision of this agreement is held to be invalid or becomes invalid or if there are omissions in the agreement that require rectification, the remaining provisions of the agreement shall remain in full force and effect. The invalid provision or omission shall be replaced by a provision which comes closest to the intention of both parties as would have been agreed by the parties had they knowledge of such issues in advance.

2019-04-19T16:28:50Z

https://tomattos.com/terms-of-service-2/

If you were charged and/or arrested for felony DUI charges in Maricopa County, AZ you should contact an Arizona DUI defense attorney as soon as possible. A felony DUI conviction in Arizona will expose you to severe penalties. You will need a strong Arizona DUI defense attorney to defend your Felony DUI charges if you wish to challenge your DUI charges. 2) A.R.S. §28-1383(A) (2): (Paraphrased) Third DUI charge within 7 years and you have two prior DUI convictions that occurred during the last 7 years. – Class 3 felony. Sentencing for a Felony DUI conviction in Arizona may be have “aggravated” or “mitigated”. Aggravated factors are those that support the prosecution and warrant more serious DUI penalties. Mitigating factors are those circumstances that favor your defense and may help reduce the harsh penalties. Without compelling arguments presented or motions filed by your DUI Defense Lawyer, the judge or prosecution will not offer you a mitigated (less harsh) sentence. An experienced Arizona DUI Attorney will know what evidence can be used to argue for mitigated sentencing and reduced sentencing on your behalf for a felony DUI conviction. Any Arizona Felony DUI charge can be challenged, regardless of the classification. Proven AZ DUI lawyers are often able to get evidence dismissed; charges reduced, or ultimately get the felony DUI charges completely dismissed. But rarely if ever does this happen without qualified legal representation and defense from a proven private practice AZ DUI Attorney or Criminal Defense Lawyer in Maricopa County. Early retention of a good Arizona DUI lawyer or criminal defense attorney is the key to a successful defense. Aggravated DUI (Felony DUI): Felony DUI charges are Misdemeanor DUI Charges that are elevated to a Felony when certain “aggravated factors” exist. If you were charged and/or arrested for felony DUI charges in Maricopa County, AZ you should contact a Maricopa County DUI defense attorney as soon as possible. A felony DUI conviction in Maricopa County will expose you to severe penalties. You will need a strong Maricopa County DUI defense attorney to defend your Felony DUI charges if you wish to challenge your DUI charges. Felony DUI Penalties for Maricopa County DUI convictions may be “aggravated” or “mitigated”. Aggravated factors are those that support the prosecution and warrant more serious DUI penalties. Mitigating factors are those circumstances that favor your defense and may result in less serious penalties. Without compelling arguments presented or motions filed by your DUI Defense Lawyer, the judge or prosecution will not generally offer mitigated sentencing. An experienced Maricopa County DUI Attorney will know what to look for and find evidence needed to argue for mitigated sentencing and reduced sentencing on your behalf. Any Maricopa County Felony DUI charge can be challenged, regardless of the classification. Proven Maricopa County DUI lawyers are often able to get evidence dismissed; charges reduced, or ultimately get the felony DUI completely dismissed. But rarely if ever does this happen without qualified legal representation and defense from a proven private practice AZ DUI Attorney or Criminal Defense Lawyer in Maricopa County. If you were arrested in Arizona or received AZ DUI charges you should contact an Arizona Criminal Defense or Arizona DUI lawyer to discuss your charges and defense options. Being charged with a DUI is just the beginning of a long and traumatic process. Your best chances of getting a good outcome or even a DUI dismissal is to retain a good DUI lawyer in Arizona. They will be able to determine what defense strategies may be used in your case. Were you charged with a DUI based on one breath test result? Virtually all experts concede that one breath test alone is unreliable. Breath testing is subject to various inaccuracies, including a variance as much as +/- 10.0%. This could be increased due to other factors. Therefore, two breath tests must be conducted. There are many DUI defense strategies that can be used to argue your AZ DUI case against the State and prosecution. This defense is just one of many involves breath testing. Below is an excerpt from the book “101 DUI Defenses 101 DEFENSES TO BEAT YOUR ARIZONA DUI ©” written by James Novak, Arizona DUI and Criminal Defense Attorney. For more DUI defenses, the abridged version of this E-book can be downloaded free by visiting www.arizonacriminaldefenseattorney.com. Arizona has earned the reputation for being one of the toughest states on DUI charges in the country. The DUI laws are strict and penalties severe. If charged or arrested for an Arizona DUI, you should contact an Arizona DUI Lawyer as soon as possible. Even for first time offenders, the penalties are designed to “teach a lesson” so that the defendant will avoid a repeat offense and to get the word out, that Arizona has zero tolerance for those driving “impaired to the slightest degree” or who may be drunk driving in Arizona due to alcohol or drugs. Penalties for convictions of first time, misdemeanor DUI in Arizona, depending on the circumstances may include mandatory jail time, suspension of driver’s license, fines, fees, probation, mandatory counseling, and court ordered interlock devices on your vehicle to be installed at your expense. Arizona Felony DUI or Aggravated DUI, charges can include lengthy prison terms, suspension of driver’s license, exorbitant fines, fees, probation, mandatory counseling at your cost, and court ordered interlock devices on your vehicle to be installed at your expense. The Arizona Courts are especially harsh on repeat offenders and Arizona penalties reflect this. Many people make the common mistake of trying to seek counsel of a friend regarding their DUI who is not a licensed Arizona DUI or criminal Defense Attorney in Arizona. Resist this temptation. They are not walking in your shoes. They were not arrested. They will rarely know the Arizona DUI laws inside and out, current legislation, changing laws, defense strategies, and be experienced in defending cases in the Arizona criminal justice system. They will not bear the consequences of your DUI charges if they are not properly defended by a qualified DUI lawyer in Arizona. After an arrest for drunk driving, or DUI with drugs or medication, you should consult an attorney as soon as possible, to discuss your charges and defense options. Be sure that the Arizona DUI lawyer is experienced and defends cases often in the jurisdiction or city where you were arrested and received formal DUI charges or criminal charges. For example if you were arrested in Mesa Arizona, by Mesa Police, but you reside in Phoenix AZ, your DUI charges will be filed in Mesa Arizona, and your case will be heard through the Mesa AZ City Court. Make sure your DUI attorney defends DUI or criminal charges frequently in Mesa Arizona. It will benefit your defense if your DUI Lawyer is familiar with the court system, prosecution, and judges to hear DUI cases on a daily basis in Mesa AZ through the criminal justice system. The best Arizona DUI lawyers begin defending your case with the thought process of building defense strategies that will lead to getting your Arizona DUI dismissed. That is where a good Arizona DUI Defense Attorney starts. They will base their decisions on how and what defenses to utilize based on the individual circumstances surrounding your case. Top DUI defense Attorneys in Arizona will know when and how to present their compelling arguments in your favor to get your charges dismissed. Depending on the strength and/or weakness of the prosecutions case, your AZ DUI attorney will examine the evidence, to determine if any evidence can justifiably be suppressed (not used against you). If the charges can not be dismissed, they will then attempt to negotiate with the prosecution a way of getting the charges reduced to a lesser charge, for example: a criminal charge down to a non-criminal charge, a felony to a misdemeanor, an extreme DUI to a non-extreme DUI and reduce the DUI penalties against you. In other words, in absence of being able to get the Arizona DUI charges dropped, a good AZ DUI defense attorney will make every effort to get the best possible outcome in your case. If you are stopped by police for Arizona DUI, generally the police officer will use a set of five-to-six common tests called Field Sobriety Tests (FST). One thing that top Arizona Criminal Defense and DUI attorneys agree on is that so many aspects of the FST can be challenged on behalf of your defense, in an effort to get your case dismissed or charges reduced. Tool o determine if further breath or blood tests are needed. Then they will later use your performance of these tests against you. They will make it sound like you did poorly on the tests. But in fact, even a person unimpaired by drugs or alcohol may perform these tests to a “poor” standard. That is why they are often challenged. WAS YOU BATTERY OF FST CONDUCTED WITH CLIMATE, ENVORNMENTA OR LANDSCAPING DISADVANTAGES TO YOU? The roadside could be uneven and covered by debris. The climate conditions could cause inability to perform the tests well. Were you doing the tests a surface on a hill, or a surface that contained mud, rocks, melting tar or oil, ice, snow drifts or other rough or other unsmooth or level surface? NHTSA requires that the Walk and Turn & the One Leg Stand be performed on a smooth, level surface. Did the officer report that you failed or did poorly on the HGN test? This is the “follow the pen with your eyes test” actually has a very complicated name- the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (“HGN”) test. This test is allegedly meant to measures the involuntary jerking of the eye when a person is impaired by alcohol. When medical doctors conduct this test they do so in an areas with good lighting, employing medical equipment that holds the patient’s head still and clearly lists the angles. The officer, for one test, must determine whether he detects the onset of nystagmus prior to 45%. It is almost impossible without be accurate on the angle. The test can be challenged as invalid under almost all roadside and lighting conditions. Did the breath test operator possess a valid, unexpired operator’s license? If not, the DUI breath test result is inadmissible. Was your blood sample preserved properly? The preservation process can be an issue. The blood vials must have been stored properly prior to its use. The blood vials must not be used beyond the expiration date. The blood vials must be preserved in order to provide your defense attorney with the opportunity to test the sample with an independent lab for purposes of objectivity in your defense. Was the blood kit and contents in the kit, within the expiration date period? Was it properly sealed, packed, inspected, and maintained at the required temperature? When the police take your blood they usually do so using a pre-packed blood kit. However, safekeeping and inspection of the kits must be routinely performed to ensure that tubes have not expired, are sealed properly and are kept in an appropriate place that is not temperature extreme like the trunk of the car in the summer heat of Arizona. Was your urine sample properly tested? The urine taken for drug testing must also be properly tested according to required testing procedures and protocol, for timing, specimen handling, transport, labeling, and preservation, including the containers for which the urine specimen is stored. Was your blood drawn within three hours of consuming your last alcoholic beverage? It can take up to three hours for alcohol to be absorbed in your blood stream. If the blood draw was outside of the three hour window, the results of the BAC may be challenged as invalid. These are just a few aspects of items that can be challenged to your favor if you have received Arizona DUI charges. That is why it is important to hire an Arizona DUI attorney who defends cases in the jurisdiction for which you were charged with the AZ DUI, and challenges such issues on a daily basis. It takes experience, special skills, training, knowledge and a great amount of defense litigation experience to challenge these issues in your defense. The ultimate goal of your AZ DUI Attorney is to examine some of these issues to pave the way for flaws in the prosecutions case for total dismissal, or in the alternative reduction of charges, suppression of evidence, and getting the best outcome in your case. A Mesa “Felony DUI” is also known as “Aggravated DUI”. If you’ve been arrested or face Felony DUI (Driving under the Influence) charges in Mesa, AZ the best advice you can get now is to consult a good Arizona Criminal Defense Attorney or Felony DUI Defense Attorney who defends cases frequently in Mesa Municipal Court. All DUI charges are serious. But Felony DUI convictions are even more serious, and can have long lasting adverse impacts that follow you for life. • DUI charges involving an auto accident that results in bodily injury or significant harm to another person. • DUI manslaughter – When the DUI and Auto accident results in a fatality of another person. • Driving impaired under the influence of alcohol or drug, with a minor, in Arizona (that is age 15 or under) in the vehicle. • Four months in Jail or Prison, if you have no prior criminal record or felony convictions. If serious injury or a fatality has occurred, this sentencing will be significantly harsher for a felony DUI conviction. • Court ordered Ignition Interlock Device added to your vehicle at your expense. DUI and Felony DUI laws are constantly changing. Because the laws and penalties are constantly changing, it is important to hire an experienced, highly qualified Arizona Criminal or AZ DUI defense Lawyer who defends DUI charges often in Mesa Municipal Court. Your criminal defense attorney must be well versed on the Arizona laws, Mesa Courts, Protocol, your constitutional rights; But most importantly, Felony DUI Attorneys must be extremely knowledgeable as felony DUI laws and what defenses can be utilized the most effectively based on your circumstances in an effort to get the ultimate best outcome in your case for your Felony DUI charges in Mesa, AZ. Many winning defense strategies are outlined in the Arizona DUI Winning Defense Strategies Book Series © which includes “101 Arizona DUI Winning Defenses” © written by experienced DUI Defense Attorney and prolific Arizona DUI defenses Author, James Novak. The Attorney you choose to defend your Felony DUI in Arizona may mean the difference between getting a conviction and getting your charges dismissed. It may be the one of the most important decisions you make in a lifetime. If you have been charged with any Arizona DUI, Extreme DUI, Repeat Offense DUI, Under age 21 DUI, DUI with child under 15 in vehicle, Aggravated Felony DUI, Drug, Felony Drug, Dangerous Drug, Narcotics, Marijuana, any Arizona DUI, Arizona Drug DUI, or any other criminal charge including theft, assault, aggravated assault, domestic violence, drugs crimes, probation violations, robbery, computer crimes, ID theft crimes, or any other criminal charges contact the Law Office of James Novak, for your Free Consultation at (480) 413-1499. Speak directly with experienced Arizona criminal Defense and DUI Defense Attorney and James Novak (Former Prosecutor). A Felony DUI is also known as an Aggravated DUI. If you have been arrested for a Felony DUI (Driving under the Influence) in Arizona, the best advice you can get is to contact an experienced Arizona Criminal Defense Attorney or Felony DUI Defense Attorney as soon as possible for a Free Consultation. Most of the best Arizona DUI and Criminal Defense Lawyers will provide you with a free consultation. A Felony DUI is a very serious offense and carries very serious penalties under Arizona law. It can not be stressed enough for you to get DUI legal representation from a good DUI defense Lawyer in Arizona in the jurisdiction where you were charged. DUI involving auto accident which causes bodily injury or harm to another person, pedestrian, cyclist, driver, or passenger in a vehicle. • DUI manslaughter – When the DUI and Auto accident results in a fatality of another while you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. • Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs impaired, and with a minor (In Arizona that is age 15 or under) in the vehicle you are driving. • A minimum of 4 months in Jail or Prison. (If record is clean with no prior felony convictions.) Also this is subject to circumstances if serious injury or a fatality has occurred, this sentencing may be significantly harsher. Arizona DUI and Felony DUI laws are constantly changing. The above penalties can change at any time. For the reasons above it is so important to hire an Arizona Criminal or DUI defense Lawyer. That AZ DUI Attorney needs to be familiar with defending Felony DUI charges in the court jurisdiction of which your were charged, be up to date on laws, co1urt and defense protocol and most importantly be extremely knowledgeable as to what defenses can be utilized the most effectively based on your circumstances in an effort to get the ultimate best outcome in your case. Many winning defenses are outlined in the Arizona DUI Winning Defense Strategies Book Series © which includes “101 Arizona DUI Winning Defenses” © written by experienced DUI Defense Attorney and prolific Arizona DUI defenses Author, James Novak. The Attorney you choose to defend your Felony DUI in Arizona may mean the difference between getting a conviction and getting your charges dismissed. It may be the one of the most important decisions you make in a lifetime.

2019-04-21T01:16:09Z

https://blog.arizonacriminaldefenselawyer.com/category/arizona-felony-dui/

The EMI provides relief from capital gains tax CGT ) on the disposal of the employees' shares and. Enterprise Management Incentive Schemes The Basics. Direct share issue. The new legislation relaxes the rules for obtaining a statutory corporate tax deduction for options and share. This government backed scheme was launched in 1980, and offered generous tax breaks to encourage employees to take a direct stake in their company. Where a company has IMEs to whom the rules may apply, it will be necessary to: Identify the relevant period” for the award in question. Swedish scheme to eliminate income tax on employee stock options. I d be grateful for any advice on the tax planning by excising those options. Company stock options tax uk. Com A close company, for the purposes of UK tax law, is broadly speaking a small company with no more than five controlling parties. The company or participating companies. Estimating the value of. A statutory tax relief means that they do not pay income tax or National InsuranceNI) on their. To qualify for the favourable tax treatment, the grant of an EMI option must be notified to HMRC online within 92 days of the grant date. The option exercise price must not be manifestly less than the market value at the time of the grant of the option. Employee share schemes are widespread in private companies and public companies and have grown exponentially to nearly 80% of FTSE 100 companies and over two million UK employees holding shares or options through a tax- advantaged schemes. A savings related option plan which must be offered to all qualifying UK. 3 An Austrian joint stock companyAG) must report the grant of stock options under employee share plans to shareholders and stock options. Stock Option Plans Employment Regulatory Tax. Share options must be granted with an exercise price which is equal to or exceeds the market value of a share at the grant date. How to calculate the UK tax arising. Taxation of stock options, is dependent on an employee s U. No tax consequences. Form 42: UK reporting requirements for US corporate share. Company stock options tax uk. When looking at the issue of share options in the UK and USA, the treatment, particularly tax treatment, could not be more different. Company stock options tax uk. Saffery Champness needed, although it is recommended that the share values are agreed with HMRC. UK tax authorities comment on Restricted Stock Unit plans Lexology. All income tax information is summarized by KPMG LLP, the U. Rewarding staff with bonus shares Tax implications. Economic employer approach. Quora In theory, stock options should fall under capital gains losses like any other asset. The CSOP is a tax qualified discretionary option plan under which a company may grant options to any employee or full time. Indd Tax considerations for US companies offering international equity incentive programmes. Companies traded on AIM and a number of other marketssee Part 4 are regarded by HM Revenue and CustomsHMRC) as unquoted for this purpose. Those schemes which are approved by HM Revenue and CustomsHMRC) offer tax benefits to both employers and employees. Stock Options Employee Options and Stock Ownership Companies issue stock optionscalled Share Options in the UK) to their employees, which give the employee the right but not the obligation to buy a certain amount of. Tax and Employee Share Schemes. Economic Statistics Transformation. Such schemes do not require HM Revenue. Programme: Enhanced financial accounts UK flow of funds) employee stock options. 25 000 estimated number of UK employees holding CSOP options The Company Share Option PlanCSOP) allows a company s UK employees to acquire shares by first granting them options to acquire shares. Member firm of KPMG International, based for the most part on Income and Corporation. Note that EMI scheme options can only be granted. Tax Consequences UK. At the point that the shares are exercised, there is an income tax NI charge for youyour employer has to pay NI as well. The following note summarises the UK tax implications of the acquisition and exercise of options over shares in the CompanytheOptions. Requirements for the options themselves. Recent accounting changesInternational Financial Reporting Standard 2 and its UK counterpart, FRS 20, which require companies to recognise the provision of share based incentives as a profit and loss account expense, may have dented the popularity of stock options but they are still, and will continue. These conditions are not particularly difficult to meet or exhaustive but the tax advantages that can be obtained can be very beneficial to both. Share Appreciation Rights. Com Forums I ve inherited 6000 fully vested US company stock options five years agonot approved by Inland Revenue in the UK. Discounted options. Uk taxation of employee stock options. Tax residence status at the time of grant. The UK tax office to taxing gains from options” and stock appreciation rights. In the United States, they revert to NSO tax status. Stock options uk tax implications. If you have any queries about Share Options Tax Implications, please contact Karen Robinson co. An EMI option agreement must contain details of any restrictions on the sharesexamples. Non qualified stock option Wikipedia. I have just sold some stock options from my US based company. Should transatlantic share options be this taxing. GLOBAL Tax advantages on employee share schemes including Share Incentive Plans, Save As You Earn, Company Share Option Plans Enterprise Management. Stock option plans are an extremely popular method of attracting, motivating, and retaining employees, especially when the company is unable to pay high salaries. Some of these options were granted while I resided in the US and some while I resided in the UK, but all were shares in the US company and denominated in dollars. Hi there, I have just sold some stock options from my US based companyboth NSO and ISO Grant Types) and as part of the trade the broker web site calculated my UK tax liability for the NSO based options at 60% based on the Grant Price Market Value calculation excercise and subsequently deducted. Tax advantaged Company Share Option PlansCSOP) Out Law. Unapproved My employer deducted no tax on the approved stock sident on the grant of a share option, UK income tax would be due on the full value received on. To the date of exercise, consider a qualifying US stock option plan or a UK Unapproved Share Option PlanUSOP) rather than EMI for awarding equity to these individuals. Employee stock options tax uk GO TO PAGE. The option vests in March. Employee share plans in the UKEngland and Wales : regulatory. These schemes typically take the form of either Share Options Schemeswhich can be an Unapproved or EMI scheme) or else Restricted Shares. Stock programmes. Non qualified stock options tax uk. Assuming you take up the option, when you sell the shares, you may. Capital gains tax on shares Which. ESOP are often linked to employee performance and offer tax incentives to the companies. Note that EMI scheme options can only be granted to full time employees and the earliest possible. The rules apply to the income tax and NICs liabilities of chargeable events such as the acquisition of ERS or an option exercise) occurring on or after 6 April. Restricted Stock in the UK— which is best. Tax treatment of stock options BDO s Global TAX TREATMENT OF. UK Employee Stock Option Plans The Basics norrisnode Enterprise Management Incentive. A move in the right direction. Other restrictions also apply depending upon the activities of the business. The purpose of this guide. Uk Tax Treatment Of Us Stock Options Top rated binary options. If the shares are listed on the London or New York Stock Exchanges HMRC accept the market value will be the mid market closing price. Last tax year less than one year ago I. Current rules Option exercised before 6 April : No UK income tax and NI payable at the date of exercise. Can anyone think of any circumstance where US tax would be due. UK employee with US stock options Tax Forum: Free Tax Advice. Employee stock options tax uk. Share Options and Incentives Kingston Smith Furthermore, options offer employees protection against any fall in value of their employer s shares, as they will have significant flexibility to choose when they want to acquire their shares. NRF18685 Tax considerations for US companies v4. Relatively easy to implement and. As part of his package, he receives US stock options exercisable at certain time for an agreed price. For the employee, there is no need pay an option exercise price. The employer may have a withholding. United Kingdom Deloitte. The tax reliefs available include: Capital gains taxCGT. Withholding obligation for both tax. Stock options uk tax implications GO TO PAGE. CustomsHMRC) approval, and the ability to exercise the options. Company stock options tax uk. Uk You are given the option to buy shares in the company at a set future date at a set price. Capital gains tax will be payable at the employee s. Share Options Tax Implications Advice. Where income tax is payable on exercise, the employer must withhold and account for this tax if one or more of the following applies: The shares are listed on a stock. In London Stock Exchange listed companies, shareholders expect. Income tax Approach to share options in the UK Personal. Global Share Plan Tax Updates Computershare. Employment Regulatory Tax. Share Appreciation Rights SARs ) are a form of employee incentive arrangement which are similar to some share option plans, but which have two additional advantages: for the company, share dilution can be reduced or eliminated; and. Tax advice on stock options please. Swedish scheme to eliminate income tax on employee stock options for start ups. How stock options are taxed MarketWatch. Unapproved share options. March and grant not made in contemplation of UK duties. Types of taxable compensation. Taxation of Equity Reform In The News. Note different position if restricted stock taxed at award inhome” country. The employing company should be able to claim a deduction against corporation tax for the full amount of the financial gain provided to employees who exercise their options. Tax relief is available. The company will need to set up a trust to hold the shares, for a holding period between three and five years. 5 things you need to know about stock options TechRepublic. Tax exempt income. Employee Stock Purchase. As part of our compensation package, we received private stock options in the company. I believe that there is no liability to US tax for UK employees on grant or exercise of the option all subject to the normal UK rules. What are the individual s tax implications when exericising stock options if the company doesn t take the deduction it s entitled to. Employee share schemes Scott Moncrieff The employing company may get a tax deduction when a CSOP option is. We present an overview of how they work. This is good for UK early stage companies because there is no tax burden on recipients of stock option grants when they exercise their options. Treatment of Employee Stock Options labor market is the proliferation of stock options. Uk tax treatment of employee stock options, hotel trading hours good. US stock options. With an unapproved share option scheme, employees are given options to acquire a number of shares at a future date at any price specified by the company. Shares and stock options Landau Law Employment law- Share and stock options. It is based on UK tax law and tax rates in effect on 30 January, which are subject to change. Company Share Option Plans CSOP UK) Bird Bird Company Share Option. Stock options hmrc The tax advantages are those which relate to investments in qualifying unquoted companies. The situation is as follows: USC" corp private company. Companies operating tax advantaged enterprise management incentiveEMI) stock option arrangements for their UK employees need to be aware of some recent changes in HMRC policy. The market value of. Contractual obligations to pay bonuses may also arise. Restrictions on shares. This means that if you make money on the options you trade, your resulting capital gain is taxable and if you lose money on your options, you have a capital loss. Red, White and Blue Options on either side of the Atlantic. With the caveat that I am not a tax or a legal professional, and. For RSU or restricted stock awards) occurs on or after 6 April. If the set price is less than the market value of the shares on the date the option is granted, this perk counts as part of your pay on which you have to pay income tax. TABLE OF CONTENTS. UK Tax advantages on employee share schemes including Share Incentive Plans, Save As You Earn, Company Share Option Plans and Enterprise Management Incentives. Individuals arriving in or leaving. EU jurisdictions recognise the concept of a stock option, restricted stock unit and restricted stock award, although the names. Clearly an employer must consider terms of employment as to whether there is an entitlement to a bonus. Tax errors can be costly. Tax factsheet: share schemes. An employee was granted a stock option outside of the UK whilst not UK resident, and not in anticipation of. The most widely used scheme is Save as You EarnSAYE) also known as Sharesave or Savings Related Share Option Schemes. Likely to increase NIC costs for both the employee and the company. If exercise on or after 6 April, UK income tax and NIC due on apportioned gain. Companies should be mindful of this when determining the eligibility of employees to participate in a Plan, the benefits being granted and the. Rather than simply asking employers to amend their processes going forward, HMRC are actively pursuing companies for unpaid PAYE NIC for historic years and as a matter. Capital Gains Tax MarketWatch. Have tax exemptions for stock options. Share options Elexica Holmen ABtheCompany. What is anonqualified stock option. Restricted Stock and RSUs. Essentially, the RSU is then treated as a stock option for UK income tax and NIcs purposes, and the tax charge arises under the employment related securities provisions. Employee share ownership: an introduction The Employee Share. International Employment. Tax and Employee Share Schemes GOV. This guide is designed to summarise the main legal and tax issues arising on the. Unapproved stock options tax uk Currency options exchange traded 2. American Stock Option Plans Employee Share Schemes American Stock Options. Employee Share Plans in Europe and the USA Sorainen. The paper gain is around80K, really like to know thereal gain' after tax. Capital gains on stock options uk. How employee share schemes work Telegraph. While the US has a class of tax favoured options known as Incentive Stock OptionsISO s, they do not work well for early stage companies and we do not. Making UK Equity Plans Work for US Employees. United Kingdom New HMRC focus on share options granted to non residents. In March the IME comes to the UK to work for a UK employer and becomes UK tax resident. Uk tax on us stock options Secure investment forex trading Uk tax on us stock options. An Overview of UK Share option Schemes Oury Clark In the UK, the granting or exercising of share options, as well as the gift of existing shares to employees or directors, are taxable events which can lead to an employer employee facing tax bills of up to 65% of any share value. Finance Bill : Treatment of Restricted Stock Units. United Kingdom tax relief on stock option gains can be obtained by creating an approved H M Revenue Customs arrangement Sub- Plan ) that will attach UK tax favoured status to options granted by a US company to either its employees or employees of its UK subsidiary. EXERCISE DATE The spread on exercise for non- qualifying options will be taxable. Companies and employees can avail of certain share plans from. Don t companies have more flexibility than with incentive stock optionsISOs, which are. Uk taxation of employee stock options FLYINGEHUS Tax advantages on employee share schemes including Share Incentive Plans, Save As You Earn, Company Share Option Plans and Enterprise Management. Those options will expire in. The type of ERS instrument for example, whether it is a share option, conditional share awardrestricted stock unitRSU) or performance share planPSP, or a forfeitable or restricted share ; whether the award is settled in cash or shares ; whether the IME is inbound to or outbound from the UK; and; the. Capital gains tax CGT) in the context of the Australian taxation system applies to the capital gain made on disposal of any asset, except for specific exemptions. The approved arrangement is only applicable to options to which it is expressed to apply at the date of grant. If the employee is entitled to dividend equivalents under the relevant plan, the employee will be subject to income tax and NIcs on the. In HMRC parlance the employer is required to operate income tax and national insurance under PAYE and report to HMRC. MoneySavingExpert. Changes to the UK s tax efficient EMI stock option arrangements. New UK tax rules for Internationally Mobile. Картинки по запросу company stock options tax uk Unapproved Share Option Schemes. Pub Fieldfisher Being that EMI schemes are approved by HM Revenue and Customs HMRC ) there are various conditions that must be met by the employer, employee and the options themselves. For a share option or other right to acquire shares, this will generally be the period from grant until vesting vesting refers to. This article looks at providing employees with shares or share options rather than money, although there may be other optionsno pun intended. My client works for the UK subsidiary of a US company. Pinsent Masons affected by the change. Vested Shares: How To Make The Most Of Them Linkilaw UK income tax would be due on remuneration under the first contractwith the UK employer, with the UK employer being obligated to account under PAYE. Wants to issue stock options to UK employees. Most venture backed companies incentivise employees and advisors with equity in the company. Salary earned from working abroad. Gannons Solicitors For UK resident option holders the gain made on exercise of the unapproved option will be assessed to income tax and usually. When this issue first arose I thought i knew the answer but after speaking to HMRC i m now more confused than before. The only tax burden is on realisation of the gainat exit) capital gains tax. Move to UK as local hire. ByteStart GO TO PAGE. Low risk for the employee. Expatriate concessions. Non Qualified Stock OptionsNSO) are the simplest type of stock options where the employee is required to pay ordinary income tax on the profit. PAYE: Pitfalls on the Exercise of Employee Share Options. Global Employee Equity at a glance: United Kingdom. A similar employee share option scheme exists for small companies in the UK, known as the Enterprise Management IncentivetheEMI. The issue of shares to an employee will often give rise to an income tax charge on the employee at the date of gift. Presently, the nature of U. These schemes are designed to help small, higher risk companies recruit and retain employees by offering them tax beneficial share options. The Path Forward This is good for UK early stage companies because there is no tax burden on recipients of stock option grants when they exercise their options.

2019-04-21T14:22:40Z

https://familyhartwx.info/company-stock-options-tax-uk/2018-09-29-070642.php

I. Causes of Heart Failure: What every physician needs to know. Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome in which the heart is unable to provide sufficient blood flow to meet the metabolic needs of the body, or is only able to do so with significantly increased intracardiac filling pressure. However, this is a somewhat older definition, and many people now define heart failure as a clinical syndrome where there is structural heart disease and impaired function. Heart failure is often referred to as congestive heart failure (CHF). Many experts believe that the term “congestion” does not uniformly apply to all patients, and the syndrome is often referred to as “heart failure” in more contemporary times. Heart failure is most often characterized as systolic, if ejection fraction (EF) is decreased, and diastolic, if ejection fraction is preserved. “Diastolic” heart failure is also often called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) or heart failure with preserved systolic function (HFPSF). Systolic heart failure is often due to damage to the heart, such as ischemia or alcohol exposure. Diastolic heart failure is often due to longstanding hypertension or intracardiac infiltration such as with amyloid protein, which “stiffens” both ventricles. It is not usually possible to distinguish systolic from diastolic heart failure based on signs and symptoms alone, as both share substantial clinical features. II. Diagnostic Confirmation: Are you sure your patient has Heart Failure? Heart failure is diagnosed at the bedside using history and physical findings. There is no absolute laboratory test for the diagnosis of heart failure. A characteristic history includes exertional dyspnea, fatigue, and edema. Physical exam would be notable for volume overload (jugular venous distention, dependent edema), S3 gallop, and often pulmonary rales. However, it is important to note that the absence of rales does not exclude heart failure, as the lymphatic system can provide substantial compensation, particularly in patients with chronic heart failure. Pulmonary congestion is typically evident on chest radiography. Plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) or N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP) levels are typically elevated, although renal failure and obesity are commonly recognized confounders. The hallmark laboratory exam of heart failure is an echocardiogram. The presence of a decreased EF is sufficient to give a diagnosis of systolic heart failure; other modalities such as gated nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or gated computed tomography (CT) are also able to determine EF. Diastolic heart failure is diagnosed in the presence of the clinical syndrome of heart failure with preserved EF. Efforts should be made to determine the etiology of heart failure. Exertional dyspnea and fatigue are virtually universal. Volume overload is usually found, but in the modern era of powerful loop diuretics, some patients do not manifest fluid overload. Nocturnal symptoms such as orthopnea and/or paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (PND) are also highly suggestive of heart failure. Abdominal discomfort or fullness is also a frequently reported symptom. Patients with well-compensated heart failure may have minimal symptoms and no evidence of volume overload. Characteristics of end-stage heart failure may include cachexia and Cheyne-Stokes respirations. Approximately half of patients with heart failure have systolic failure and the other half have diastolic heart failure. Some have features of both types. Heart failure is perhaps more common in men and in those who identify as black racially. Risk increases with age. Regardless, the most important risk factors for developing heart failure on a population basis are hypertension, myocardial infarction, and diabetes. The majority of diastolic heart failure is a result of longstanding hypertension, and this phenotype of heart failure is more common in women. Infiltrative diseases, such as amyloidosis and hemochromatosis, also typically lead to diastolic heart failure, often with restrictive physiology. Prior chest radiation is another potential cause of diastolic heart failure, and the incidence may increase as prolonged cancer survivorship increases. Once patients are hospitalized with diastolic heart failure, the prognosis is approximately the same as systolic heart failure. Hypertension and diabetes also increase the risk of systolic heart failure through the increased risk of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarctions. Thus efforts to minimize coronary artery disease would be anticipated to have substantial impact on risk of developing heart failure. The causes of systolic heart failure are myriad, including coronary artery disease, genetic or familial, viral (including HIV), idiopathic, valvular, inflammatory (myocarditis, sarcoidosis), thyroid disease, tachycardia-mediated (often from previously unrecognized atrial fibrillation), stress-induced (also known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy), nutritional deficiency (such as thiamine or selenium), systemic myopathies (such as muscular dystrophies), and peripartum cardiomyopathy. Alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamines, anthracyclines, some antirheumatic medications (such as hydroxychloroquine) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors are common toxic causes of heart failure, which are typically identified through patient history. Common alternative causes of volume overload include renal failure, liver failure, and hypoalbuminemia. Common alternative causes of exertional breathlessness are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary embolism (PE), and pneumonia. Coronary artery disease also may present with a dyspnea-predominant phenotype, rather than chest pain, as is classically expected. Evaluation of the central venous pressure is of the utmost importance. Profoundly low cardiac output states may be characterized by hypotension and/or narrow pulse pressure along with cool or mottled skin. Sinus tachycardia is common but may be compensatory. Chest x-ray (CXR) and EKG are essential in the evaluation of a patient with suspected heart failure. Beyond providing information supporting the diagnosis of heart failure, these diagnostic tests often provide an alternative diagnosis (atrial fibrillation, pneumonia, lung mass, etc.) that implies heart failure may not be the key diagnosis. Echocardiogram is also essential and will provide substantial information about the size, structure, and function of the heart. MRI, which provides detailed information on the myocardium, should be considered. MRI can provide strong, noninvasive evidence of etiology in many cases, such as prior infarction, myocarditis, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, left ventricular noncompaction, stress or “Takotsubo” cardiomyopathy, amyloidosis, sarcoidosis, or hemochromatosis, for example. Positron emission tomography (PET) can also be used to diagnose cardiac sarcoidosis. Endomyocardial biopsy should be considered in highly select circumstances, such as suspicion of myocarditis. Biopsy also has a role in defining the subtype of amyloid cardiomyopathy (e.g., transthyretin versus amyloid light-chain (AL)). Patients with a family history of cardiomyopathy should be offered the option of referral for genetic counseling and testing. BNP (or NT-proBNP) should be considered, particularly if other causes of dyspnea such as COPD are being considered if there is doubt about the diagnosis. Very low levels virtually exclude heart failure, but can be confounded by obesity. Elevated levels can be seen in renal failure without substantial heart failure, but at least suggest volume overload. Elevated BNP in the absence of renal failure is strongly suggestive of heart failure, but BNP levels are increased with age. Basic metabolic parameters including renal and hepatic function should be measured. Renal dysfunction may be a seen as a result of low cardiac output or elevated venous filling pressure. Hepatic parameters (ALT, AST, total bilirubin) and international normalized ratio (INR) may be elevated as a consequence of hepatic congestion. Serum albumin is helpful in excluding malnutrition as an alternative explanation for peripheral edema. Minor elevations in troponin are characteristic of heart failure exacerbation, but typically do not rise and fall as in acute coronary syndrome; myocarditis should be considered if troponin is substantially elevated. Inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) would also be typically elevated in myocarditis, but are not diagnostic if elevated. Anemia (hemoglobin or hematocrit) and gout (uric acid) and are also frequent comorbidities to consider. Additional testing to establish the etiology of heart failure should be considered and may include: HIV, ferritin (hemochromatosis), thyroid-stimulating hormone, and serum free light chains (amyloid), for example. Testing for specific viruses other than HIV is not routinely performed, but Coxsackie, Epstein-Barr, and varicella zoster could be considered. Exclusion of connective tissue disease with antinuclear antibodies (ANA) is also often performed. CXR film (Figure 1) may show cardiomegaly, but the absence does not exclude heart failure. Pulmonary edema is an important finding, but can be confused with pneumonitis or other causes of diffuse infiltrates. Accompanying findings such as pleural effusions may be helpful in interpretation. Chest x-ray film demonstrating cardiomegaly and pulmonary edema. An echocardiogram will provide size; structural detail, including evaluation of valves; and myocardial function, including EF and presence of absence of regional wall motion abnormalities. This is the most important test when considering heart failure as a diagnosis. Abdominal ultrasound may demonstrate hepatomegaly and/or ascites, although these findings are often evident on exam and thus are not routinely indicated. The hallmarks of treatment of diastolic heart failure are control of congestion, heart rate in the presence of atrial fibrillation to increase ventricular filling time, and control of systolic blood pressure. The majority of evidence on the treatment of heart failure has been for systolic heart failure, and is thus the focus of the remainder of this section. There are three “to do’s” in the management of heart failure: (1) control congestion, (2) provide neurohormonal antagonists, and (3) consider sudden cardiac death prevention and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Since congestion causes most symptoms, this should be prioritized. Congestion control is achieved with sodium and sometimes (if there is hyponatremia) moderate fluid restriction; most patients need loop diuretics. Congestion is managed the same for systolic and diastolic heart failure. Second, neurohormonal antagonists (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB), beta-blockers, aldosterone antagonists, and vasodilators in select populations) are critical for the treatment of systolic heart failure and should be initiated. Although it is critical to use the drugs and doses that were found to be effective in landmark clinical trials, very few patients will tolerate initiation of full doses of these medications, and a period of uptitration over several weeks to months should be anticipated. There is no consensus regarding whether beta-blockers or ACEI/ARB should be initiated first, and beta-blockers should be avoided in the setting of cardiogenic shock, severe bradycardia, complete heart block, or bronchospasm. Studies of neurohormonal antagonists for diastolic heart failure have been disappointing, but neurohormonal antagonists are still often used for their antihypertensive effect, and their safety in this population is well-established. Although there is no mortality benefit, digoxin has been noted to improve symptoms and reduce the risk of hospitalization. Finally, consideration should be given to “electrical therapy,” which consists of CRT (if QRS >130 ms) and sudden cardiac death prevention with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). The risk of sudden cardiac death is much higher with an EF <35%, and in the absence of contraindications such as life expectancy less than 1 year, electrical therapy should be considered. Patients should be receiving optimal medical therapy for at least 3 months before implanting an ICD. Wearable external defibrillators are sometimes used during the period of medical uptitration to permit reevaluation of EF; a sizable fraction of patients will improve on medical therapy to the point that an implantable ICD is not indicated. Patients who are unable to tolerate medical therapy or experience progression despite these therapies suggest a very poor prognosis and may be considered for advanced options, such as mechanical circulatory support (MCS, also known as ventricular assist device or VAD) or heart transplant. ACEI/ARB and beta-blockers are both initiated at minimal dose, but uptitration of ACEI/ARB is typically prioritized, as full dose can typically be achieved more quickly. Beta-blocker dose is then increased every 1 to 2 weeks to the maximally tolerated dose. Timing of the introduction of aldosterone antagonist is individualized based on need for diuretics and potassium supplementation, and often deferred to prioritize ACEI/ARB and beta-blockers. Administration of diuretics is the hallmark of emergency treatment of heart failure and most patients respond promptly. Inadequate response should precipitate rapid escalation of a diuretic dose. A common rule of thumb is to double an ineffective dose. Consideration should be given to vasodilators if systemic blood pressure is adequate (e.g., mean arterial pressure greater than 70 to 75 mm Hg). In the event of hypotension or cardiogenic shock, initiation of inotropes, such as dobutamine and/or dopamine, may be necessary. Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation is an option and mechanical support such as an intraaortic balloon pump may also be indicated. In addition to evaluation of symptomatic response, physical exam findings that should be monitored while providing treatment for heart failure include frequent evaluation of jugular venous pressure and vital signs, with particular attention to blood pressure and heart rate. Sinus tachycardia is often a compensatory response and improvement is thought to represent a favorable response to treatment. Serial examinations should also focus attention on the presence of absence of S3/S4, liver span, presence or absence of ascites, and degree and distribution of edema. Urine output should also be monitored, as this provides the most direct measure of pace of decongestion and also indicates adequate (or not) renal perfusion. Basic metabolic panels are typically performed shortly after initiation of therapy (at least daily while hospitalized), to monitor renal function and ensure that diuretics are not causing dangerous perturbations in serum potassium levels. Following initiation of aldosterone antagonists, more frequent monitoring of potassium is indicated. A commonly used strategy is 1 week after initiation or dose increase, and then again at 1 month. Once a stable medication regimen has been established, routine intermittent testing in heart failure patients is not typically performed. There is some data to suggest that BNP levels may be used to guide therapy. Maintaining patients with heart failure on maximally tolerated doses of neurohormonal antagonists (ACEI/ARB, beta-blockers, aldosterone antagonists) are critical to minimizing risk of disease progression, symptomatic decompensation, hospitalization, and mortality. Application of CRT when indicated has also been shown to improve outcomes, and should be periodically reconsidered, as patient status or criteria for implant may change over time. Education on salt avoidance, the role of fluid restriction, and self-care including daily weight monitoring are all important to reduce burden of disease and avoid hospitalization. Over time, it is not uncommon for patients with heart failure to become intolerant to maximal doses of medical therapy. The need to decrease the doses of medications is a predictor of adverse outcome, and may be an appropriate time to consider evaluation for advanced options. For patients with end-stage disease, palliative care and/or hospice may be appropriate, and deactivation of ICD may be considered. Digoxin is sometimes used in patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure with insufficient rate control. Typical dose is 62.5 to 250 mcg daily. Concurrent anemia: Treatment may improve heart failure symptoms. Concurrent arrhythmias: Consider the role that uncontrolled arrhythmias may have on heart failure exacerbation. Improved control of atrial fibrillation or premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) may improve symptoms. Many antiarrhythmics are contraindicated in severe heart failure. Concurrent chronic kidney disease: Continue ACEI/ARB if possible, but if necessary to discontinue, replace with isosorbide/hydralazine combination. May contribute to anemia. Aldosterone antagonists have a substantially increased risk of hyperkalemia. Concurrent diabetes: Avoid thiazolidinediones (TZDs) in all heart failure patients and metformin if there is significant renal dysfunction. Concurrent gout: It is likely that diuretic dosing will need to be increased if a gout flareup is treated with steroids. Concurrent liver disease: Liver congestion is common and may result in the need to alter dose of medications metabolized by the liver. Concurrent prostatic hypertrophy: Alpha blockers should be avoided, as they have been shown to increase mortality in heart failure patients. Concurrent sleep apnea: Should be treated aggressively to minimize neurohormonal activation. Aldosterone antagonists should not be used in patients with underlying chronic kidney disease. Consider use of the Seattle Heart Failure Model or the Heart Failure Survival Score for estimating a patient’s prognosis. Consider referral to dietitian to augment teaching on importance of low-salt diet. Weigh yourself at the same time every day and record the result. Report increases of more than 3 lb in a day or 5 lb in a week to your doctor; however, not all decompensations are preceded by antecedent weight gain. Avoid sodium intake and strive to keep less than 2,000 mg daily. Take your medications as prescribed every day. Report changes in symptoms promptly. “2009 Focused update incorporated into the ACC/AHA 2005 guidelines for the diagnosis and management of heart failure in adults: A report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association task force on practice guidelines. Developed in collaboration with the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation”.

2019-04-21T10:30:38Z

https://www.clinicaladvisor.com/home/decision-support-in-medicine/cardiology/causes-of-heart-failure/

Buy stocks now that will stand the test of time and pay you to invest. We love talking about the hot stocks here on the blog but what about the stocks you can buy and know they’ll produce solid returns for decades? How do you find those forever stocks you can buy and just sit back and collect the checks? It’s something every investor needs to know. Gone are the days you could just park your money in huge companies like GE and feel confident that your money will be there when you retire. In this video, I’ll reveal the three factors I look for when buying stocks for the long-term and five stocks to buy right now. Now I love to buy deep-value stocks and benefit from that near-term rebound. Perfect example is the Hanesbrands position in our 2019 Stock Market Challenge. I saw rising online sales and strength in the activewear segment ahead of a 52% surge in the shares. But you also need to be investing for the long-term, right? We want to be building a portfolio that benefits from quick wins but one where our stocks are going to withstand the test of time. Fortunately, there is a way to get both. Get that short-term pop plus the long-term returns that will beat your investing goals, or as I call them, forever stocks. That’s exactly what we’re going to be doing today. In this video, I’ll show you the three factors I look for when picking stocks to buy for the long-term. I’ll cover each factor then I’m going to be revealing five stocks to buy right now that I think will produce those double-digit returns over the next 30 years. The first factor I’m looking for in forever stocks is a dividend yield and there are a few reasons for that. First is that, stocks that pay dividends just tend to do better. Now this graphic is a little jumbled but groups of stocks paying dividends and those with a history of growing their dividends are the blue lines at the top while no-dividend stocks and those cutting their cash payouts are the two bottom lines. The research this was based on has been sliced and diced every way but the simple truth is that dividend-paying companies beat the market. One of the reasons for this is because that dividend payout acts as cash discipline on management. It’s harder to spend on those questionable projects if you know you’ve got to meet that $400 million dividend payment at the end of the quarter. That dividend payment is like having some of your paycheck automatically invested instead of it sitting in your checking account tempting you to spend it on whatever commercial you see next. If you just don’t have the money sitting around, you’re less likely to spend it on stupid crap you don’t need. Another reason I want to be investing in dividend stocks is because it’s always a positive return. This chart shows the percentage of return from dividends and price in each decade. Dividends might be a small part of your return when the market is booming like in the 90s but when the stock market crashes, that dividend return may be all you collect. Thirty years is a lot of bear markets so having those dividend stocks is going to be a lot of protection. Now when I’m looking for dividend stocks, I want a company paying a yield of at least 2%. That’s the average dividend yield on the S&P 500 so I like to look for stocks paying maybe a little above average. I also want to look at the payout ratio though and this is something we’ve talked about before. The payout ratio is the percentage of profits paid out to cover the dividend. I like to see a payout ratio of 60% or less so I know the company is keeping enough money back for growth as well as making those cash payments. So obviously you know I’m all about dividend stocks but there’s another side of investing, looking at companies with the fastest growth. Think names like Tesla, Netflix and Amazon. This growth investing can be just as profitable or more than dividend investing so I need your opinion. Which do you want to see more videos about, dividend or growth investing. Just scroll down below the video and let me know in the comments. An important note here, any type of investing can get really expensive if you’re buying and selling a lot. That’s why I’m using M1 Finance for our 2019 stock market challenge for a no-fee investing option that saves thousands. The second factor I’m looking for in these long-term stocks to buy is going to take advantage of big macro trends. This means finding companies that will benefit from those large, universal trends like aging populations, food demand, automation. We’re talking the massive, unstoppable forces that will unfold over decades. This kind of long-term investing is the best thing you can do for your portfolio and it’s really how some of these hedge funds managers like Seth Klarman make their billions. This is one of my favorite ways to invest because it makes it so easy. You’re looking at these big trends and thinking, OK which sectors or industries of the economy will benefit? Those forces are going to drive demand for every company in that sector and industries so once you answer that question, you just look for the leaders in the group. The best part is, you don’t have to pick that one best company because all the players in the group will benefit from these massive shifts. Some of the biggest macro trends I’m watching include aging populations, so the fact that 10,000 Americans are reaching retirement age everyday and that’s going to affect everything from government services to consumer spending. Food demand, global agricultural production just isn’t keeping up with demand, obviously automation and artificial intelligence will bring huge shifts in work and other areas. Big data, and especially with the coming 5G networks I think will bring a wave of changes. Finally the shift in economic and political strength to Asia and here we’re not only talking about China which is the big one but also India and other parts of the region. The third factor I’m looking for in long-term stocks is going to be just as important and that’s companies safe from the destruction in those macro trends. Just as a lot of opportunities are created from those massive trends, there’s also going to be that creative destruction that is the hallmark of capitalism. With this one, think of entire industries like newspapers and magazines. Think of once hugely successful companies like Kodak that, while it’s survived, it’s hard to argue that the company is the giant it used to be. Here I’m thinking about industries at risk from automation and AI and we’re not just talking about making the industry obsolete but the kind of change that will be hard for companies to keep up with. There will always be a need for banking but the evolution to online banking, peer-to-peer lending and even digital currencies is making it very difficult for banks to keep up. You could have a best-of-breed bank stock but if they aren’t constantly adapting to these changes, it’s not going to last the thirty years. I’m also looking at companies at risk to big regulatory concerns and what we’ll just call Death-by-Amazon. So here I want to stay away from pharmacy retail and drug makers, not because I think those industries won’t be around but because these big risks are evolving so quickly that a lot of companies won’t be able to keep up. So those three factors are guiding my long-term investments but of course, I’m still doing that deep fundamental analysis when I pick stocks. I’m looking at cash flows and profitability like we’ve talked about in other videos and finding companies with a distinct advantage over competitors. I know it’s a lot but nobody said finding the best stocks for the next 30 years would be easy. Now I’m going to reveal five names that I think could make the cut. Some of these are going to be pretty safe bets while others could be a little more risky. Our first stock is an anchor for a lot of portfolios, Campbells Soup, ticker CPB. The $10 billion leader in packaged foods controls 60% of the canned soup market and a strong position in snacks and beverages. That kind of market share and size gives it negotiating power against retailers in shelf-space and pricing. Management has made some missteps over the last couple of years but has also been the victim of some bad economics in food packaging. Food costs have been rising at around 3% annually but companies haven’t been able to pass these increases on to customers so profitability has suffered. Shares have fallen about 45% since mid-2016 but represent some great value right now. Management has already driven $550 million in cost savings and expects another $400 million through 2022 which should rekindle some profitability. They’re also expecting to announce buyers for the international business and Bolthouse Farms Fresh segment by the end of the year. The two segments represent about $2.1 billion in revenue so I’m modeling around $4 billion from buyers that will significantly help to pay down some of that debt that’s acting as an overhang on the shares. Earnings are expected 0.8% lower over the next four quarters but the company has a strong history of beating expectations. I’m forecasting $2.55 in earnings per share on stronger profitability which would put the shares around 14-times on a price-to-earnings basis. The shares trade at a price of just 1.1-times sales which is a 40% discount to the five-year average and almost half the two-times average price-to-sales multiple in the industry so some good value here. Besides a great valuation, solid dividend and just the strength of the company’s business, I love Campbells here for a potential catalyst. Activist hedge fund Third Point has been battling the company for years to unlock shareholder value and take control from the Dorrance family. The hedge fund owns about 7% of the shares and finally won an agreement last November to add two of its nominees to the board of directors. That means shareholders have a strong voice on the board that is expert in increasing value. The hedge fund has said everything is on the table including a breakup of the company or asset sales to unlock value and investors get paid a 3.9% dividend while they wait. So I like Campbells but you’re thinking, mmmm I just don’t see soup as a growth market that’s going to jump over the next 30 years. What else ya got for me? China Mobile, ticker CHL, hits our list of stocks to buy for the long-term next. Just about every U.S. company has a ‘china’ plan to break into some part of the world’s second largest economy. Even though the U.S. economy is still about twice as big, China’s economy is adding almost twice the value to its economy every year because it’s growing so fast. Getting exposure to that growth through U.S. companies with sales in China just isn’t enough. EVERY SINGLE INVESTOR needs to own some Chinese domestic stocks and China Mobile is one of my top picks. The telecom company controls 61% of the 4G market and 60% of the total wireless market. With 916 million subscribers, it’s the largest telecom in the world and despite this ginormous size already, it’s still posting some astonishing growth. China Mobile also became the country’s largest fixed broadband provider last year, controlling 42% of the market and accounting for 73% of all new broadband customers versus the other two telecoms China Unicom and China Telecom. China is determined to be the leader in 5G, it’s said so publicly and this is one of the first tech evolutions where it really has a chance to set the pace and it’s going to do it. That’s going to open up a lot of opportunity for telecoms and the broader economy. IoT smart connections among corporate clients increased 154% in the first half of last year to 384 million, that’s already more than the entire population of the United States. Behind all this growth is also one of the strongest balance sheets I’ve seen with $70 billion in cash, that’s more than 30% of the company’s stock market value. For comparison, Apple’s cash stock pile is less than 10% of its market value and China Mobile is generating over $7.6 billion in free cash flow every year. Shares pay a 3.9% dividend yield and the company pays out 48% of profits to the dividend which is solid but still obviously leaves lots of money for growth. At a price-to-sales ratio of two-times which is just under the 2.15-times average over the last five years, the shares aren’t a bargain here but the long-term potential is undisputed. There is one major drawback to China Mobile, the controlling ownership by the Chinese government. As the controlling shareholder and regulator of all three domestic telecom operators, the government is a limiting force on how powerful any one company can become. In fact, over the last decade, it’s swapped out the CEOs of the companies twice to try distributing management experience and knowledge. The upside to all of this is that the Chinese market will continue to grow and the government wouldn’t consider letting anyone else play beyond the three established companies so you basically have an implicit guarantee for China Mobile. ConAgra Foods, ticker CAG, is one I added to our 2019 Dividend Portfolio in February. The company is a U.S. powerhouse in prepared meals where it’s the second-largest in the industry. It has a 40% market share in canned tomatoes and more than a fifth of the meat snacks market with Slim Jim. The company has some solid brands in that relatively safer consumer staples sector so we’re talking dividends as well as a recession-proof industry. Management fumbled big time with last year’s Pinnacle acquisition and had to lower the profit outlook by 20% late last year. The problems were centered around Pinnacle’s distribution business so a little harder to read but management has been very transparent since December about its plans going forward. I think they’re being overly conservative on estimates for a 5% sales decline and margin loss on the Pinnacle assets so the next surprise could be on the upside when things come out better than expected. Despite the missteps, the Pinnacle deal still brought a lot of opportunity to the company with a position in the faster-growing frozen foods space. Consumer data is showing millennials are adopting frozen meals at a higher rate than previous generations and it’s hard to imagine a tech shift that could put this industry in jeopardy. Shares of ConAgra pay a 3.9% dividend which management has affirmed with its new 2019 outlook and trade for just 9.9-times trailing earnings, that’s a 41% discount to the price multiple where it was trading in November. Cash flow is still solid and management is expecting $215 million in cost savings through 2022 on the acquisition. The average analyst price target is 50% higher than the current price and even the lowest price target is 8% higher. Next we have the Vanguard Real Estate ETF, ticker VNQ, which is probably my favorite exchange traded fund and another in our 2019 challenge portfolio. It holds shares of 187 real estate companies spread across all the property types and across the United States. Everyone in the community knows I’m a huge believer in real estate. I got my first professional job as a commercial property analyst while in college, I’ve managed my own rental properties and have seen real estate create more fortunes than any other asset. Real estate is truly a generational wealth-builder and will always be in demand. The fund pays a 4.2% dividend yield and has returned 14.7% annually over the last decade. Beyond the solid cash yield and return, this is a great opportunity to take a little risk out of the stock market and have it in a real physical asset like property. The fund has been under pressure over the last couple of years because of those rising interest rates. Obviously with the leverage used in real estate, any time you have rising rates, that’s going to weigh on returns but the Fed has signaled no more rate hikes this year and that could unleash a lot of value in real estate. We saw the real estate fund in blue here outperforming stocks through 2017 when rates started heading higher. Looking more recently with that market crash last year and we’re seeing real estate outperform again. Now I know I said I wanted to stay away from pharmaceutical stocks because of that potential for regulatory problems over drug prices but I think Cardinal Health, ticker CAH, deserves a spot on the list. The $15 billion leader in medical supplies and pharmaceutical distribution to hospitals and pharmacies is diversified enough that I think it can withstand some of that regulatory risk. The biggest reason I’d overlook that risk of problems with drug pricing is the company’s position in one of the biggest and surest demographic trends, the aging population. The very middle of the Baby Boomer generation, those born in 1955, turn 64 years old this year. That still puts a tidal wave of people over the next two decades that will be increasing the demand for healthcare. Between AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, these three companies control 90% of the pharmaceutical wholesale market in the country. Even if we do see true enthusiasm for drug price controls from the government, which is a long-shot to start, then I think it’s likely the industry can negotiate a compromise that still maintains solid profits while moderating price increases. Management has identified over $300 million in cost savings it can drive this year and next which could rocket free cash flow. Shares pay a 3.8% dividend yield and the payout has grown at an 8% annualized clip over the last five years. Analysts are only expecting 2.4% earnings growth to $5.10 per share over the next year but the company has a history of thrashing expectations. Over the last two years, management has surprised on the upside by 14% over expectations with even stronger results lately. Even the estimate though puts the shares at 10-times earnings so definitely some value in this one. Finding stocks to buy now isn’t the only question you need to ask as investor. It’s just as important to find the investments that will not only grow your money but the companies that will be around when you retire. Use a few basic screens and analysis to find these forever stocks to invest your money and have the confidence that it will be there when you need it.

2019-04-19T20:22:51Z

https://mystockmarketbasics.com/stocks-to-buy-now-hold-forever/

1. Why choose shutters? Shutters bring style & sophistication to any window & are equally at home in both traditional & modern interiors. They last longer than curtains, as fabrics begin to break down as soon as they are exposed to sunlight, require periodic washing & harbour dust mites. Shutters offer a level of light control unmatched by any blind, as the louvres within each panel can be independently adjusted to temper the degree of light entering the room. If the sun is in your eye, you can simply close the louvres on one panel & let the light flood into the room though the others. On dark days, the panels can be folded back to expose the window & maximise the light. 2. Why choose Made for Shade? We're the Midlands' longest established, most trusted shutter company & have been fitting shutters since 1999, so we know shutters inside out. Experience has taught us that clients generally want three things - the best product, at the best price, with the best service. (John Ruskin famously said that this combination was not achievable & that one of the three had to give - We prove otherwise!). Additionally, for your added peace of mind, we're full members of the Guild of Master Craftsmen (membership number A121256) - your guarantee of a top-quality product & installation. 3. How does the quality of your shutters compare to that of your competitors? Our shutters are manufactured by the world-leader in shutter production, utilising a combination of state of the art manufacturing & hand-crafted finishing touches. The wood used for our hardwood shutters is stored for six months before kiln drying to allow the wood to settle before being treated. UNLIKE the majority of shutter manufacturers our wood is kiln dried twice in a computer controlled drying facility. The wood is specifically dried to take into account the climate of the country to which the shutters will be exported. This is very important as these shutters are manufactured for installation in climates as varied as Alaska & Australia. By utilising these methods, frame warping is greatly reduced. UNLIKE many other manufacturers we engineer our stiles (the vertical, side bars of the shutter panels), rather than producing these as solid profiles. We cut the wood into strips which are then bonded back together in opposing layers for greater strength. This has the effect of breaking the capillaries that run through the wood, through which moisture travels. This, together with the strength of the bonding agent, ensures our panels are unlikely to warp & will give customers years of enjoyment. UNLIKE many other manufacturers we use mortise & tenon joints between the cross rails and the side stiles. These are far stronger than dowel joints & minimise movement between profiles. Movement can result in cracking of the paint or stain finish, which will spoil the aesthetic appearance of the shutters. Again, just in case there is some movement, we engineer the panels with an additional grooved overlap that ensures any movement is handled by this expansion joint. UNLIKE many other manufacturers, we use a high quality, proprietary paint system developed specifically for our shutters. Cheaper shutters use cheaper paints & stains and have fewer coats. We apply six coats of paint or stain, the final layer of which is a clear lacquer with a UV additive to ensure that the shutters are less susceptible to fading and yellowing. UNLIKE other manufacturers we don't compromise on the thickness of our louvres as we believe thinner louvres, although less costly to produce, are much more susceptible to warping. UNLIKE other manufacturers, we use the best quality, marine-grade stainless steel staples to attach our tilt rods to our shutters. In addition, the tips of the staples are coated in a bonding agent to make sure they remain secure for years to come. UNLIKE many other manufacturers, we supply our shutters with a large choice of frames rather than attaching them to battens. Not only does this give you the choice of framing your window by selecting a frame design to co-ordinate with your decor, but it also offers a practical solution for awkward windows (inward opening, etc). UNLIKE many other manufacturers, we assemble our shutters prior to shipping to ensure that all the components fit together perfectly. Once photographed, the shutters are disassembled & packed into custom made packaging to ensure they arrive in perfect condition. When shipping by airfreight, we double pack the shutters for additional security. All this means we are able to provide a three-year warranty on all shutters built within our published specifications. There are inferior quality shutters available on the market, but why would you pay more to get less? 4. Which areas do you cover? We're based in Sutton Coldfield & cover the West Midlands, East Midlands, Staffordshire, Warwickshire & Herefordshire regions. We also cover the 'M1 corridor' (the area between the M1 & the M40 between London & Birmingham). 5. Do you actually make the shutters? Like 99% of UK shutter companies, the answer is 'no'. Made for Shade is the Midlands agent for our manufacturer S:Craft (based near Winchester), who are the shutter market leaders in terms of quality, choice & product innovation. Our expertise is in designing, surveying, specifying & installing shutters, not making them. This enables us to offer a far greater choice of materials, colours, louvre widths & framing options & guarantees clients a constant timeframe from ordering to installation. That said, we have joinery workshop facilities for customising special shutters & have been regular visitors to the factory where the shutters are manufactured. This means we can talk in detail about the production process & answer any questions you may have. 6. Who will measure & fit my shutters? Made for Shade is a family business & as such, we don't employ sales people or believe in pressure selling. We operate a he / she who surveys also fits policy whenever possible, to maintain continuity throughout the order process. Acurate dimensions will be taken at the time of the design consultation to save disturbing you further. Our aim is to make the process of buying shutters a pleasure from start to finish & our testimonials certainly bare this out as you may have already seen. 7. How long do I have to wait? Standard delivery time is between six & eight weeks. Special shapes take an additional two weeks, as CAD drawings need to be created & signed off before manufacture can commence. Custom coloured shutters also take an additional two weeks. However, if you need your shutters fitted sooner, we also offer an express service, which reduces the waiting time to between three & four weeks, but naturally costs a little more. 8. How long do they take to fit? This really depends upon the size & quantity of the shutters & what they're being fitted to (wooden window frames are quicker to fit to than plastered reveals), however most jobs are completed within half a day. Naturally, we can give you an accurate time frame before you place your order. 9. How are they fitted? All Made for Shade shutters are fitted using a three-sided or four-sided perimeter frame, from which the panels are then hinged. Frames can be fitted inside the recess, outside the recess or around the front edge of the recess, depending on how & where you want your panels to fold when open. Needless to say, there are different frame profiles for every eventuality. (The latter option is perfect for uneven recesses, as the run-out is hidden behind the frame moulding). Whichever framing option you choose, all screw-heads will be either hidden with insert strips or cap covers & in the case of stained finishes, screws will be fitted using brass or silver mounting cups. For wider installations such as patio doors & room dividers, tracking systems are used as they give constant support to the panels as they move. All panels are fitted within their frames using hinges with removable pins, which are perfect when it comes to decorating, as the panels can be simply removed & re-fitted in a matter of minutes. 10. How & when do I pay? Payment is made in two parts, 50% when the order is placed & the remaining 50% on completion of installation. Payment can be made by cash, cheque, debit card or credit card (all major cards accepted). 11. What are shutters made from? Made for Shade offer seven different shutter materials. The most economical option is Craftwood, which is a Polymer coated MDF product available in the six best selling white / cream shades & comes in a choice of four louvre widths. It's perfect for small to average sized installations & looked just like a wooden, painted shutter when fitted. We then have a variety of real timbers including Larchwood, Basswood & Cedarwood, each of which have their own unique grain patterns & characteristics. Using lighter weight timbers allows us to hinge more panels together to achieve greater widths with a single, conventional bi-folding shutter. Real timbers can have painted or stained finishes, but our Western Red Cedarwood can also be oiled to give it a beautifully natural finish, which brings out the individually different grain structure in each profile to give a truly rustic charm. 12. How much light do they cut out? There are no technical figures to quote here but we estimate that a shutter will cut out 90 - 95% of incoming light. Whilst there are no gaps to let in direct light, there will always be light glow around the edges of the panels, between the louvres & between the louvre edges where they meet the stile uprights. If actual blackout is required for bedrooms, we have the perfect solution whereby a cellular pleated blackout blind is built into the shutter frame & positioned behind the panels. The blind is raised / lowered by a simple cord mechanism & cannot be seen through the panels. The blinds are available in several, equally effective colours, the most popular being white. 13. Can they be fitted to any window? It's a rare day when we come across a window to which we can't fit shutters, but "never say never" as the saying goes. We need to ensure that the shutter will not inhibit the opening operation of the window & that we have suitably substantial fixing points to bare the weight, but this is all taken care of during the survey. 14. What if my window is out of square? This is usually no problem as most windows vary in width & height across the window. If you want your shutters fitted inside the recess, the tolerance gap between the outside edge of the shutter frame & the recess itself, will usually be filled with decorating caulk as this can be painted to match the walls or window frame when dry. It takes approximately half an hour to caulk an average sizes shutter to a high standard, but makes all the difference in the world to the final result. If the window it drastically out of square, we would fill the gaps by scribing insert strips (finished in the same colour as the shutters) to the desired shape & then caulking around them as described earlier. Alternatively, we have framing options which can either be surface mounted outside the recess or fitted to the front edge of the recess with a lip feature that disguises / hides the recess variance. It's simply a case of using the right frame for the right job, which is where our expertise comes into play. 15. What about shaped windows? No problem. We design & fit round shutters, arched shutters & angled shutters in various materials with either painted or stained finishes. The great thing about shaped shutters is that unlike blinds or curtains, they maintain the true shape of the window rather than "squaring it off" & the panels will still hinge open to give access to the window. 16. What about high-level windows? If shutters are fitted to an out-of-reach window, the tilting of the louvers can be done by remote control (both battery & solar powered units are available). Alternatively, if the shutter is simply to dress the window, the louvers can be simply set in the desired position & left. 17. How do I clean them? The easiest way is with either a feather duster or using a vacuum upholstery brush (the one with the bristles on). Marks can be removed using a damp cloth with, if necessary, a suitable soap solution. 18. What if they get damaged? We offer a full repair service whereby, for example, damaged louvers can simply be removed & replaced with new ones. 19. Does fitting make a mess? This depends on what we're fitting to as drilling into plaster / brick creates dust which drilling into wood doesn't. Whatever the case, we will always dust sheet the fitting area first & clean up thoroughly when we've finished. Installers also wear slippers in carpeted rooms. We are always mindful that we are in your home. We therefore treat your home as we would our own, with respect. 20. What's the most popular colour? About 75% of our orders are for a white painted finished & there are good reasons for this. (1) White reflects light in a way no other colour will. This means light within the room is maximised as it reflects off the louvres (tip ~ using the medium 64mm or larger 89mm wide louvres also creates more light as the gaps between each louvre increase with louvre size & larger louvre surfaces reflect more light. Food for thought if you have a North facing room with a big tree outside!) (2) White never dates & always looks fresh. (3) White offers endless colour possibilities when it's time to decorate, as white will work with any colour. (4) White will always be relevant as there will always be something else white in the room (window frames, doors, radiators, coving, ceilings, etc). (5) Shutters are an investment in your home & will appeal to prospective, aspirational home buyers if you decide to move on. Buyers can always visualise working their design schemes around white shutters, as it gives them an open book decoratively speaking in addition to the wow factor. 21. Are they guaranteed? Absolutely! All Made for Shade shutters are guarantee for a minimum of 3 years. This includes all aspect of the shutters (colour fastness & joinery) as well as the installation itself. 22. Are they suitable for bathrooms & swimming pool areas? This really depends on the level of moisture within the air. In a large, well-ventilated bathroom with no shower, a conventional painted or stain finished shutter will be fine. However, in high moisture rooms such as shower rooms, wet-rooms & swimming pools, we have a purpose made waterproof product called Permawood, which an ABS coated hardwood. Permawood shutters are fitted with marine-grade stainless steel hinges to resist moisture & prevent rusting. 23. How do I measure? To obtain an initial estimate, firstly decide whether you want your shutters to be fitted inside of outside the recess. Remember if they're fitted inside the recess, the panels will only fold back as far as the recess returns will allow (usually 90 degrees). If they're fitted outside the recess, the panels will fold back onto the walls (provided there is sufficient space for them to do so of course). For inside recess shutters, measure the width & drop in 3 places & tell us the largest dimension in each case. For outside recess shutters, take the same measurements & add 150mm to the recess width to allow for the overlap. If your window has a sill, add 75mm to the recess height or 150mm if it doesn't have a sill, to allow for the overlap. If you're looking to buy Café Style shutters (to cover the lower part of the window only), take the width dimension in the same way, but then measure from the sill up to where you'd like the top of the shutters to be. For inside recess shutters or outside recess shutters where the window has a sill, that's the height you need to give. For outside recess, Café Style shutters where the window has no sill, add 75mm to the recorded height. Naturally, we will take accurate dimensions at the point of survey but following this procedure will ensure there are no nasty surprises price-wise! 24. What are "Solid" shutters? These are simply shutters, which have solid panels rather than louvred panels. They were originally fitted into period homes, folding back into purpose made side-recesses when the owners were in residence. When the owners were overseas, the shutters were closed for privacy & security as part of the "closing up" of the house. These days, we tend to only install solid shutters when either a greater degree of darkness is required or when replacing original solid shutters in period properties. Naturally, the amount of light entering the room can't be adjusted in the way it can with louvred shutters. 25. Can I measure & fit my own shutters? Yes. We can measure & fit your shutters for you, we can measure but you can fit or you can measure & fit yourself. It really comes down to the complexity of the particular job & the surface to which the shutters will be fixed. If you're self-measuring, we suggest you e-mail a photograph of the window prior to finalising your order so we can try to spot any potential problems & help you overcome them. 26. Do operate a 'price promise' pledge? Whilst our aim is to provide shutters at the most competitive price & we constantly monitor the market to check price levels, there may be times when, due to a limited or special promotion, a competitor's price is lower. In such an eventuality, we guarantee to price match any like-for-like, written quotation. If you have a question other than those above, please either call us on 0121-352-0747 or e-mail it to us via our contact page & we'll answer your question by return.

2019-04-19T04:51:19Z

https://www.madeforshade.co.uk/faqs/

Traditionally, quantum theory has been viewed as a "difficult" topic, mainly because of the symbolic-mathematical content. For example, Francl notes that two semesters of calculus is usually required for physical chemistry (1), and this is certainly true for quantum theory. The traditional approach emphases the use of mathematical equations, derivations and calculations. How do we deal with non-chemistry majors who have a weak background in mathematics, but wish to study p-chem? Similarly, how do we deal with chemistry majors who have a weak background in mathematics? Interestingly, the last 20-30 years has witnessed a paradigm shift in the practice of quantum chemistry. Leading up to the 1970s, quantum chemistry was monopolized by theoretical chemists, who were as much mathematicians as chemists. One had to be conversant with the mathematical methodology in order to perform a quantum calculation. More recently, the amazing increases in computing power have lead to graphical user interfaces, which has enabled a new group ofcomputational chemists. These computational chemists are interested only in the significance of the computed results, not in the details of the mathematical methods used. However, the same paradigm shift in the teaching of quantum chemistry has not occurred yet: students are still required to be competent mathematicians. The "new calculus" in mathematics education (eg, 2) advocates the "rule of four" (numerical, graphical, symbolic and verbal descriptions) to deepen students' conceptual understanding (eg, 3). This "new calculus" acknowledges that a predominantly symbolic approach to mathematics is suitable for some, but not all, students. The greater emphasis on graphical and verbal descriptions of a "problem" enables students to focus on the qualitative results. The numerical approach can refer either to approximate numerical solutions (cf modern computational chemistry software) or to specific numerical examples of more general symbolic equations. This paper describes the use of spreadsheets to generate approximate numerical solutions and visual (graphical) descriptions as a method of avoiding or minimizing symbolic manipulations, mathematical derivations and numerical computation. The aim here is to teach the qualitative results that arise from quantum theory, but with less "math". The specific example of the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation and some aspects of the educational pedagogy of spreadsheet usage are discussed. Electrons (and atoms?) exhibit both wave-like and particle-like behavior. Students are usually first introduced to quantum theory through the wavefunctions for the 1-dimensional Schrödinger equation. Exact solutions are derived for the particle-in-a-box (the Kuhn model (4)) and the simple harmonic oscillator model. The shapes of the potentials for these models are shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Potential functions for the particle-in-a-box model (left) and the simple harmonic oscillator model (right). where Hn(x) is the Hermite polynomial of order n. The novice learner sees the differences between Equation 1 and Equation 2 and concludes that every potential is treated as a special case! Potentials such has the triangular and stepped-valley models, shown in Figure 2, have no closed-form (ie analytic) wavefunction solutions. Similarly, the quantized energies cannot be given by any analytic equation. Here, the novice learner concludes incorrectly either that quantum mechanics does not apply, or that many systems are not quantized! Figure 2. Simple piecewise-continuous potential functions for which the wavefunction does not have any closed form: a triangular potential (left) and a stepped-valley potential (right). In p-chem classes at Deakin University, the derivative is explained as the "slope of a function". The 2nd order differential Schrödinger equation for an electron-in-a-box (the Kuhn model (4)) is explained as "finding the slope of a slope". The 1st order Euler method for generating numerical solutions is explained. No calculus is required as the Euler method can be derived from the definition of average slope. More-able students can construct an appropriate spreadsheet (to find numerical solutions to the Schrödinger equation), but mostly, spreadsheet quantum_well.xls<http://www.deakin.edu.au/~lim/KFLim/papers/2003_Spreadsheet_CCEN/quantum_well.xls>, implementing the Schrödinger equation, is provided as a "black box" to weaker students. (The pros and cons of black box methods are discussed below.) Using the spreadsheet quantum_well.xls, students test how the shape of a trial "wavefunction" changes as the energy is varied (Figure 3). A copy of the instructions to students for this exercise can be found at<http://www.deakin.edu.au/~lim/KFLim/papers/2003_Spreadsheet_CCEN/Asgnt_1_6.pdf>. The wavefunction solutions are classed as "valid" or "invalid" depending on whether the boundary conditions are satisfied as energy is varied (the shooting method (6)). Figure 3. Approximate trial wavefunctions for the triangular potential (Figure 2), arranged from high energy (top) to low energy (bottom). Shaded domains are the forbidden region: V(x) < E. Students discover that energy determines the wavelength of the wavefunction, and that valid solutions require that only special ("allowed") wavelengths will fit the dimension of the potential (Figure 3). It is observed that, as wavelength decreases, the number of nodes (the zeroes or roots of the wavefunction) increases with energy. An extension of this exercise using a skipping rope easily verifies that it is more difficult (higher energy) to swing the rope with nodes present than without any nodes (lower energy). Since the sign of the wavefunction changes across a node, the qualitative shape of the wavefunction can be generated from the nodal pattern. (One strategy in de Bono's Lateral Thinking (7) is to concentrate on what is not present - ie the nodes or zeroes - in order to obtain what should be present - the wavefunction.) Wavefunctions can then be generated from nodal patterns in 2-dimensions and 3-dimensions. For example, the molecular orbitals for cyclopentadienyl have, in increasing order of energy, no nodes, one node and two nodes respectively (Figure 4). Similarly, the rotational wavefunctions can be generated by considering nodal patterns on the surface of a sphere. Much of Schrödinger's original work was based on Hamilton's mathematical description of standing waves on a planet completely covered by ocean (ie water waves on a spherical surface). Note that these "spherical waves" correspond to combinations of the spherical harmonic functions, and can be obtained from the symmetry - "topology" - of the nodal patterns on the surface of a sphere. Figure 4. molecular orbitals for cyclopentadienyl. Shading of the circles in the centre panels represent the sign (direction) of the pz orbitals. The pzorbitals change sign across nodal planes, which are shown as blue lines. On further exploration with the spreadsheet quantum_well.xls, students discover that the shapes of the allowed one-dimensional wavefunctions are similar (Figure 5), even for different potential models: ie, the lowest-energy wavefunctions all have one "bump", with no nodes. Figure 5. Lowest-energy approximate wavefunctions for the particle-in-a-box (top panel), simple harmonic oscillator (2nd panel), triangular (3rd panel) and stepped-valley (bottom panel) potentials of Figure 1 andFigure 2. Shaded domains are the forbidden region: V(x) < E. the use of a series of square wells separated by barriers (extended Kronig-Penney model) illustrates that interactions between wells split energy levels. As the number of wells increases, the (single-well) energy splits into a quasi-continuous band of energies, giving rise to the band theory for conductors and semi-conductors. Although there has been a substantial history in the use of spreadsheet and graphical applications in education (eg 9,10), the author believes that full utilization of the technology, especially in chemical education, has not been realized. The aim of this paper is to teach the qualitative results that arise from applying mathematics to physical and chemical systems, but without the mathematical rigor: "teaching maths with minimal maths". The "new calculus" advocates the "rule of four" (numerical, graphical, symbolic and verbal descriptions) to deepen students' conceptual understanding (2). Students who have a weak background in mathematics do not have the knowledge of calculus required for the usual symbolic algebra approach to physical chemistry. This case study illustrates how a combination of numerical, graphical and verbal descriptions can be used to overcome the lack of symbolic knowledge or ability. The Logical-Mathematical intelligence is only one of multiple "intelligences" (11). By changing the emphasis away from mathematical calculus, the numerical-experimental activity, can also cater to those students who favor Spatial or Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligences. A combination of this spreadsheet approach with the traditional calculus-based approach will enable more students (and students of more types of "intelligences") to study quantum theory. This paper has focused on the use of spreadsheets but, in principle, the simulations can be done using symbolic mathematical packages such as Mathematica, Maple or MathCAD. This would only be feasible for students who already have a strong mathematical background. This author prefers the use of spreadsheets for weaker students for the following reasons. The symbolic mathematical packages depend on the use of a symbolic, quasi-programming language, which can present an additional learning obstacle for many students (12). Furthermore, the access to symbolic mathematical packages is usually more limited than that of spreadsheets, which are widely available in home, business and community settings. The "worldware" (13,14) (also called "application-software" (15)) nature of spreadsheets means that students will have greater opportunities to use and become familiar with spreadsheets than with (eg) symbolic mathematical packages, leading to greater utility and expertise: Software that isn't designed for instruction can still be good for learning (13). (A "straw poll" of physical chemistry faculty suggests that significantly more faculty use spreadsheets in teaching and learning activities than symbolic mathematical packages (16). While weaker students will use the spreadsheets, discussed in this paper, as "black boxes", more able students can construct similar, appropriate spreadsheets (eg17-19). Instructors will need to be careful in deciding to use the "black box" approach or to require students construct their own. If successfully completed, the latter approach will promote deeper learning (19), but the greater complexity of the task (12) may mean that some students cannot complete the task, resulting in frustration and lack of learning. The key feature of using spreadsheets is that students do "numerical experiments". (There is an interesting discussion of the use of numerical experiments in (20-22). Numerical experiments (eg 23) were also a key part of the development of chaos theory (20).) By playing with "what-if" scenarios, students can test the validity of their concepts and ideas: the success of using spreadsheets in this way is supported by cognitive constructivist models of learning (15,24,25). The use of spreadsheets is intended to give students a qualitative appreciation of quantum theory, and does not serve as a pre-requisite to more advanced studies in quantum theory, for which a reasonable knowledge of mathematics is required. This paper is an expanded version of case studies to be published by LTSN Maths, Stats & OR Network <http://ltsn.mathstore.ac.uk/mathsteam> and by LTSN Physical Sciences <http://www.physsci.ltsn.ac.uk>. KFL thanks Ms Jeanne Lee ( ) (Australian Catholic University) for encouraging and helpful discussions, Dr Paul Yates<http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ch/staff/pcy/pcy.html> (Keele University, UK) for suggestions to improve the spreadsheet quantum_well.xls, and Associate Professor (Emeritus) Ian Johnston <http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/super/johnston.html> (Uniserve·Science, University of Sydney, Australia) <http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/SCH/> for a seminar on MUPPET (the Maryland University Project in Physics and Educational Technology) <http://www.physics.umd.edu/rgroups/ripe/computer.html> which introduced KFL to the possibilities of numerical experiments in teaching and learning. All URLs checked on 7 March 2003. Francl, M., Survival Guide for Physical Chemistry; Physics Curriculum and Instruction: Lakeville (MN), 2001. Preparing for a New Calculus; Solow, A. E., ed. Mathematical Association of America: Washington (DC), 1994; Vol. 36. Stewart, J., "Introduction" in Calculus; 4th Ed.; Brooks/Cole: Pacific Grove (CA), 1999. Kuhn, H., "A quantum-mechanics theory of light absorption of organic dyes and similar compounds", J. Chem. Phys. 1949, 17, 1198. Levine, I. N., Quantum Chemistry; 5th Ed.; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River (NJ), 2000. Press, A. H.; Teukolsky, S. A.; Vetterling, W. T.; Flannery, B. P., Numerical Recipes in Fortran 77: The Art of Scientific Computing; 2nd Ed.; Cambridge University Press: New York, 1996; Vol. 1. de Bono, E., Lateral Thinking: A textbook of creativity; Penguin: London, 1990. McMurry, J., Organic Chemistry; 5th Ed.; Brooks/Cole: Pacific Grove (CA), 2000. Bridges, R., "Graphical spreadsheets", Mathematics in Schools 1991, 20, 2. Wood, J., "Utilizing the spreadsheet and charting capabilities of Microsoft Works in the the mathematics classroom", Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching 1990, 9, 65. Gardner, H., Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences; 2nd Ed.; Fontana: London, 1993. Galbraith, P.; Pemberton, M., "Convergence or divergence? Students, Maple, and mathematics learning", in Mathematics Education in the South Pacific; B. Barton, K. C. Irwin, M. Pfannkuch and M. O. J. Thomas, eds.; Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia: Pymble (NSW), 2002; Vol. 1; p 285. Ehrmann, S. C., "Asking the right question: What does research tell us about technology and higher learning?" Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning1995, 27 (2), 20 <http://www.learner.org/edtech/rscheval/rightquestion.html>. [supplementary material: Journal of Chemical Education: Webware, paper WW003 <http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/Features/WebWare/WW003/index.html>]. Maddux, C. D.; Johnson, D. L.; Willis, J. W., Educational Computing: Learning with tomorrow's technologies; Allyn and Bacon: Needham Heights (MA), 1997. Miles, D. G., Jr.; Francis, T. A., "A survey of computer use in undergraduate physical chemistry", J. Chem. Educ. 2002, 79, 1477 <http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/2002/Dec/abs1477.html>. de Levie, R., How to Use Excel in Analytical Chemistry and in General Scientific Data Analysis; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (UK), 1999. Diamond, D.; Hanratty, V. C. A., Spreadsheet Applications in Chemistry Using Microsoft Excel; Wiley: New York, 1997. Kaess, M.; Easter, J.; Cohn, K., "Visual Basic and Excel in chemical modeling", J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 642 <http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/1998/May/abs642.html>. Gleick, J., Chaos; Viking: New York, 1987. Redish, E. F.; Wilson, J. M., "Student programming in the introductory physics course: M.U.P.P.E.T." Am. J. Phys. 1993, 61, 222 <http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~redish/Papers/mupajp.html>. Redish, E. F., University of Maryland, Published papers describing M.U.P.P.E.T. <http://www.physics.umd.edu/ripe/muppet/papers.html>, 1995 (accessed 20 December 2001). Hénon, M.; Heiles, C., "The applicability of the third integral of motion: some numerical experiments", Astron. J. 1964, 69, 73. Bee, H. L., The Developing Child; 8th Ed.; Longman: New York, 1997. McInerney, D. M.; McInerney, V., Educational Psychology: Constructing knowledge; 2nd Ed.; Prentice Hall: Sydney, 1998. Kieran F. Lim ( ) obtained his BSc (Hons) and PhD in theoretical chemistry from the University of Sydney. He was awarded an Archbishop Mannix Travelling Scholarship to Stanford University and been a faculty member at the University of New England, the University of Melbourne and Deakin University, where he is currently a Senior Lecturer in Chemical Sciences (equivalent to Associate Professor or Professor in North America). He is a Member (MRACI), Chartered Chemist( CChem) and Certified Practising Chemist (CPChem) of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and a Member (MACS) and Practising Computer Professional (PCP) of the Australian Computer Society. Dr Lim is a recipient of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute's Division of Chemical Education Citation for significant contributions to chemical education (2002) and the Faculty of Science and Technology's Excellence in Teaching Award (1996 and 2000).

2019-04-24T02:17:47Z

http://ccce.divched.org/2003SpringCCCENLP5

There were 13,328,066 shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of the close of business on July 31, 2016. The consolidated balance sheet of Geospace Technologies Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) at September 30, 2015 was derived from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements at that date. The consolidated balance sheet at June 30, 2016 and the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015, and the consolidated statements of cash flows for the nine months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015 were prepared by the Company without audit. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows were made. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for a full year or of future operations. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America were omitted pursuant to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The accompanying consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Company’s fiscal year ended September 30, 2015. Certain amounts previously presented in the consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation. During the three months ended December 31, 2015, the Company elected to early adopt Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2015-17-Income Taxes (Topic 740) requiring all deferred tax assets and liabilities to be classified as non-current on the balance sheet. The purpose of this adoption was to simplify the presentation of deferred income taxes. The accompanying balance sheet as of September 30, 2015 has been retrospectively adjusted to reflect the adoption of this standard. The effect of the adjustment at September 30, 2015 was a $6.4 million decrease in current assets, a $10,000 decrease in current liabilities, a $3.0 million increase in non-current deferred tax assets and a $3.4 million decrease in non-current deferred tax liabilities. Such reclassification had no effect on our previously reported net loss, stockholders’ equity or cash flows. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amount of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. The Company considers many factors in selecting appropriate operational and financial accounting policies and controls, and in developing the estimates and assumptions that are used in the preparation of these financial statements. The Company continually evaluates its estimates, including those related to bad debt reserves, inventory obsolescence reserves, self-insurance reserves, product warranty reserves, impairment of long-lived assets and deferred income tax assets. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities which are not readily available from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different conditions or assumptions. The Company’s long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever an event or change in circumstances indicates the carrying amount of an asset or group of assets may not be recoverable. The impairment review, if necessary, includes a comparison of expected future cash flows (undiscounted and without interest charges) to be generated by an asset group with the associated carrying value of the related assets. If the carrying value of the asset group exceeds the expected future cash flows, an impairment loss is recognized to the extent that the carrying value of the asset group exceeds its fair value. At June 30, 2016, management reviewed the recoverability of the carrying value of the Company’s long-lived assets based on future undiscounted cash flows and determined that the carrying value of certain rental assets exceeded the expected future cash flows. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $1.0 million in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2016. No such impairment of remaining long-lived assets was necessary as the expected future cash flows exceeded the carrying value of the assets. The Company primarily derives revenue from the sale of its manufactured products, including revenue derived from the sale of its manufactured rental equipment. In addition, the Company generates revenue from the short-term rental under operating leases of its manufactured products. The Company recognizes revenue from product sales, including the sale of used rental equipment, when (i) title passes to the customer, (ii) the customer assumes the risks and rewards of ownership, (iii) the product sales price has been determined, (iv) collectability of the sales price is reasonably assured, and (v) product delivery occurs as directed by the customer. Except for certain of the Company’s reservoir characterization products, the Company’s products are generally sold without any customer acceptance provisions and the Company’s standard terms of sale do not allow customers to return products for credit. The Company recognizes rental revenue as earned over the rental period. Rentals of the Company’s equipment generally range from daily rentals to rental periods of up to six months or longer. Revenue from engineering services is recognized as services are rendered over the duration of a project, or as billed on a per hour basis. Field service revenue is recognized when services are rendered and is generally priced on a per day rate. immediate recognition of estimated credit losses expected to occur for most financial assets and certain other instruments. For available-for-sale debt securities with unrealized losses, the losses will be recognized as allowances rather than reductions in the amortized cost of the securities. The standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those annual periods. Early adoption for fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2018 is permitted. Entities will apply the standard’s provisions as a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first effective reporting period. The Company does not expect the adoption of this standard to have a material effect upon its consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued guidance to simplify key components of employee share-based payment accounting. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period. Several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions are simplified, including: (a) income tax consequences; (b) classification of awards as either equity or liabilities; and (c) classification on the statement of cash flows. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material effect upon its consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued guidance requiring a lessee to recognize assets and liabilities for leases with lease terms of more than 12 months. Consistent with current GAAP, the recognition, measurement and presentation of expense and cash flows arising from a lease by a lessee primarily will depend on its classification as a finance or operating lease. However, unlike current GAAP, which requires only capital leases to be recognized on the balance sheet, this new guidance will require both types of leases to be recognized on the balance sheet. The guidance also requires disclosures to help investors and other financial statement users to better understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. These disclosures include qualitative and quantitative requirements, providing additional information about the amounts recorded in the financial statements. The guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2018 and is to be applied using the modified retrospective approach. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material effect upon its consolidated financial statements. In July 2015, the FASB issued guidance requiring management to measure inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. The pronouncement is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period and should be applied retrospectively, with early application permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. In August 2014, the FASB issued guidance requiring management to evaluate whether there are conditions and events that raise substantial doubt about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern and to provide disclosures in certain circumstances. The new guidance was issued to reduce diversity in the timing and content of footnote disclosures. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material effect upon its consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued guidance requiring entities to recognize revenue from contracts with customers by applying a five-step model in accordance with the core principle to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In addition, this guidance specifies the accounting for some costs to obtain or fulfill a contract with a customer and expands disclosure requirements for revenue recognition. In August 2015, the FASB issued guidance deferring the effective date of this guidance to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods therein. Entities have the option to adopt this guidance either retrospectively or through a modified retrospective transition method. This new standard will supersede existing revenue guidance and affect the Company's revenue recognition process and the presentations or disclosures of the Company's consolidated financial statements and footnotes. The Company is currently evaluating the impact this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements. At June 30, 2016 and September 30, 2015, the Company’s Canadian subsidiary had $27.5 million and $28.1 million, respectively, of Canadian dollar denominated intercompany accounts payable owed to one of the Company’s U.S. subsidiaries. In order to mitigate its exposure to movements in foreign currency rates between the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar, the Company routinely enters into foreign currency forward contracts to hedge a portion of its exposure to changes in the value of the Canadian dollar. Approximately $3.3 million of these Canadian dollar denominated intercompany accounts payable are considered by management to be of a short-term nature whereby the appreciation or devaluation of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar will result in a gain or loss, respectively, to the consolidated statement of operations. The Company considers the remaining $24.2 million Canadian dollar denominated intercompany accounts payable to be of a long-term nature and whereby settlement is not planned or anticipated in the foreseeable future; therefore, any resulting foreign exchange gains and losses are reported in the consolidated balance sheets as a component of other comprehensive income in accordance with ASC 830 “Foreign Currency Matters”. In June 2016, the Company entered into a $3.0 million 90-day hedge contract with a United States bank to hedge a portion of its short-term Canadian dollar foreign exchange rate exposure. This contract reduces the impact on cash flows from movements in the Canadian dollar/U.S. dollar currency exchange rate, but has not been designated as a hedge for accounting purposes. At June 30, 2016, the fair value of this contract was a liability of $11,000. equivalents, trade and other receivables and accounts payable, the carrying amounts approximate fair value on the respective balance sheet dates. The Company applies fair value techniques on a non-recurring basis in evaluating potential impairment losses related to long-lived assets. During the nine months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015, the Company made non-cash inventory transfers of $3.0 million and $4.8 million, respectively, to its rental equipment fleet. Raw materials include semi-finished goods and component parts totaling $52.5 million and $48.4 million, respectively, at June 30, 2016 and September 30, 2015. The Company had no long-term debt outstanding at June 30, 2016 and September 30, 2015. On March 2, 2011, the Company entered into a credit agreement with Frost Bank with borrowing availability of $50.0 million (the “Credit Agreement”). On May 4, 2015, the Company amended the Credit Agreement which reduced its borrowing availability to $30.0 million with amounts available for borrowing determined by a borrowing base. Under the amendments to the Credit Agreement, the borrowing base is determined based upon certain of the Company’s and its U.S. subsidiaries’ assets which include (i) 80% of certain accounts receivable plus (ii) 50% of certain notes receivable (such result not to exceed $10 million) plus (iii) 25% of certain inventories (excluding work-in-process inventories). As of June 30, 2016, the Company’s borrowing base was $35.3 million resulting in borrowing availability of $30.0 million less $0.5 million of outstanding letters of credit. The Company’s domestic subsidiaries have guaranteed the obligations of the Company under the Credit Agreement and such subsidiaries have secured their obligations under such guarantees by the pledge of substantially all of the assets of such subsidiaries, except real property assets. The Credit Agreement expires on May 4, 2018 and all borrowed funds are due and payable at that time. The Company is required to make monthly interest payments on borrowed funds. The Credit Agreement as amended limits the incurrence of additional indebtedness, requires the maintenance of a single financial ratio that compares certain of the Company’s assets to certain of its liabilities, restricts the Company and its subsidiaries’ ability to pay cash dividends and contains other covenants customary in agreements of this type. The interest rate for borrowings under the Credit Agreement as amended is based on the Wall Street Journal prime rate, which was 3.50% at June 30, 2016. At June 30, 2016, the Company was in compliance with all covenants under the Credit Agreement. During the nine months ended June 30, 2016, the Company issued 182,400 shares of restricted stock under its 2014 Long Term Incentive Plan, as amended (the “Plan”). The weighted average grant date fair value of the restricted stock was $14.84 per share. The grant date fair value of these awards was $2.7 million, which will be charged to expense over the next four years as the restrictions lapse. Compensation expense for restricted stock awards was determined based on the closing market price of the Company’s stock on the date of grant applied to the total number of shares that are anticipated to fully vest. Recipients of restricted stock awards are entitled to vote such shares and are entitled to dividends, if paid. During the nine months ended June 30, 2016, the Company also issued 69,300 nonqualified stock options under the Plan. The options issued are based upon three tiers, each with separate market and service based vesting conditions. Market based vesting conditions are based on achieving a specified market return on the Company’s stock price. Compensation expense for the nonqualified stock option awards was determined based on a Monte Carlo simulation, which incorporates the possibility that the market conditions may not be satisfied. The weighted average grant date fair value of the options issued was determined to be $5.96 per option resulting in unrecognized compensation costs of $0.4 million, which will be charged to expense over the requisite service period of the options, ranging from 18 to 36 months. As of June 30, 2016, the Company had unrecognized compensation expense of $8.1 million relating to restricted stock awards. This unrecognized compensation expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.8 years. In addition, the Company had $0.3 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to nonqualified stock option awards which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.7 years. As of June 30, 2016, a total of 276,150 shares of restricted stock and 159,000 nonqualified stock options shares were outstanding. For the calculation of diluted loss per share for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015, 159,000 stock options and 89,700 stock options, respectively, were excluded in the calculation of weighted average shares outstanding as a result of their impact being antidilutive. The Company is involved in various pending or potential legal actions in the ordinary course of our business. Management is unable to predict the ultimate outcome of these actions, because of the inherent uncertainty of litigation. Management is not aware of any material pending or known to be contemplated legal or government proceedings against the Company. The Company reports and evaluates financial information for two segments: Seismic and Non-Seismic. Seismic product lines include: land and marine wireless data acquisition systems, permanent land and seabed reservoir monitoring products and services, geophones and geophone strings, hydrophones, leader wire, connectors, telemetry cables, marine streamer retrieval and steering devices and various other products. The Non-Seismic product lines include: thermal imaging products and industrial products.

2019-04-21T22:14:09Z

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001115/000156459016022877/geos-10q_20160630.htm

PROMAN is a leading international consulting company specialised in development cooperation. Created in 1986, PROMAN is providing services to international donor agencies, national governments, public institutions and development partners world-wide. PROMAN has been awarded the ‘South Africa Sector Budget Support Technical Assistance’ contract. The project will provide support to the Government of South Africa, notably the National Treasury and relevant national departments, in the inception and the implementation phases of the Sector Budget Support provided by the EU. The project will start in April 2019 for a period of two years. PROMAN (lead) in partnership with NIRAS and Particip has been selected to undertake a mapping of services for survivors of violence amongst women and children in South Africa. The specific objective of the assignment is to contribute to the implementation of the Improvement Plan by the Inter-Ministerial Technical Task Team for Violence Against Women and Children. The project will start in April 2019 for a period of 16 months. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the Formulation of the Programme of Support to the SADC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement in South Africa. The overall objective of the assignment is to enhance South Africa's trade and business opportunities by promoting the full implementation of the EU-SADC EPA in South Africa while advancing regional integration. The consortium led by PROMAN has been successfully providing TA in Support of the Education Sector in Sierra Leone since February 2017. The service contract has been extended with another 2 years. The contract is now scheduled to be completed early August 2021. AECOM International Europe in partnership with PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the assessment of the 2018 specific performance indicators under the Sector Reform Contract “Support to Police Reform”. Since early 2015 the consortium led by Louis Berger with PROMAN as partner has been providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Social Assistance and Reinsertion (MINARS) in the framework of the Support Project for Vulnerable Groups. The contract has been extended with another 18 months, with completion now scheduled early August 2020. PROMAN in partnership with B&S Europe has been awarded the contract for the final evaluation of the "Firkidia di skola" project and the identification and formulation of the 11th EDF education sector support programme. The past months have been very successful. A total of 5 new long-term contracts were awarded to PROMAN as lead company (2) or partner (3) for a total value of €18.8 million. Turnover has now more than doubled over the past 5 years, and is projected at over €18 million in 2019. PROMAN (lead) in partnership with Palladium International BV has been awarded the €2.8 million 3-year contract for the Support to the Office of the National Authorising Officer of the EDF in Zambia. PROMAN herewith confirms its position as market leader in the provision of TA to NAO structures in ACP countries. The past 5 years PROMAN has been/is supporting NAO offices in Chad, Kenya, Solomon Islands, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Zambia, Guinea, Comoros, Papua New Guinea, Namibia and Angola. AECOM International Europe in partnership with PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the Support to the implementation of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement in the field of maritime transport. PROMAN has been contracted by DFID to provide an independent assessment of progress against DFID’s Jordan Compact Education Programme Disbursement Linked Indicators. PROMAN has been contracted by the Ministry of National Education, Teaching and Research of the Union of the Comoros to assess the feasibility of the proposed AFD funded project ‘Performance and Governance of the Education Sector in the Comoros” with an indicative budget of €6 million, define more precisely the purpose, content and implementation modalities of the project and provide support during the start-up phase, as appropriate. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for consultancy services for assessors to assist in the evaluation of grant applications received in the framework of the VET TOOLBOX call for proposals on inclusion in Vocational Education and Training (VET). The call for proposals intends to fund new and innovative cooperation initiatives aiming to improve employment opportunities in the formal and informal labour market for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups (especially women, migrants and internally displaced people, people living in rural and remote areas, the poorest quintile and people with disabilities) through inclusive Vocational and Educational Training (VET). The VET Toolbox is composed by GIZ, British Council, Enabel, LuxDev and AFD, and co-funded by the EU. AECOM International Europe in partnership with PROMAN has been selected to support the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board to establish a Tourism Development Fund. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the ‘Promotion of Inclusive Education in Kyrgyzstan’. The specific objective of the assignment is (i) to develop and pilot pre-service and in-service teacher training designed to address inclusive education for children with disability; and (ii) to promote budgetary commitments enabling to address the inclusive education. The project will start in February 2019 for a duration of 20 months. PROMAN is very pleased to announce it has been nominated implementing agency for the first phase of the Programme for the Relaunch of Economic Activities in the Region of Ménaka (DDM). The focus of the €1.5 million, one-year contract will be the realization of small infrastructures, favoring labor-intensive works in order to immediately revive economic activity in the territory; to conduct training/labour market insertion actions for young people; and to undertake feasibility studies for the construction of more substantial infrastructures and equipment to be carried out in Phase 2. This new contract further strengthens PROMAN’s important current portfolio in regional socio-economic development support programmes in the northern regions of Mali, in a difficult security context (3F, SDNM II, DDRG, DDRK IV). PROMAN will provide social sector expertise on the team undertaking an evaluation of the Humanitarian - Development Nexus process in Mali, and providing technical expertise to relaunch the process so as to accelerate the achievement of concrete results. The TA team is co-financed by the EUD, Swiss and Luxembourg Cooperation. We are delighted to announce that the consortium led by Cardno Emerging Markets, Belgium with PROMAN, Palladium International BV and the Spanish Association for Standardization-UNE as partners has been awarded the €8.9 million contract for the provision of technical assistance for the implementation of the ARISE Plus-Indonesia programme. The ASEAN Regional Integration Support - Indonesia Trade-Related Assistance (ARISE Plus - Indonesia) will be the first EU-funded trade related assistance programme with Indonesia that is closely linked to the ASEAN economic integration agenda. ARISE Plus-Indonesia aims to contribute to Indonesia's preparedness and enhanced competitiveness in global value chains through specific support targeting national and sub-national levels. By enhancing Indonesia's trade competitiveness and openness, the programme will promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, boost job creation and increase employment in a gender sensitive way. Furthermore, the programme provides country-level interventions closely linked to the regional programme ARISE Plus, supporting regional economic integration and trade in ASEAN. The project will start in January 2019 for a duration of 4 years. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the evaluation of the Inclusive Basic Education Component of Education Outcome of the Government of Mongolia and UNICEF Country Programmes 2012-2016 and 2017-2021. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the Evaluation of UNICEF’s Disaster Risk Reduction Programming in Education in East Asia and the Pacific. The consortium led by Linpico with PROMAN and Quarein as partners has been awarded the €2 million contract for the provision of long-term technical assistance services and training for the offices of the EDF NAO in the Republic of Angola. PROMAN currently implements similar TA to NAO projects in Comoros, Guinea, Swaziland, Zambia, Papua New Guinea and Namibia. The consortium led by Integration with PROMAN and Oxford Policy Management as partners has been awarded the 5-year €3.6 million contract for the provision of long-term technical assistance to the National Authorising Officer (NAO) / National Planning Commission (NPC) Support Programme. PROMAN currently implements similar TA to NAO projects in Comoros, Guinea, Swaziland, Zambia and Papua New Guinea. PROMAN has been awarded the contract ‘Monitoring, assessment and support to EU and other donors-funded Education and complementary programs implemented by the Ministry of Education to deal with the Syria refugee crisis’. The overall period of implementation will be one year. The 3-year "Three Borders" (3F) program, with an indicative budget of €33.5 million aims to stabilize the border region of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The programme will support socio-economic development and strengthen social cohesion in cross-border territories. PROMAN has been solicited to support AVSF to undertake a first set of priority activities during the 6-month start-up phase in the region of Gao. PROMAN has been selected by UNICEF to undertake a meta-analysis of existing research to create a region-specific evidence base on the most effective strategies for improving learning among the most marginalized children in East Asia and Pacific based on existing scientific evidence from the region. Geographically the literature review can consider evidence from the 25 countries in EAP: Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, DPR Korea, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Timor Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. PROMAN will provide expertise on the assessment of grant applications received in the framework of the restricted Call for Proposals “Local Authorities: Partnerships for sustainable cities”. The global objective of this CfP is to promote integrated urban development through partnerships built among Local Authorities of the EU Member States and of partner countries in accordance with the 2030 Agenda on sustainable development. PROMAN in partnership with EPOS has been selected to undertake the mid-term evaluation of the EU funded Northern Dimension Partnership on Public Health and Social Well-being and Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture. The Northern Dimension (ND) is a joint policy between the European union (EU), Russia, Norway and Iceland which promotes dialogue, practical cooperation and development. PROMAN in partnership with Transtec has been selected to undertake the mid-term and final evaluation of the EU funded Culture Support Programme in Tunisia (PACT). The evaluations are scheduled respectively for mid-November 2018 and end 2021. PROMAN has been awarded the contract to undertake a survey of class practices in primary education in Niger. The objective of the assignment is to undertake an analysis of the situation of class practices in primary schools in Niger and of the links between class practices and pupils' academic achievements to guide the content of initial and in-service training of teachers. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the mid-term evaluation of the Balochistan Education Support Programme. The overall objective of the programme is to accelerate and further increase the number of children (especially girls) enrolling in and completing quality elementary education in Balochistan. PROMAN has been selected to conduct a Tracer Study (ex-post evaluation) of the EU funded TVET I project. The global objective of the study is to provide comprehensive information to allow the implementing partners and the European Commission to make an accurate assessment of the immediate and long-term value and contribution of the project to the employability of its graduates including the uptake of self-employment opportunities. PROMAN will assist the EUD support the European Union Delegation to Ghana (EUD) with the preparation of the Terms of Reference for the tender dossier to award the service contract "Support to Communication and Visibility actions for the Ghana Employment and Social Protection Programme (GESP)". The GESP Programme funded by the 11th EDF is expected to contribute to enhance social protection services, notably for vulnerable population groups and to generate employment opportunities, with a particular attention to the youth in Ghana. The consortium led by AFC, with PROMAN and I&D as partner, has been awarded the € 5.36 million TA contract for the Implementation of the AFAFI-NORD Programme. The main objective of the 6-year AFAFI-NORD program is to promote a sustainable agricultural sector, inclusive and efficient in the North of Madagascar. Its specific objectives are: (i) the improvement of governance of the agricultural sector, (ii) increasing household incomes by supporting the development and strengthening of inclusive agricultural value chains, and (iii) the improvement of food and nutrition security of rural households. The program is organized around two components: (i) support for project coordination, (ii) support to the Agriculture, Livestock Fisheries and Environment covering the three specific objectives. Activities will be in all three targeted regions of northern Madagascar (Diana, SAVA, Analanjirofo). This award further consolidates our solid reputation in the country, in the Indian Ocean region and further reinforces our growing portfolio in local regional development. PROMAN in partnership with EPOS Health Management and AECOM International Development Europe has been awarded the contract for reviewing compliance with eligibility conditions and disbursement indicators for the EU budget support under the Development, Protection and Social Inclusion Programme. This contract is the first award under the new FWC SIEA 2018, Lot 4. PROMAN has been awarded the € 1.5 million contract for the Support to the Management of Visibility and Communications for the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Malawi. The overall objective of this 3-year contract is to enhance the visibility of the EU-Malawi cooperation and promote a greater awareness and understanding among key actors in the public, private and civil society sectors on issues of EU's development assistance. Partners to the PROMAN led consortium include Action Global Communications and Quarein. For the past 2 years PROMAN has been a selected service provider on the Long term Agreement for the provision of timely and high quality technical expertise to the UNICEF education sector in the areas of early learning, gender/girls' education and inclusive education, quality and learning and education in emergencies and resilience. The LTA has now been extended till June 2019 and will continue to be called upon to provide technical assistance, advice, capacity building or support services to UNICEF regional and country offices at short notice. The scope of this FWC is to carry out evaluations of geographic (regions/countries) cooperation strategies and programmes; thematic multi-country evaluations; evaluations of selected policy issues and aid modalities, particularly budget support operations and to support dissemination of the results: lessons learned and evaluation recommendations, support for development of appropriate methodological approaches and tools for evaluation. PROMAN is partner to the consortium led by Landell Mills. This FWC has now been extended till March 2020. The contract for the External Results Oriented Monitoring (ROM) reviews and support missions concerning projects and programmes financed by the EU for the Asian and Pacific regions including OCTs has once more been extended, the contract now to end in April 2019. The project did start on 1st of January 2015. PROMAN is partner to the consortium led by Landell Mills. PROMAN is very pleased to inform that the consortium led by AECOM Belgium, with PROMAN as partner has been retained as framework contractor for the EU funded FWC Services for the Implementation of External Aid 2018 (FWC SIEA 2018), Lot 6: INNOVATIVE FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT. Lot 6 covers the following sectors: Economic, financial, technical and legal experts on Finance Products and Structures, Financiers/Risk Takers, Markets and financing needs/gaps, Policy issues, Legal, institutional and procedural issues. Contract implementation will start on 1st of June 2018 for an initial period of two years. PROMAN is very pleased to inform that the consortium led by AECOM International Development Europe, with PROMAN as partner has been retained as framework contractor for the EU funded FWC Services for the Implementation of External Aid 2018 (FWC SIEA 2018), Lot 5: BUDGET SUPPORT. Lot 5 covers the following sectors: Public policies, Macroeconomic stability, Public finance management, Domestic revenue mobilisation, Statistics and indicators. PROMAN is very pleased to inform that the consortium led by AECOM International Development Europe, with PROMAN as partner has been retained as framework contractor for the EU funded FWC Services for the Implementation of External Aid 2018 (FWC SIEA 2018), Lot 2: INFRASTRUCTURE, SUSTAINABLE GROWTH AND JOBS. Lot 2 covers the following sectors: Transport and infrastructures, Digital technologies and services, Earth observation, Urban development and cities, Sustainable energy, Nuclear safety, Sustainable waste management, Private sector, Trade, Employment creation. PROMAN is very pleased to inform that the consortium led by TRANSTEC, with PROMAN as partner has been retained as framework contractor for the EU funded FWC Services for the Implementation of External Aid 2018 (FWC SIEA 2018), Lot 1: SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND RESILIENCE. Lot 1 covers the following sectors: Agriculture, Livestock, Sustainable forestry management and conservation, Fishery and aquaculture, Land management, Food security & nutrition, Food safety, Extension/Training/HRD/Institutional Development, Rural infrastructure, Climate change, Sustainable natural resource management, Disaster risk reduction. PROMAN is very pleased to inform that the consortium led by PROMAN has been retained as framework contractor for the EU funded FWC Services for the Implementation of External Aid 2018 (FWC SIEA 2018), Lot 4: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND SAFETY NET. Lot 4 covers the following sectors: Education, VET, Lifelong learning, Culture, Social inclusion and protection, Health, Research & Innovation. Contract implementation will start on 1st of June 2018 for an initial period of two years. Partners to the consortium include AECOM International Development Europe, AEDES, B&S Europe, CultureLab, EPOS, GOPA, hera, INOVA+, Lattanzio Advisory, Niras Finland, IP Consult, Niras Sweden, Particip, PAI, SFERE, Transtec and World Learning. PROMAN has been contracted to assist the Ministry of Education in the preparation and facilitation of the review of the 2016-2020 Five Year Education Plan and the definition of targets and actions to be carried out for the coming years of the plan. PROMAN has been selected by UNICEF to provide technical assistance and overall guidance to the Government of Uzbekistan (and various Ministries of Education and institutions under them) through the process of developing a comprehensive Education Sector Plan (ESP) for the period 2018-2022. The comprehensive ESP is the key national education policy document, which provides a long-term vision for the education system in the country and outlines a coherent set of practicable strategies to reach its objectives and overcome difficulties. PROMAN has been successfully supporting the NAO Office in Guinea since December 2015. An extension has been granted with the contract now to run till December 2019. PROMAN has been selected to undertake the end of year 1 and mid-term evaluation of the third phase of the EU funded Support to the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Sector Programme. The specific objective of the programme is to improve governance and private sector participation in the TVET sector to enhance access to quality skills development that meets demand of the labour market. The past months have been extremely successful for PROMAN. No less than 8 new LT contracts have been awarded to PROMAN as lead company (4) or partner (4), with a total value of some € 34.2 million. These remarkable results further consolidate our impressive growth of the past years. PROMAN in partnership with EGIS International (lead) has been awarded the contract for the provision of long term technical assistance for the implementation of the 11th EDF Territorial Development Support Programme (PADT) (€ 2.45 million). The specific objective of the PADT is to support the State and Territorial Administration (deconcentrated and decentralized) with the operationalization of the National Policy of Decentralization and Deconcentration (PONADEC). The period of implementation will be 4 years. Decentralisation and Local Development continues to be major area of specialisation of PROMAN. The past months the portfolio has grown with a further 3 long term contracts in the sector. The consortium led by PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the provision of Technical Assistance for the support programme to the implementation of EU-Papua New Guinea cooperation. The € 3.65 million TA contract will start in March 2018, with an implementation period of 40 months. Partners to the consortium are Cardno Emerging Markets and Transtec. PROMAN currently implements similar TA to NAO projects in Comoros, Guinea, Swaziland and Zambia. PROMAN has been successfully supporting the NAO Office in Zambia since April 2015. An extension has been granted with the contract now to run till the 10th of December 2018. We are delighted to announce that the consortium led by Palladium International BV with PROMAN as principal partner has been awarded the € 14 million EU funded contract for the provision of Technical Assistance for the 'Employment Promotion through SMMEs Support Programme for the Republic of South Africa'. The specific objectives/outcomes of the SMMEs Programme are (i) to improve the competitiveness of small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) and their ability to meet procurement requirements of large multinational/local corporations, government and state-owned enterprises; (ii) to improve access to finance for SMMEs with limited/no access to finance and (iii) to improve the regulatory and administrative environment for SMMEs. The contract will start in March 2018 for a period of 52 months. Other partners to the consortium are Enclude and Tutwa Consulting Group. PROMAN has been selected to undertake the final evaluation of the EU funded Technical Cooperation and Official Development Assistance Programme (TCODAP). The Programme aimed to enhance efficiency, effectiveness and sustainable management of incoming and outgoing ODA for better management and impact on strategic development priorities of South Africa. PROMAN has been selected to provide TA to the Department of Higher Education and Training to build the knowledge and understanding of DHET staff in the extent and range of open learning approaches, open educational resources and the use of multi-media and materials development processes. The consortium led by MDF with GIZ and PROMAN as partners has been retained as contractor for the Training on Financial and Contractual Procedures in the Framework of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF). Under this € 4.8 million TA contract training courses will be delivered for NAOs and RAOs staff, as well as EUD staff in the ACP countries over a period of 5 years. PROMAN is very pleased to announce it has been nominated as regional operator for the project "Sécurité et Développement des Régions du Nord du Mali, phase II / Security and Development of Northern Regions of Mali, phase II" (total budget of € 19 million) for the regions of Gao, Kidal and Ménaka, financed by AFD and the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the stability and development of the regions of the North by supporting access to basic social services and revitalizing the local economy. The regional operator will provide support to local authorities on the different stages of the project cycle (identification and consultation for the selection of projects to be financed under the Local Investment Fund, technical and economic feasibility, formulation, procurement, monitoring of supply and work contracts etc.). The selection of PROMAN confirms its strong reputation in the country and the region in the management of projects in a difficult security environment. PROMAN is active in the north of Mali since 1999. This 3-year contract will start end January. The PROMAN led consortium has been awarded the EU funded contract for the Technical Assistance team for the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) programme. The purpose of this EUR 4 million TA contract is to assist the Office of Prime Minister in the effective and efficient execution of the DINU programme. DINU has been designed as an integrated programme providing support to Northern Uganda in the 3 focal sectors identified in the NIP for the 11th EDF, which are food security and nutrition, good governance and transport infrastructures. The project will start mid-December for a period of 64 months. Partners in the consortium are Palladium International BV, NTU International A/S and Saba Engineering Plc. PROMAN in partnership with B&S Europe has been awarded the contract for the final evaluation of 3 EU funded education sector programmes in Indonesia: (1) the EU Budget Support Programme "Education Sector Support Programme" (ESSP Phase I & II); (2) the "Analytical Capacity and Development Partnership" programme (ACDP) and (3) the "Minimum Service Standards Capacity Development Programme" (MSS CDP) in basic education. PROMAN has been awarded the contract to assist the National Aid Fund (NAF) to develop a qualitative awareness, information and communication toward public, stakeholders and final beneficiaries. The National Aid Fund (NAF) is one of the leading institutions in the field of social protection in Jordan. Established in 1986, the Fund aims to provide assistance to the most deprived and vulnerable groups to improve their standard of living. PROMAN in partnership with Lattanzio Advisory has been contracted to support the Women in Engineering and Technology Awareness Campaign in Guyana. The specific objectives of this assignment are to design (i) a communication strategy and annual awareness campaign for girls and women to study science, engineering and technology; (ii) a toolkit to enhance the role of the industrial attachment scheme in attracting more female interest in science, engineering and technology and (iii) an action plan for enhancing the role of women in the Sea and River Defence Board and other disaster risk management (DRM) sector related decision bodies. The assignment will start in September to be completed mid-2019. PROMAN, in partnership with B&S Europe has been awarded the contract for the Mid-Term Evaluation of the Project SRRMLME- Support to the Reintegration of Returnees and to the Management of Labour Migration in Ethiopia. Skills development is a major result area under the UNICEF Strategic Plan (2018-2022). PROMAN will assist UNICEF HQ in the development of program guidance on Skills for Employment. The guidance will provide practical advice to inform UNICEF Country Offices when developing related programs. PROMAN, in partnership with Lattanzio Advisory has been awarded the contract "Consultancy to document lessons learnt and case studies from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (ECS) 10th EDF programme". The purpose of this contract is to create a Lessons Learnt Information Package contextualising the continued journey toward Regional Integration over the last five (5) years towards the continued sensitization and education of the public. Since January 2015, PROMAN has been successfully providing advisory services to the European Commission, both to headquarters and to delegations, with the aim of improving the effectiveness of the EU's development aid on education. The project has received additional funding with completion now scheduled in January 2020. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the 'Analysis of the Needs of Labour Market Institutions' in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The assignment will undertake a detailed analysis of existing infrastructure of Public Employment Services and IT requirements and other logistical aspects of labour market institutions and provide overall recommendations. The consortium led by PROMAN has been successfully providing assistance to promote education quality and educational services in 9 regions of Madagascar since early 2013. Early July a final extension to the contract was signed, with a reduced expert team till end June 2018. Emphasis will be placed on consolidation of achievements and closure of this 32 MEURO programme. PROMAN, in partnership with B&S Europe has been awarded the service contract "Consultancy to develop and implement a public sector improvement programme for Barbados". The specific objectives of the assignment are to increase productivity levels within the public sector through sensitization, promotional and advocacy activities, by facilitating knowledge - and experience-sharing, providing the building blocks for a collective approach to solving problems and by training, equipping and supporting employees to maximize the effectiveness, productivity and performance of their departments/ministries, and hence the government of Barbados. Since end 2014, PROMAN in partnership with PwC and Marge has been providing TA for the implementation of the regional programme "Renewable Energy Development and Energy Efficiency Improvement in Indian Ocean Commission Member States". The contract has now been extended for an additional 30 months with project completion scheduled in December 2019. The consortium led by NIRAS, with PROMAN as partner has been awarded the contract for the project "Support to the Development of Social Welfare Regulatory Mechanisms" in the Republic of Serbia. The overall objective of this two year project is to contribute to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for the Republic of Serbia by building a more knowledgeable and skilled labour force, improving social protection policies and promoting the social inclusion of vulnerable populations. PROMAN will support the International Development Cooperation Unit, National Treasury on the management of the call for proposals under the General Budget Support Programme. The assignment will start end May for a period of two years. The contract for the External Results Oriented Monitoring (ROM) reviews and support missions concerning projects and programmes financed by the EU for the Asian and Pacific regions including OCTs has been extended till end April 2018. The project did start on 1st of January 2015. PROMAN has been successfully supporting the Government of Mali on the decentralisation process under two consecutive EDF funded contracts since end 2006. The current PARADDER contract has now been extended till December 2018. A new award under the UNICEF LTA agreement. The purpose of the consultancy is to reinforce and help finalize the current draft UNGEI Strategic Directions 2017-2022 paper, including the development of a Theory of Change, results or monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) framework and governance framework. PROMAN will support the EU Delegation on the regular monitoring of the implementation of the vocational education sector reform support programme. The expertise will be provided by a team of three experts. A total of 6 missions are scheduled in the period May 2017 to March 2020. Last year PROMAN was awarded the contract for a similar assignment focusing on the education sector reform support programme. Under this assignment the first three monitoring mission have been successfully completed. Another contract award under the LTA agreement. The objective of the mission is to develop guidance and mechanisms to strengthen knowledge management and capitalisation of projects and experiences, based on the Ministry of Education (MoE)-UNICEF cooperation experiences implemented during the period 2012-2016. This includes the development of a methodological guide (manual) and a training module to strengthen capacities at central and decentralised levels. We are very pleased to announce PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the provision of TA to the Development Cooperation Support Programme (PAC). The specific objective of this contract is to increase the technical capacities of the services of the National Authorizing Officer, the NAO and the technical ministries in order to improve project management in the framework of the cooperation between the Union of the Comoros and the EU. The project will start in April for a period of three years. This contract further consolidates PROMAN's position in the Indian Ocean Region with currently various other major projects ongoing: PASSOBA-Education (Madagascar), PROCOM (Madagascar), HRD (Seychelles), Biodiversity (IOC regional), Renewable Energy (IOC regional) and Islands II (IOC regional). The provision of TA to NAO services remains a core speciality of PROMAN, with ongoing projects in Guinea, Zambia and Swaziland. The consortium led by Particip, with PROMAN as partner has been successfully supporting the NAO services in Swaziland since December 2014. The project will be extended for another 20 months with project completion now scheduled end 2018. PROMAN will assist the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) in developing a costed 3-year action plan (2018-2020) for the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sub-sector plan. The costed action plan will be used by the MoES and development partners to support the planning, implementation and monitoring of the MoES annual work plans as well as the Education Sector Development Plan (ESDP) 2016-2020. PROMAN has been selected by the Evaluation Office UNICEF HQ, NY to undertake the formative evaluation of the Out-of-school-Children Initiative (OOSCI). OOSCI was launched in 2010 by UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). It aims to 'turn data into action' by developing detailed 'profiles' of out‐of‐school children, identify barriers that are pushing them out of school, and propose changes in partner government policies and strategies to address these barriers. Field visits are planned to Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Sri Lanka. PROMAN has been contracted by the EU Delegation to undertake a gender analysis. The gender analysis will provide an understanding of whether gender inequalities persist in Nigeria and its causes, how it intersects with other inequalities, how it impacts on human rights enjoyment and/or benefits produced by and access to development efforts. It will also provide an understanding of Nigeria's government's commitment and capacity to work on GEWE issues. The analysis will provide relevant and reliable information which the EU and Member States may use to (i) Prepare gender sensitive development response strategies and (ii) contribute to the political dialogue. The consortium led by PROMAN has been awarded a major contract for the provision of Technical Assistance in Support of the Education Sector in Sierra Leone. The purpose of this 4.1 M EUR contract is to provide the beneficiary country and in particular the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST), the Teaching Service Commission, selected district education offices and selected teacher colleges with technical assistance to deliver on strengthening of management capacity and provision of education services, in compliance with national education policies and targets. Technical assistance will be carried out by a team of 4 long-term key experts complemented with a pool of short/medium-term experts operating in Freetown and in other locations across the country over an implementation period of 30 months. Partners in the consortium are Palladium, Plan International and Redi4Change. PROMAN will provide the services of a Senior Border Management Expert in the team undertaking the Evaluation of EU support for Security Reform in enlargement and neighbourhood countries (2010-2016). PROMAN will assist UNICEF HQ in the production of the Education Annual Results Report for 2016. UNICEF's Annual Results Reports outline the organization's results against the Strategic Plan 2014–2017 to advance children's rights and equity in the areas of health; HIV and AIDS; water, sanitation and hygiene; nutrition; education; child protection; social inclusion; humanitarian action; and gender. The reports detail what UNICEF achieved in each outcome area, working with diverse partners at the global, regional and country levels, and examine the impact of these accomplishments on the lives of children and families worldwide. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the Mid-term Review of the Programme to Support Pro-poor Policy Development (PSPPD) II. The programme contributes to improved policies, building systems and institutional capacity to reduce poverty and inequality through evidence-based policy-making. PROMAN is pleased to announce that the consortium consisting of AECOM International Development Europe (lead) and PROMAN, PAI, Democracy Essentials, Global Operational Support (partners) is of the 4 consortia retained on the EU funded Lot 1 Framework Contract for Support to Electoral Missions. The scope of lot 1 is to provide services (expertise, material and technical support) for Election Observation Missions (EOMs) and Election Assessment Team (EATs) missions which observe electoral processes in partner countries of Africa, Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific region. The maximum estimated budget for this two year FWC totals 215 000 000 EUR. PROMAN has been selected to undertake the institutional, organizational and functional audit of the National Institute for Pedagogic Training (INFP) and its regional centres (CRINFP). PROMAN in partnership with Lattanzio has been awarded the contract for the formulation of the 3rd phase of the EU Support Programme for the Implementation of the National Literacy Strategy (Alpha III). PROMAN will provide support to the EU Delegation on "Monitoring, assessment and support to EU and other donor funded Education and complementary programs by the Ministry of Education to deal with the Syria crisis". The contract is to run for a period of two years. PROMAN has been awarded the contract to provide Technical Assistance for the research on "Using Social Dialogue as a socio economic development tool". The specific objective of the assignment is to provide the European Commission (DEVCO B3) and the European Delegations with a reference document (orange publication): (i) Developing an understanding of Social Dialogue and the added-value of including its related mechanisms in development actions; and (ii) Identifying Social Dialogue good practices in technical cooperation projects that can provide operational guidance on how to best include it and support it in future actions. PROMAN will assist the Government of Angola on the identification and formulation of the 11th EDF higher education support programme. The assignment will include a detailed review of the sector. PROMAN has been contracted by DFID to support the Donor Coordination Unit at the Ministry of Education (MOE) to develop and finalise one common results framework for delivery of quality formal education for Syrian refugee children. The work will be carried out in close coordination with key donors (Canada, EU, Germany, Norway, US and UK). PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the provision of specialized sector expertise on the formulation of EU support in the field of communication and audio-visual in Morocco. PROMAN is very pleased to inform that its bid on the development of a Human Resource Development Strategy for the Seychelles has been successful. The overall objective of the assignment, which will be undertaken in partnership with the Centre for Employment Initiatives (UK) and Edge Consulting (Mauritius) and will last one year, is to develop a HRD strategy for the next 5 years in order to transform the knowledge and skills base, diversify the economy and address the skills and expertise gaps. This contract reinforces PROMAN's position in the Indian Ocean region. Other major ongoing projects include PASSOBA-Education (Madagascar), PROCOM (Madagascar), Renewable Energy (IOC), Biodiversity (IOC) and Islands II (IOC). PROMAN in association with Lattanzio Advisory has been contracted by the EU Delegation to conduct a Gender Audit of EU bilateral cooperation in Cambodia. The gender audit should (i) measure how gender mainstreaming has been implemented in ongoing EU bilateral projects and programmes; (ii) identify good practices and provide specific recommendations (possibly including gender indicators) for each project as appropriate to improve gender equality and inclusion; and (iii) provide analysis and recommendations that will inform and trigger debate around gender mainstreaming in EU cooperation. PROMAN has been selected to conduct the final evaluation of the EU funded project "Supporting Technical and Vocational Education and Training Reform in Pakistan (TVET II). The work will be undertaken by a team of four experts over a period of 6 months. The consortium led by PROMAN has been successfully providing assistance to promote education quality and educational services in 9 regions of Madagascar since early 2013. Early August a new contract was signed extending the TA till end October 2017, the expert team now consisting of 13 long term key experts, and bringing the total value of TA services to 8.650.000 EUR. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the Interim Evaluation of Employment and Vocational Education Training (EVET) and to measure the feasibility of EU's further support for education, focused on Lifelong Learning. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the Evaluation of the UNESCO/EU Expert facility on the governance of culture in developing countries. The overall objective of the Expert facility is to reinforce the role of culture as a vector of sustainable human development in developing countries. PROMAN experts will undertake a study to explore options for a new EU-ACP Research and Innovation programme that will both meet the needs and demands of ACP countries in the context of Agenda 2030, particularly SDG 9 and its targets, and bring an added value at collective intra-ACP level. PROMAN in partnership with Arp Dévelopement and CENAFOD has been successfully providing TA to the Support Programme for Administrative Reform in Decentralisation and Regional Economic Development (PARADDER) since February 2012. Mid July an extension was signed with increased funding extending the contract for a further ten months. The project is now scheduled to end in June 2017. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the final evaluation of the EU funded Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs Project in Uzbekistan. The project focuses on pre-school and primary school (1-4 classes), and promotes the inclusion of 1,200 children aged 2-10 with intellectual and motor disabilities and developmental delays. PROMAN will provide the services of a senior education expert (general education and TVET) in the team on the preparation of the 11th EDF National Indicative Programme for the Central African Republic. The assignment is expected to be completed by the end of 2016. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the Review of the Education Sector Reform Contract. Within the framework of the ESRC (AAP2015), the EU provides financial assistance to the Kyrgyz Republic during Kyrgyz fiscal years 2016-2018. This assistance is provided through a foreign currency facility channeled into the national budget. The overall objective of the contract is to provide a detailed review of the implementation of the ESRC 2015 and to enable the EU to use the outcomes of the reviews for decisions on instalment disbursement and programme execution, as well as to contribute to the Programming exercise to be funded by the Annual Action Plan 2018. The assignment will start in July 2016, to be completed during the 1st semester of 2018. PROMAN has been selected as service provider on the Long term Agreement for the provision of timely and high quality technical expertise to the UNICEF education sector in the areas of early learning, gender/girls' education and inclusive education, quality and learning and education in emergencies and resilience. The LTA will be called upon at short notice to provide technical assistance, advice, capacity building or support services to UNICEF regional and country offices when requested. The LTA has an overall duration of two years. PROMAN has been awarded the EU funded contract "Evaluation of the policy steps taken by the Ukrainian government towards the delivery of social services to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)". The global objective of the assignment is to assist the Ukrainian authorities in putting in place a policy framework which respects the social, economic and human rights of the IDP population and fosters social cohesion in challenging political and economic circumstances. UNICEF has renewed the contract for the provision of the services of a Technical Advisor to Support Decentralization and De-concentration Reform in the Education Sector, for a further year. PROMAN has been awarded the EU funded contract 'Support for the Implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for SIDS in the ESA-IO region – Phase II (ISLANDS II)'. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the Sustainable Development of the Small Island Developing States of the ESA-IO region by addressing specific development constraints of beneficiary countries (their natural characteristics linked to insularity, their relative smallness, proneness to natural disasters, and limited access to capital) and by fostering regional and global SIDS-SIDS cross-fertilisation. The contract will start 1st of March 2016, for a duration of 20 months. We are pleased to announce that the consortium led by Landell Mills, with PROMAN as member has been retained as framework contractor on Lot 1. Evaluation. The scope of this contract is to carry out evaluations of geographic (regions/countries) cooperation strategies and programmes; thematic multi-country evaluations; evaluations of selected policy issues and aid modalities, particularly budget support operations and to support dissemination of the results: lessons learned and evaluation recommendations, support for development of appropriate methodological approaches and tools for evaluation. This new FWC will start on 1st March for an initial duration of maximum 2 years and can be extended up to 2 more years. We are pleased to announce that the contract for the External Results Oriented Monitoring (ROM) reviews and support missions concerning projects and programmes financed by the EU for the Asian and Pacific regions including OCTs has been extended till end April 2017. The project did start on 1st of January 2015, to last initially for one year. PROMAN, in partnership with AECOM has been awarded the EU funded contract 'Support to the implementation of the PFM Action Plan 2015-2017'. This consultancy will be delivered over a period of indicatively 18 months through several in-country missions with an indicative start date in February 2016. PROMAN will support the EU Delegation on the regular monitoring of the implementation of the education sector reform support programme. The expertise will be provided by a team of three experts. A total of 7 missions are scheduled in the period May 2016 to November 2018. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the 'Comprehensive assessment of Social Units in the poorest Governorates in Egypt'. The global objective is to assess the capacities of the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity to develop its Social Units into efficient, client-oriented and adequately resourced social service providers. PROMAN will provide expertise on development policy to the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Slovakia to the EU in Brussels and the team dealing with the EU Presidency in the headquarters/capital of its ministries, in view of handling a demanding EU and Global Development Agenda. The assignment will last from May 2016 to January 2017. PROMAN in partnership with B&S Europe will undertake the thematic evaluation on EU support to Economic Governance in enlargement and neighbourhood countries, covering Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey. The contract will run for 9 months and start in May 2016. A PROMAN expert team will support the EU Delegation to Swaziland in programming the second tranche of the EDF11 (9.2 million EUR) for improved access to education and decent life for vulnerable children. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the TA to NAO project in Guinea Conakry. The expert team will consist of 4 long term experts. The project will start early December for a period of 3 years. PROMAN was officially mandated by the Luxemburg Government as executing agency for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Programme in the Gao region. With a total budget of 4.920.000 EUR, the programme will focus on 2 major components: rural development and food security and TVET. Implementation has formally started on 1st October 2015, to be completed by 31st December 2019. PROMAN was officially mandated by the Luxemburg Government as executing agency for the implementation of the fourth phase of the Sustainable Development Programme in the Kidal region. With a total budget of 8.380.000 EUR, the programme will focus on 4 major components: rural development and food security, TVET, health and decentralisation/good governance. Implementation has formally started on 1st October 2015, to be completed by 31st December 2019. PROMAN, member of the consortium led by TRANSTEC will field a new mission under the FWC for Mid-term and Final evaluations of Projects and Programmes of the Belgian Technical Cooperation in the Education Sector. The objective of the assignment is to undertake the mid-term evaluation of the programmes "Strengthening organizational capacity through scholarships" in Senegal and Morocco. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the Final Evaluation of the Support to the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Sector project. The assignment will be undertaken in two phases, to be completed by end 2016. PROMAN has been selected to assist the EU Delegation in Myanmar in the formulation of its support to the National Education Sector Plan (NESP) and to the PFM reform strategy. This is the second major assignment in Myanmar on the preparation and formulation of EU support to the education sector. The expertise will be provided by a team of 4 experts over a period of one year. PROMAN in partnership with B&S Europe will provide support to the EUD on three work tender evaluations in the water and sanitation sector. PROMAN in partnership with Lattanzio and B&S Europe will undertake the evaluation of the support in the area of equal access to quality education (integrated and inclusive education) financed under the Operational Programme for Human Resource Development 2007-2013. PROMAN in partnership with Lattanzio has been awarded the contract for the Formulation of the Education Component of the EU Social Sector Support Programme under the 11th EDF. PROMAN and B&S Europe have been awarded the contract to evaluate the results so far achieved through the EU support delivered under the Country Strategy Programme 2007-2013. Focal sectors of the CSP include Good Governance, Private Sector Development, and Basic Social Services. PROMAN and B&S Europe have been awarded the contract to provide technical assistance and expertise to the EU Office in Kosovo for the assessment of project proposals under several Calls (Civil Society 2014-2015, IPA 2013 (Civil Society grant scheme), EIDHR 2014). PROMAN in partnership with B&S Europe will support the Ministry of Culture and Heritage Preservation in Tunisia in the realization of 4 priority actions of its 2015 programme including development of a documentary portal of the National Library, status of artists, institutional strengthening of cultural centres and realisation of a communication campaign. PROMAN will provide legal advice to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on the evaluation of the existing gap between the Labour Code (and its regulations) and the 'acquis communautaire' and European best practices. PROMAN has been contracted by the EU Delegation in Armenia to undertake a Review of the Sector Support Programme for Continuation of Vocational Education and Training (VET) Reform and Development of an Employment Strategy. PROMAN has been awarded the contract to support the EU Delegation in the identification and formulation phase of planning for the continuation of its support to the TVET sector in Pakistan. PROMAN (lead company) in partnership with GRM International has been awarded the EU funded contract for the provision of long term technical support to the National Authorizing Officer in Zambia. This 3 year project with a budget of 1.8 million EUR has formally started on 15th April 2015. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the provision of short-term technical assistance to support the preparation of the disbursement requests for the second and third budget support tranche of the EU-Cambodia Education Sector Reform Partnership 2014-2016. PROMAN has been contracted by the EU Delegation in Kampala to undertake a Salary and Remuneration survey for EDF funded projects in Uganda. The mission is to start end March 2015. UNICEF has renewed the contract for the provision of the services of a Technical Advisor to Support Decentralization and De-concentration Reform in the Education Sector, for a further 2 years (2015-2016). Activities are to start in March 2015. PROMAN will provide the services of the ICT expert on the expert team for the identification and formulation on the new EU Regional Environmental Programme for Central Asia. The assignment is undertaken in partnership with B&S Europe, Linpico and AGRER. On 5th March 2015 the new Indicative Programme (PIC) 2015-2019 was signed between the Governments of Mali and the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg. PROMAN is the official Implementing Agency for programmes in the northern concentration zone of the PIC. Main focal areas include rural development and food security and TVET for the Gao region; and rural development and food security, TVET, health and decentralisation/good governance for the Kidal region. The total budget amounts to 13.3 million EUR for the period 2015-2019. Implementation is scheduled to start mid-2015. PROMAN has been awarded the contract for the provision of short-term technical assistance for supporting the implementation of the Promoting Heritage for Ethiopia's Development programme (PROHEDEV) funded by the EU. The objective of mission is to provide technical support to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism during the start-up of the programme and to provide targeted training for museum professionals. The consortium led by Louis Berger with PROMAN and PBLH as partner has been awarded the contract for the provision of Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Social Assistance and Reintegration (MINARS) in the framework of the Project to support the Government of Angola to define and implement an effective policy for Social Protection and Social Solidarity. The specific objective of this 4 year TA contract with a budget of over EUR 9 million is to strengthen institutional capacity of the Ministry leading to enhanced national social assistance to the population needs with a focus on the most vulnerable groups. The overall objective of the study is to support DG NEAR and IPA II beneficiaries in strengthening the monitoring and reporting systems to track the performance of IPA II assistance, while enhancing the transparency and visibility of IPA II funds, and providing support for related information and communication activities targeting stakeholder audiences in the EU Member States and a wider public. PROMAN will undertake the final evaluation of the Regional Support Programme to Cultural Initiatives, covering PALOP-Timor Leste. Field work will cover Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Sao Tome & Principe and Mozambique. The consortium led by Landell Mills with PROMAN and LINPICO as partner has been awarded the contract for the External Results Oriented Monitoring (ROM) reviews and support missions concerning projects and programmes financed by the European Union for the Asian and Pacific regions including OCTs. This lot covers the EU funded national and regional projects and programmes whether single or multi-country in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, East-Timor, Fiji, French Polynesia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pitcairn, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Yemen. The project has started on 1st of January 2015 and will initially last for one year. Over 300 ROM reviews and support missions are foreseen. PROMAN has been awarded the Mid-term review of ongoing 'SHARE: Supporting the Hardest to Reach through Basic Education' Programme in Bangladesh. The specific objectives of SHARE programme are to provide basic education opportunities of quality for the hardest to reach children and their parents and guardians, in 219 upazillas and thanas of 47 districts in 7 divisions of Bangladesh. The mission will start in January 2015. The global objective of the assignment is to provide findings and conclusions on the performance of EU assistance in Turkey in the field of occupational health and safety with regard to the alignment with the EU acquis and practices and recommendations on the measures/actions that might be addressed by IPA 2014-2020 to improve programming and future project identification. PROMAN in partnership with Particip has been contracted to provide Support to the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs and Regional Authorities in Ethiopia to start up activities in the area of the enhancement of women's economic status in Ethiopia, under the WBP Project. The mission will last from December 2014 to April 2015. PROMAN (lead company), in partnership with 4Assist and Save the Children Norway has been awarded the service contract for the Support to the Education Sector Reform project in Lao PDR. The purpose of this 2.5 year project is to improve quality and relevance through implementation of Education Quality Standards for primary education and improved textbook management and supply and strengthening the planning and budgeting process. The project will start mid-January 2015. The consortium led by Particip with PROMAN as partner has been awarded the long-term contract for the provision of 'Technical Assistance to the NAO Support Unit and Relevant Line Ministries in Order to Build Capacity in Project Management, Mbabane, Swaziland'. This two-year project compliments PROMAN's impressive TA to NAO track record. PROMAN in partnership with PAI has been contracted to provide Consultancy Services for the Elaboration of an Action Plan for the Tertiary Education Strategic Plan 2013-2025. The global objective of the assignment is to assist the Republic of Mauritius in achieving its objective of becoming a knowledge-based economy. PROMAN (lead) in partnership with GRM International BV has been awarded the Education Advisory Services project. The contract will consist of: (i) providing advisory services to the European Commission, both to headquarters and to delegations, with the aim of improving the effectiveness of the EU's development aid on education. This will be achieved by providing adequate support at the key steps of the project/programme cycle and by increasing the know-how and the capacity of staff in charge of operations in the education sector; (ii) supporting the EU's contribution to the international policy debate and the definition of its own strategies for cooperation in the education sector; enhancing the accountability and visibility framework of the EU; (iii) contributing, on a request basis and resources allowing, to reinforcing the technical capacities of the EU's main stakeholders in the field of education. The project will start in January 2015 and is scheduled to be completed by June 2017. This contract reinforces PROMAN's position as key player in the education sector. PROMAN provides the services of a Democratisation Specialist on the Mid-Term Evaluation of the 10th EDF SADC Regional¨Political Cooperation Programme (FWC COM Lot 1). The EUR 18 million programme is centred on 4 different components: Strengthening Democratic Institutions, Conflict Prevention and Management, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Trafficking in Persons. The mission is to start end October 2014. PROMAN is partner to ICF International on the "Evaluation of the technical assistance component of DFID India's Education Portfolio", awarded under the DFID Global Evaluation Framework Agreement. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) has challenged DFID to better capture the full range of impacts from engagement in the social sectors in India. This is the first major study of its kind to look at a DFID portfolio relating to technical assistance. The study will start the first week of November 2014, to end in March 2016. On the 20th of October 2014, the formal kick-of meeting took place on the 'Study to design a programme/clearinghouse providing access to higher education for Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons'. The specific objective of the assignment is to assist in the design of a future programme by the EU to enhance access to further and higher education for young Syrians who had to drop out of formal education, especially internally displaced students inside Syria and Syrian refugees across the region, with a focus on Jordan and Lebanon, but also on Turkey and Iraq. The Directorate of the Centre for the European Union Education and Youth Programmes (Turkish National Agency) is responsible for the management and implementation of the EU Youth Cooperation Programmes such as Erasmus, Comenius, Comett-I, Petra-I, Youth for Europe, Lingua, Eurotechnet, Force and Socrates. In 2012 the TRNA was allowed to recruit additional 50 staff members bringing the total staff at 178. The specific objective of this assignment is to provide technical assistance to the TRNA in training the newly-employed assistance experts in the areas of PCM, LFA, development of project proposals, M&E, financial management, IPA etc.PROMAN is lead company and provides the services of the trainer in IPA and financial management. PROMAN in partnership with Lattanzio e Associati has been awarded the contract for the Mid-Term Review of the Second Education Sector Development Programme in Somalia. This evaluation will contribute to the broader process of results mapping under the current programme, contracting of the EU-funded ESDP III programme and planning for future EU funding in the education sector, in line with Sector-Wide Approaches. The assignment started in September and is expected to be completed in November 2014. The 'Comprehensive Framework for the European Union's policy and support to Myanmar/Burma', adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council in July 2013, sets out the framework for EU policy and support to the on-going reforms in Myanmar. The EU is now finalising its Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP) 2014-2026 and the global objective of the assignment is to provide assistance in the identification and appraisal of options for EU support to the education sector in Myanmar. PROMAN in partnership with Particip and B&S Europe has been awarded the contract for the 'Monitoring, assessment and support to EU funded Education and complementary programs by the Ministry of Education, UN Agencies and NGOs' in Jordan. The main objectives of the mission are (i) to provide an overall independent assessment of the European Union's past and current cooperation under the EU Support to the Second Phase of the Education Reform (EUSSPER) programme in Jordan in the field of basic education under the ERfKEII program, in particular the assessment of the completion of agreed benchmarks as well as newly planned EU budget Support programs in the field of Basic Education; (ii) to monitor the education programs in support to Syrian refugees under the Ministry of Education and UN agencies in terms of overall and administrative efficiency to Syrian refugees provided for by the Ministry of Education and by the UN agencies and their sub-contracted NGOs, which will take the form of a field verification; (iii) to make recommendations for the future cooperation programing in the field of education (bilateral, regional and thematic) with Jordan and improvement of the current and future European Union's implementation strategies for (Syrian) refugees as well as suggestions to strengthen the visibility of the interventions; (iv) to develop a strategy for the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education in the field of the Vocational Education and Training and (v) to develop recommendations for the teacher induction program. Started in September 2014, the mission will last till June 2016.PROMAN is the lead contractor and provides the services of the Team leader/Education Expert and the Monitoring Expert. PROMAN has been contracted for the Review of South African Trilateral Development Cooperation Activities, under the Technical Cooperation and Official Development Assistance Programme (TCODAP). The mission is scheduled from early to mid-2015. Two new mandates have been signed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Luxemburg. The project 'Support for improving access to basic social services for people affected by the crisis in the Kidal region' will extend activities started in 2013. The project will run from June 2014 to January 2015. A similar project was approved for the Gao region, to be implemented over the period October 2014 to June 2015. Both projects will compliment other activities in Mali undertaken by PROMAN as executing agency for the Luxembourgish Government. PROMAN in partnership with ACE International Consultants (lead company) has been awarded the 5-year EU-funded Technical Assistance to the Employment and Regional Integration Support Programme (PROCOM) contract in Madagascar. PROCOM aims to strengthen the capacity of the private sector to grow inclusively and to be more competitive on national, regional and international markets, notably through: (i) strengthening intermediary organizations to act as a lever for change and competitiveness; (ii) developing technical, managerial and marketing skills of MSMEs; and (iii) facilitating and securing commercial transactions of MSMEs nationally, regionally, and internationally. The TA team will start activities the first week of November 2014. This is the second major project currently on-going in Madagascar, next to the PROMAN led TA to PASSOBA-Education. The Consortium led by PwC South Africa, with PROMAN and MARGE as members has kick-started project activities under the recently awarded 'Technical Assistance for the implementation of the regional programme 'Renewable Energy Development and Energy Efficiency Improvements in Indian Ocean Commission Member States'. The programme aims at creating the conditions for an increased access to modern and sustainable energy services at acceptable cost, focussed both for demand and supply side measures and based on indigenous and renewable energy sources, and for optimising the energy supply requirements which the economy of each country can afford and facilitate trade in this area. The programme covers the Indian Ocean Commission Member States: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Reunion Island (with specific funding). The project will run from October 2014 to June 2017. PROMAN will be co-managing the project with PwC South Africa. This project further reinforces PROMAN's presence in the region. In April 2014 the Consortium led by Landell Mills, with PROMAN as partner started activities under the Technical Assistance contract for the implementation of the Regional programme 'Coastal, marine and Island specific Biodiversity Management in the Eastern and Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Coastal States', which will run till January 2018.

2019-04-24T00:47:11Z

http://proman.lu/

There was a small town near the shores of the sea; it was a topical climate with mixture of occasional rainfall, hot summer & even pleasant atmosphere with low heat & humidity. The whole town was encircled with the backwaters of the rivers. With such a classic whether there was also a short coming which could wipe out the whole town. The tornado’s quite regularly hit the surrounding towns so the impact of it would hit this small town too. Owing to the increasing trouble of these the people had started to flee from here. While there were people in towns who were the survivors of these who took shelter in this town. Today two different people both who were survivors of the same town moved into this new place but both were strangers & poles apart. One was calm & patient while the other was fierce & impatient but both were always inevitable & destructive in nature if meddled with, with a slight deviation, the calm one had the ability to choose either go ahead & wreck everything but the fierce person didn’t had that choice once a step taken forward has to feel the burnt. Even if these two people’s ways were different and always repulsive in nature, they both were away from their people it was a test of survival for them in this place. They had none to share what they felt, none to listen to their talks, none to see their pain hidden in their heart. But destiny could not stop itself posing them infront of each other. He, who was fire and she, who was water did face each other will they ever overcome there obstacles & blend in one another without terminating the other. Seeing is believing is said for the human sense sight but at this time of the day when darkness is all you could see around and light is something alien and hard to visualise what is there in front of you that doesn’t mean you are lost or blind? Just like everyone my other senses come to my rescue. Exactly now when I cannot see anything through my eyes I could hear the roars of the ocean everytime it hit the banks indicating I am standing right infront of the vast expanse of the ocean. Petrichor, the scent of rain filled my lungs predicting the approaching rain, the touch of which would cease my burning but I am not ready to taste the freedom from this fire. In addition to these I know how to eradicate the darkness as I have the capacity to turn on the light even at the darkest times of life. The rain can come down to the earth anytime and I have to take shelter before that but still I wait at the banks waiting for the darkness to break into dawn. This has been my routine from past week to sprint around the seashore of this sea at the darkest hour before the dawn and wait for the moment of darkness breaking into the dawn. To watch the sun to gain its position high in the sky, paint his colors over the world showing his supremacy to kill darkness of life. It is not only the sun but also me who feels that has spread my color all over the world. Slowly the sun made its way out of his den painting the whole sky bright redish yellow with its rays. Consuming the gloomy night and spreading the light bringing new hope & a beginning of bright fresh life. Once I had witnessed the magnificent sight of sunrise my concentration went towards my sense which had alerted about the approaching rain. But now there was no sign of it, that left me astonished as rain is one thing I just hate it and my senses have never been wrong in identifying them. Leaving that thought aside I make my way back to the hostel which has become my new home from where I will have to attend my first day of my master’s classes today. Not before I had turned my eyes get struck to the sight of a girl in bluish white suit running away something was there about her unknown which made me watch her till she disappeared from my vision. I have been coming here from past 5 days but never did I saw any girl at this time of the hour. She did turn back once but I could not see her face. Just then I heard my cell beep reminding me of the time & I headed back still I couldn’t stop myself to watch at the way she ran off. Some things never change every where the seniors welcoming the juniors especially in there own innovative way. I had just entered the gates of my college when a group of people naming themselves as seniors blocked my way. They were many more already in queues who were dancing as puppets of seniors. I had a strong urge to teach them a good lesson but I couldn’t just barge in and destruct everything but that would only catch the attention of everyone. Now itself I can feel many eyes on me, that always annoy me. Against my wishes I simply follow there orders to stand in the queue and wait for my turn to come. Just then there was absolute silence as everyone’s attention was on the entrance maybe another junior’s who are trying to dorge away from these ragging session? But No. when I look at the entrance I could only see a beautiful mesmerising alluring blue eyes of the girl, they captivated me in its pools as deep as oceans that I can get lost in them. It was a picture painted in blue theme, every essence of her oozed as serene beauty. I could no longer see the world around me just her only; everything around her seems to vanish away from my view. As if in the whole world it is you and me alone, with my every breath, with my every heartbeat clearly wanting to be with you. Her earrings kissed her cheeks everytime she kept walking her bangles made sounds of waves in the ocean which was matching her light blue & white mixed dress. Is she the same one whom I saw in the beach today, looks like she is as even at that time she wored the same dress, the same gait, the same care free strides. Today I felt like I got a whole new world to live in. I don’t know when my legs take me away from the crowd towards the object of my interest but I was pulled back by something. When I turn to see what that was I saw it was the guy next to me who pulled me back, he was saying something which I failed to hear it. I turned back my gaze to her; she was not there; I turn around everywhere only to find her in front of those seniors. I moved in a way to have clear view of her face without any interruption. Her eyes had a gleam of naughtiness which I didn’t know for what. I felt another nudge in my hand to jolt me into the reality. It was again the same guy but now I heard him say “Man, what are you doing come back and stand here, don’t mess with seniors. See how these girls got them in trouble.” The word Girls made me look at them again to find another girl beside her. All of them were watching her ignoring the pleasant beauty of mine. They were questioning them, that is when I got to know her name is Geet & the girl whom I just noticed her name is Pari. Geet, the name rang in my ears inveigling my heart with unknown bliss. Such a melodious name she has got that I could only hear and speak her name throughout the remaining life of mine. My heart was showing its presence more than ever with her first visual itself, weaving many desires which could bind me into something which I never was bound to. Thoughts are flying high freeing it self from the strings of my mind. Spirit is flowing in a direction which it had never crossed but it surged without bothering about any hindrance. Wish I could just embrace this moment in myself, to witness a new facet of the dreams. Her eyes were revealing more than she could every voice out surprising me at the things which it could conceal. I was eager to be with her which made my heart to live. Dilon mein tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho. My revive was broken when the guy next to me was biting his nails in nervousness as he was worried for the girl next to Geet, as he was muttering “Please God save Pari from these ragging’s” but what I saw actually amazed me as that girl Pari stood fearless while my Geet stood behind her hiding herself from the situation. Such a contrary thing it was happening I was not scared for Geet as I knew she could come out the situation without any help where as the guy next to me was praying for Pari while the girls were doing just the opposite. But Geet’s eyes shone bright, calm & undeterred confidence trickled in her every stir though she portrayed as fearful infront of everyone. She held on to the facade of a timid girl duping around the others. Her face can deceive everyone but her eyes couldn’t as they told every story of hers. She was not a meek girl, none could scrum her into doing things against her wishes, but why does she have to do things like that. Apparently the situation in the hand was the senior’s portrayed themselves as generous enough to give us the option to whether we want to get ragged or not. Well that was not a real option though as a person would be asked to light the candle once they did it they would say since you have lighted it that means you have accepted to be ragged. So now the candle was placed in the middle of the stand and the girls were asked to light that. I was more interested to see the play as I read her eyes which had the mischievous glint in it. And just I guessed the fun started Geet’s face turned was something everyone could not miss as it turned pale with fear and she clutched Pari’s hand & fainted next second. For a second even I got worried but then the wink confirmed all my doubts. Getting the clue Pari played along shouting “Geet…….what happened Geet…get up… get up…. Please someone get some water.” After a while she stood drawing everyones attention to herself. When the seniors questioned her, the reply just shook everyone but I was just lost in that melody and couldn’t stop the smile. Geet replied as a scared kitten shuttering and trying to hard to form even a word that “I burnt it …. I burnt it”. Well ever Pari was confused so enquired “what did you burn Geet.” “B…..B……Blub” But looks like seniors were not falling for her drama as she was asked to light the candle now. I was now curious to know more about her plan as the naught sparkle twinkled in her eyes. She with trembling fingers tried to light the candle but stick failed to burn. Geet said “It is not burning so can I leave for the class sir.” Finally not able to withstand the bugging kitten they let go of her. We will trap her someother time is what I heard a senior whisper into another senior. Her eyes showed she had won this play but that play was not only for her but for everyone there. With a confident & smiling face she left, actually she was concealling more may be she would have danced at her victory but stayed quite because of the people around her. After she left what happened was really a boon to others as none were able to light the candle with the sticks and were given a green signal to leave to class without any interruption as none of the juniors revealed that the stick had been damp. Actually what had happened was when Geet had feel on the ground the box had feel down in moist grass, which none of them saw at that time. Now the seniors were getting suspicious why none are able to light it are they acting? Then one of them noticed the wetness of the sticks. So when it was my turn they changed the rule if you light it only then you will be set free. I never had lost any game or battle then how could I just bow down when it was the question of lighting a candle. I made my hands covered there vision of the candle and the stick and within seconds I lit the candle without any trouble. What did they thought that this is the only stick through which the light could be generated. There are other ways to do that & winning over me is not going to happen ever. Without any further delay I dropped the match box in the nearby bin & went to the class with a stride which meant not to be stopped by anyone. I was joined by the guy who came running towards me while he said “Hey man, slow down, how did you do that”. I didn’t stop but started to move towards my designated class. When he came in front of me introducing himself “Hi, I am Yash and you are” “Maan” was the only thing which I said and entered my class to see Geet in the same class of mine. Another lecture starts from today, well that is one thing I always disliked but still I have never let the other person to feel that I am not one of the keen listener as I don’t ignore them but just bear there words which some or the other time has been useful. This time I had a silver lining say it a distraction or attraction which would last for atleast a little while. I entered the class to witness Geet who sat at the front bench with her was Pari, looks like both are friends that they are sticking together. Class was almost full any time the classes would start as the time to start was nearing. I sat away from everyone as I was never a man who needed company. My loneliness didn’t last for long as it was accompanied by the slim nerd with broad forehead and wide cheek bones that narrow to a small chin with the naroow frame spectacles guy Yash I wished it was Geet beside me but this time I have to bear with this one as the guy, yes Yash was behind me and had followed me to the place where I had selected to sit. Well there was a special thing at this position and that was the view I would get, from here I could see the professors & behind the dias was a glass on which the image I could see was of the reflection of Geet. Time passed a person came said something and then my eyes went back to Geet who was busy in writing and then she was lost in seeing something when I glanced where she was looking at I saw some other person who stood at the podium. I wonder where the other person went but before I could ponder about that my eyes went on the pen which was just about to touch the curvy glossy lips of hers. Constant bugging of Yash gained my attention as he was mentioning something about some Economics, business and management I glared back at him to stop him from irritating me. As I take a quick look at the platform to witness yet another different person there. Have I started seeing things, was that a mirage or did the face of the person change like chameleon? I wanted to see what was happening around so I kept watching him but as the person was a lean bald guy he wasn’t covering the glass behind giving me more access t0 my distraction she was time & again glancing over her lace tied around her wrist. It took a minute more to realise she was getting bored maybe that’s why she was checking the time. That is when I checked the time which said 3 and half hours has been passed since I have been sitting here in this place. That means this is the 4th class of the day & I haven’t heard a word from anyone. Suddenly Geet’s face had shone and next second there was a long ring indicating the end of the first session and once the unknown professor left the room she & Pari flew from there may be they were hungry. Half n hour of break like everyone I too headed towards the canteen to check what I can get to fill my appetite. I had got one plate of food and sat away from the crowd when I saw my hearts leisure pursuit the blue girl getting her plate filled with food. I saw them looking at the whole canteen to check for a place just then Yash who was just behind them showed the table where I am sitting. He wanted to watch her everymove but staring like that when the other person was watching straight back at you was not manners and that too when I held the fire to consume her. My eyes were unwilling to obey my order to look anywhere but her. Then somehow I managed to concentrate on the food but it was just for a second then it was back on her. Fortunately this time she was looking at something else at the other end. She was looking at that direction more intently making my inside to burn. I turned my gaze towards her vision and that enraged me again as Geet was looking at the seniors and one of them who was leading the ragging session was heading to our table. I wouldn’t mind breaking his bones or even burning him to show him the glimpse of hell. He was just a feet away from his table when the ground under him vanished as he lost balance and swan through the air bang his nose to the ground. He was carrying a plate of food he had picked it up on his way and all of it he had been carrying in his hand fell on his head and finally even the plate hit his head giving him the award he deserved. That’s when I noticed the wet floor and the caution board kept to be careful as the floor was slippery. A slight giggle caught my ears out of the whole laugh going around the canteen and that was from none other than the girl who sat infront of me. She was trying very hard not to laugh as it would only instigate the others and bring us under their scanner. But even then she couldn’t stop the smile that escaped against her wishes and adored her lips. The twinkle in her eyes which held the power to hypnotise even a saint. It was the first time she sat so close to me and I was failing to stick to my previous decision of not to stare at her but when did the heart listen when God’s such a exquisite creation was right before my eyes. She had her eyes fixed on the table I just didn’t know what is so interesting out there on it while I couldn’t move my gaze from her. I wished she looked up to me at least once so that I could read what she was thinking. Maybe she didn’t noticed me till now as she was busy with the laugh she got to see here but before I could make that statement sink into my heart she raised her lashes to meet my molten eyes to lose the whole world around us or to find a new way together. Change is the only thing which is constant in life and is the same thing which I am experiencing now. My sense’s which has always been active in alerting me of my surroundings has changed its allegiance. My eyes never leaves the sight of her as it only tries to find more about her while I always search to hear her melodious voice in every sound that hits my ears, I wait for the moment of slight touch of her veil every time we have bump into one another. It takes every ounce of my will to resist from tasting this forbidden fruit. She is all bent to change me as she smells like a dew drop making me to hate the thought why I hated that before. The fact which I always certain about eradicating the darkness & lighting it seems to be lost with the way my life had taken a turn. My day which always used to start with the sprinting before the breaking of dawn to keep me fit and focussed has also changed. Now after sprinting I would do my exercise using fire to help me keep focus on the issue that is on the hand. Every day I try new ways with fire I would light up the edges of the stick with fire and swinging the blazing stick in different ways so as to wipe out that vision which has plastered to my eyes. That day when our eyes had met, the world around me had just ceased to exist. Those deep blue eyes held me captive in her spell that I felt I wandered into a place where every thing was so serene that I didn’t know whether I was lost before or am I getting lost now. I was looking deep into violet & green mixed pupils of her to find what all secrets that could unfold infront of me. But what I found was a haze image of person’s face which started to disturb the tranquilly of those orbs a bit later what I saw was it was not just the disturbance but vanquishing the glow with the flame of that persons mere presence which turned into my face. That was the harsh reality of mine which broke my trance and I had left the table in a rush leaving everyone to ponder anything what they wish. I would now rather light up the whole place to make me remember the fact of my presence in anyones life would only harm everyone. How could I forget why I am all alone? I break one another stick that was in my hand with the rage which had only amplified the concealed fire in me. I have led lonely life because of this reason, when ever I have lost focused I have not only lost my dearest and nearest but also have felt the burnt of it my own self. How unlucky am I to even not retain a companion for even a small part of this long life. With these thoughts cruising in my mind everytime I would never know when the dawn breaks & the day starts. But with my starting ignorance with the surroundings one had not left to remind me about my college and that was Yash who used to call me with his stupid problems. Exactly now I got a call from Yash making me realise the time as even the sun elevated high in the sky failed to be gain my attention as I was busy fight with the inner battle. I switched on the Bluetooth and without a second delay he started his cribbing. That reminds me of the act of last night when I had held the light in my hand & had snapping the fingers lighting it & switching it off with my thoughts running about the past and trying to get the things straight in present. “15 minutes.” I reply and make my way to start yet another day just like past 8 months but before I leave this shore I put of the fire which I had set around the place. Out of all these things against me this is one thing that I am glad of this deserted place to give me my privacy. As always my eyes search that place where I had seen her on the first day but as every other day even today I couldn’t see her there maybe it was just by chance that she was here that day. I again console my heart which still wants to see her against my will. And in these 8 months every single day didn’t end without an encounter of ours but every time I shifted my course away from her as those eyes held something which could not be comprehend. During the classes I try to gauge her reactions but she didn’t let me through her lashes making it difficult to read her. Things which made these encounter possible were Yash & Pari and their budding love story. There talks left me know more about Geet, how she is, how even she came here after losing her family. How lonely she has become now and how she is coping with her life. What her aims are, how she has influenced Pari to be more focused about the future. I get to hear each and every word about them from Yash. There is not a single place in the college which doesn’t remind me of our encounter and just a week ago when Geet was searching for Pari near this fountain at the entrance of the college where I am standing that was the time we met again face to face to let me read her mind through her own blue eyes. This time when the cover of her lashes had been shed for my view all I could see was the same mischief gleam in it. But what is she upto now, did that senior again became the scapegoat of her acts. She has been enjoying that senior’s state to an extent which none knew except me as always after every fall of his she had walked away with a winning stride. One thing which even I didn’t know was did she do anything which always landed him in trouble or was that a pure coincidence that whenever she was present he was embarrassed with one or the other thing. Last time I had accompanied Yash to the mall as girls wanted to do there shopping while Yash wanted to join them and I also went along with him. Once they had roamed alround the mall we had settled down in the food court to fill the hunger of stomach. The seating arrangement was in a semi circle round the table and at one end was Geet next to her was Pari and next was Yash, after him I sat. I smiled looking at the them planning for the seminar which I didn’t even know there was I never had to bothered for any academic activity as even before I realise the need of the work it would have been done for me too. Yash was someone who used to do it for me I never did ask him for but he simple did it for me and then it become a silent treaty that he used to hand over all the assignments to me. I could have asked him the reason for it but then I never indulged in talking with anyone not even Yash, who was my hostel roommate. Pari loved Yash but always gets irritated with his “I am scared attitude” college works were not an issue but handling the world or people was something he always held a back foot. I guess this was the reason Yash always used to be with me scared to be alone, scared that he might just get into trouble and I tagged with him because he never asked any questions about me but just used to bug me with non stop talking about the college or Pari or her friend Geet. That was much more than a vital reason to actually tolerate him and his actions. There was sudden hustle bustle in the food court, apparently some waiter was pushed by someone making all the food in his hand to spilled on the ground and that person was none other than our same senior who had lead our ragging session. The owner was all set to bash the waiter & dismiss him from the job as he thougt the waiter couldn’t even handle his customers properly, creating disturbance to them and also damaging his places aesthetics. And this senior of ours who was having fun in this trouble just was leaving creating the mess and while crossing over the table next us the kid who sat there was supposed to have her milk in the bottle but the kid opened the cap in a way that all the milk erupted out of it spilling it all over the place along with the wetting the pants of our beloved senior in turn making him embarrass infront of all the people. At that time her eyes showed “you deserve it” look. Today too her eyes conveyed the same thing to me but who deserves that, was that me or was that someone else. I was still searching for answers when a loud laughter hit my ears and that was of Yash & Pari who came running & laughing even before I could ask them they started to narrate that the gardener was having trouble why water stopped suddenly coming in his pipes while watering the plants and then he tried to twist them in all direction water gushed out like a stream which unfortunately showered on our same darling senior. Once Yash was here I moved out to our hostel when Yash again started his pleading to accompany him to Pari’s house as she had challenged him “Yash if you love me you have to come to my hime without getting scared of my owner who stayed next door. Only then I will talk to you.” Did I needed this pleadings no defiantly no, but still how would I just give in so I gave him “I am not interested” look and then I finally agreed to him. We knocked at the door of the girl’s home late at 12 midnight as it was quite a distance we had to travel. There was hesitation quite visible on Pari’s face as she opened the windows to check who is banging the door at this hour. I could clearly see one was shocked while the other pretended to be shocked as she was not afraid of facing any situation. As it was a season of rain many would come inside the front yard for shelter but now it wasn’t raining either and even if it was entertaining an outsider at this hour was not safe. We stood at a distance so when she checked the window none were visible, then she had a confused look thinking who banged on the door. Just when she thought to close the window and return to bed we came out of the shadows scaring her a bit as she asked who it is. But only thing she heard was her own sound and crackle sound of the dry leaves. Surprise was the word Yash screamed making her squeal in shock but then she was happy to find her love leaving his inhabitation self. Surprise was the word Yash screamed making her squeal in shock but then she was happy to find her love there leaving his inhabitation self and visiting her. “Yash is this the way you come. There is a calling bell which you could always use then why were you banging the door like that. You just scared the hell out of us.” Pari growled on Yash. “I don’t know why she gets scared suddenly of such little things.” said Pari referring to Geet’s action. “Yash left a sigh once Geet left as he can have his little talk with Pari now without interruption. Now you will do as I say” Yash whispered. Looking at them I thought they need a little more privacy so…. I left that place at once and started to move backwards when I heard something rather say some sound. That made me realised that the path I choose leads to the back yard of the house where Geet went. The thought that she is there was enough for me to move more faster my mind constantly warned me not to go and face at this time but when did mind had any say in front of this heart. My luck was not with me today as suddenly there was lighting followed by a noisy thunder. Normally boys liked these situations where girls would be scared and cling to boys but here it was a different story as I despised rain. Seeing the pouring rain my legs freeze at the place I was safe under the shelter in the pitch darkness where no one knew anyone would exist. Even in the most solitary life I have an angel who had descended from the heaven whom I could gaze till my hearts content. Geet was in her light violet velvet suit stood admiring the sky above. I stood as far as possible but my eyes could view her from head to toe, I guess she was also standing below some shelter as there was not a drop of rain falling on her. She was not only admiring it but also waiting for the rain to fall as the moment she stretched her palm a drop fell on it, she did the same again and again collecting the drops of the rain in her palm. It looked as if the rain was waiting for the orders of her to fall. Once it was full she let them drop on the ground making the sound like pearls were falling off from the necklace as they didn’t just fall but also they had another path to follow. She was the commander in chief imposing the flow of rain. Slowly the drops of rain increased & made its way from her shoulders to her long silky hands gliding over them to reach the small little fingers of her just before they descended to reach there fellow droplets. If that was the sight I beheld unknown to her next set of her acts just made my insides move as molten lava. The water which blessed themselves touching her forehead slid through the sides measuring the length of her sleek neck before they disappeared into the fabric. The view brought him of my revive giving me a reality check about my act. I was not supposed to look at her like this minutely. She has always hid behind the mask of a meek girl and now thinking no one is here she would have let those masks off her face. She might have not been this free had she known about my presence here. But I didn’t have it in me to turn back from her. This time I wanted her to decide and it would be easy on me to feel her rejection than turning back from her. With this decision I let my legs lead towards the magnetic pull. I couldn’t have stepped in rain too so I stood at the rim of the shelter making my presence known to her. Passing the message towards her clearly that she is not alone to let her barriers down and baring her oneself to me. She stood in the middle, hands out stretched to let the rain drench her. Even after making my presence evident she didn’t deterred was she so involved in her own world that what is happening around, who is there beside her didn’t matter or was she giving me a treat by letting me to witness her subtle movements of unparalleled grace. Rain which had drenched her whole form gave a shiny effect to her. With a determination which none could stop her to express herself today neither the rain nor my presence. She bent her back in a semi circle swinging her hands in a way that looked like a white rainbow twinkling in the moon light. Was she dancing with rain or was rain dancing with her, was she following it or was that following her moves was all I could ponder about as she and rain matched steps with each other. Unknown to me “Geet” came out from my lips it came out just as a whisper and I doubt whether my own ears heard it or not. But as the name left my lips the rain just came to end like it was waiting for me to utter and it would stop and with not a drop of rain pouring her whole concentration turned to me. I stood there waiting for her reaction, would she walk away as I do or…. I didn’t know what to expect. She slowly closed the distance between us and stood right in front of me. Her eyes held an unknown compassion which I could not understand. I felt a sudden chill spreading around me was it the dip in the temperature or was it her who was cooling my fire in me. My eyes closed for a brief second to hide the things which it may give away if I look deep into the blue ones it may questioned me anything. There were many things which my heart wanted to convey but words were just not enough to express them. Many emotions were binding me with you bring in a new flavour sweeping us into a different world. This is the riddle which could not be hidden within me or with in her or even the world. I was still entranced in her when I felt her chilled hands touch my cheeks sending shiver down my body. It took only a second to ignite the fire in me; it took lot of efforts to break the shackles to let my hand to stretch so that I could feel that creamy skin. She closed her eyes to engrave the feel of me on her hand, so did I wanted to engrave it. I was just an inch away when she trembled back and before I could comprehend anything or hold her she collapsed on the ground & like how the water gushes out when the gates of the dam are opened the rain poured out on her. What happened was something has happened with me many times before too when ever I have left my confines things has gone messy. That is the reason why I have to be alone & none are allowed to be with me. My mother left me giving birth to me to live in this world all alone; my father was there only till that another natural calamity which shook more than half of the village when I was a small kid. From that time all I have led is a life alone each day was like a year or even more than that. Relatives were there to support me but even that didn’t last for more than few days as they would fell into deep troubles due to me. So I had spent most of my life in an orphanage far away from everyone who was my family once. This was my curse which I am still burdened with. And today that has spread to Geet, she fell the moment I thought to ignore my curse but it was all present to remind me of the repercussions if avoided. I still stood the same way gazing at her fallen state; I couldn’t gather enough courage to even check her. What if she also just left because of my mistake? It would have been better to be away than to live in guilt for becoming an endangered curse to someone else. With the sudden enormous sound of water gained the attention of Pari & Yash so they came out to check the reason for it and all they could see was Geet lying in the pool of water while I had lost my voice to tell anything to them. I started to take my steps away from her whereas Pari was trying to revive Geet by patting her cheeks. Yash asked her to pull under the shelter first so that she wouldn’t catch cold. They tried to rub her legs & hands it was turning little blue due to chillness of water. Yash looked back at me to ask what happened but what would I reply, there was nothing to tell it was all my fault to have agreed with him to accompany Yash to her place. My strides were moving fast to just hide myself away from everyone especially from those blue eyes mermaid of my life. I push all the things in front of me & put everything on fire with my own hands but would that reduce the blaze in me. Ripping of my self also didn’t reduce the helplessness in me. Why should I be compled to live a life like this with no love no happiness all alone nothing pleasing can exist around me? Why it is that anything that wants to give me bit contentment would turn into ashes before I could embrace it. Why can’t I hold a little bliss in my palm? All I had heard was they were taking her to the nearby doctor, I so wanted to check on her but it was best with me not going near her. I waited at the shores waiting for the sun to break the darkness, which was actually trying to consume me within it. After what seems like eternity I just couldn’t wait more but wanted to know if she was fine, I decided I would only see from far & then will move out before anyone would actually notice my presence. I stood at the doorway hearing that melodious voice of speaking to the doctor which was a relief till I heard there talks. The doctor was quite upset about something but what was the fault of Geet in all these things which happened. “Geet, I am telling you last time you have to be careful, I can’t hide these things everytime. It was just pure luck that your friends bought you to me, what would have happened if they would have taken you to other doctor.” Doctor was scolding sternly. “Doc, I would have managed it.” Geet answered meekly. “Right the way you just managed it today. I have answered others as you got dehydrated but I want answers from you now? What happened & how did it happen if you had taken all the precautions.” Doc questioned. “2 days, what will I do here for 2 days? I am perfectly fine & I would like to take your leave now as I need to attend the class.” Replied shocked Geet on the sudden order passed by her doctor but when did she listen to others. “No, you are my friend, so bye.” Geet stromed out of the room after saying that. There talk left me in thinking what was it that they were talking about was she hiding something or is she under some medication due to some disease. But if I question the doctor she would definitely not spit out the truth. Doctor must have known Geet for a quite a period and that’s why she was so comfortable & then also she hid the truth with Yash & Pari also that too even before she consulting Geet. I should follow her to know more but after what happened yesterday night I need to be very careful & stay away from her. I have been observing her more meticulously from past few hours but nothing actual changed in her ways neither in action nor in words. Still we didn’t speak neither she nor Yash or Pari actually asked me about that night. It was as if nothing happened, don’t know what Geet said to them but they were actually being careful with Geet, making sure that she had lot of liquids. They didn’t let her give presentations in seminar also but only person who regretted that was me as I couldn’t hear her. Yash asked me to help them in the last seminar and the group discussions for the year before college breaks for the exams so that Geet could take proper rest. I agreed but I didn’t know what I am supposed to do so he gave some notes which I had to go through & speak about them. Seminar was said to be on one of the topics in some subject which we read but the group discussion was just a practice session so that everyone would get good exposure to the presentation skills. I actually wondered what am I going to do as I had not an iota of idea how these are done but this would help Geet is all I know so I had to do it. Seminar finished & I don’t exactly remember what all I have to say. Seeing my capabilities with words they had given me a small part. Was that a 5 min material which I finished it in 2 minute or was that only a 1 minutes one for which I too 2. But whatever it was that ended without much hanky panky. Well one hurdle was crossed & the other awaited. Yes the group discussion would start in a while, groups were made. Pari, I & few other class mates were selected and made the group. The topic was read out it was “Myth”. With that few started to oppose it & many started to agree with it. But when I heard what all they were discussing I couldn’t stop my self from putting my view in it. “How could you say that God is a myth” I questioned. “If he was there then people would not have suffered unnecessarily, take your example are you not an orphan… why?? because God took away your parents that too in a natural calamity which was controlled by God.” Pari replied. “It was not the God who controlled these calamities they are done by the people who are posses the power to protect the nature and people in this world.” I counter replied. “Oh you are a believer of those grandma bedtime stories in which God entrusts some power to three people who were termed as guards of the earth but these people quarrelled among themselves to attain the supremacy over the human beings. If only one is left they would be invincible who could be termed as equal to God.” Pari questioned. The whole discussion was heating up between Pari & Maan and everyone present there were just a mute spectators as they didn’t know where it all would go to. Some had heard these stories in there childhood from there elders but then with time all these things were termed as only story. “Yes I am a believer of it but that is not the whole truth what all things they would have to undergo for being a guard is not known to many. Life span of these persons would be more than 400 years which they should be spent away from everyone if those powers are entrusted. These powers would be there curse but also a boon, which could be used to restrict many calamaties. And humans never get to know what things were averted but can only know & rememeber when these gaurds fail. Yes they fight among themselves but are these fights for gaining supremacy or to gain freedom from those things is still a mystery which none have been able to know it till now.” I said. I would have said many more things but I was stopped by the sapphire eyed girl who pleaded me through her eyes to not say a word more and how could I utter a single word after that. My tongue was now tied with her plea so I let every other person to continue with the discussion and in no time the hour flee so did the students from the class. This was the last class for the year and students would forget about all these talks is what I could wish for as many were worried about their individual exams or was excited for the farewell party of the seniors which the juniors had organised for. I don’t know whether I blabbered more than required or was my speech revealed more than necessary things. Pari responded “He started” pointing all the blame towards me. “I know who started what even I was here only. Now do you think about yourself Maan what were you doing talking all these stories.” Geet turned towards me questioning but she was shocked and continued “Now where did he go?” as I was not there standing but had started to move out of the class saving my self from there questioning eyes. Today is the farewell party girls were dressed in red & white combination where as boys were in red & black combo. For a change juniors had planned to rag the seniors on there own farewell which was led by Pari & group, well I knew whose idea this would be. Time has changed so had the relations too in past 10 months seniors have become more friendly and supportive, thus playing pranks with them would not be a trouble and anyways they are leaving the institute so the coast is clear for fun. Party was in the open air hall in the grounds of the college which had a stage at one end where Geet was speaking to Pari who stood beside her with today’s event manager & at the far end was the fountain where I stood gazing her every move. She looked angelic in that white salwar of hers as blue veil adored the slender creamy neck. Yash was running behind Pari helping her out with all his love and I was standing away from everyone feeling glad that atleast there are people whom I would love and they are infront of me. People dressed in vibrant colors were already to enjoy & have fun as the party was about to start. Whereas things don’t happen as you wish for and who knows that better than me and exactly the way I had the intrusion there was a sudden hassle alround the place everyone were running into the college that’s when I witnessed the tornado coming towards us. I stood waiting the tornado to come to me as what can it do to me carry & through me somewhere that’s it right. However when it was just a yard away from the ground when it stood still as if something stopped its way. When I look around the ground there is no one present but my eyes stopped at one place where a girl lay may be unconscious and it didn’t take a minute to know who that was as she is Geet only girl who was in her blue while everyone was in red & white. I flew away from the college far away from the place where I burnt her with my own flames as I was not able stand any more minute at that place; how long do I have to face the same thing again and again. Everytime when the sadness has engulfed me I have always consoled my heart that it isn’t my mistake everyone has to go through these pains in their long-lasting life. Heavy as this heart feels now with the overwhelming emotions I stare at the Sun which is all set to take a dip in the vast expanse of ocean but now I have nothing to hold on to there is a deep stillness which has settled in me as the world has moved but I haven’t. With the increase in the pour even ocean seems to be more intended to swallow me within as I hit the first waves of the huge mass. It left me shocked as I could hold to anything, I felt like I am moving without my own will. Today there was only one will that was to try every possible way to put off this blaze. Even the thought has not left my mind I was hit by another way, now it seemed as if I was floating in it and next second I was submergered in it. I want to go deep into it so I tried to find the ground and started to walk into the depth of it. As I stepped deep within my luck just flew away because the water which was soothing my soul just sweeped in making a space between me & the water mass. Same like Geet had created when we were in the college, was she here or was it someone else who possessed the same power. “Geet …” my lips took her name as a whisper and just as that day today also rain which had been pouring stopped and my attention went towards the form in the shadows. “Yes … Maan we can but are you willing to be with me till the end. Will you love me without any of my ability to control water? Will you love me….?” She replied with uncertainity. “Maan, you need to let go this fear and worry nothing will happen to us. Yes, we will have to work hard to survive now.” She pressed her ear to my chest while she continued “But together we will surpass every hurdle that comes in our way. This isn’t yours anymore but mine now so stop troubling it.” She said refering to my heart also showing her dominance over me. “Shh…You don’t have to voice it Maan, your face convey’s it all, every thought that your heart analyzes, every notion it evaluates, every outcome it concludes. You are just as open book to me as I am to you.” Geet declared her point. By the time I was back Yash was up and had sat up against the rock as I hand over a bottle of water to him. He seemed surprised and undoubtly happy about something. “You guys are making fun of me and we are all worried for you. I wouldn’t have been awake had I sleept last night, but after that storm had eloped you guys there isn’t a place where we have not searched you. Today I thought lets look at the opposite direction too and here I found you guys.” Yash explained the reason of his presence. “Carry him, I can walk we will get more oppurunities going forward.” Geet smiled winking at me. And today this diary answered me why I could never hear what they were worried about was that about the mess or about me contolling my powers as both could read each other face without voicing a word from their mouth. Today I am very happy reading that my parents too had powers like me, actually defeated the air power and that’s why I their daughter am gifted with power of air. She grew faster than we could think and tomorrow is her 18th birthday and I couldn’t see her confused and worried anymore uncessarily too. Yes even her face revealed every secret of hers. And that’s why I decided to place this diary in a place where she could get her hands on it. “When were we separate from eachother Geet.” Papa buttered Mama so easily.

2019-04-22T16:52:49Z

https://jeevanap.wordpress.com/incredible-fusion/

by B. A. COLA and J. M. URITIS - Missile and Surface Radar Division DEP, Moorestown, N. J. JOSEPH M. URITIS graduated from Newark College of Engineering in 1937 with a BSME. Before joining RCA in 1946, he was a design engineer for Bernard Aviation Equipment Corp., New York City. In 1941, he engaged in the design and test of main propulsion and auxiliary shipboard equipment at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. At RCA, Mr. Uritis has designed disk recorders for broadcast studios and other commercial applications. As a member of the Advanced Development Group, he was responsible for conception of the tape files used in RCA Electronic Data Processing equipment. In video recording, he was active in the design and development of the time division multiplex video recorder, and later, the quadruplex color video recorder. He was responsible for the design of the Broadband Recorder (AN/TLH-I) built for the Signal Corps. When the BMEWS program started, he designed magnetic drums and discs for that project, and later was responsible for design of the TRADEX tape transport. During design of the precision tape recorders for Bell Labs, he was responsible for the mechanical design. Mr. Uritis holds 8 patents in the recorder field. BENJAMIN A. COLA graduated from Drexel Institute in June 1950 with a BSEE. At this time he joined RCA and worked on the design of power supplies, video circuits, TV airborne cameras, naval radar tracking equipment and servo mechanisms in the Special Devices Department. A period of one year was spent on systems analysis of shoran bombing and reconnaissance equipment. He received an MSEE degree in June 1955 at the University of Pennsylvania. In August 1955 he was transferred to the newly formed Missile and Surface Radar Section, where he worked on analog data processing assignments for TALOS, ATLAS, BMEWS, DAMP, and TRADEX. His most recent assignment was design project engineer on the development of a precision high speed tape recorder. This multiple-channel, wideband precision tape recorder was developed as a basic element in a tracking radar system to be used in multiple target environments. All signals received by the radar tracking the target in real time are tape recorded. Thus, all targets viewed by the radar during a "live" exercise can be repeatedly acquired, tracked, and analyzed through playback at a later date. To permit recovery of maximum information, data is recorded in the form of unprocessed radar IF signals; then on playback, the optimum signal-processing system recovers each target parameter of interest. Radar target parameters such as range, doppler, and angle position must be measured precisely; at the same time, target resolution and relative amplitude must be preserved. Such performance requirements impose challenging demands on a radar tape recorder - particularly signal-to-noise performance, gain and phase tracking between channels, gain linearity, transport velocity stability, and interchannel jitter. Fig. 1 shows the complete radar tape recorder designed to meet these standards of performance. The radar tape recorder provides 15 channels with a bandwidth capability in excess of 6 Mc; the recorder operates at a tape speed of 1,180 ips and a velocity stability of better than 1 part in 105. The recording time is 6 minutes. The radar system utilizes these capabilities to record 8 channels of 3.5 Mc video radar signals along with 7 wideband channels of timing, digital, and other reference signals for processing by the radar in serial form. The radar tape recorder (Fig. 2) stores ungated if information from the uhf and L-band receivers so that during subsequent playbacks, targets can be acquired and tracked in angle, range, and doppler. The receiver-exciter sends repetition rate pulses to the UHF and L-band transmitters where the power is stepped up and sent to the antenna for transmission. The receiver-exciter receives the returns from targets and sends them to the tape recorder and tracking receiver. The tracking receiver (in conjunction with the range tracker) tracks targets in angle, range, and doppler during real time or from tape playback. The tracking receiver also provides agc, scintillation, doppler, and range information to describe the target to the data recorder. The tracking receiver also provides azimuth and elevation errors to the angle servos that drive the pedestal, keeping the antenna on target during live track. By recording the radar returns on tapes, it is possible to separate and analyze the targets of a missile shot as many times as desired and, thereby, effect an economy of radar systems and missile firings. Based on the principal radar requirements of Table I, specifications for the radar tape recorder were determined. Requirements for frequency and polarization diversity and for monopulse angle tracking resulted in a need for eight signal channels. Range and doppler accuracies were improved through the use of a recorded if reference signal and a range clock signal. Additional channels were used for a transport servo-speed reference, pedestal angular position data, and time-of-day codes - resulting in a 15-channel machine (see chart of Table II). The principal specifications for the radar tape recorder are Table III. Reasons for some of these specifications are described herein. The signal-to-noise (S/N) specification is dictated by the desired system dynamic range. Velocity stability is necessary to assure doppler tracking accuracy as well as to minimize the occurrence of spurious signal spectral lines due to transport velocity modulation. Gain and phase track specifications assure accuracy in the measurement of target angle offset. Gain and phase linearity maintains good target resolution by avoiding pulse distortion or distortion echoes. Low interchannel jitter is important in measuring accurately the signal polarization vector, range, and angle. Bandwidth is determined by the radar pulse characteristic; at the signal input to the recorder, the pulse is in the form of a cosine squared. 1) Gain linearity and gain tracking are very difficult to achieve in an am system because of the effect of the nonlinear magnetization characteristic of the tape and because of variations in tape sensitivity. 2) An fm system minimizes the effects of tape drop outs, variations in sensitivity of the magnetics and am variations introduced by changes in the effective head-air-gap with tape pressures. Good gain linearity can be achieved by frequency modulators and demodulators. The choice of FM recording results in the disadvantage of greater circuit complexity because of the above requirements for frequency modulators and demodulators and also the need for more bandwidth than that in an am system. In fm, the bandwidth required to pass the sideband frequencies depends on the desired S/N performance, and on a minimum fm carrier frequency that prevents fold-over of the side frequencies. The final choice resulted in a 4.5-Mc fm carrier frequency with significant sideband frequencies extending from 0.2 Mc to 8Mc. The 8-Mc bandwidth required that the relative speed between tape and head exceed a minimum value determined by the magnetic head gap-length. Since head gap-length could not conveniently be made less than 40 microinches (0.000040 inch), a tape speed of 1,180 ips was used; at this speed, 6 miles of tape are required to provide 5 minutes of recording time. Because of the requirement for multiple channels, longitudinal recording was chosen. The basic design criteria for the tape recorder were established, based on a consideration of signal-to-noise, gain tracking, gain linearity, bandwidth and multiple channel capability. Satisfying the requirements for velocity stability and interchannel jitter depended to a large extent on the mechanical perfection of the tape transport and the performance of the servo speed control. The main elements of the transport are shown in Fig. 3. The recorder components are assembled to a jig plate which is accurately aligned and attached to a rigid frame to assure a precise tape path. The complete assembly is shock-mounted within its cabinet. The 5-minute recording requirement resulted in 30-inch-diameter reels weighing 50 pounds and containing 6 miles of 1.1-mil magnetic tape plus 2,500 feet of clear leader at each end. The tape is accelerated to full recording speed in 60 seconds and is stopped in the same time. The reels are equipped with quick-disconnect knobs to facilitate fast reloading and permit uninterrupted recording with two transports. Tape guides and tensioners are air lubricated so that frictional contact to the tape occurs only at the capstan edge-guide and at the magnetic heads. Remote control of recording, subsequent repeated playbacks, and rewinds dictated that the tape remain threaded and taut during and following each run. To accomplish this, programmed acceleration and deceleration cycles were employed at the start and end of the tape runs. A length of clear polyester leader is attached to each end of the tape; transitions from clear leader to tape are sensed photoelectrically to initiate the program. The capstan-head assembly of Fig. 4 is designed for quick replacement by utilizing an air manifold which automatically seals upon installation of the capstan. Two blocks of magnetic heads, one an 8-track and the other a 7-track are supplied by the RCA Broadcast and Communication Products Division. Heads are prealigned on arms for fast replacement once initial adjustment of the head arm support has been made. To achieve constant tape speed, the capstan assembly employs an air-turbine drive and hydrostatic air bearings. Capstan speed is sensed by a tone wheel and controlled by a hysteresis brake; both are integral parts of the capstan shaft. To minimize longitudinal vibrations, the tape is stabilized by making simultaneous contact with both the capstan and the heads. Since the tape is not perfectly smooth nor of uniform thickness, it is necessary to relieve the capstan surface behind the area where the heads contact the tape. The velocity stability specification of 1 part in 105 imposes a severe runout requirement on the capstan assembly; the angular velocity generates flutter components of 87cps and higher multiples which are above the bandwidth of the capstan-servo correction capability. Therefore, the dynamic runout of the capstan must be held to less than 20 microinches; it is done by using the ultimate in precision grinding, hand lapping, and dynamic balancing. An additional benefit in reducing the effects of capstan runout is derived from depressing the heads into the tape a*bove the capstan grooves; thus, the heads may be firmly positioned at a fixed radius from the rotational axis of the capstan. Head contact pressure is controlled by a very precise adjusting screw which advances the head only 5 mils per revolution. Pressure applied is measured as an increment of the capstan hysteresis brake current. Mechanical resonances throughout the tape path produce variations in tape tension, resulting in minute (but not inconsequential) variations in tape velocity at the capstan. Such variations can be caused by improper tape guide design, or by insufficient damping where resonant systems exist in the tape path, as at the tape tensioners. Since these effects are not necessarily uniform, or in-phase across the width of the tape, they produce the undesirable effect defined in the specifications as "phase jitter." The allowable phase jitter between signals (recorded half the width of the tape apart) is ±20 nsec; this corresponds to roughly a differential displacement of 24 microinches. 4) precise alignment of all tape guides. Compressed air, supplied by a remote unit at 100-psi nominal pressure, operates the transport. Air is oil free and dried to -40°F dew point. Outlet air-supply filters and filters at the air inlets to the cabinet and to the capstan air-bearing line protect the air-pressure regulating valves and the close-fitting capstan bearings. In the event of a compressor failure, a reserve air supply brings the transport to a safe halt. Pressure-sensitive switches are set a few pounds below the lower limit of the normal pressure variation range of the air supply. When the air-supply pressure falls below a predetermined value, turbine air is cut off and the transport goes into its programmed stopping cycle. Mechanical brakes on the reel spindles stop the reels quickly to minimize tape spillage in the event of a power failure or loss of tape tension. Each tape reel is belt driven by a two-phase 400-cps induction motor and controlled by an independent servo system. The control signal for the reel servo loop is obtained from the tape sensor device nearest the particular reel involved (see Fig. 3). The stator of the induction potentiometer is excited by an AC reference supply and produces an error signal proportional to the velocity error of the tape at the reel. The Ac-induced voltage in the rotor, which is the error signal, is amplified and applied to a carrier-referenced demodulator; then, the dc output of this circuit is used to drive the operational amplifier shown in Fig. 5. An additional feedback loop is provided by an AC tachometer on the servo motor shaft. The 400-cps signal is demodulated to dc to make it compatible with the tape error signal; it is easier to realize the proper stability networks in the dc domain, and AC quadrature problems are completely eliminated - providing a more stable design with less effort. The tachometer feedback signal is combined with the tape speed-error signal in a summing operational amplifier to compensate for the non-linearity of the magnetic amplifiers which are as the servo power amplifiers. The summing operational amplifier output is the servo control signal used to drive the magnetic amplifier; the magnetic amplifier controls the 400-cps power supplied to the reel servo motor. The capstan servo drives the tape with highly precise speed control by two servo loops: one a frequency lock, and the other a phase comparison control to obtain high sensitivity (Fig. 6). Pulses derived from the capstan tone wheel and proportional to tape speed are passed through a 400-usec delay line; capstan speed is varied by the servo until the pulse frequency corresponds with the delay of the line. The 400-usec delay line is equivalent to a tone-wheel frequency of 2,500 pps (this servoing of the capstan speed to near synchronous value is called a frequency lock). When a frequency lock occurs, the phase of the reference 2,500 pps begins to zero beat with the tone wheel; thus, a phase error is produced which adjusts the capstan speed to a full phase lock. The phase detector producing the speed-control signal is extremely sensitive; the slightest change of capstan tone-wheel frequency results in a considerable phase error. Once the capstan servo is locked in, complete control of the speed is maintained by the phase loop. The basic speed control of the capstan driving the tape is obtained by applying air pressure to the capstan turbine. The turbine air pressure would drive the capstan at a speed much higher than needed; however, the servo controlled hysteresis brake reduces it to the desired value. The capstan speed is locked to a crystal oscillator by servoing the tone wheel during the record mode. During the playback mode, the control track, a recorded 2,500-pps reference frequency standard, is servoed to the same crystal oscillator. The slight difference between the capstan speed and the tape speed is removed by this playback servo technique. Electronically variable delay lines are used in those channels requiring additional velocity refinement corrections to the radar data (Fig. 7). The technique of comparing the playback of a recorded 2,500-pps crystal clock with the same crystal clock and using the resultant error voltage to drive the capstan cancels out all low-frequency speed variations of the tape. However, this method does not remove high-frequency components of speed variation resulting from such sources as capstan asymmetry and high-frequency tape flutter. The capstan turns at 87 cps and introduces Fourier series tape-speed components 174 and 261 cps in both record and playback modes; such components cannot be servoed out because of the limited response of the capstan. To remove the effects of the capstan asymmetry and other speed deviations, electronically variable delay lines are inserted into all channels that need precision speed stabilization; a control voltage advances and delays each channel of data in order to make the tape information appear to be coming from a perfectly constant speed tape. The control of these electronically variable delay lines is accomplished with the closed-reference automatic-time-correction (atc) loop of Fig. 7. When the capstan servo has locked in, the reference playback signal averages 2,500-pps - but there will be expansions and contractions of the pulse periods for the reasons previously described. This reference playback signal is inserted into an electronically variable delay line that removes the high-frequency speed variations. The tape-playback 2,500-pps reference is compared to the clock-reference 2,500 pps in a phase detector; the resultant error signal changes on a pulse-to-pulse basis. This error is amplified and the atc loop stabilized by passing the signal through an operational amplifier with the proper transfer function. The resultant amplified error output is used to drive the reference delay line, completing a closed loop. It is apparent that the error signal created will advance or delay the playback pulses to slave them to the clock-reference 2,500 pps by removing the high-frequency components of flutter. At this point, the 2,500-pps reference passing through the delay has had the stabilization of the capstan servo control and the atc servo electronic correction. The signal that drives the reference delay line also drives the six signal delay-lines because the speed correction required is approximately the same for all channels. The interchannel jitter must be small in order to make this type of delay line correction effective; moreover, this condition is assured by meticulous design of the tape transport. There must be very little phase jitter between channels, since the correction signal of the atc servo loop is not only applied to the reference line, but also (as an open-loop correction) to all of the signal delay lines. To measure intertrack jitter during the mechanical development of the tape transport, the precise measuring technique of Fig. 8 was used. It consists of recording a 1.5-Mc sine-wave signal upon the two tracks in question, playing these channels back, and then mixing them down to 200 kc. The exchange of phase angle between the two signals remains the same at 200 kc as it was at 1.5 Mc, and it can be handled by a commercially available phase meter. The output of the phase meter was observed on a scope, spectrum analyzer, and pen recorder. A typical pen recording of the intertrack phase jitter is shown in Fig. 9. The most interesting aspects of the signal electronics for the radar tape recorder relate to the problems of linearity and bandwidth in the precision fm channels. Fig. 10 shows the elements of a typical "fm" channel. In the record mode, the signal in the form of radar video pulses is converted to an "fm" signal in a modulator. It is then amplified in a record amplifier which drives the record-playback head as a constant-current generator. On playback, the signal is amplified in a preamplifier and then in a playback amplifier which includes aperture equalization to compensate for the magnetic-head frequency response characteristic. The signal is then reconverted to a radar video signal in the frequency demodulator. The bandwidth required in an fm system is dictated by the rise-time requirement; the system S/N ratio is a function of this bandwidth. From this expression, it can be shown that a peak frequency deviation of 1.5 Mc achieves S/N performance greater than 40db assuming that the ratio of peak carrier to rms tape noise per megacycle is 48db. The radar tape recorder was designed to record radar pulses with a video bandwidth of 3.5 Mc; for the frequency modulation of these signals, a 4.5-Mc carrier was used to minimize the effect of "fold over" (side frequency terms) in the fm signal. The primary problem of equalization is related to the need for compensating the amplitude-versus-frequency response of the magnetic playback process. The flat amplitude and linear phase responses required to meet the performance specifications for the radar tape recorder were achieved. The following equation, however, shows that the amplitude response of the playback process is not flat and further that the phase response is linear. Therefore, the equalization must compensate for the amplitude response of the playback process without introducing a nonlinear phase characteristic. Analysis of the magnetics problem results in the following equation for the output voltage from a playback head, assuming a sinusoidal recorded flux on the tape. Two tape recorders have been in continuous operation on the pacific missile range for almost a year and have recorded and preserved much valuable data for further analysis and evaluation. The advanced techniques employed have proven invaluable in the study of missile re-entry. Credit for work on the original Tradex tape recording system, which was a forerunner of the high-speed precision tape system described in this paper, is due to H. R. Warren and his associates in the DEP Communications Systems Division. Also, credit for magnetic head design is extended to the Magnetic Head Development and Design Group of the Broadcast and Communications Products Division, under the direction of B. F. Melchionni. This project was completed successfully because of the tireless efforts of many people with varied skills. It would be unjust not to mention two of the technical giants, Thomas Bolger and Jackson, who did so much to bring this project to fruition. Tape speed, 1,180 ips, max. Gap scatter, 40 u inch max. Mounting: precision magnetic record-playback heads on precision machined rocker arms which are completely replaceable with only one adjustment, head pressure (by two self-locking coarse and fine adjust screws). signal Crosstalk, 50 db max. Signal to noise, 30 db min. All distortion, - 30 db min. Crosstalk, - 50 db max. duty cycle Rise time: 0.1 usee. max. Fig. 1 - The high-precision instrumentation tape recorder. Fig. 2 - Acquisition of data by tracking radar plus recording and storage of such data by precision tape recorder. Fig. 3 - Tape transport. Fig. 4a - Capstan-head subassembly. Fig. 4b - Detail of capstan and heads. Fig. 5 - Reel servo system. wo sind 5 und 6 ??? Fig. 9 - Typical pen recording of intertrack phase jitter (shown are tracks 4 and 10). Fig. 10 - Elements of a typical FM channel. Fig. 12 - Aperture correction circuit and phase-gain curves obtained.

2019-04-20T04:59:53Z

http://www.magnetbandmuseum.info/8-instrument-tape-recorder.html

The courts don’t expect your company’s OHS program to be perfect. To make out a due diligence defence, your company must prove only that it made reasonable efforts to comply with the law and protect workers’ health and safety. But the courts do expect you to take all reasonable steps toward compliance—not just some steps. > Institute a formal hazard assessment for any work or activity in the areas where asbestos was present [R. v. Della Valle]. . The OHS laws only require companies to protect workers from reasonably foreseeable hazards. The standard for determining whether a hazard was foreseeable is not what risks the company actually did foresee but what a reasonably prudent person in the same situation would have foreseen. If a safety incident or violation was foreseeable, the company will be held liable if it didn’t take all reasonable steps to prevent the incident or violation. Example: A backhoe operator snagged a natural gas riser, causing gas to seep into a nearby butcher shop. The shop exploded, killing two people, seriously injuring five others and causing extensive property damage. The operator was convicted of two OHS violations. The court pointed out that the operator knew the risk of working around live gas lines and the potentially serious consequences of hitting a gas line with his backhoe. So doing so was clearly a foreseeable hazard. But the operator, who had plenty of time, didn’t take reasonable steps to avoid snagging a gas line, such as carefully digging with a shovel to expose the riser. In short, the court called the operator’s actions incredibly risky and the incident “entirely foreseeable” [R. v. Riemer]. . If a hazard was not only foreseeable but actually known to the company, failing to address it is fatal to successfully arguing that you exercised due diligence. Example #1: During blasting for a roadway construction project, flyrock showered a nearby trailer court, destroying a shed, crashing through a trailer’s roof and forcing a tenant to run for safety. The contractor and a supervisor were convicted of OHS violations and appealed. In upholding their convictions, the court noted that they knew damage from blasting was foreseeable because a prior blast during this project had caused flyrock to reach the same trailer court, thus demonstrating what could happen if proper safety precautions weren’t followed. The practical wisdom from that prior incident should’ve “informed reasonableness and safe practice,” said the court. It added, “Past experience can be a reliable predictor of future incidents or damage” [R. v. Government of Yukon]. Example #2: A technology company held a customer appreciation event that featured a mechanical calf roping machine operated by the company’s employees. The machine had a faulty spring. So the operator had to reach into it to manually release a hook. While a worker was doing so, he was hit in the back of the head by a steel lever and died. The appeals court pointed out that before the fatality, another worker operating the machine had been hit on the shoulder by the lever. So although the specific type of injury the worker who died suffered may not have been foreseen, the potential danger of being struck by this lever while reaching into the machine was a “reasonable prospect,” explained the court. Once this hazard was detected, a reasonable employer would have discontinued use of the machine and not permitted untrained workers to operate it. But despite being aware of the potential dangers associated with the machine, the company allowed the continued use of this equipment [R. v. XI Technologies Inc.]. . Your company’s safety rules and procedures must be in writing. Verbal safety procedures are too easily misunderstood, which can have serious—and often fatal—consequences. Written safety procedures that spell out exactly what’s required and when are less likely to be misunderstood. As a result, courts will typically rule that due diligence requires written safety procedures. Yes, your OHS program must include thorough, written safety rules and procedures. But that’s not enough to prove due diligence. You must also properly train workers on those rules and procedures. And that training must be adequate. Example #1: In the Linamar case discussed above, the court ruled that the employer needed to develop not only a written policy on troubleshooting but also a related program for training workers on that policy. Example #2: A flagger working along a highway was run over by an excavator operated by a co-worker and crushed to death. His employer was convicted of, among other things, failing to provide proper training to workers at the site. The court found that although the employer provided some instruction and training to workers, it was minimal and not to the extent required to prove due diligence [R. v. Concord Paving Ltd.]. Providing adequate training to workers isn’t going to help you prove due diligence if you can’t demonstrate that you provided such training. So you must document the nature and extent of the training the company provides its workers. Example #1: In the Concord Paving case discussed above, the court noted that the employer’s OHS program manual contained a form for documenting the safety courses that workers took. But at trial, it didn’t produce any such forms for the workers involved in the incident to prove that they’d taken any safety courses. Example #2: A temporary worker for a salvage company fell approximately three metres from an opening in a wall onto a pile of pipe, suffering a broken leg and three broken ribs. The company was convicted of several safety violations. Among other factors that led to a finding of no due diligence, the court said that although the company claimed that it provided workers with a safety orientation, it had no documentation to prove that claim [R. v. Canadian Consolidated Salvage Ltd. (Clearway Recycling)]. As important as adequate training is, you must also ensure that workers are appropriately supervised while on the job in order to prove due diligence. That’s because proper supervision is the best way to ensure workers are actually applying their training. Example: At a bridge construction project, a safety inspector saw workers working 20 to 50 feet above the ground without adequate fall protection in the form of guardrails or handrails. In addition, the workers were attached to a horizontal lifeline that wasn’t properly engineered. The employer appealed its conviction for violating the fall protection and supervision requirements, pointing to the training it provided to workers on fall protection. But the Tribunal explained, “Training alone does not meet the requirements of due diligence, if there is not adequate supervision to ensure that the knowledge provided through training is being correctly and consistently applied” [WCAT-2012-00224]. And the need for appropriate supervision applies to all workers—even those who are experienced. Example: During an inspection of a residential construction project, a safety officer saw an experienced journeyman carpenter working about 18 feet above the ground without his fall protection harness attached to a lifeline. The construction company was penalized for fall protection violations, which it appealed. The Tribunal acknowledged that the carpenter had more than 20 years’ experience and was familiar with the fall protection requirements. In fact, he admitted that he should’ve attached his harness to a lifeline. But the Tribunal noted that there was no evidence that he was properly supervised to ensure he complied with these requirements. It appears that the company simply opted to rely on his experience, training and knowledge [WCAT-2012-00416]. Companies have a duty to ensure that workers follow safety rules and procedures and comply with the OHS laws. To that end, you should take steps to convey to workers the importance of safety compliance—and the ramifications of safety infractions. For example, when workers violate safety rules, you must discipline them. Example #1: At a residential construction site, a safety officer saw two workers, who were approximately 18 feet above the ground, not wearing fall protection harnesses. And there was no fall protection equipment on the roof. The construction company was penalized for a fall protection violation and appealed. The employer argued that it provided extensive training on fall protection requirements. But the Tribunal said the company’s training and education efforts weren’t sufficient for workers to understand the importance of complying with those requirements or the consequences of non-compliance. For example, the company didn’t implement a progressive discipline program for safety infractions until after this incident [WCAT-2011-02413]. Example #2: A safety officer inspecting a roofing project saw a worker and supervisor on a roof about 24 feet above the ground when neither was connected to a lifeline. During an inspection of another company worksite, two workers on a roof weren’t connected to lifelines. The company was penalized for failing to comply with the fall protection requirements and provide adequate training and supervision. It appealed. The Tribunal said that although the company provided fall protection training and had a progressive discipline program for safety infractions, it knew that workers were ignoring the fall protection requirements. So it should’ve realized that its efforts weren’t preventing or deterring fall protection violations and done more, such as providing bonuses for safety compliance [WCAT-2011-02507]. When a company is charged with a safety offence, it may try to point the finger at the workers involved, arguing that it took all reasonable steps and the workers simply disregarded safety protocol. Such an argument is unlikely to convince a court. Example #1: In WCAT-2011-02413 discussed above, the company argued that it was the independent actions of the workers that led to the violations, saying they forgot to put their fall protection equipment back on after their lunch break. The Tribunal noted that although the workers themselves could’ve been hit with violations for their actions, their failure doesn’t relieve the company of its duties under the OHS laws. Example #2: In Linamar, which was previously discussed, the employer argued that the worker got injured because he didn’t use a spotter as required. But the court noted that the training wasn’t clear as to the proper use of a spotter. Because supervisors are responsible for ensuring that workers follow safety rules and comply with the OHS law, they should be held to a higher standard when it comes to safety infractions. So when a supervisor violates a safety rule, the consequences should be more severe than if a worker had committed the same infraction. Example: In WCAT-2011-02507 mentioned above, a worker and supervisor were seen by a safety inspector not wearing fall protection equipment when required. But the Tribunal said it wasn’t apparent that the company held the supervisor more accountable for his actions than the worker, noting “the supervisor is responsible for setting an example to workers.” In fact, the employer simply gave both a verbal warning. You must ensure that workers are supervised by actual supervisors and not leave that responsibility to their co-workers. Example: A 22-year-old sawmill worker got caught in the pinchpoint of a canter machine and died. The sawmill was convicted of violating the supervision requirements. The Tribunal noted that the worker was young and had been on the job for less than a year. A supervisor had warned him before this incident about performing duties that weren’t his own. Under these circumstances, he should’ve been closely supervised but he wasn’t. The fact that there were experienced and knowledgeable co-workers working in the same area as this worker wasn’t a substitute for the presence of an actual supervisor. So the Tribunal concluded that the sawmill failed to satisfy its duty to provide adequate supervision [WCAT-2011-02783]. In general, employers can’t avoid fulfilling their OHS duties by delegating them to someone else, such as a contractor or subcontractor. Example #1: In Canadian Consolidated Salvage, previously discussed, the company argued that the prime contractor was responsible for supervising all workers—including the company’s—and complying with all safety requirements. So it had no duty to ensure the safety of its workers at that site. But the court said because the company was the injured worker’s employer under the OHS laws, it was responsible for ensuring his safety at the site. And there was no evidence that the company took “any steps whatsoever” to protect its workers. Example #2: The contractor and supervisor in the Yukon case argued that hiring an experienced blaster relieved them of their duties under the OHS law. The court explained that the OHS law has “overlapping obligations” that mean everyone had a duty to ensure a safe blast. And there was no evidence that the contractor had a system in place to ensure that all blasting was done safely. The same rule applies to suppliers who provide you with equipment and materials. Example: In the XI Technologies case, the company argued that it wasn’t foreseeable that the supplier would provide it with an unsafe machine. In essence, the company assumed that the equipment would be safe to use. But the appeals court explained that the OHS law required the company, as an employer, to take reasonable steps to ensure that such equipment was, in fact, safe to operate as intended. And there were “rudimentary steps” the company could’ve taken to do so. For example, the company should’ve asked the supplier for adequate operating instructions or a demonstration of the machine’s proper use, especially considering that it was completely unfamiliar with this equipment. This relatively simple step would’ve alerted operators to the fact that the machine wasn’t working properly. But instead of getting instructions or a demonstration from the supplier, the company chose to rely on its untrained employees to figure out how to safely run the machine. Companies must give workers the information they need to perform their jobs safely, such as MSDSs and safety signage. If that information is inaccurate, it’s almost as bad as—if not worse than—not providing the information at all. Example: A safety officer discovered that there were stickers posted in areas on a seagoing vessel that said the areas were “asbestos-free” even though materials containing asbestos were present. In ruling that the company didn’t exercise due diligence, the Tribunal pointed out that the company couldn’t explain how inaccurate decals had been put up. And it didn’t have a system in place for double-checking or otherwise ensuring the accuracy of such signage [WCAT-2012-00145]. Companies are composed of human beings and humans make mistakes. But courts are unlikely to buy that argument that because a safety violation was simply the product of human error, the company should be excused from liability. Example: A safety officer inspecting a construction site found that the company hadn’t gotten an underground locate of all utility services before starting excavation work. The company’s excuse for this oversight was that it was “due to human error.” But the Tribunal rejected this excuse as non-responsive. It pointed out that “accidents are usually due to human error.” The issue here was whether the company took steps to prevent this particular human error from occurring, which it hadn’t [WCAT-2012-00070]. Most safety violations are the result of flaws in the OHS program of a company that’s genuinely trying to comply but fell short. But if the violations are particularly egregious, say, because they’re the result of wanton disregard for safety or the failure to take simple and inexpensive steps, the company will not only get convicted but likely face an especially high fine. Example: A truck driver was killed when a 15-metre-high wall of dirt and rock fell on him. Two companies were convicted of multiple safety violations. That two experienced construction companies could leave a sheer 50-foot wall without any shoring whatsoever was shocking, said the court. It described their conduct as “egregious and outrageous,” noting that the wall could’ve been properly supported for a relatively small amount of money. As a result, the court imposed record fines totally $2,472,500 on the companies [R. v. Perera Development Corp.]. As explained in Part 1, there’s no formula for establishing due diligence, no checklist of steps or actions that, if taken, would guarantee a successful due diligence defence. The best you can do is learn from other companies’ experiences in safety prosecutions. The cases in which the due diligence defence failed illustrate what not to do and which omissions will undercut due diligence. The successful cases can provide a sort of blueprint or guide for the steps and actions your company should be taking. 3. Anyone charged with a violation of the OHS laws, including companies and individuals, can raise a due diligence defence. 4. The due diligence defence applies to most violations of so-called “regulatory” laws, such as OHS and environmental laws. 5. Although due diligence isn’t technically a defence to criminal negligence or “C-45” charges, proving that you exercised due diligence makes it impossible to be convicted of criminal negligence.

2019-04-18T10:24:11Z

https://ohsinsider.com/topics/due-diligence/the-insiders-8th-annual-due-diligence-scorecard-part-2-what-you-can-learn

Vanto is rated 4.5 out of 5 by 120. Rated 4 out of 5 by JoeGetRDone from Caldera Moments We love every minute we spend in our hot tub with family and friends. A true, mind settling experience that allows time for real conversations in a relaxing environment. Love it!! Rated 4 out of 5 by MP22 from Very Pleased We've had our Vanto for a year now and love it. Use it at least once a week and really enjoy it over fall and parts of winter. So far, easy maintenance. Very pleased with our choice in spa. Rated 4 out of 5 by Nick from We like our spa Very nice. Moderately priced. Easy to keep clean.Shopped many different brands before choosing Caldera and glad we did. Rated 4 out of 5 by so Cal soaker from enjoying the bubbles... While I find the vanto very comfortable, the built in bromide and mineral system was challenging to monitor. Thought it would be a no fuss system... But after 5 months of constant checking and altering... I'm back to floating bromide tablets. Unit holds temperature well and is very comfortable. We use the spa frequently. Rated 4 out of 5 by Tiki from We spend alot more time in the yard! We have a small corner yard. It was hard to entertain in, once we bought the spa that all changed. We have two children they love to have their friends over. Especially when the weather is cooler. At times there has been more than 10 kids in it. The boys have gotten very creative at making games for the spa. Together we have spent hours of family time in it. I often host a moms night w my girlfriends and whine which is always a hit. Rated 4 out of 5 by Eaglerivertub from Vanto We've had the Vanto for almost a year. It has held up well to our moderate to low usage and all the knobs, controls and head rests have held up to four kids 5-11 years old. Water care was easy once we gave up on the bromine and went with regular chlorine granules. Overall a good quality purchase that we enjoy using. Rated 4 out of 5 by Happyhusband from Deep Seats The one bonus for my husband is the extra deep seat. He is a big guy, so being able to actually be covered with water while he is enjoying it is great. Rated 4 out of 5 by Mom22 from Water Issues My husband loves the new spa, but he does not need to maintain it! The Spa Frog does not provide adequate bromine even at the highest level. We were told, after the fact, that this is an issue with the larger spas. That means we need to add bromine tablets as well. Further more, the "Ozinator" only runs when the pump is running. This impacts energy efficiency because we need to run the pump 12 hours a day. Having its own power supply would have been a big plus. Rated 3 out of 5 by hot tub chuck from Hot Tub The hot tub water is very cloudy and no seems to give a good explanation why. Rated 3 out of 5 by 3boys from Disappointed Replaced an old hot tub with a Caldera and have spent the first year trying to keep the tub clean. For some reason the cleaning system does not keep water and hot tub clean. The place of purchase just keep selling me more chemicals. Hot tub looks good. We wish it worked better..very disappointed.. Rated 3 out of 5 by scorjo44 from Happy My 1st. hot tub. Happy with it so far. Use it alot more in winter than summer. Rated 3 out of 5 by JayM from Help Ok, got this spa delivered a few weeks ago so I could not hook it up right away due to the cold weather spell here in NY. I finally got a decent weekend and got to work. All new 8/3 wiring, 50amp breaker in the main panel, new sub panel w/a 50amp breaker, outside line in flex conduit. got all the wiring done and wanted to test to ensure connectivity before filling, I figured a brief light up on the spa panel...shut it off...fill it up and good to go. Not so much. Everytime I hit the breaker in the sub panel it trips. I went over EVERYTHING 3 times to make sure it was all done properly and it still does the same thing. Any help would be appreciated. Is there a dummy sensor in this...to save people from themselves? I'm at a loss at this point. Im a general contractor and have reasonable electrical experience along with this being one of many I have done.....but this is getting the best of me. Rated 3 out of 5 by Brocko from Good at times I like my spa. However I have had trouble with it as far as the jets go and leaks. The service people have came out 3 -4 times and apparently cant fix it because they were ordering a part and it wasnt replaced. Rated 2 out of 5 by Vanto from Rough start but we love our hot tub We sat in every hot tub in town and ended up selecting the Vanto based on the styling, comfort, and price. We had many problems with the unit over the first 3-4 months that we owned it from vacuum pressure sensors to the main control board had to be replaced. The service from the company we purchased the tub was not as knowledgeable as I expected. When the unit would simply not heat they came out and said the filter was dirty. We had only owned it for a few weeks and the filter was absolutely clean. Once a new vacuum sensor and control board were replaced we then had problems with the ionizer that we purchased as an adder. This is not a Caldera problem but yet another problem by the dealer as they installed the wrong size port. We have also had both heating element couplers break in a span of a few weeks. When this happens it spits water all over the inside of the cabinet, a huge problem in the winter months as this cabinet is un-insulated. The entire tub has to be drained to replace the couplers which means there is a real danger for the cabinet to ice up until the heater can turn back on. I remain nervous that this may happen again as the dealer could not offer any explanation as to why this happened twice in less than a month. Since all of these initial problems however we have had a trouble free experience with the unit and I'm in it nearly every day. I switched from the included Spa Frog bromine system to regular chlorine as it is easier to keep the water clean with less hassle and a smaller amount of chemistry. The only negative I would say is that our power bill went up $60 or so per month and we expected only $30. With the main cabinet being un-insulated it is no wonder that during the winter the heater runs frequently. I plan to add some insulation to the main cabinet to hopefully offset our high power bill. Everything else about the unit is great. It's comfortable, has enough jets and features to make a great soaking experience and we absolutely love it. Had we been able to avoid the initial problems I would rate it five stars for everything but energy efficiency. Rated 2 out of 5 by bandit780 from 2014 tub We have only had our tub 1 1/2 years. The first month of ownership (Dec 2014) we had to drain the tub. All four foot jet chrome ring covers fell off. So we drained the tub, re glued them and refilled our tub. They have stayed on now. Spring 2015, noticed a panel on the outside of the tub where the lid lifter is attached is cracked. We believe that because of the unstability of the cheap lid lifter, it jerks on the lid on the opposite side that you are using to lift the hot tub lid.Contacted company we bought from at the end of March 2015. End of May we got a call that they will replace the panel(because its under warranty) but we will have to pay mileage for them to come and repair it. We live 75 miles one way from the dealer. Wow, really? Not happy with this situation and don't feel we should pay for parts that are under warranty and obviously defective. Dealer told us they had 4 of them with similar problem. Rated 1 out of 5 by johndoe44 from Won't buy again unless Caldera provides access to parts I purchased my spa with the waterfall feature. This no longer works due to a cheap plastic part cracking. It also affects usage of the spa itself as water spews out the opening where the waterfall control should be. I can't purchase the part from the dealer and see no access to parts online at Caldera. It's easy enough to take the apparatus out and replace the part if I could get the part. To replace the part I have to purchase the entire $35 apparatus to get one little cheap plastic part which probably costs less than $1 to make. It just shows a lack of consideration for the customer to even produce the product with such a cheap plastic single point of failure and then on top of that to not provide a way to replace the part. Rated 1 out of 5 by ProblemsinAlaska from Problems The first time using this 8 jet covers came off. To date 29 jet covers have been replaced. Within a month a large crack developed. I haven't even had it a year... nothing but problems. Rated 1 out of 5 by ffmom from Awful Don't share with you that the ozone generator does NOT work continuously - only when the pump is running - NOT very energy efficient. Gave it away! Also the backflow valve for the ozone failed after 11 months. Service tech said this is normal!! Rated 5 out of 5 by Joe from Vanto I am very pleased with my spa. I didn't think it was a good investment at first but I loss that discussion with my wife and today I am glad she won! Rated 5 out of 5 by Vantovacationer from Should have made this purchase sooner My husband and I love the Vanto! It is large enough to fit 4-7adults comfortably and leaves enough room to access jet areas for a completely relaxing experience. The controls for jet speed and temperature are easy to use and reach from the cool down seat. The lighting and waterfall options are a nice feature but not necessary to enjoy this spa. Rated 5 out of 5 by BunkyFourBeers from Worth every penny... Best purchase of my life. I wish I just would have pulled the trigger and bought a quality hot tub like this ten years ago, but I thought it was too much of a hassle to maintain. Man, was I wrong. Its so ridiculously easy. And to think of the good times I let slip by by not buying this earlier... Oh well, it mine now! Rated 5 out of 5 by aamcz from Great spa Love this spa. The lighting features are great. It is easy to maintain/clean. And can use it with water temperature hot or cold. Rated 5 out of 5 by Chuck from Vanto I could not be happier with my Spa. It works exactly as promised. We use it daily, it's easy to maintain, and inexpensive to operate. The Spa Frog mineral system is great. It took me a little time getting the water balanced but the directions are spot on. I'm using factory setting & recommendations and it works great. Thank you Caldera for building a great product. Rated 5 out of 5 by Asiaf from Caldera Vanto We've owned our spa for a little over a year now and are still completely in love with it. It fits our lifestyle perfectly and is regularly enjoyed by our family and lots of friends. Would definitely recommend this spa to others! Rated 5 out of 5 by Force22 from Vanto The vanto spa we purchased is great! Excellent product and great customer service experience. Rated 5 out of 5 by Jim from YOU WILL LOVE THIS SPA! I shopped for spas for over a year before I made the decision to go with the Caldera Vanto. The reason I took my time was because years ago I purchased a lesser spa from another manufacturer and was disappointed with it. I did not want to make that error again. I am happy to report that the Vanto was worth the wait. The jets are very strong, the fit and finish are stunning and the quality is world class. The controls are logical and simple to use and the lighting is beautiful and tasteful. Water maintenance is a breeze and all is well on my little patio. If you happen to live in the Tampa Bay area, you should stop in and see Jerry at Tampa Bay Spas. He is a true professional and has a passion for hot tubs that shows in his enthusiasm for Caldera. This guy actually took the time to hand write instructions for my tub sanitizing schedule. I could not be more impressed. Rated 5 out of 5 by themaroon from Incredible spa for the money We wet tested a few brands and just loved this spa so much I had to get one. It doesn't have the most raw horsepower, but it's unbeatable for its price range, and two seats do have some pretty good power. All of the seats are comfortable. There isn't a huge mix of hydrotherapy options. Every seat just works a slightly different part of your back. I'd love some more leg/side options. But at this price range it's hard to complain. I'm not a big fan of the Spa Frog. The minerals are expensive and not helpful for sanitation (and maybe harmful to the tub). Bromine tablets in a floater are much cheaper and equivalently good. I'm going to try rigging a floater to fit in the inline Spa Frog chamber since it's nice to have it out of sight. Rated 5 out of 5 by Cabin Boy from Turned our summer lake cabin into a year around retreat For our 25th wedding anniversary gift to each other we built a patio on the lake side of our weekend cabin. After years of thinking about hot tubs we took the plunge and made the Caldera Vanto our patio's signature feature. Wow! I'm not the kind of person who typically enjoys sitting still. That changed with the Vanto. We spent hours and hours in the tub relaxing, listening to football games on the radio, gazing at the stars and watching the activity on the lake. We now find ourselves going to the cabin much more in the fall and winter so we can spend time in the hot tub. Even New Year's Eve included a sub-zero hot tub excursion. The Vanto has a great range of water pump speeds, fun accent lights and an easy to use cover. It has become a wonderful gathering point for our family. Rated 5 out of 5 by Jo from Best bang for your buck!! Powerful, comfortable seats 5 very easily. Waterfall feature is much appreciated by young children, they love it. With this tub you never need to upgrade because it has everything and very easy to use no complicated buttons or complex programming. It's great in the winter too and the electricity bills are very low. Love it!!! Rated 5 out of 5 by JVK3700 from We have enjoyed more family time together in our spa. The Vanto spa has been a good purchase for our home. It's attractive on our deck and quiet when running. It doesn't require a lot of maintenance or time to maintain. Rated 5 out of 5 by j12 from Great Spa This is the second spa we have owned and the ease of the chemical frogs is wonderful. Our water never stayed as nice with prior tub. Rated 5 out of 5 by JLW from Good value We have no complaints at all. Love our tub and use it most days. Rated 5 out of 5 by aamcz2516 from Glad we chose caldera We purchased the vanto and we love all the features and ease of maintenance. We use it once to twice a week and we were expecting a higher electric and water bill but we didn't notice much change. The only minor issue we have is when we close the spa cover, the head rests at the far side of the pool (the side the cover sits while open) pop off from the cover rubbing against those head rests. It appears they do this because is looks like the top of the head rests are raised slightly above the pool rim. Rated 5 out of 5 by Susan from Best money we ever invested for family time I did all the research to find the best spa for our money. This landed, hands down, with a decision to buy the Vanto Caldera Spa. We were looking for a quality spa with maximum seating, so this version without the lounger was perfect. The main reason we wanted a spa may have been different that others - we simply wanted a place we could hang out with our tween and teen kids without phones, tvs, or facebook! I can't tell you how many wonderful conversations that we have had with one or all of our kids that would probably never have happened inside with all the distractions. My husband and I have said countless times, after a significant conversation with a kid in the spa, that it was the best money we could have ever spent as parents. It also makes our house a more inviting hang out spot for their friends, since they all love to get in the spa as well. The best part is that it is always ready... no warm up time... so it is something that we or their friends can always do spontaneously! Rated 5 out of 5 by MzrJoe from The best idea we ever had! We shopped for about four months before Lonny, of Crystal Pools in Elizabethtown, Pa., suggested the brand new Vanto model from Caldera. Despite not having a floor model to examine, we were familiar its first cousin, the Marino. This model had been number 1 on our shopping list. The only thing we didn't want with the Marino was the lounger as we did not want to give up a guest-seat. The Vanto addressed this concern. The good news is that because the Vanto is a 7-footer, my family can slouch in their seats and be as comfortable as if we had lounges. This is because there is something to press your feet against from virtually every position in the tub. Speaking of seats, each one has a unique array of jets. When my wife and I use it, we rotate between the seats, which allows for a varying set of enjoyable stimuli over different muscle groups. Not only do the accompanying foot jets provide amazing pleasure (i have a neuroma in my right foot), the bubble-shaped well helps users stay better-positioned in their seats. The lighting array is beautiful at night and the buttons which control the jets, heat, and lights are all very easy to use. The Vanto is built with very sturdy construction. If i were to suggest anything, it would be to add more color choices for the housing. One of my great concerns about owning a spa was a fear of chemical smell. But the Frog Spa system greatly reduces the amount of chlorine needed compared to friends who own pre-Frog models. After use, we feed the tub about 1 tsp of chlorine crystals and that does the trick. We keep the bromine on a 3 setting. These are pretty low doses of cleaning chemicals. Not does this GREATLY reduce the smells that I have hated over the years, but the fewer the chemical used, the less we are spending on them. We use the tub for about an hour to ninety minutes at a time and so far, our skin has handled all of this very well. The Vanto sits in a great price point and if you are in the E-town area, the folks at Crystal Pools are great to work with! Rated 4 out of 5 by JR_AZ from Happy owner Well constructed, love the pressure and location of the jets. especially like the fact that different seats focus jets in different locations. the cartridge chlorine is a nice touch, although I still find I have to add chlorine manually which I thought was avoided with the cartridge. overall, highly recommend the spa to anyone! Rated 4 out of 5 by My2dice from Vanto is good We like our Vanto a lot! We use it all the time!!! Rated 4 out of 5 by R&S from Caldera Spa Owner We like our spa and the set up and delivery were great. I see the difference however in the jets. The action of them is less than what I expected. The foot massage at the center is also a bit in the way for most users. Overall good spa and quality seems to be good. Rated 4 out of 5 by MM from We love our new spa We absolutely love our new spa. We especially love the foot sprays, which I've never seen on a spa before. The only reason I give it 4 instead of 5 stars is because I wish there were an option to have all of the jets on low. Unfortunately, the only low option only turns on two of the jets, while the other two options have some or all of the jets on high. The jets are actually somewhat painful for me on high and not relaxing, but I love them on low. No biggie, since I can usually snag one of the two jets turned on when we have it on the low setting, but that would be a change I'd like to see perhaps. Rated 4 out of 5 by RC from Vanto review Very happy with Vanto hot tub. Easy and simple to use and maintain. Local dealer very professional with install and providing me with maintenance tips and suggestions. Glad I went with Caldera Spas. Rated 4 out of 5 by TheGolfer from Great hot tub Our old hot tub finally died. We purchased the Vanto hot tub and are happy with our purchase. The largest driver of the purchase was the value to tub provided. We rent our place 130 days/year and use it another 30 ourselves. Thus, we wanted a tub that was pretty basic, but appeared / was comfortable. We also didn't want to pay the exorbitant prices some of these manufacturers suggest. The Vanto met all those goals. Rated 4 out of 5 by ronnAK from The Hut Tub is very good. I am very happy with the Hot Tub and the features are just what I need. My only reservation is the Frog system. It seems to go through the bromine cartridges very fast. After one week I get a low Br reading and there is still Br in the cartridge. I shake it and get another week out of it. I am seriously considering trying a Br tablet floating dispenser rather than the Frog.. Rated 4 out of 5 by Krsweet from Good quality for the price Only improvement I would like is the ability to upgrade filters. Rated 4 out of 5 by Jewel45 from Overall Happy Purchased the Vanto Series hot tub. Very happy with purchase and price. We use it almost every day in the fall, winter and spring! We emptied it for summer too hot here for use. Rated 4 out of 5 by Mark from What is with those lights? The tub seems like the best one we've had in all regards except the lights. We either sit in the dark or put up with disco ambiance. Worst part? There are lights that sit above water level which are irritatingly in your eyes the whole time unless you just dispense with the lights altogether. Who thought that was a good idea? Rated 4 out of 5 by NeedABetterMouse Trap from Have a mouse in the cabinet not sure how it got in - but the insulation from inside started to pile up on the outside... checked with our dealer and they said likely a mouse - plug any openings with steel wool and that should take of it - we will try it, but i don't understand how or where the would be a hole large enough for a mouse to get in or out? Rated 5 out of 5 by HE from Very pleased We are very pleased with our Caldera Vanto Spa. It has all the features that we could want, the sitting set up is what we desired, and we are very impressed with the quality of the unit. Rated 5 out of 5 by Aunt Sparky from Well Worth the Money We purchased our Caldera Hot Tub around the first of the year. My doctor approved it for knee surgery that I had, and actually wrote a letter approving it for my knee. We were able to alleviate the taxes on it. We have used it for 7 months now and absolutely love it! Very easy to use! We cleaned it for the first time a week ago, and it could not have been easier! The draining, cleaning, refilling did take most of the day, but it turned out to be so easy! We definitely recommend the Caldera Spas. Rated 5 out of 5 by Bugs from A hot tub that is really Hot! We have owned this tub for one and a half yrs! Great value on a. Very good tub. Easy to maintain.quiet and great lights! We are previous hot tub owners and this tub has made many advances in hot tub tech. Dealer was great to deal with.install was on time and well done. No problems at all. Rated 5 out of 5 by WLMC from Great tub, but outstanding customer service We love our tub, but when we had a problem with our pump, what was even more amazing was the customer service that we received. They Watkins/Caldera group went above and beyond to help us with the problem. They are an outstanding company, I would highly recommend their products and their people! Rated 5 out of 5 by Hap from Great Product We would not have made our purchase if it had not been for Cassidy Anderson's help out of the Clackamas OR store. Her knowledge of her product and the competition made all of the difference. She also offered us a deal that when compared to the other two brands we were considering was too good to turn down. We had an old Bullfrog tub and the massaging and comfort difference with the Caldera tub is like night and day. We would definitely recommend Caldera to someone considering a new hot tub. Rated 5 out of 5 by Bugs from HOT TUB FUN Nice Tub.It was nice experience from the sale to install and use.I had an old tub that was replaced and this is soo good.Room inside the shell is great.It is the same size as my old one,but sooo much better,Lites and waterfall are a fun fit and care has been pretty easy with the canister system we use. Rated 5 out of 5 by Rick from Our First Spa It is our first spa and it has been an outstanding purchase. I use it more than my wife because of a bad back, but we both have just loved it on cool or cold nights. The setting and the beautiful colored lights sets the mood. Living in south Alabama it gets quite hot during the summer months but that does not stop my getting in for all the jets and warming of my bad back after a day of golf or working in the yard. It is very beautiful and easy to maintain after just a little home reading and working at it. We love our Spa! Rated 5 out of 5 by MangoMango from Good spa for the money, We shopped many different brands. The Vanto is a good value. Rated 5 out of 5 by Lonn111 from Such a GREAT PICK!!!!! We love our Caldera Spa so much!!! It is not only enjoyable but we use it for disabilities. We feel refreshed and our bodies are rejuvenated!!! Thank You Cal Spa for making an amazing product. TY TY TY We are so happy with our choice!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 by nysport7 from My happy place.... I love getting into my Caldera Vanto spa for a quick 20 minute stress release. It melts the stress of a long work day. Rated 5 out of 5 by Jes from I love my tub! I have had my hot tub a little over a month and I have lower back issues and I try and spend a minimum of 30 min. A night in my hot tub before bed and sometimes I the morning before work. I am sleeping better and my back is feeling better. Rated 5 out of 5 by mac_quad from Great tub...only a couple of issues We had our spa installed last year and thoroughly have enjoyed it, especially during the winter. I did not notice any increase in my energy bill this winter, and we had the spa constantly on at 103 degrees. The only major issue we have had was that the lighting system malfunctioned. Fortunately, it was covered by the warranty and the spa dealer spent a lot of extra time to ensure everything was operating properly. The lights have worked great ever since. One feature disappointment was that the waterfall is not lighted. It has the same light bar under the waterfall jets as other Caldera spas, so I assumed it was lighted like the other spas. I should have checked that out...oh, well I should know not to assume anything! Lastly, the chrome circular donuts on each of the smaller jets keep coming off. They are easily re-installed, but why are they not more securely attached? Overall, we are pleased with the spa and despite the issues listed above, we would purchase the Vanto again. Rated 5 out of 5 by pianocrazed from Great Price and Great Product We didn't want to spend a fortune but we also didn't want a tacky cheap product. This hot tub was the perfect balance of cost and quality. It looks expensive, has all the right jets (particularly love the foot jets, and the adjustable back jets), has a few nice touches (like the lights and waterfall feature) without being extravagant. The water maintenance has been a breeze. We've got a pretty simple scheduled routine that keeps things nice and tidy, so the tub is always ready when we feel like hopping in for a soak. We highly recommend this hot tub! Rated 5 out of 5 by SiemersSpa from Time with Un-Plugged Teens Our Vanto hot tub was a 20th anniversary splurge for my husband and me. We have never owned a hot tub, but were intrigued by the idea of unwinding outside together each evening - and decided this gift would be a longer-lasting alternative to a trip to Mexico, which we had considered as a gift to one another. We've been very pleased with everything about the Caldera model we chose. The unexpected part of our purchase was how it has enhanced time with our two teenage daughters. It has been fun to see how they look to that quiet time to pop in and connect with us - or even how they pull up a stool outside of the hot tub and catch us up on their evening as we sit in the tub and relax with a drink. The kids have enjoyed the tub on their own, as well. One night, we allowed them to host a "dive-in movie" with a small handful of friends - projecting a movie on the side of the house near the hot tub. They were pretty wrinkled by the end, but enjoyed the chilly night from their warm spot in the tub. One accessory we added, which we would highly recommend is the Bluetooth sound system. We didn't originally order it, but after turning up external speakers to try to hear them within the tub, we quickly understood the value of the built-in speakers, which project sound right at "ear level" inside the tub. This is a better way to keep the sound down, as we wanted to be sensitive to the neighbors. My husband is pleased with the sub-woofer which enhances the sound, considering the relatively small speakers. All-in-all, we're very happy with our purchase, and hope (expect) to continue using it as regularly as we do now! Rated 5 out of 5 by Gordon from Terrific Hot Tub!! I've had a couple of hot tubs but this one is the easiest to manage and keep in good shape. I love the filter location and the way the filter rises and falls with the water level. I have 9 grand kids and they lOVE the spa. When they get out of the tub I simply add a small amount of chlorine and the tub stays clean. What a dream this tub is. Rated 5 out of 5 by TimG from Ghormley Hot Tub Review We love our hot tub. Best purchase I've made in the past 20 years. Rated 5 out of 5 by Nate from well worth the money spent We have really enjoyed spending family time. in our hot tub..great time for all ages! Rated 5 out of 5 by Russ from Great Spa, but! I love my spa, but due to my ignorance I have trouble keeping out the suds. I clean my filter and use the sanitizer and clearifier as directed, but the suds seem to grow over night. Now the last two weeks the water appears to be going green? Whats up with that. I use the other products as directed and the PH is always good, So I just don;t know. Maybe a spa water treatment class is needed. Rated 5 out of 5 by Rackmanjru from Rest & Relaxtion Best purchase I ever made. We use our spa almost each and every day. Nothing like soaking each night to loosen tight sore muscles, We sleep better at night after using our spa. Easy to operate, empty and clean and easy to maintain chemical levels with the inline frogger cartridges. Don't wait buy one today! Rated 5 out of 5 by Tim from Vanto....Excellent value We love our Caldera Vanto spa. Enough room for my teenage daughters to have friends over. It has been extremely easy to maintain with Spa Frog. I added the blue tooth wireless sound system and it made our experience even more enjoyable. Even though last winter was rough in ohio, we never really complained since we had our spa to enjoy. Also, if you live in the Akron/Canton, I highly recommend Job Rite Spas, Awesome customer service!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 by Jsmaisey from One year of ownership and it is flawless! Every time I step into my Caldera Vanto I am amazed how good it is. The maintenance is so simple. The water stays so clean. And I have not noticed any increase in my power bill. This tub just seems so well built. The jets are strong and in exactly the right spot. At night the lights are just stunning. You have a very happy customer on your hands. Rated 5 out of 5 by cjgink608 from Love it We purchased our hot tub for our special needs daughter. We have all been able to enjoy it! We think the value is great for the wonderful quality and ease of use. Would recommend this to anyone looking for a hot tub! Rated 5 out of 5 by ang from valued purchase We love our spa! Enjoy it several times every week. Rated 5 out of 5 by thecaryzoo from We love the Vanto! This is our second hot tub. Our first one had a lounger and we never used it. You tend to float up! In this tub we can all sit with great jets. We sit in it every single day, all year long. Rain, snow, or sunshine! I even did my ALS ice bucket challenge in my hot tub! Our friends bought a Caldera after we bought ours since we loved ours so much. Rated 5 out of 5 by Scott7152 from What have we been waiting for? My wife and I have been married 29 years last month. For our anniversary gift to one another we decided to purchase a spa. We have talked about this for a long time. I always thought they were a waste of money, I was wrong! We absolutely love our Vanto and the fact that it is a non lounger was a selling point for us. It is very comfortable and we have three daughters that love it too. We believe we have the perfect set up for it with our deck and patio entertainment area. Nothing like watching some college football from the comfort of your spa!! Rated 5 out of 5 by Mike from So happy with my choice of spa We shopped around from used to various brands of new and are so glad we settled on the Caldera Vanto. We purchased the pearl white one in the espresso cabinet a month ago. It looks beautiful and is very comfortable. Kids love it as well. Have no regrets on our decision. Water maintenance has been a breeze. Controls are great/intuitive and the quick features like 'sys on' and 'clean' are very handy. Rated 5 out of 5 by retired1968 from Vanto Our first hot tub, we love it, been in it daily since it was installed. A great addition to our home!! Rated 5 out of 5 by The Yoder's from Improved family time!!! This spa has really brought the family time back together. Every night we spend time together relaxing in the spa and enjoying each others company. It was well worth the money so far and, the system works perfectly. We haven't received a new electric bill yet to see how efficient it is. Overall, my family and I love it!!! Rated 5 out of 5 by DJW1200 from Love it Glad we bought it. Has a lot of room. We shopped at 3 different spa company's and seven seas treated us like we meant something to them. From buying the spa to install seven seas was awesome. We love our spa. Great place to sit and talk with he kids! Rated 5 out of 5 by Rmoon604 from Vanto We have had our new hot tub for about 1 month now and we love it. Rated 5 out of 5 by Jimmy from 3 RELAXING YEARS I hope readers know that all hot tubs are not the same. I have owned other brands and found out the hard way. I can tell you my Caldera Vanto is quiet and powerful. It needs almost no maintenance looks as new as the day I bought it. I have spent many hours with my family relaxing and strongly recommend Caldera to anyone I speak to about hot tubs. Rated 5 out of 5 by South Jersey from Wish we purchased it years ago! We have only had the spa for 1 month but we love it! Rated 5 out of 5 by Terry from Great hot tub first time My wife and I have done alot of shopping around. We have been very happy with this pick of the hot tubs that are out in the market. Myself, I have been very especially happy during the colder weather. I use the hot tub on a weekly basis. I am very happy with the vanto hot tub. I do not regret making this purchase. Well worth the value, effort and time that was invested to make the right choice. Thanks caldera for a great value... cannot express enough how much I enjoy my hot tub. P.S. with the aurround system. Rated 5 out of 5 by Boomer from Tub is wonderful! Our tub is wonderful! this was the best gift my wife and i ever gave ourselves! Rated 5 out of 5 by James from Month old We did our research and have loved our spa. Took only about a week for us to grasp and understand how to care for the water. We have used it as a family almost every night. Great conversations are happening between my wife and I and our 2 daughters. Rated 5 out of 5 by Soaking it up from Love this spa! I bought the Caldera Vanto at La Costa Pool & Spa in San Marcos, and I am so glad I did! I was lucky to meet the owner who sat me in every spa until I found the perfect fit in the Vanto. This spa fits tall and short people and the jets are perfect. I put off purchasing a spa because I thought it would be too much work. But this spa makes it easy. It has definitely been worth it and I know I have a reputable dealer and product should I need anything along the way. Thanks Caldera! Rated 5 out of 5 by One Life from Great Feeling The thought of being able to get into my Caldera spa after work makes me start relaxing immediately. I often feel the stress in my neck and shoulder area. Anticipating soaking in my spa melts my tightness away. Thank you Caldera! Rated 5 out of 5 by Stephanie777 from Love my Caldera We previously had a spa and it was nothing compared to Caldera! Best ever!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 by Melimey from Never thought I'd get a hot tub...... ....but so glad I did! If you've never had one you will quickly find it's so much more than just a place to relax in after a hard day's work: the therapeutic benefits of the massage jets have worked wonders (and probably saved me a few trips to the chiropractor). It's great in the winter but just as good in the summer when it's warm out. Rated 5 out of 5 by Ron from My hottub experience We thoroughly enjoy our spa. It is an awesome replacement for the first spa I owned. My only concern after 1 year is the chrome rings on the Jets won't stay in place. After each use we have to replace 2 or 3. It's not a big deal it would be nice if they would stay in place. Rated 5 out of 5 by SJ from Great tub! Here's what I love the most about the tub: the center area is so large that when there are 6 or more people in it our feet don't touch! That's really unusual. Everything else about the tub is perfect for us. Using it in a blizzard is fantastic. Rated 5 out of 5 by Happy Hot Tubber from Love The Extra Seats - No Lounge! This is our third hot tub and I am so glad we chose a model without a lounge. We never used the lounge in our previous hot tubs and we love having the extra seats. Rated 5 out of 5 by NEDaddy from Great 1st hot tub Perfect for our family of 5. Seating options for adults and kids. Rated 5 out of 5 by Adams from Excellent Hot Tub We have had our hot for just over a year jowls and I would say it is one of the best purchases we have made. Rated 5 out of 5 by Don from Great value for the price! Very well built spa, with a good warranty package. Rated 5 out of 5 by Dale from Great deal on great spa Not only does this tub work great but the frog system makes maintenance a breeze. Hot Tub Heaven was great to deal with and made our choice easy. I recommend the Caldera line to anyone in the market for a new spa. Don't miss not having lounger ( by choice) for more seating area. Rated 5 out of 5 by DebN from Great Value We bought our hot tub, at the end of the model year, so we got it for an excellent price. Initially, we had some challenges learning to get the chemicals regulated, and occasionally it still doesn't respond as expected, but most of the time it responds as expected. If it doesn't it may be time to drain it and refill. Our heating bill went up more than expected ($50.00) per month(12 month average) the sales man told us $20-25 in the summer more in the winter $35-40. The cost of chemicals is also more than expected (again we listened to the salesman), we spent about $500.00 in the first year. The tub itself is great. There are a different number of jets on each seat, and the water pressure is different strengths when set fully on. The jet strength is adjustable at the 4 main seats. Also, 2 of the 4 main seats sit a couple inches higher which means someone with a long torso and someone with a short torso can both sit comfortably with the water at a nice height (when I sit on the lower seats the water is to my chin, but when I switch to a higher seat, it hits me lower on the neck). We have not encountered any mechanical problems in 15 months. Rated 5 out of 5 by John from It's the best purchase I have ever made I have had other hot tubs in my time. but the caldera vanto Spas is the best purchase I have ever made because it is energy efficient and easy to maintain. Rated 5 out of 5 by Happy from Beautiful spa This spa is performing well. It is an additional 150.00 per month on the electric bill and did require an 800.00 installation cost, separate from the cost of the spa. But we love it. We use it. We consider it a little bit of vacation every day. Rated 5 out of 5 by Skibum from Why did we wait so long to upgrade !!! Fantastic spa, water care is SO easy, maybe it's our well water but it just makes it a pleasure to know that you can open the cover and get in! Uses much less electricity then our old spa did even in the bitter cold of New Hampshire winters. Very comfortable and easy to use the controls. Rated 5 out of 5 by Roxie17 from Wonderful Spa We love everything about our spa! One of our favorite features is the audio being Bluetooth compatable with our iPod! Rated 5 out of 5 by BG16 from Just What We Were Looking For We purchased this Vanto model in January 2015. My wife and I use it multiple times per week. No complaints; super easy to maintain. We prefer the bench construction over the molded and contoured seats, as it allows us to choose our own seating posture. Absolutely would recommend! Rated 5 out of 5 by CRL3418 from great spa we have been very pleased with our new hot tub. Quality and comfort are excellent and the routine care is very simple. Rated 5 out of 5 by Clearly from Amazing purchase!! This is a fantastic hot tub at a reasonable price. The jets are amazing! Kids love it too. During the summer drop it to 95 degrees the rest of the year crank it to 102!! Fantastic! Rated 5 out of 5 by RH from Comfortable tub Relaxing and comfortable for 1 to 4 adults. Doesn’t have all the bells and whistles but was good value and provides a great place to sit and unwind anytime of day. Rated 5 out of 5 by stevyb from Vanto review Great tub love it. Also very easy to use and maintain. Rated 5 out of 5 by Ski from Love our new spa We we're looking to upgrade to a bigger house but instead decided to stay and get all the things we wanted for our current house. A spa was on that list and the Vanto is perfect. The four deep massage seats are amazing and I love that it also has 3 higher seats for when I don't want to be that submerged. Rated 5 out of 5 by Amy A from Amazing Purchase I love my hot tub. It has helped me physically and mentally. I love relaxing in the hot tub after a long day. The jets work as well as getting a massage. I used to have tension in my neck and upper shoulders. No more. I used to suffer from migraines. No more. An amazing purchase. My family loves our hot tub as well. We spend time together as a family. This was an amazing purchase. Rated 5 out of 5 by Jen007 from LOVE IT!!! My only regret is that I waited so long to purchase!!!! I love it, picked up a midnight job to purchase it!!! Worth every penny!!! Rated 5 out of 5 by Peanut from Vanto Spa Review We have only had our spa about a month but so far love it! My only complaints....the light on the controller is on ALL the time. It dims but you cant turn it off. I don't like the waterfall feature so we just turn it to a trickle. Otherwise, the jets are great. The color is beautiful. I'm short so needed to find a tub that I wouldn't "sink" in but my husband is very tall so we had to find a tubi to fit both our height needs. This was just right! !

2019-04-25T10:41:08Z

https://www.calderaspas.com/shop/vacanza/vanto

Just as I’d settled down for the winter there came the rumour of some branch line closures in Austria, at the end of the current timetable in Mid December. An investigation on Hafas revealed that I could get round them all in (just) daylight at the loss of only working day, and an investigation of Ryanair revealed a reasonable fare to Linz, so off I went. Good to note a quiz win last night against the White Lion! Early start though, for an 07:05 departure by car to STN as I couldn’t devise any way of leaving later and not getting caught in traffic. At least I proved myself right by doing so, and losing 35 minutes in the process. I still had time for a diversion to the level crossing at Offord, so that I could see a few 91s in their last day of private operation before becoming Son of BR at midnight tonight. Onwards to Stansted where security took exception to my rucksack and emptied it out for me before checking it for explosives and re-scanning it. In fairness though, they were very polite and offered to repack my bag if I wished. The problem apparently was that it was so closely packed (to get within Ryanair’s restrictions) that the scanner couldn’t see through it. Well, I’m happy enough not be blown up and I was reassured by the diligence. Once over that little hurdle there was time for an excellent pint of Adnam’s at the airside ‘Spoons before the inevitable Ryanair scrum and a punctual (well, 20 seconds late to be truly pedantic) departure for Linz. Still time at Linz Hbf for a visit to the Spar for a Gösser Märzen and the tobacconist for a Euromillions ticket. Fingers crossed. [to no avail. I didn’t get a single number]. The 17:30 EC (ex Klagenfurt, a warning for Monday perhaps) arrived wedged behind Gysev 1116 065. I managed to find a seat in an open though, so no problem. Hotel (Hauser Eck) was located without problem as it’s on the southern edge of the pedestrian precinct (the station [St. Pölten Hbf] is on the northern edge). Getting a meal was another matter, with the hotel booked up for music night and the only pub I could find, wedged. So I had to settle for McDs and an early return to the hotel where my channel-hopping was rewarded with a very enjoyable documentary about steam trains in the Czech Republic and Saxony! Reasonable (08:39) start today. Fortunately I chose to get up early and so got down to breakfast just before the main influx of locusts. Goodness knows what all these people (mainly female) managed to find to do in St. Pölten on a Friday night. Staff (all one of him) completely overwhelmed but the breakfast was OK. Hotel was a bit ordinary but I suppose for €43 in this day and age, and Austria, not too bad. Fog had been threatened by the ZAMG weather forecast and it was duly there at St Pölten. Not too bad though, with the vis at an acceptable 800m+ and by the time the 4020 had made its way to Loosdorf the sun was shining. The same applied at Pöchlarn where 5047 012 was waiting in P4. SEV from Scheibbs to Kienberg-Gaming which is rumoured to be closing in mid December. If it does, then I’ll lose the last bit; if not then I’ll have to traipse out here again to do it! Bit of a double whammy but the decision was to do it today anyway because it’s awkward and if it close beyond Scheibbs as threatened then it’s done as far as possible. Scheibbs has a small licensed garden shed (Kaiser) but it didn’t appeal so I went for a wander round the town. Tempted into Billa on the way back I was rewarded with the really excellent Zwettler Festbier, 6.7% and tasty to match. A model railway shop was noted on the platform at Wieselburg an der Erlauf – also a vast modern rail-served brewery, ostensibly Kaiser. Wonder whose Wieselburger is, then? Only 12 minutes at Pöchlarn on the way back so not really time to visit the pleasant looking buffet (the free Gents’ was useful though!). On to St Pölten in a 5 car Dosto set shoved by 1116 037. Although I was earlier than I’d expected there was nothing to be gained so I decided to split the ‘lunch hour’ between St Pölten abnd Krems. Accordingly I wandered over to what seems to be the only ‘proper’ pub in St Pölten centre, the Gösser establishment just across the road from the station. I’d forgotten how horrible really smoky pubs can be ... the Gösser was OK though (but over twice the price of the supermarket Festbier). The 1333 to Herzogenburg beckoned then (a 6020) so that, hopefully, is the last I’ll see of St Pölten. [Three weeks later, the new ÖBB timetable is still showing Kienberg-Gaming with a train service, so hopes dashed, it would seem, not to mention a wasted trip to Scheibbs]. While waiting at St Pölten I was surprised to see a DB101 hauling an internal ÖBB service (Wien-Salzburg). That said, last night’s internal EC from Klagenfurt to Wien had a Gysev loco. To Krems on an S40, changing at Herzogenburg, which is currently a major shambles, on to a 5047 or some such. There was time for a wander at Krems – the station may be ugly on a Birmingham New Street scale, but what a nice town. There’s a lot more activity there on a Saturday than there is at St Pölten. After a brief supermarket visit (Wieselburger Gold) it was another 5047, 011 this time, for Sigmundsherberg. Turned out I’d slightly miscalculated the daylight – a desperate phot just about worked at Horn at 16:30 but it’s not looking too good at 16:41 for the 16:43 departure, Still, better dark than not at all – and it isn’t quite! It is incidentally a typical valley line most of the way from Krems but with a change to far more open land after Rosenburg. Quite well patronised, and with everything in apple pie order as usual. Plank am Kamp in particular was very smartly, and it seemed recently, repainted. Then it got better... quite a posh looking restaurant on the station approach, which didn’t look suitable for an itinerant scruff looking for a swift(ish) ‘alf. Down to the bottom therefore, turned left to find a chenist’s shop followed by nothing. Turned back, to find that the lights I had thought were part of the posh restaurant were in fact a Zwettler pub next door. Naturally I crashed straight in, to find a very smart and friendly pub which was a perfect venue for my 40 minute wait. Interesting to note some of the older bods in very traditional dress (and to see same on sale in the shops in Krems, too). Final train was to Gmünd in the dark. The hotel was easily located – leave by the subway to Alberchtserstrasse, turn left, cross the level crossing and you’re there. Perfect. Friendly gaffer with a bit of English, making for a very useful establishment which might merit another visit when I come back to do the track in daylight. Down town then for some food – the usual wide choice boiled down to Hopfel in the main square. A range of Schremser beers (I tried the ordinaire) and an unfiltered one also from Schremser, allegedly a special for the pub. Heard that before, but tried it anyway. It was unexceptional in both formats. The pork medallions were just the job though! Not a particularly comfortable night as I couldn’t find anything to turn the heating off! Early doors for the 06:17 to Schwarzenau, still dark unfortunately. Dawn’s just starting to show but we’ll still be shy of the ‘one field’ target. Just about one field by Schwarzenau, not that it mattered. Excitement at the appearance of the 5047 in the main line P2 instead of the south side bay P11 as advertised, tempered by the realisation that the Waidhofen line goes off northwards! A nice little branch it is too, running as a parallel single line for quite a distance eastwards out of Schwarzenau before dropping away to the north and climbing to Waidhofen. [This was another possible closure which appears not to be happening]. Back at Schwarzenau the 35 minute connection afforded me time to walk down the road and photograph 2016 019 outside the small depot. The 08:15 to Gmünd surprised me by being three loco hauled ČD coaches (the loco was Austrian but I didn’t note what it was). Also seen was a 5047 going to Zwettl – these use P21 which is the north west end of P1, so do the physical connection. Good news, when I get round to it. Next move was to Wien [well, that was the plan] behind 1044 040 which turned up with four fairly horrendous ex-IC compartment coaches. A very uneventful run then, scenery or anything else, to Absdorf-Hippersdorf. On the way I’d worked out that I could do the north bank line from A-H to Stockerau instead of the already done route via Tulln, so I baled out in favour of an 1116 and a dosto set to Stockerau. It obligingly went across the layout to terminate in P1 eliminating any later grief. The connection therefrom was a 4020 working an S9 to Praterstern. Preserved 93 1403 was noted parked among some wagons at Korneuberg. But more importantly, breakfast was obtained from the Anker shop at Floridsdorf! Having had this I was so pleased that I composed a text to H to tell her about it, thus losing concentration and almost letting the S1 to Gänserndorf go! Very slow going to Gänserndorf, arriving about 7 late. Slow round Sussenbrunn (surely not still suffering the effects of the fire?) and from Deutsch Wagram (bustituted for the next two weekends so presumably moleworks). Still 35 minutes or so at Gänserndorf so I wandered up to the Turkish pub (see 7.8.08) which was of course closed. Seeing the main road nearby, an inspiration suggested there might be a garage, and it might sell beer. There was, and it did. Stiegl for €1.88, amongst other things. It even had a bar, but I thought that a bridge too far! 5047 049 duly arrived from Gross Schweinbarth and worked the 12:47 back. The connection from Wien arrived almost 10 late (in fact with 15 seconds to spare) so had I waited for that one I’d have been more than worried. A slightly surprising ride to GS – a lightly engineered line, which wasn’t surprising, but it runs past a large number of ‘nodding donkeys’. Seeing the first one or two I’d assumed they were for irrigation but when you get up close you can see the logo of OMV [Austria’s national oil company], suppliers of petrol and (to me a few minutes ago) beer. I don’t think the scale is sufficient to make Austria self-sufficient, somehow. [In fact I was right – it supplies only a small fraction of the country’s needs]. 4 minute connection at Gross Schweinbarth which turned up 2 minutes early so only just time for a phot. 5047 033 was the leading one of the pair. Quite why 049, the Gänserndorf one, buffered up to 2070 049 I don’t know (nor do I know why the 2070 was there, in the middle of nowhere). Very nice ride up to Sulz Museumsdorf (was Sulz-Nexing according to the old station nameboard). It’s a 100% agricultural area though and despite its convenience (runs alongside the main street in one village) it’s easy to see it as a target for the bean counters. As is the inevitable way of these things there’s a nice looking pub across the road from the station but with 15 minutes including wandering about and photting time – no. Once past Gross Schweinbarth [on the way back] there are a lot more nodding donkeys along the line to Obersdorf – along with vines, fruit trees, assorted crops and wind turbines. They certainly keep their options open. Also noted at Pillichsdorf was a brand new penny farthing [bicycle] – that’s certainly not anything I’ve seen before. And now I know what ‘Obersdorf hst.’ is about. If Sulz Museumsdorf does indeed close, the dead end line from Gänserndorf to Obersdorf, reversing at Gross Schweinbarth, would seem very vulnerable. [Again checking just before the alleged closure date, it seems that this line completes a quartet of non-closures, making my trip futile from that point of view!] That said there seemed to be quite a few who like me, left the branch train to join the 6020 for Wien from the high level station on the line from Laa an der Thaya, so maybe there’s enough through traffic. It’s certainly not a line for scenic attractions – flat as a pancake from GS to Obersdorf. Doing the change of plan at Absdorf-Hippersdorf and doing the Sulz lines east to west instead of west to east has (if the 6020 manages to stagger to Wien Südbf) gained me half an hour and a chunk of track, so very worthwhile despite my general aversion to changing the plan on the fly. And so to Wien Südbf, collect some food and a couple of beers and settle down for 4 hours of dead track in the dark on IC537, catchily named Alpen-Universität Klagenfurt even though it goes to Villach. A dreadful long slog even with the assistance of Messrs Gösser, Ottakringer and iPod. Once past Wiener Neustadt it was dark; the train was full but not wedged and I had an ‘aircraft’ seat to myself throughout (no, I didn’t leave my bag on the other seat). I could have done without all the coughs and sneezes from in front of me but I’m still here! The only thing that made it dreadful was the suffocating heat. It amazes me that the Austrian nation hasn’t become extinct in such unpleasant and unhealthy conditions! To my relief the train arrived on time at Klagenfurt, where there was plenty of fresh air to be had on the 20 minute (plus another 5 getting slightly lost) walk to the hotel. Food was dispensed with, it looking too much like hard work at 21:00 on a Sunday. No English to be had this morning (and an undercharge on the bill which had them after me for another €5). Generally a nice hotel though (Liebetegger) and I’d stay there again. Pleasant morning for the stroll down to the station, noting the Christmas decorations which are far more restrained and seemly than ours. Called at Spar for water supplies; for future reference there’s a Billa next to the station as well. Provided it’s a day when Austria’s open of course. Also noted was ‘Kleinbahn’, a model railway shop on the west (left going into town) side of Bahnhofstrasse, 5 minutes or so from the station. And of course, the (still) shut homebrew pub 100m from the station! [It shut 20 minutes before I arrived the previous night and hadn’t opened again when I left on the Monday]. Interesting quirk when EC114’s stock arrived by DB’s first of class 101 001. I dived in to wait in comfort (and make sure of a decent seat!). This was DB IC stock and all the reservation signs (the electronic ones) said ‘GGF RESERVIERT’. No paper ones to be seen in my coach of choice, and I was baffled. I had the bright idea of asking, so wrote it down and trotted off to find an English speaking ÖBB person. Found one on the platform – he said he hadn’t the faintest idea what it meant. Decided that I’d go for it anyway and in a different coach found paper labels of the traditional kind. So it looks like ‘Ggf. Reserviert’ means ‘I’m not working, read the paper ones’. An excellent ride to Bischofshofen – lakes, mountains, long tunnels, steep gradients, the whole works. It’s fairly (no, very) leisurely, but when you look at the landscape that’s reasonable enough. I was quite surprised to see a car carrier service through the Tauern tunnel given that there’s a parallel motorway. Punctuality was good, never worse than 3 late and we ran into Schwarzach-St Veit just astern of IC515 which was running in off the Salzburg line. I decided to stick with EC114 in case Schweers & Wall’s interpretation (physical junction east of the station) was correct though I never did work it out. Easy connection into 515 which ran into P3 at Bischofshofen just after I got there from P5. It was formed from DB ex-IR stock which though still comfortable is looking decidedly tatty inside despite the external repaint. We were delayed 8 minutes waiting the München-Klagenfurt EC which was 20 minutes late. Hopefully no consequences of lost paths, but we’ll see. 1044 049 is the haulage. None. A nice gentle plod through the mountains, arriving about 6 late for my 40 minute connection. Into the buff for a beer (open until 14:00 this time – see 30.08.09) only to find it only sells no-alcohol ‘beer’. Off to the village – two of the three pubs shut and no time left for the other one which was more of an amusement arcade anyway. The tobacconist was on his 12:00-14:45 lunch – nice work if you can get it. So I returned empty handed to 4024 065 on the 13:21 REX to Linz for the final track of the trip. Not the most inspiring run on a very grey afternoon though it’s still quite spectacular in the upper reaches. Further down towards the Danube it’s flood plain land, pretty dull. The new alignment between Kirchdorf and Wartberg is now in use; as there’s a new Nußbach station I assume the old one’s gone – add one to the ‘too late’ list. Can’t help wondering if the moleworks which foiled us in August were the commissioning of the new line. So to Linz, looking pretty dismal on a grey Monday but at least it has places to eat! A very nice schnitzel was supplied by the Café de Paris – I doubt I could have eaten it all even with more time... Made the 15:57 to Hörsching OK, so there’s just the challenge of the free bus. 1116 031 was the haulage, not that I note these things. No problem with the minibus – as I’d hoped, an English speaker on the phone and the bus arrived in 5 minutes or so. Others please copy! No further railway interest for this trip – back to the UK on Ryanair (with the beastly fanfare at Stansted) then a long trundle home in the car, beset by temporary overnight roadworks on A14 and M6 which caused me quite a bit of delay. In one sense this trip was a complete waste of time in that none of the threatened closure seem to have materialised. On the other hand three of the four are done now, and the great majority of the daylight hours were spent on new track so it was pretty productive. It also filled in the long stretches Spittal-Millstättersee to Schwarzach-St Veit and Bischofshofen-Selzthal-Traun which as far as the ÖBB system’s concerned, leaves me only fairly restricted areas in the eastern and southern parts of the country to cover. And as I don’t work Fridays it only cost me one day’s holiday! That really was it for 2009. Another major plandampf was planned in Germany for April 2010 and we set our sights on that.

2019-04-18T16:22:06Z

https://raretrack.weebly.com/november-2009---austria.html

N.B. If any minutes were taken of the meeting in 1985 then they have long since been lost. These two articles, authored by Katherine, cover all of the content of her talk, and more. As anthropologists, most of us would agree with Bruner that "our first responsibility is to respect people's accounts of their experiences as they choose to present them" (1983:9). However, those of us interested in historical anthropology face a special challenge since we are rarely able to draw upon indigenous accounts of everyday life. Even when we are able to use such texts, the problem of ethnographic authority remains (Clifford 1988:8; Clifford and Marcus 1986). Considerable work is being done in historical anthropology in reconstructing indigenous histories by using the early narratives of Western observers. However, such efforts have obvious problems of observer bias (see Cohn 1987:136-171; Said 1978; Savage 1984). Furthermore, as in the descriptions discussed in this article, the outside observers have sometimes recorded opposing opinions. How are we, as anthropologists writing today, to assess such conflicting appraisals? Using the case of textiles in 19th-century northern Thailand, I should like to suggest that by reconstructing the political economy of a society, we can evaluate contradictory historical descriptions. From Veblen (1912) and Simmel (1957) to Weiner and Schneider (1989), an appreciation of the varied manner in which textiles symbolize social distinctions has been longstanding. As Bourdieu has written of symbolic goods in general, textiles can be an integral part of the "infinitely varied art of marking distances" (1984:66; see also Barthes 1984; Sahlins 1976). Often the distinctions are extremely subtle. Writing of the use of fashion, Barthes notes the importance of details as "concentrated meaning" (1984:185). For Barthes, just a detail can change an object's meaning: "a little nothing that changes everything; those little nothings that can do everything" (1984:243). However, more than just symbolizing distinctions, textiles have also been shown to constitute and consolidate social differences through their often vital role in a society's political economy. In his pioneering article on tributary textiles in the Inca kingdom, Murra notes not only that "no political, military, social, or religious event was complete without textiles being volunteered or bestowed, burned, exchanged, or sacrificed," but also that cloth served as "a primary source of state revenues" (1962:722). insights into the semiotics of consumption and an important methodology for historical anthropology. Others have made a similar point (see Schneider 1987 for an excellent review of the cultural, economic, and political significance of cloth). As Weiner and Schneider summarize, architects of centralizing polities have awed spectators with sartorial splendor, strategically distributed beautiful fabrics amongst clients, and exported the textile output of royal and peasant workshops to earn foreign exchange" (1989:2). Contradictory assessments of dress also occur in 19th-century descriptions of northern Thai dress. The anonymous author of one of the earliest surviving accounts remarked on the lack of class distinction in women's clothing: "It is curious to notice the uniformity and universality of the female dress. The higher classes vary the style a little by inserting a very showy strip of wrought silk next above the bottom piece" (Bangkok Recorder 1866). Twenty years later, an American missionary working in northern Thailand wrote in almost identical wording: "Rich and poor all dress alike, except that the higher classes vary the universal style a little by inserting a very showy strip of wrought silk into the skirt near the bottom" (Cort 1886:348). Thus, depending upon the archival source, contemporary scholars can reach opposing assessments of the character of these earlier societies. Research on textiles in mainland Southeast Asia is just beginning (see Brown 1980; Cheesman 1988; Fraser-Lu 1988; Lefferts 1988, 1990; Prangwatthanakun and Cheesman 1987). Prangwatthanakun and Cheesman's Lanna Textiles: Yuan, Lue, Lao (1987) is the only full-length work on textiles in northern Thailand; as such it is an important preliminary study, especially useful for describing some of the items woven and the techniques used. In this article, I examine the broader social context of textile consumption and production, drawing upon two major kinds of sources, archival and oral. The archival sources include consular reports (primarily British), 19th century newspaper accounts, travelogues, and works by American missionaries. In addition I have interviewed hundreds of villagers over the age of 80 living throughout the Chiang Mai Valley of northern Thailand.5 I use archival sources primarily for insight into the consumption, production, and acquisition of textiles by the elite; I rely more heavily on oral histories for insights into the everyday life of villagers. Based upon an understanding of the social processes of textile production and consumption, I argue that the controversy generated by the contradictory opinions of certain 19th century observers of northern Thai society can be resolved in favor of those who asserted that there were dramatic differences of dress and class in the northern Thai semiotics of consumption. The Chiang Mai Valley was the site of the largest and most important of the northern Thai kingdoms. These kingdoms were located in the region today called northern Thailand but called "Western Laos" by 19th century missionaries and other foreign observers. The courts of the various principalities were located in the mountain valleys of Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Phrae, Nan, and Chiang Rai, each today serving as a provincial capital. Although these kingdoms were independent, they had been tributary to the neighboring kingdom of Burma for several hundred years. During the 19th century, they were tributary to the central Thai court at Bangkok; thereafter they were incorporated into Thailand. This article is divided into two parts. In the first, I examine the cultural significance of textile consumption in 19th century northern Thailand. I present some of the surviving descriptions of dress, ranging from the daily wear of commoners to the state robes of the ruling lords, and subsequently expand the discussion from dress to other applications of textiles, arguing that there were dramatic differences between peasants and lords in this broader sphere as well. In the second part of the article, I describe how this differentiation between elites and commoners was revealed in the social process of textile production. Focusing on the two most important textiles used; cotton and silk, I consider the overall importance of textiles in the political economy of these northern Thai kingdoms, noting the role of tribute and slave labor in the acquisition of textiles by the elite. Previous studies have shown that 19th-century northern Thai society was divided into three major social statuses: the aristocrats (jao), the freeholders (phrai), and the slaves (khiikhaa). The aristocracy was internally differentiated by economic and political power. The greatest power and prestige were concentrated in those lords who occupied the five top positions in each of the kingdoms, while lesser members of the aristocracy whose inheritances had dwindled were barely separable from the peasantry at large. Free villagers were all liable to perform corvée labor and pay tribute to the ruling lords, but they were internally differentiated according to economic class. The wealthiest villagers rivaled many members of the aristocracy; in fact, many had royal titles and intermarried with the lower levels of the aristocracy. Villagers spanned the economic continuum, from those with land and numerous animals down to those who were destitute or landless beggars. The difference between slaves and free villagers was also often a gray area. Elite slaves sometimes worked very closely with their lords and received more benefits than ordinary commoners. On the other hand, the conditions for ordinary slaves were generally worse than those for commoners since the former were at the mercy of the lords. (For more on 19th century northern Thai social structure, see Bowie 1988; Calavan 1974; Ganjanapan 1984.) Nonetheless, although portions of this social spectrum overlapped, there were significant differences in lifestyle from one end of the spectrum to the other. To give an idea of the purchasing power of a rupee at this time, some indications of wage rates are suggestive. Although very few statistics on northern Thai wage labor rates survive, I was able to find three references in the archival sources.16 According to the British trade report of 1894, porters were paid 12 to 15 rupees per month, assuming they carried an average load of 15 to 20 viss; about 54 to 73 pounds (Archer 1895). Some figures on the wages paid to laborers in the teak industry also survive. According to W. J. Archer, the British vice consul, Khamu workers who could once be hired for 40 to 60 rupees a year (and their food) could in 1894 no longer "be had under Rs. 70 to Rs. 90 a year" (1895). Writing five years later, Acting Consul J. Stewart Black gave somewhat lower wage figures, while also lamenting the increasing costs. He noted that Khamu workers were paid 30 to 50 rupees per annum, in addition to their food, which cost about 5 rupees per month, or an additional 60 rupees per year. Black wrote that in 1899 some teak laborers were being paid as much as 120 rupees (food included) and went on to castigate the native villagers for their indolence, commenting that "not even the attraction of what is to him [sic] a small fortune will induce them to undergo for any length of time the hard labour and isolation of forest work" (1 900).17 Thus, forest workers in the teak industry were earning anywhere from 90 to 120 rupees per year (including the value of their food), or about 7 to 10 rupees per month. Such wages paid to forest workers were considered a "small fortune." Although the wages paid to porters were higher, it should be noted that portering such heavy loads required tremendous stamina and could be done by only the strongest villagers. Furthermore, such employment was seasonal. According to oral histories, the wages paid to agricultural workers were less. Many villagers cited rates of one win (approximately one-seventh of a rupee) per day for agricultural labor at the turn of the 20th century.18 Archival sources suggest that wages for teak workers averaged one-quarter to one-third of a rupee per day and those for porters averaged half a rupee per day. Villagers also recalled that in the early 20th century one rupee could buy a full set of clothing, including a homespun shirt and pair of pants or skirt. Clearly, the aristocracy's most luxurious clothes were not likely to serve as daily casual wear. Nonetheless they marked a significant distinction in purchasing power and social status between the elite and ordinary villagers. A tin jok skirt border that cost 60 rupees represented at least four months' wages for the best-paid porter and over a year's wages for agricultural workers. Everyday peasant dress already represented anywhere from two to seven days' wages and thus constituted a considerable expense for the ordinary wage laborer. The ruling lords of the northern Thai kingdom also had distinctive regalia, including umbrellas and spittoons. Whether a formal sumptuary code existed is, as I mentioned earlier, unclear. However, even without the evidence of sumptuary laws, I believe that there is considerable indication of significant class differentiation through dress.19 With the exception of state robes and regalia of rank, differences in dress may well have formed a continuum of wealth rather than a clear-cut differentiation based on status. Poorer members of the aristocracy, less able to afford the most elaborate of clothes, would have blended with those below them. Conversely, wealthier members of the rural elite, especially those who had intermarried with the lower ranks of the aristocracy, would have dressed more ornately. Nonetheless, overall, when one considers the cost of elite dress in light of the economic situation of poor villagers who were begging, stealing, or patching their simple clothing, a dramatic distinction emerges. Textiles were used not only for dress but also for a variety of household items and on various ritual occasions. Such uses of textiles also revealed considerable differences according to wealth. Although the poorest villagers often did without, ordinary villagers used textiles for making mattress and pillow covers, blankets, bed sheets, and mosquito nets. In general the mattress and pillow covers were plain indigo or black with red stripes or trim. Bed sheets were plain white or white with a red stripe or checked pattern; fancier sheets had embroidery and in some cases more complex weaves. Mosquito nets were woven on special large looms, and many informants complained about how heavy homespun cotton mosquito nets were to wash. Cloth also figured importantly in the lives and rites of the elite. In addition to owning more and fancier clothes, the elite had more and better household items. Instead of just having enough mattresses, pillows, and other bedding items for the family, wealthier families had additional bedding sets for guests. Furthermore, the guest bedding was considered an object of display and so was more likely to have embroidered ends and complex, time-consuming weaves. Even today wealthy village families usually have wood cabinets with glass doors along the wall of the main room of their home to showcase guest bedding sets. The possession of ornate pillows was another particularly significant attribute of elite households. Although Thais had a variety of pillows, the prestige pillows were usually triangular and were used for daytime reclining. Their importance was highlighted in a British official's passing remark that such pillows were "to be seen in every house of any pretensions" (Lowndes 1871).25 Furnishing their palaces, the northern Thai princes displayed numerous luxury items such as foreign-made weapons, chandeliers, mirrors, lanterns, curtains, reclining pillows, and even imported carpets (Taylor 1888-1930:73; Younghusband 1888:63-64). In 1830 Richardson noted the presence of Indian and Chinese carpets (1829-36:63), and in 1885 Ernest Satow recorded that the ruling lord of Chiang Mai had European furniture and "a number of gaudy Brussels carpets" (1885-86:51). The full extent of the differences between commoners and aristocracy was most visible when members of the ruling elite traveled in state or participated in public ceremonies. Royal barges had large cloth canopies: the royal barge of the central Thai king, according to one observer, featured "a canopy of cloth of gold where the King sits on a golden throne wearing a gold embroidered coat and golden shoes" (Dodd 1923:289). The royal entourage often consisted of scores of boats, the rowers all clad in matching uniforms. The elite also traveled by horse or elephant, the animals gaily festooned with decorative textiles. On state occasions, the highest ranks of the nobility used gold and silver decorative caparisons. Mary Cort noted that the gold elephant trappings were "worth thousands," whereas the silver trappings were "worth hundreds" of rupees (Cort 1886:349). In addition to making public prestations such as those at the Kathin ceremonies, the elite would have given considerable amounts of textile goods away during any other life-cycle or calendrical ceremonies they might hold. Thai ceremonials usually included a merit-making component in which gifts, including monastic robes and embroidered pillows, were given as offerings to the monks (see Davis 1984). Archival sources also note the use of textiles as gifts to visiting dignitaries: the gifts given to Satow, a British official, by the ruling chief of Lampang included velvet mattresses, pillows adorned with Chinese brocade, and silk skirts (Satow 1885- 86:206). Thus, not only did the peasants and the lords differ considerably in terms of dress and household possessions, but they also differed in the extent to which they donated textiles on ritual occasions. In this article thus far I have depicted significant differences between the elite's and the peasants' uses of textiles. I have described a range of dress: from the stolen and the hand-me-down, from the threadbare and the patched, from the simple cottons of commoners to the state robes of the ruling lords. I have also outlined some of the different uses of textiles in village households as opposed to the court. Here, I should like to show how the differentiation was manifested not simply in the consumption of textiles but also in their production. As will become clear, both accounts are true; the differences lie in the type of fabric being woven. Most clothing was made from cotton. However, contrary to what is commonly assumed, weaving was not a universal household industry; only certain villagers in certain villages wove (see Bowie 1988, 1992). The weaving of simple cotton cloth was spread quite widely throughout the Chiang Mai Valley, and certain districts were especially known for their concentrations of weavers. Those districts that had a reputation for cotton weaving in the past, especially the San Kamphaeng and Bo sang districts, have maintained their reputations down to the present. Furthermore, oral histories reveal weaving to have been a highly specialized activity, with different villagers involved in the different phases of production. By far the most commonly produced cloth was a plain white cotton, often later dyed with indigo. The villagers most likely to produce such cloth were the poorer ones, who wove both for their own household needs and for sale or hire. Such village weavers were more likely to find weaving an onerous obligation from which others were freed. From the simplest and plainest of homespun white cloth to the most elaborate designs using imported fibers, the value of the fabric gradually increased. Striped or plaid cloth involved more work and skill, in both weaving and dyeing, than plain cloth and was consequently valued more highly. Cloth woven with imported threads, most often used for women's phaa sins, was more expensive than the domestic handspun cotton. The wealthier the village weaver, the more likely she was to weave the more time-consuming decorative items such as colored skirts or striped sheets. The more elaborate the design, the more likely the weaver was weaving for pleasure with a "cool heart." The more complex the weave, the more likely that the weaver was affiliated in some manner with the aristocracy, as war captive, slave, or member of the court. Virtually each of the areas known for weaving is associated with an ethnic minority brought into the Chiang Mai Valley as war captives sometime during the 19th century. Baan Ton Hen is a Khyyn village; San Kamphaeng (particularly around the original district town of Baan Oon) is also known as a Khyyn area. The Khyyn are a population who originally lived in the Chiang Tung area: Chiang Mai led attacks on Chiang Tung in 1849, 1852-53, and 1854, and it seems people were brought back on these occasions (Wilson and Hanks 1985:29). Over half of the people living in the Lamphun region are said to have descended from war captives (Freeman 1910:100). Chom Thong town has a Lawa population, many of whom served as temple slaves. Unfortunately, I was unable to acquire any information about the ethnic background of villagers in Baan Aen since the entire village was forced to relocate when a hydroelectric dam was built. Unlike villagers, who had to weave, trade for, or buy their clothing, the ruling lords were able to extract raw cotton, woven cloth, and dyestuffs as tribute. Their ability to levy tribute on broad sectors of the population provided the aristocracy with a quantity of cotton cloth no single producer could hope to match. Interestingly, the majority of villagers who sent cotton or cloth as tribute appear to have been hilltribe populations, such as the Karen and the Mussur (today more commonly called the Lahu). One of the Karen villages that Captain Thomas Lowndes visited in 1871 had just taken its year's taxes to Chiang Mai: "it consisted of Rupees 2, 2 blankets, and 40 viss of cotton" (1871). Richardson also noted tribute of cloth paid by the Karen during his travels in 1830 (1829-36:37, 45). Captain McLeod found that the KaKuis had to make presents of mats and cloths to the lords (1836:57). McGilvary commented that much of the raw cotton being purchased by the Yunnanese traders came from the Mussur; although he did not specifically mention tribute, it is likely that the Mussur too would have been expected to offer tribute to the ruling lords in the form of raw cotton or finished cloth. While the aristocracy were able to make apparently generous donations on ritual occasions, much of what they gave was in fact the contribution of others. Thus, the aristocracy appear to have been able to extract raw cotton, simple cotton cloth, and complex cotton weaves through political means. Tribute afforded them both raw cotton and cotton cloth, and the labor of war captives seems to have provided them with complex weaves such as tin jok skirt borders. Although silk was considered a more valuable fabric, cotton cloth nonetheless had a variety of uses in royal households. The tin jok borders, even those made of cotton, would have marked their wearers as wealthier than ordinary villagers, who only wore plain skirt borders. Possession of textiles ranging from mattresses to elephant headpieces made from complex woven cotton would have similarly served to add to the prestige of their owners. Such cloth could be used as rewards for favored underlings or as gifts for visitors. In addition, cotton cloth made possible the public display of largess involved in merit-making ceremonies, since monks' robes were typically made from cotton. It is also possible that royalty were involved in the cotton trade. There was considerable demand for raw cotton by Yunnanese traders and some demand for cotton cloth in Burma (Bowie 1992; Hill 1982; Reid 1988:91). British vice consul Archer mentioned in his trade report of 1894 that "women's cloths of coarse cotton, woven by the Laos [were] sought after in Burma as being very durable," although he added that the export was not very considerable (1895). Such cloth, together with silk goods, could also have been offered as tribute to other kingdoms. However they used it, lords - because they could exact tribute and slave labor - found it much easier to acquire cloth than did commoners, who had to weave fabric themselves or find some other means of acquiring it. Archival sources also indicate that royal slaves were involved in silk weaving. The British official A. H. Hildebrand noted, "There is a good deal of trade capable of being done also in silk garments and silk fancy work, at which the slaves and others are great adepts" (1875). It is not clear whether these slaves lived solely at the court or also in slave settlements established to produce cloth for the court. Silk weaving is known to have been done in only two areas outside the court itself: the towns of San Kamphaeng and Hot (and their immediate environs). While silk weaving continues to this day in San Kamphaeng, in Hot only traces survive in archival sources and in the memories of the town's oldest residents. No information survives to explain why Hot, a town some 70 kilometers from Chiang Mai, would have been a center of silk production and weaving, or why the industry died out. (Villagers said it was because the cocoons scared easily and so had died.) However, in San Kamphaeng a senior member of one of the prestigious silk-weaving families recounted the local version of the history of silk weaving in his area. According to his account, lords victorious in war would capture various kinds of artisans and resettle them in their own kingdoms. Thus, silversmiths were settled near the south end of Chiang Mai town, lacquer ware artists in another location, and weavers in San Kamphaeng. This account indeed suggests that the silk weavers in San Kamphaeng may have been royal slaves weaving at the behest of the court. Some idea of the potential scale of royal weaving was given by D. J. Edwardes, who wrote that the ruling lord of Chiang Mai had 300 slaves weaving cloth for him (1875). It appears that these Chiang Mai silks were marketed in Burma. In his summary of the Chiang Mai kingdom, Lowndes commented: "Weaving and embroidery are the principal handicrafts, the silk putsoes [phaa nung] are much sought after by the Burmans, as they wear three times as long as those of Burmese manufacture" (1871). He made a similar point about the silk woven in Hot, noting that it was "said to be very strong and durable" and adding, "A thitgoung [headman] showed me a putso that he had had in wear for 7 years, and it was by no means worn out" (1871). In San Kamphaeng, where silk production has continued to the present day, raw silk was imported from Luang Prabang, Laos, and later from Mandalay, Burma. Raw silk was also routinely imported by the Haw traders coming from Yunnan, China (Hill 1982; see also Bowie 1992). The geographical distribution of raw materials had social implications. Since sufficient quantities of cotton grew in upland regions of northern Thailand to be readily exported, cotton was more accessible to ordinary villagers and could, in turn, be extracted by the ruling lords through tribute. Since silkworms were not abundant in northern Thailand, raw silk had to be imported. Silk's scarcity heightened its price and its prestige value, serving to concentrate silk weaving in the hands of the court. Aristocratic control of silk production was further aided by the fact that the silk fiber is very fine and hence is far more difficult and time-consuming to weave than cotton. A comparison of cotton and silk production, then, reveals important contrasts. While cotton was exported, silk was imported into northern Thailand. While cotton was generally woven by freeholding villagers, silk seems to have been woven by slaves and members of the aristocracy. While villagers, except those who begged or stole their clothing, had to obtain textiles through direct economic means, aristocrats were able to augment their own production through the political means of tribute and slave labor. Furthermore, because poverty was widespread and not all villagers grew or wove cotton themselves, many villagers faced hardships in acquiring clothing of any kind for their families. Understanding the process of textile production helps contemporary readers gain insight into the cultural meaning of cloth to 19th century northern Thai. Once we understand the chronic poverty of most villagers and the difficulty with which villagers obtained even the simplest of cotton cloth, the significance of cloth in daily life and in village rituals becomes clearer. Simultaneously, we can begin to enter the cultural world of 19th century villagers to learn the social meaning of the difference between clothes made of cotton and those made of silk. Understanding the productive process also helps us appreciate the manner in which textiles were interwoven with royal authority. Because of their coercive power, the lords were able to exact cloth as tribute from freeholders and labor from slaves. Their political position reinforced their economic position, since the textiles - and other goods - they acquired through tribute and slave labor were apparently marketed for revenue. The revenue and surplus textiles they acquired through the labor of others, in turn, reinforced their political position. By sponsoring large, conspicuous merit-making ceremonies in which they gave robes and pillows to monks, the lords enhanced their prestige and, ironically, created an image of generosity. The fine silks in which the lords dressed themselves symbolized not only their distinction from the poor but also their own relationship to the political economy of the kingdom. Combining oral histories with archival sources, this article has examined textile consumption and production in 19th century northern Thailand. If we have an understanding of the social process of textile production, the "concentrated meaning" (Barthes 1984:185) of northern Thailand textiles becomes more apprehensible. Such apparently minor details of fashion as the use of a silk skirt border - or, as one early observer phrases it, "a showy strip of wrought silk" - can no longer be interpreted as meaning that "rich and poor all dress[ed] alike" (Cort 1886:346). Important differences in dress, household possessions, and ritual prestations separated the aristocracy from the peasantry. These differences signified profound differences in the relationship of each to the political economy. Thus, the semiotics of consumption in northern Thai society is illuminated by an understanding of its political economy. This article on the consumption and production of textiles in 19th century northern Thailand has been at once a description of the social context of textiles and an exercise in historical anthropology. The evaluation and appropriate application of archival sources present a challenge to every historical anthropologist, since these sources are replete with omissions and distortions. However, by interweaving oral histories with archival sources, we can recapture much of the fabric of the past. Oral histories enhance the archival sources by contributing some sense of the lived experiences of the unrecorded majority. This article has shown how developing a better understanding of a society's political economy can provide an independent means to assess the opinions of outside observers of indigenous societies. Acknowledgments. This article emerges from my dissertation fieldwork on 19th century political economy, conducted from 1984 to 1986 under the auspices of the National Research Council of Thailand with a grant from the Social Science Research Council. Subsequent fieldwork specifically on textile production was conducted during the summer of 1989 with a grant from the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I would like to thank Cornelia Kammerer, Jean De Bernardi, Nicola Tannenbaum, Patricia Cheesman, Songsak Prangwatthanakun, Kristine Hastreiter, Kate Bjork, Hugh Wilson, and the American Ethnologist reviewers for their various contributions toward the research and writing of this article. 1 Edwardes' summary raises questions about Anthony Reid's conclusion that in Southeast Asia, "the difference in dress between rich and poor, servant and master, king and commoner, was less marked than in pre-industrial Europe, where each man's station and even vocation could be read in the prescribed style of dress" (1988:85). 2 The distinctions of dress appear to have been quite subtle at times. Crawfurd wrote, "The better classes permit the ends of the dress to hang loosely in front, but the lower orders tuck them under the body, securing them behind" (1987:313). Although the older men in northern Thai villages sport tattoos, the practice has fallen out of vogue among the current generation of northerners. For more on the symbolism of tattoos, see Nicola Tannenbaum (1987). 4 In the course of my interviewing I also encountered villagers who made mention of sumptuary rules with regard to housing and clothing, but they were unable to recall any of the specifics. The quotation cited suggests not only that sumptuary laws existed but also that they varied by ruler and kingdom. 5 During dissertation fieldwork in 1984-86, I interviewed more than 500 villagers over the age of 80 living in about 400 villages throughout the Chiang Mai Valley. I repeatedly asked villagers for their recollections of life when they were young as well as for their memories of what their parents and grandparents had said about life in their days (see Bowie 1988). This article emerges from accidental observations made during my dissertation research. During the summer of 1989 I interviewed another 100 villagers, specifically asking about textiles. 6 Considerable confusion is caused by the various linguistic borrowings of the 19th century English language sources, which alternately use Indian, Burmese, and central Thai words to describe northern Thai clothing. Thus, terms such as phaa nung, lungi, and putso are used in ambiguous ways. In general, these terms refer to the lengths of cloth worn by both men and women on the lower half of the body. The lengths may be sewn into a tube (as in the phaa sin) or twisted into a thick cord worn between the legs (as in the phaa toi). To add to the confusion, the usage of these terms has changed over time. During the 19th century, phaa nung referred to the length of cloth worn on the lower part of the body by central Thai men and women alike, corresponding most closely to the phaa toi worn by northern Thai men. Over time the meaning has changed to refer to the tubular cloth, or phaa sin, worn during the 19th century by northern Thai women and now worn by women throughout the country. 8 Bock, writing in 1884, observed, "A few Lao women are beginning to wear tight-fitting jackets, cut to the shape of the figure, with equally tight sleeves, something after the style of the 'ladies' jerseys' recently so fashionable in Paris and London, and involving no small amount of labour to get on and off" (1986 :327). Writing at about the same time, Cort made a similar observation: "Some are beginning to wear jackets or waists, but the usual style is for the women to have a brightly colored cotton or silk scarf tied around their chests just under the arms" (1886:348). 9 The indigo-dyed cotton daew chador and indigo shirts now identified as stereotypical of the Thai peasantry appear to have been of recent vintage, dating from about the turn of the century. Ironically, the blue farmer shirts (sya moh hoom) now worn by university students and Thai officials to demonstrate Thai nationalist pride seem to have been popularized by Chinese merchants. The daew chador has more in common with Chinese-style loose-fitting pants than with the traditional phaa toi. Additional support for the view that jackets became more common as the century progressed are provided in a few passing comments. In 1868 Henry Alabaster detailed his recollections of people's dress ten years earlier, noting: "I remember that ten years ago at any of the great festivals which attracted there 40 or 50,000 spectators, almost all wore but one garment - or a sarong and scarf. Now almost every one adds thereto a cotton or silk jacket" (1868). Stringer, writing in his trade report of 1890 specifically about northern Thailand, commented, "The wearing of singlets and coats of European pattern by the men and cotton jackets by the women is becoming more common" (1891). 10 That cloth was highly valued elsewhere in Southeast Asia is also reflected in the following Burmese proverb: "If you are on the way to an ahlu [merit-making ceremony], do not wear your jacket; carry it and put it on when you arrive; it lasts longer that way" (Nash 1965:232). 11 "A comment on the poverty of temple slaves in Burma supplies further evidence that the sheer amount of cloth in one's clothing was an indication of economic status: "They are poor these slaves, the men wear no brilliant putsoes and the women wear no vest beneath their jacket" (Rangoon Gazette Weekly Budget 1899b). 12 The value of cloth is also suggested in a northern Thai rhyme describing the payment that three women received in return for sexual favors: "Miss Kum asked for silver, Miss Huan asked for cloth, Miss Noja asked for an elephant. Hurry up and finish Doctor" (Bristowe 1976:127, cited in Patel 1990:127). Cotton's value as a commodity is seen too in the fact that there were traveling minstrels who literally "sang for their cotton." A favorite form of village entertainment in the past was soh, witty and often bawdy repartee between a male and a female singer, with musical accompaniment. One especially popular form of soh was the soh kep nok, or "singing repartee to collect birds." In villages with surplus raw cotton, this soh would be performed as soh laek fai (singing in exchange for cotton). Each village household wishing a performance would build a tree as a stage prop, with cotton representing the birds in the tree. At a certain point in the plot, the male singer would then "shoot down" all the cotton birds and put them in his bag. Having collected all the cotton balls, the performers would then move to the next house where they had been invited to perform, again receiving cotton as payment. (For more on the soh kep nok performance itself, see Shim- bhanao 1982-84). 13 Nineteenth-century paintings have been preserved at Wat Phumin in Nan and Wat Phra Singh in Chiang Mai. 14 Because during times of peace Chiang Tung and Chiang Mai were closely linked by trade as well as by cultural and linguistic similarities, I include these descriptions of Chiang Tung in the discussion of northern Thailand. Kun or Khynn is the name of the ethnic group living in the region around Chiang Tung (Keng Tung), many of whom were brought to Chiang Mai as war captives and resettled there. 15 Stringer wrote that Manchester chowls, "of which four different sizes are sold, fetch from Rs. 20 to Rs. 24 per corge of 20 pieces, and the Bombay goods, also sold in four sizes, fetch from Rs. 17 to Rs. 20 per corge" (1891). Chowl is another word for phaa nung. According to T. Carlisle's 1899 trade report, chowl was "the Indian name for the Siamese 'phalai' or 'paley,' that is the 'phaanung' or lower portion of the Siamese costume printed and furnished with a glaze" (1900). In other words, it was a length of printed cloth some three to four meters long. A possibly higher figure for the price per length was given by Alabaster, who suggested that if the British could manufacture sarongs to sell retail at about 4 to 6 shillings apiece, they might find a market in Thailand (1868). Since the rupee was valued at 13 pence in 1895, this would suggest a cost of 3.7 to 5.6 rupees per length. However, I have no figures with which to calculate the shilling/rupee exchange rate for 1868. 16 James Ingram has done a remarkable job of gathering wage labor rates for central Thailand (1964). 17 1t is interesting that while remarking on the indolence of the natives, Black commented that it was "not uncommon to find Khamoos working for foresters who had failed to pay their wages for 5-6 years" (1900). 18 Until the early part of the 20th century, the Burmese rupee (called the taep in northern Thai) was the dominant currency in northern Thailand. The Siamese (central Thai) baht only became the standard currency thereafter. The baht equaled 100 satang. The exchange rate between the Siamese baht and the Burmese rupee fluctuated but was about 80 to 90 satang per rupee (according to interviews and Archer 1895). Since a win equaled 12 satang, it was approximately equivalent to one-seventh of a rupee. 19 The significance of sumptuary laws is ambiguous. On the one hand, the presence of such laws suggests an elite strong enough to have them passed; on the other hand, it also suggests an elite whose status is being undermined. It has been argued that in England, where a variety of such laws were passed, they represented not the strength of the aristocracy but its weakness vis-à-vis the growing fiscal strength of the bourgeoisie. Sumptuary laws have even been interpreted as the protectionist tactics of a local bourgeoisie protecting domestic production against foreign imports (see Hooper 1915). They have also been interpreted as paternalistic efforts by concerned governments to protect their citizens from profligacy (Phillips and Staley 1961). 21 Far more remains to be said about the raw materials needed for dyeing. For more on this and other dyes, see Prangwatthanakun and Cheesman (1987) and Fraser-Lu (1988). See Schneider (1976) for a fascinating discussion of the importance of dyes in the political economy of Europe. 22 A few of the traditional ordination pillows have survived. I saw one that was among a villager's last remaining unsold treasures; it had been made by his mother for his initiation. A triangular pillow made of black satin cloth, it had gold thread embroidered into a flower design at the points of the triangle. 23 Cloth that has been worn as a woman's phaa sin can be very powerful symbolically. Soldiers often wore pieces from their mothers' phaa sins to protect them in battle, with the idea that their mothers had done the most to give them life and would do the most to protect them. This symbolism becomes even more intriguing when considered in light of the famous myth of Queen Chamathevi. She wove pieces of a phaa sin into a hat for a suitor to ensure that his arrows would fall short of their mark and he would thus fail in his quest for her hand in marriage. The stratagem worked. 24 Textile production seems to have been a more important and more widespread part of the village household economy in northeastern than in northern Thailand. Consequently, I believe, cloth goods figured more prominently in wedding celebrations in the northeast. 26 The Pali word kathina means a piece of cloth that in former times was donated to a temple for making robes; alternatively, it means the wooden frame on which the cloth was traditionally sewn into robes (Davis 1984:200). 27 Even today kathin ceremonies are "most often sponsored by government agencies, private companies, and wealthy families" (Davis 1984:200). 28 The central Thai king, King Mongkut, wore robes of yellow silk while he was a monk (Feltus 1924:53). Rich people didn't know how to spin or weave. They bought their clothes ready-made or hired other people to weave their cloth for them. Rich people were too lazy to weave for themselves. But some rich people were stingy; they wove their own clothes instead of hiring poor people. 30 lronically, Prangwatthanakun and Cheesman suggest that in the past "every woman owned at least one tin chok for special occasions" (1987:12). Because these borders required so much skill to weave and were so expensive to buy, I am quite skeptical of this claim. I think that only the wealthiest of villagers, or villagers who were themselves expert weavers, would have owned a tin jok. 31 Hildebrand did not specify how the slaves of the second chief were employed; however, we know from Bock's account that one of the second chief's wives had her slaves spin silk. Hildebrand wrote, "The second chief's source of income is not so calculable; he derives a good deal from the labor of his slaves, of whom, with his wives and children, he never has less than 600 under his roof, and the number outside would probably double this amount" (1875). 1868 Trade Report of Siam of 1867. 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Sangkhomsaat 6(2):11-36. 1963 The Burman: His Life and Notions. New York: W. W. Norton. 1957 Fashion. American Journal of Sociology 62(6):541-558. 1891 Trade Report of Chiang Mai (1890). Rangoon Gazette Weekly Budget, 16 May. 1892 Trade Report of Chiang Mai (1891). Rangoon Gazette Weekly Budget, 24 June. 1987 Tattoos: Invulnerability and Power in Shan Cosmology. American Ethnologist 14:693-711. 1888-1930 Autobiography of Hugh Taylor. MS, Phayab College Library, Chiang Mai, Thailand. 1912 The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions. New York: B. W. Huebsch. Weiner, Annette B., and Jane Schneider, eds. 1989 Cloth and Human Experience. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. 1985 The Burma-Thailand Frontier over Sixteen Decades: Three Descriptive Documents. Monographs in International Studies Southeast Asia Series, No. 70. Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies. 1888 Eighteen Hundred Miles on a Burmese Tat. London: W. H. Allen.

2019-04-23T05:56:30Z

http://intgchiangmai.com/diary1985_005th.html

I have discussed previously the locomotive assignment booklets used for a number of years by Southern Pacific, and commented about how to use such a booklet for choosing my 1953 locomotives to model (you can see it at: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2011/04/choosing-1953-locomotive-roster.html ). But I didn’t say much in that post about the assignment booklets themselves. I want to say more in this post. Shown below is the cover of a typical booklet, this one for March 31, 1950. These were issued quarterly, and naturally describe all locomotives on the Pacific Lines part of the SP system (the summary shows system-wide totals for all Pacific Lines divisions). You can click on the image to enlarge it. Within the booklet, each division had a separate listing. I show below the two pages for the Coast Division, which is the division within which my layout is sited. Of course this division extended far beyond the area I model, from Santa Barbara in the south, to San Francisco, and thus included the entire Peninsula commuter district (at that time, spanning San Francisco-San Jose). Here is page 11 of the March 31, 1950 booklet. Note here that at this time there were 13 diesel switchers and 26 steam switchers, along with nine Consolidations and a Mogul also assigned to yard service, to do the division’s switching. In addition to large yards at Bayshore and Santa Clara, division point yards at Watsonville Junction, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara had to be worked. The second page, page 12 of the booklet, shows the remaining engines. It is interesting, looking at these two pages, to see the large number of Consolidations, and the relatively small number of cab-forwards at this time, and only five A-B-B-A sets of F units. That would change as dieselization proceeded, because the new F units were preferentially assigned at first in desert and mountain regions, where their tractive effort and absence of water consumption made them big advances over steam power. Meanwhile, the displaced steam gradually migrated into California on the lesser gradient areas, including Coast Division. Commute service on this division accounts for the substantial number of Pacifics, Mountains and GS 4-8-4s on the roster, relative to most other SP divisions at the time. I have chosen my locomotive numbers from these assignments, combined with examination of yard and roundhouse photos at San Luis Obispo, the nearest locomotive facility to my layout’s mythical Santa Rosalia Branch. Among the Consolidations listed on page 11, you can see numbers 2592, 2752, and 2829, all of which are on my layout. I also have an S-2 diesel switcher no. 1389, which as you can see was also on this division. The booklet shown above is for 1950, but in 1953 these same engines were still at San Luis Obispo. I discussed these same issues, and showed a San Luis roundhouse photo, in the post cited at the top of this post, along with showing a 1952 locomotive assignment sheet. One of the truly distinctive locomotives assigned for years at San Luis Obispo was Consolidation 2592. In the last years of its active life, it had a “whaleback” tender inherited from an early cab-forward. Here is one view of the engine switching at San Luis Obispo, taken in January 1954 by Rod Crossley. Note that the road name on the side of the tender is smaller than was standard after 1946. This locomotive is Class C-9, built by Baldwin in 1906, and like many Harriman Consolidations, so useful that it remained in service when newer and more modern engines were going to scrap. Here is my model of SP 2592, switching on my layout at Ballard. This model combines a Key brass SP 2-8-0 with a Westside brass tender, making this a distinctive locomotive. Today it also has DCC and sound, thanks to Al Massi. This single locomotive example illustrates one way to use the assignment sheets, combined with photographic evidence of how locomotives were configured and even lettered, to provide a realistic part of a layout locomotive fleet. I have written several times about the variety of commodities carried in tank cars, and the fact that certain commodities required special cars. Of course, many edible products and many simple chemicals can be carried in general-service tank cars, AAR class TM and ICC class 103, or even in non-regulated tank cars of classes like AAR-201 and AAR-203. But many corrosive, flammable, dangerous, or poisonous commodities have regulatory limits to how they are shipped, and must be carried in certain types of tank cars suitable for those cargoes. A fairly complete table, occupying 14 book pages, was issued by American Car & Foundry, and was published as an Appendix to Edward S. Kaminski’s book, Tank Cars, American Car & Foundry, 1865 to 1955 (Signature Press, Berkeley, 2003). But of course not everyone has that book on their shelf, even though as a partner in the publisher, I think they surely ought to own the book <grin>. A comparable table was published and distributed by General American Transportation Corporation, in several editions over the years. I have a copy of the one published in 1961. It is a most informative document, filled with operating directions, general arrangement drawings for complete cars, and also detail drawings of specific parts. Here is the cover (a little worn with use). Anyone can download the PDF for their use, or print it if desired. In an upcoming column in the “Getting Real” column series in Model Railroad Hobbyist, I will be discussing tank car construction and details, as well as usage, and this commodity table will be one of the tools to identify cars with cargoes. It’s my hope that this table will be use to modelers who wish to correctly marry their tank car models with appropriate waybills for suitable cargoes. That is the main way I use either one of the two tables (from AC&F or General American), and there are only a few differences in detail between the two. Among the refrigerator car owners from which Pacific Fruit Express borrowed cars during the PFE peak harvest months was Fruit Growers Express. These borrowed reefers could be any available cars from the entire FGEX fleet, including associated fleets from the Burlington (BREX) and Great Northern (WFEX), fleets which were operated by Fruit Growers as fully part of the FGEX fleet. For this reason, I need to model some of these cars. I already have on my roster a steel BREX car and wood-sheathed cars from WFEX and FGEX. But I could use one or two more. A number of years ago, at a swap meet, I saw a fairly nicely assembled reefer from a Red Ball kit (or I believe that was the origin), for one of the Pennsylvania Railroad R7 refrigerators. It had been painted in a layout owner’s paint scheme of white sides with a horizontal blue frame stripe, but didn’t look too bad otherwise. The price was right, just one dollar as I recall, so I bought it. I knew that when the PRR had joined Fruit Growers in the 1920s, the existing R7 cars had been transferred to FGE ownership. This car, as many know, was the refrigerator version of the X23 box car, with a complex pressed-steel exterior frame, built starting in 1913. This makes the exterior of the R7 visually striking, and I thought this would be an interesting addition to my FGEX fleet. I should quickly interject that I know perfectly well this model falls far short of the beautiful Westerfield kit for these cars (kit 1160x, with the “x” being a number for three different roof versions available), and these are in stock as far as I know (you can check availability on their website, at http://www.westerfieldmodels.com/ ). But this is not a central part of my reefer fleet, so I’m willing to accept the compromises of this version. You may of course reach the opposite conclusion for your fleet. It was easy to mask the boxcar red roof and ends and repaint the sides a golden yellow, as Fruit Growers used. Lettering was the next challenge. Although I am not aware of a decal sheet exactly for these R7 cars, the excellent Speedwitch Media set D119.1, for 1948-era paint, looked like it would work. These cars had been put into the FGEX number series 43500–46999, and even in the 1950s, some of these cars soldiered on in Fruit Growers service. Below is a prototype photo, taken in Sioux City, Iowa on September 30, 1952 (from the Bob’s Photo collection, used with permission). The car at left is notably taller. The R7 car height was not unusual in 1913, but cars gradually got taller and taller in the ensuing 50 years, up to my modeling year of 1953. I chose a car number within the series noted above, and applied the decals, then weathered the model to suggest a car with lengthy service since it was last painted. In the photo below, notice how much shorter the car is, compared to the PFE steel reefer to its left, just like the photo above. In service, these cars were limited by their small interior height and lack of floor racks, plus relatively thin insulation. They were accordingly used for dense cargoes like potatoes, or cargoes not requiring low transit temperatures, such as onions. I will waybill them accordingly on my layout, and am pleased to have one of these distinctive cars in my freight car fleet. Most of us have a stash of kits and materials, sometimes impressively large (I’ve known modelers whose stash rivaled a small hobby shop), others much less so. And most of us know that an awful lot of the stuff is not going to get built or the materials used. That’s more obvious with a huge stash, where a program of building at a rate of a kit a week might require a decade or more at that rate to make a sizable dent in the total. But even a smaller stash may contain a fair amount of stuff that no longer fits your needs or interests. I should say right away that I have no problem with kit collectors. I have known some, and was truly impressed with their encyclopedic knowledge of kit manufacturers and history. But sometimes you are surprised when you run into one. I once bought a couple of Authenticast slag car kits in a convention sales room, and when I let slip that I was looking forward to building them, the seller practically tried to grab them back from me. “Build them . . .” he said in dismay. I got out of there as fast as I could (by the way, they still aren’t built, as the smelter I once contemplated hasn’t materialized). But really, I’m sure I’m not a collector. Here’s a photo of what these kits look like. But when I say I’m not a collector, what I mean is that I really intend (at the time) to build or use the stuff I buy, though I will concede that some of my purchases have been with the thought that someday I might need that item. And we have all learned in our years in the hobby that if in doubt, buy it. It will likely cease to be available, either out of production or the kit maker out of business or something else. Buy it now or regret it later, the saying goes. I have certainly followed that injunction in some cases. Naturally many of those purchases, made with the best of intentions, somehow slip out of contention for building or use, like my slag cars. And certainly freight car kits, of which I once had a truly serious stash, can pile up on you in the most unnerving fashion. The question is how you evaluate this. Maybe you are turning into a collector and haven’t realized it yet. A clue is when you really like owning “that kit” or “that brass engine” but have no interest in building or painting it, and certainly no interest in selling it. Nothing wrong with that, though I do advocate facing up to the reality that is right under your nose. Or maybe you have just let things get out of hand. You know perfectly well that some of those kits were bought with objectives in mind that are no longer operative. I used to pick up structure kits all the time, when I lived in Pittsburgh and my layout had several sizable areas which were undefined, and thus could conceivably host any one of a number of structures. Now those areas are far distant in the rear-view mirror, and the kits, though still kind of nice, are clearly surplus. And there were plenty of freight car kits on my shelf which, when I looked at them objectively, really were not needed for my freight car fleet nor were sufficiently “fun” just to build. That makes ’em surplus. I have written in earlier posts about the gradual change in my freight car fleet, with the disposal of older models as well as unneeded kits (for example: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-right-size-freight-car-fleet.html ). The process continues. I never planned to replace the older models which were the best I could do at that time (remember when Athearn “Blue Box” box cars were the starting point for all 40-foot steel box cars?), but that’s what has been happening over the last two decades. I have now disposed of close to 350 cars, in the form of kits and of older, complete models, and have acquired or built about 275 new cars, in kit or ready-to-run form. The net effect has been to reduce my stash of car kits substantially. Resin in particular has been addressed very thoroughly, with more than 125 resin car kits either built or sold. One good effect of car kits of various kinds passing through my hands is that in many cases I have made a Xerox copy of kit instructions to keep, as the information can be pretty valuable in itself, not only the prototype data but model-building techniques. I even like to look at the instructions for kits owned for a long time, as a reminder of what I once wanted to do, and that can refresh some of my present planning. So even keeping your stuff moving can leave you with something of value. Practically every modeler has a stash of some kind, whether it’s structure or car kits like I discussed above, or brass engines that you “might need,” or materials like brick paper or basswood sheet or flat brass wire or . . . you recognize the pattern. This can be an asset when you need something out of that collection, but may need to be dealt with when it starts to overflow the storage space — or overflow what you are comfortable holding on to. It just needs to be evaluated from time to time. Over the years, I have accumulated a few older models that continue to serve as “mainline” freight cars, that is, cars which normally do not get switched to or from my on-layout industries, but simply pass by in the mainline freight trains (this was discussed in the last paragraph of this post: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2010/12/upgrading-old-models-3.html ). Some of these have older trucks I had never bothered to replace, and recently I got to looking at a few of them and decided they needed to be upgraded. If nothing else, this can be seen as a response in accord with my freight car standards (see for example: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2011/03/model-freight-car-standards.html ), but also reflects problems like oversize flanges, out-of-tram truck behavior, or other operational issues. As an example, I will use a Mantua reefer. Minimal upgrading had been done to it, retaining its molded-on grab irons and sill steps, but with a reasonable paint and lettering job, as well as weathering. I have been working on some other “mainline” cars also needing new trucks, including some old tank car models and two Athearn metal house cars, but will just describe the Mantua example. Shown above is the car body, prepared as described. Notice the route card, located right outside the black rectangle identified as the location for such cards. This card location is often seen in photos, no doubt deliberately done by car clerks who didn’t wish to be dictated to. The car is intended to represent the MDT cars with steel ends and wood-sheathed sides built in 1941. The problem with the trucks can be seen in the view below. The Mantua truck is assembled as two cast metal sideframes, with a sheet steel bolster inserted into each sideframe. The sharp “cookie cutter” wheel flanges are an artifact of the 1950s. You can click to enlarge. I first tried to disassemble the truck so the wheelsets could be replaced, but could not separate the parts. Also, I could see that the axle ends of the Mantua wheelsets are very narrow, so that the sideframes would not readily accept modern wheelsets. I decided to just replace the entire truck. The original truck screws are very short and work only with the sheet-metal bolster shown above, so I simply tapped the hole deeper with a 2-56 tap, and chose new screws. One can of course apply a generic AAR truck to cars like this. However, there are plentiful resources in existence to provide prototype information. In the case of MDT, the book Merchants Despatch, by Roger C. Hinman (Signature Press, 2011) is the relevant example, and I examined a number of photos in the book to choose a suitable truck for this model. I ended up using the Tahoe Model Works truck TMW-106, an ARA sideframe design with spring planks, produced by Buckeye. The kind of job shown above on the Mantua reefer is almost trivial, except that it brings another car into conformance with standards, and also makes for better operation, when the oversize flanges of the Mantua wheelsets are replaced. In actuality, this kind of task goes on all the time with my fleet, and I only mention this instance here to use it as an example of the process. I’ve just returned from a visit to Cuba on a licensed “People to People” tour, and there were plenty of interesting aspects to the trip, but here I will just write about the railroad and modeling aspects of interest. First, a little history. Cuba developed a rail network very early, plenty of it to serve sugar mills and plantations, but plenty more to connect cities. By 1958, Cuba had the most rail mileage per square mile of any country in the world. After the 1959 revolution, the existing railway companies were nationalized as Ferrocarriles Nationales de Cuba, which they remain today. An unfortunate aspect of a single national railway entity on an island is that there is no need to letter the name or even the initials of the owner on any equipment; there is no interchange. Rolling stock thus has a rather bare look, often bearing only a number and some very minor dimensional data. The FC, as it’s often designated, dieselized its main lines in the 1960s, and sugar operations gradually followed suit, eliminating steam on even the most backward plantations by about 2000. But many small steam locomotives have been preserved, and a few restored for tourism. Because of the U.S. embargo, new locomotives and rolling stock have been purchased elsewhere throughout the world, from the Soviet Union and China, to France, Germany, Britain and countries in eastern Europe, and in recent years, even freight cars from Iran. The resulting fleet is polyglot, to say the least. I will only show a few photos, and apologize in advance for not knowing more about the prototypes. I searched a number of Cuban bookstores for locomotive or train books, and found almost nothing. The internet coverage is spotty and sometimes contradictory. I hope anyone with a more substantial knowledge of the subject can help. But these are only intended as illustrations. In Camaguey, the old railway station is terribly decrepit, though restoration is in progress, and a small replacement depot was very crowded. I was able to watch and photograph from trackside considerable switching activity, including adding cars to a departing passenger train, without attracting the least attention. Here is one of the Russian-built locomotives, no. 81001, I believe type TEM2, of which I saw several on our trip, in the red and yellow scheme which seems to be for freight power. These things sound a lot like Alcos. The passenger power largely seemed to have an attractive scheme of dark and light blue. Passenger rolling stock ranged from stainless cars built by Budd, to very run-down standard steel coaches, to newer center-entrance cars looking much like box cars, and apparently built new that way. Note over the door the initials FC, not visible on many cars or locomotives. The Chinese company, formerly called China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (CNR) sold a fair number of locomotives to Cuba, and if I correctly understood the halting English of a trainman standing alongside one of them at Camaguey, they are hard to keep running. In a couple of places there were switchers in a pleasant orange and gray scheme, like no. 38063 here, but I have not been able to find out where they were built. It was picking up this head-end car. But enough about rolling stock I didn’t understand very well. The most stunning thing about Cuba, speaking as a modeler, is that walking in every city is like being in a 1950s movie. New American cars stopped arriving in Cuba in 1959, so there are 1950s American cars just everywhere. I knew they were there, but really had no idea how prevalent they are: they are not exceptions, they are the dominant car on the street. And even cars from the late 1930s and the 1940s can be seen too. I will only show a few of the many photos I took, and I can tell you, I plan to duplicate some of these models (though not the colors) on my 1953 layout. Many of the restored cars have been repainted in brilliant colors, and few have that many original mechanical parts. Suspensions are visibly altered, almost every car has modern wheels, and I was told that engines are rarely original (as was often evident from the sound). Many Russian and European parts have kept the cars running, and even homemade parts are used, attempting to replicate the unavailable American originals. There are lots of convertibles, partly because many of the cars are in use as privately-owned taxis, but there are also “classic car club” stickers on many cars. Owners are usually very proud of their car, and most speak English and are delighted to speak to an American. I am interested in correct model years, partly for modeling reasons, but I found car-spotting in Cuba to be a challenge. Not only may such spotting features as chrome trim as well as tail lights and other items be missing or replaced, even major visuals like grilles may be swapped. I saw an early 1950s Chevrolet with an unmistakable Buick grille, and a 1940s Ford with a unique homemade grille. This makes one a little cautious about identification of an individual car. So I will just show a few of the photos I liked. The massed taxis at places like the Parque Centrale in Havana are one good illustration, of the variety, the frequency of convertibles, and the bright replacement colors. Another street scene in Havana found my wife Mary alongside what I think is a 1951 Chevy sedan, clearly with replacement paint though otherwise looking more original than most. But like nearly every car, hub caps have vanished over the years. Here are a couple more that I really liked seeing, first a handsome 1955 Ford at a cafe on the road heading for Havana. Last, a superb Studebaker on the main square in Cienfuegos, I think a 1951. We also saw Edsels, International and Dodge pickups, and many more . . . but I digress. You can see that it was a visually interesting trip, and of course fascinating in many other ways too, most enjoyable for us both. I have alluded in prior posts in the “Waybills” series to the extremely valuable publications issued by many (maybe most) railroads, called a Shipper’s Guide, Industrial Directory, List of Industries, or some similar title. These documents list all on-line shippers and receivers, and are obviously superb resources. These are quite rare in the field of railroad paper items, in original form, and tend to be hard to find, even at railroad museums and archives, but luckily a number have been reprinted in recent years for modelers’ use. I am using reprinted Shipper Guides from Ted Schnepf’s “Rails Unlimited” business, for Great Northern, D&RGW, Union Pacific, Mopac / T&P, and Milwaukee Road. All these except the D&RGW one are available through Rails Unlimited (and here’s a link to their website: http://railsunlimited.ribbonrail.com/Books/shippers.html ; click on Books). There are several posts in which I have commented about these documents (for example, this one: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2012/02/waybills-18-resources.html ). Inside are 258 pages packed with irreplaceable information about both shippers and consignees throughout the sprawling Rock Island system. I will just show a single page to illustrate the kind of information presented. You can click on the image to enlarge it. The information is self-explanatory except for the far-right column, headed “SWG” (for “switching”), which shows whether sidings are accessible by reciprocal switching arrangements (called “open”) or not (“closed”). The five towns listed, each in a different state, are evidently small and have only a few industries each. By contrast, cities like Houston, Kansas City, Denver, or Minneapolis require dozens of pages to list all industrial customers. In fact, this 1971 Rock Island Directory is so comprehensive, it now joins my Great Northern Guide (also from Rails Unlimited) as my favorite useful and wide-ranging source of traffic information. There is another source of this kind of information about shippers and consignees, namely the large list compiled by the OpSIG group (Operations SIG of NMRA), which is available at their website, www.opsig.org, under “Online Resources,” and then “Industry Database.” This collected information is a fine effort by OpSIG and continues to grow, but be careful, as it is for a wide range of eras. Usually the date for each entry is shown, so it is possible to choose only the ones that fit your era. And though very extensive, it is in general less complete for a specific place than a Shipper Guide. In place of the process just describe, one can of course “imagineer” company names for either consignees or shippers if desired, but I like to find authentic ones where possible, partly because the “real names” often sound particularly realistic, as in this case. I cannot praise enough the value of a Shipper Guide in assisting you in that process, should you wish to work in that direction. Several years ago, I posted some comments to this blog about how I manage the flow and storage of the rolling stock on my layout (you can read it at this link: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2011/12/operations-car-flow-and-car-storage.html ). I have a fair number of freight cars beyond what is needed to operate the layout, partly to create variety in operations, but certainly not least because I am a freight car enthusiast. I have always enjoyed researching and building new freight cars, and the result is a car fleet rather distinctly too large for the layout, even with extensive staging capacity. One change I have made is to add some of the A-Line storage boxes. (These products are shown on their website, at: http://www.ppw-aline.com/hobbytote.htm ), though I have never bought the sleeve which makes them into a “tote;” I just buy the boxes.) These do a good job of holding about 16 cars each (for 40-foot cars), and they are well protected. Here is one such box, with the lid set aside. I continue to use my paper-carton boxes with trays (as described in the post linked at the top of this post), though because these are less quickly accessible than the A-Line boxes, they have become a kind of “deep storage” option. Gradually the cars which are less frequently used are migrating into the paper-carton trays. Those cartons and trays were shown in the previous post, a link to which is at the top of this post. The most active “pool” of cars is on the staging table, either made up into mainline trains, or simply in place on the storage tracks. This pool varies over time, with cars migrating off and onto the staging tracks as layout operations continue. Here is a shot of the table as it is at the moment. The table is not quite fully extended, as the furthest track visible is the 11th (there are 12 in all). The other part of the active “pool” storage is the shelving in my adjoining room (the kitchen, when this space was a sub-size apartment). These cars supplement the cars on the staging table. The top and bottom shelves are not really curved, the lens focal length just makes them look that way. How is this managed? I have a chart laying out the sequence(s) of car movements at each industry or other car spot (this procedure, a version of what can be called “demand-based car flow,” was described previously: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2011/11/operations-demand-based-car-flow-2.html ). From that chart, I make up a list of the movements which are the next sequence of operation, and go to my “pairs list,” described in an earlier post ( at: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2012/02/waybills-17-pairs-list.html ), and thereby find the cars with waybills for each of those car spots, along with the overlay bills for each spot. The waybills are filed by industry, so are readily retrieved. Then the car itself is located in storage by a (searchable) roster of all cars in active service. One of the entries for each car is its location, in a paper carton, in an A-Line box, or in the pool. I summarized an earlier version of this process in a blog post a few months ago (see it at: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2015/07/waybills-part-42-flexibility.html ). Obviously the car roster is a critical part of this process, and I have learned that the roster has to be kept up to date as cars move around between various storage locations. I usually indicate such movements with pencil corrections on the most recent print-out. When a page gets too heavily marked up, I just update the electronic file and reprint the page. All in all, the process described above does work, and seems to provide good operational movement of cars, while permitting some selection of cars for each movement (because there are multiple waybills for every industry and car spot). I am always experimenting with ways to make the process more efficient, but for now, what I’m describing works well.

2019-04-22T01:04:49Z

http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2015/

This week at Wednesday Afternoon Writers, we used a prompt idea from one of the amazing demonstrations I had the honor of being a part of this summer at the Denver Writing Project. As a matter of fact, for the past few weeks at WAW, we’ve been using prompts or activities I gleaned from the DWP. These prompts have given a new spark to our writing. We each chose one strip from each bag and attempted to use them in any way we deemed in our writing. We wrote for ½ hour and shared. So here are the three poems we used. Below in my writing I have printed the words of the above poets in bold. In my story they are ordered: Lowell, Forbes and Evans. Sitting perfectly upright, contented and pensive on a tree stump, Emma pulled the stuffed raccoon closer to her. The soft fur tickled her chin. Emma’s tiny giggle twinkled in the cold morning air, making the darkening forest path a less foreboding walk. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be on the path alone. Emma left her grandmother’s cottage while she could still hear her grandmother’s snoring rising up to her room through the shared fireplace chimney. But she needed to escape and this was her best chance. Standing up, gathering her courage and her best friend, Emma started down the path. She came to the inevitable fork in the road. But this time there was actually a fork in the road holding three signs, one on each tine. The third sign stated, “ Green-White Water This Way” and had an arrow pointing to the right. Emma wasn’t there to do what she always did. And, after all, she had a great imagination. So she wouldn’t even entertain the idea of traveling down the boring, middle road. Also, she was escaping from seriously risky business. She wasn’t about to add to her troubles by going to the left. Green-White Water sounded like a welcoming place. She loved to swim and always wanted to visit the ocean. Emma decided this was the “right” path to follow. With a skip to the right and laugh, “And let the green-white water way be before us!” she declared their mission. And down the right lane, Arthur the Raccoon and Emma the Girl From Her Sleeping Grandmother’s Cottage chose their poison and headed for the Green-White Water. It is important to stop here for you to learn a bit about Emma herself. Emma seemed like a very sweet girl who loved her silly, stuffed raccoon. To the outside world, this is who she was. But she was left at her grandmother’s cottage by her parents because this was not who Emma really was. The evening before Emma left her grandmother’s cottage, she was sure to pour a sleeping draft into her grandmother’s milk to make her grandmother’s deep sleep and snore alarm. Her grandmother would be sleeping for days, so Emma had plenty of time to do as she pleased. And secondly, Emma’s parents and neighbors wouldn’t suspect a thing. Emma sent notes, written in her grandmother’s hand as the clever opening to her clever spell. The notes announced to the neighbors and Emma’s parents a trip the two of them were taking to visit a distant acquaintance, for a week or so. The neighbors and Emma’s parents were instructed not to worry, as Emma and her grandmother would inform them of their return immediately upon their arrival back at her grandmother’s cottage. This also bought Emma more time for more adventuring, if she so pleased. It is odd that I begin with Monte the Camel. He is just a planter, the type that was popular many years ago in the late 1950s and 60s. There is no hole for water drainage. Yet my mom, and later I, tried time and time again to grow plants in him. They always died because of either too much water or not enough. The remarkable thing about Monte is the memories he sparks of my mom. She had a great sense of humor, something most people just passed by until my husband, Leroy, discovered it and encouraged many years later. I can’t remember why my mom named this planter Monte. But I know she had a story that would have been a bit risqué and only she would keep the secret. The rest of us would go on asking ourselves why would Annette name a planter? But I think she named many things. The one name of an object I do remember is Doobee Faret. It was a bee of some kind. It’s not important that I remember the object itself. What is important is that I do remember her asking me if I wanted to know what the name meant. She had a mischievous grin on her face. I knew it would be good. My grandfather was a bee hobbyist. My mom or dad drove him miles every spring through early fall almost everyday of the week from Globeville to a farm in Arvada. Here a generous farmer, Mr. Granjeans, (No, not Greenjeans of Captian Kangeroo fame.) had given him a spot on his farm for my gandfather’s twenty or so beehives. My mom or dad made the trip twice a day from Denver to Arvada to drop him off early in the morning before my dad opened his T.V. repair shop and pick him up in the evening after the shop closed. They also made the yearly trip to Union Station to pick up Grandpa’s queen bee and her court for the season. I remember riding in the back seat of the ’55 Chevy Nomad, hoping and praying that the bees wouldn’t get out of their box. The buzzing was so loud I thought they would certainly sting us to death if they did. So bees and beekeeping were a part of our life and I wanted to know about Doobee Faret. This was long before the Doobie Brothers ever thought about forming a band. She made me promise not to tell anyone, especially my dad. I took the oath. Taking me aside and whispering ever so softly, mom explained to me that with all the bee frenzy in our house, she always wondered if bees farted. There was a long pause with her smiling broadly. I just stared at her. She then repeated, “Do bees fart?” Finally, with disappointment spreading across her face, she stated “Doo…bees…fart?” “Doobee Faret?” She had to conceal the “fart” inside the “Faret” so she could say it in company. I laughed. She giggled. And we promised never to say a word. So in tribute to my mom’s sense of humor, Monte serves as the mascot and the beginning of my book of memories. The idea for the book stems from the many “Clean Out Your Lives” shows I have been watching on cable. I really yearn for more open space, everywhere. I understand that it is the memory that the object holds, and not the object itself. But it is hard to let go of things that have been touched and loved by loved ones. Keep the mantra going: It is the memory that the object holds, and not the object itself. I also like the revelation that these memories sitting on a shelf hidden by other memories or packed away in boxes not to be looked at for years and years, does not honor the objects or their memory. Keeping the objects just results in clutter and more work in their upkeep. We recently moved from 850 square feet into 2700. Granted, some of the stuff in our house is my father’s. Many things are those my mom packed away herself and hadn’t opened since we moved from Globeville to Wheat Ridge in l974. And even more of these boxes held wedding presents from 1950 that she never used. So the 2700 square foot house is now full. I need to let go of stuff. And I begin here. Monte and My Marvelous Compendium of Enduring Memories. I will take photos and write a quick, or not so quick, note about it and put it in a lovely little journal I purchased for this reason. Then the items will be taken to Good Will. Of course, I will keep a few objects that are definitive. I believe this process will help me find them. For example, of the ten or so objects I have chosen to go first in the process, it surprises me that Monte the Camel planter is the one I had the most second thoughts about getting rid of. More than my baptism hat, or first pair of red sneakers, or the lone surviving horse from Stock show souvenirs. This process must not be burdensome, so that I keep up. I hope it will teach me that one step at a time, or object, will make a big difference in the end. It will also keep me writing! Note to myself: It is the memory that the object holds, and not the object itself. It feels right and I am smiling. Yelling into the bullhorn, I thought what I was saying was something encouraging, soothing. Possibly, even profound. It wasn’t. It was a scream at the top of my lungs letting loose a string of profanities that would make a mob boss cry. I always wanted to be an admired leader, just like my dad. At one time he was a mayor of a small town in Iowa. He brought in the quarter-finals of the International Hot Dog Eating Competition and, with it, enough income to keep the town in the black until the County Fair. Inspired by his financial gamesmanship, high school graduates flooded the local community college to study neoclassical price theory, economic liberalism, and the free market. I wanted to inspire kids to reach for the stars, too. How the hell was that ever going to happen with my vocabulary, regardless of my dreams? My dad was widowed in a freak accident with a chocolate cake when I, his only daughter, had just turned one. So, I was raised by my grandma. Grammy looked like everyone else’s grandma except for the shock of red hair that changed shades on a monthly basis. She colored it to match her mood. If violet-red was the color of the choice, we knew it would be a gentler time and her words not so sharp. But if crimsons and oranges raged through Grammy’s locks and gold streaked to the tips of her split ends, we knew we were in for a bumpy ride with her lamentations. It was storied to be a month of flame reds glowering from Grammy’s hairdo when the cake incident happened. It was my dad’s birthday and Mom was hiding the cake on top of the fridge when she slammed the freezer side-door. It actually wasn’t the cake that killed her, though. The cake slid off and planted itself on the floor upside down. Mom stood stunned for several seconds. She had labored long and hard to get that cake done. She wanted it to be just like the cake Dad remembered from his childhood. But she wasn’t a baker. She struggled for days to make the special cake using the beloved recipe. Grammy refused to share the recipe with Mom until the first grandchild was one year of age. Grammy felt that one year of life would cement the fact that the new generation was there to carry on. Grammy lectured Mom time and time again about how the cake recipe had been in the family for “generations upon generations.” Grammy insisted it was the same recipe used by our humble relatives and served to Marie Antoinette. Secretly mom wished she could someday visit the scullery in the Palace of Versailles to be inspired by the kitchens that produced this family heirloom. What Mom didn’t realize was that while she appreciated that Grammy could swear like a sailor, the benefactor of the honored recipe could lie like a rug, too. Despite the tension caused from the ownership of the recipe, Mom and Grammy supposedly got along famously. One of the amusements they had in common was appreciating pulling off a real good practical joke. They were Mom’s specialty and Grammy embraced the challenge of not letting her succeed. It took mom two attempts at baking the cake with the so-called original recipe, before she connected Grammy’s regular visit each afternoon and the smirk plastered across Grammy’s face with the botched cakes coming out of the oven. The first time Mom tried baking the chocolate cake, it turned out more like pudding. Grammy simply grinned and offered to tweak to the recipe. Later that evening as Grammy was leaving for bingo, her purse felt a bit heavy. Opening the clasp, Grammy witnessed her lipstick tube, a piece of Wrigley’s Spearmint gum and her grocery list submerged in brown, sticky goo. Mom’s second cake attempt was so dry and hard that she simply threw it away. Mom stormed out of the kitchen refusing to acknowledge Grammy’s Cheshire grin wrapping around her face. Grammy dug the cake out of the garbage can, wrapped it in tin foil, and used it as a doorstop until the day she died. Again Grammy offered to adjust the recipe. But mom decided to take the bull by the horns and complete the cake without Grammy’s assistance. Mom finally succeeded in her quest by contacting the Women’s Social Group. The church ladies descended like chickens to their feed. They had a mission. They quickly and, rather proudly, deciphered Grammy’s scratchings, re-adjusted the hallowed recipe for the high altitude of Leadville, the Two Mile High City of the West, and produced a most perfect cake. That was all Mom needed to hear. She began to chase Grammy round and round the tiny kitchen. Each time they passed the cake, they got closer and closer. Just as Grammy skirted by the ragged edge of the broken cake plate, she took a sudden turn out the backdoor. The neighbors still reminisce about the foot race. Grammy running down the street giving her best dissertation while my mother followed close behind waving her arms gloriously in the air and adding to the din. Although Mom couldn’t begin to touch Grammy’s dubious parlance, she had been in training with Grammy before she married Dad. Apparently, the Iowa town where Dad was mayor could ignore Grammy’s outbursts. But adding Mom into the discourse would not be tolerated. So after the wedding, Dad found a new town high up in the Rocky Mountains and a job running the local bookstore. He said he chose Leadville so Grammy’s words had less traveling time to reach the atmosphere before being sucked forever into outer space. Anyway, Grammy just kept running with Mom matching her pace in stride, as well as words. By the time Grammy and Mom reached the town’s edge, there was hardly room on the sidewalks for sightseers and the cheering almost overrode the battle cries of my matriarchs. Once Grammy and Mom faded into the distance up the mountainside, everyone had placed their bets on the champion of their choice. The bets would be settled once the victor descended back down the mountainside. Grammy and Mom continued running along the hiking trail turning the crisp air blue with their words. As Grammy came to the boarded-up mine entrance she took a turn away from their normally agreed upon stopping place. It was here under the pines they would usually end their charades. Their deceptions were always planned in advance. On the agreed upon day, Grammy would take her regular morning stroll to the mine entrance with a not so regular purpose. With the promise of a late afternoon swig, Grammy would hide the Shanahan’s bottle with a couple of glasses, one for each of them. Both enjoyed whiskey and a local distiller was their favorite. It wasn’t until Grammy died a few years ago that Mr. Shanahan himself came by the house with Grammy’s inveterate tab, smiled at dad, and tore it up. Mr. Shanahan assured Dad that he delighted in his bi-monthly shot, chat, and cigar with Grammy and that he would never accept a cent from dad to pay Grammy’s bill. But the day of the chocolate cake incident, Grammy didn’t stop for their appointed toast at the predestined spot. Mom followed Grammy through the pine forest, this time without a path. Grammy kept stringing her words together, then stopped. Mom’s retorts had ended a second before. It was silent, no padding of feet. Nothing but the wind scratching the tips of the pines. Grammy turned. Mom was gone. Grammy traced her steps backward. She knew this area like the back of her hand. Grammy had taken the right side of the large pine, while Mom ran around the left. But on the left was an old mine shaft that had probably been recently uncovered by curious tourists, leaving a hole descending into darkness miles deep into the mountain. Grammy didn’t linger. She high-tailed it back to town, cursing all the way. As Grammy descended, the townspeople began to settle their bets. That day, however, they sensed a different tone upon hearing Grammy’s usual anathema. They searched for days for my mom. They sent down expert rescuers and Grammy understood the importance of rooting for them at the edge of the shaft the whole time. They never found her. Not a trace. It was as if she disappeared off the face of the earth. There is a river that runs deep beneath the surface of the Leadville mountain and it was determined that Mom must have been swept away. I set the bullhorn down. I knew there wouldn’t be another talk by the superiors of our town’s summer camp warning me that I had one more chance if I could just control my language. Earlier conversations had strongly suggested that if I wanted to rise to Camp Counselor of the five-year-olds and, one day, to Camp Director, I would have to learn some self-control. It just wasn’t going to happen. I wanted to make my Dad as proud of me as I am of him. But I had spent the first eighteen years of my life under the tutelage of my Grammy. I turned from the wide-eyed stares and dropped jaws of the Bunny Hoppers and headed towards the bus stop. I didn’t need my stuff. I was on a new mission. Walking down the gravel path I reached into the pocket of my shorts. I pulled out the tattered, yellowing piece of paper titled “Chocolate Cake” that was left to me in Grammy’s will. I read the final line of the recipe one more time. Across the bottom in bright red felt tip pen Grammy had scratched: Your mom always wanted to live in Paris. Well, I guess it was time for a blanking trip to Paris. This piece was one of several written during my time with the Denver Writing Project. It is a piece of silliness. I wanted it to be much darker and funnier. I don’t know how to do that. Yet. I will learn. But for now, I hope you enjoyed this little bit of fiction and had a little chuckle. Langston Hughes is one of my favorite poets. He can sing the blues without using a single note. His words sway across the page like the music itself. Today’s poem escorts the melancholy of the blues onto the page. When I read this poem, I feel like I am sitting at a table in the bar listening to this man’s lament. I feel the beat and smell the smoke. There are little or no words spoken between those left at the tables. It’s too late for that. The night is slipping into the early morning and regrets fill the air. I wonder, did the music give definition to the word – blue? How could a color so calm as the morning sky or vibrant as the rolling sea give birth to such heartbreak? The deep navy that streaks across our flag is a noble blue. How much sadness, as well as joy and triumph, are held within those borders? Today I came across a remarkable young poet, J. Michael Martinez. I must give gratitude to Poets.org for the introduction. This is the type of poem that puts many people off and takes them away from even trying to understand the poet’s words. I ask you not to be swayed and quickly go away. The wonderful thing about poetry is that it should be read aloud. If you click on the link below, you can hear the poet read this poem. When I am unsure about what a poem means, I read it aloud, several times. If that doesn’t work, I look for a recording of the poet, so I can hear his phrasing and stops and how he feels his own words. Then it is up to me. I must make it live in my own life. That is the beauty of good poetry. It will mean something different to each person who reads it. We always bring our experiences to the table when reading other’s words. Our understanding and comprehension turns on who we are. That is how poetry speaks to us. Let this poem have a chance to speak to you. Allow Mr. Martinez to read to you and enjoy. How do you see white? How does it live and breathe in your life? What do those white stripes on our flag say to you this holiday time? Thought I would share, over the next few days, some of my favorite poems inspired by my work at the Denver Writing Project. My choice for today is by Williams Carlos Williams. And so begins a poem I love for its simplicity and elegance. William Carlos Williams is a master of precision and beauty. It’s easy to throw a lot of descriptive words onto a page. What Williams does, is what the master gardener does. The master gardener is a creator with an eye to the minute, as well as to extravagance. While the entire garden tells a story, it is in honing in on the exquisiteness of the diminutive vignette that completes its own narrative. In that breath, I invite you to imagine a clear blue sky when reading this poem. Even better, find a friend and take turns reading it to one another while the listener’s eyes are closed. It’s a perfect compliment to this holiday weekend.

2019-04-26T08:06:20Z

https://leximagines.com/2011/07/

Have You Tasted These Wines From Brazil? When I received an invitation to taste the Wines of Brazil by the Brazilian Consulate in Atlanta, I was intrigued. Though I have traveled to Brazil three times, Brazilian wines have not really appeared in my radar as a food critic. Why was that? And what role does wine play in Brazilian cuisine? I wanted to find out. Held at the famous Brazilian steakhouse chain, Fogo de Chao, the event was a gathering of many wine producers who had traveled from Brazil to talk about their products. There were half a dozen wine tasting stations, each represented by a producer pouring a few kinds of reds and whites. Turns out that Brazil has a long history of producing wine, dating back to the middle of the 19th century. The real action started several decades later when Italian immigrants arrived and embarked on an ambitious plan. Their plan was ambitious out of necessity, since a wave of German immigration preceded the Italian immigration and the Germans predictably settled on the best available lands. In the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, this ended up meaning those lands closer to the coast. The Italians had to march inland over the gentle slopes of red soils that reach to the Atlantic Ocean, onto the high plateaus and through the hills to found towns with names like Garibaldi and Nova Bassano. They settled into valleys named after homes left behind, like the Vale Trentino. Brazil’s biggest representatives in the international market are sparkling wines of high quality and exceptional acidity and freshness. Produced through the Traditional or Charmat methods, they both tend to use mainly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. A typical meal of the Serra Gaúcha region still begins with Agnolotti en Brodo and generally includes polenta and some sort of roasted chicken or pig dish. Older people continue to speak Italian in the region. This vestigial Italian continues to be widespread, particularly once you get out of the city and into the valleys that surround Bento Gonçalves, and it shapes the wines as much as it shapes the language. So, what do Brazilian wines taste like? Most people would say they are young, easy drinking, table wines. Brazilian Muscats are most internationally recognizable. Light bodied and flavorful, these can be enjoyed outdoors while the men grill meat for hours and the rest of the families prepare plates of salads, fried yucca, rice and beans. Among the red varieties, Merlot has been recognized by some experts as the one with the highest potential to represent Brazil in the international market. Named by the Wine Enthusiast magazine as one of the 10 best wine tourism destinations in the world, the Vale dos Vinhedos is filled with beautiful landscapes, great wine, plenty of great restaurants and places to simply relax. With around 200 thousand tourists each year, it has become a famous destination in Brazil. A city that specializes in the production of sparkling wines and features a sparkling wine tour route. Around 90 thousand yearly visitors come and check the local attractions. Besides the impressive landscapes, with native woods, waterfalls, and of course vineyards, the highlight of this Pinto Bandeira is their sparkling wines. Small and intimate, this is a region where the local wineries continue to offer charming gastronomic and lodging options. Another young region where the landscape is dotted with cutting-edge wineries, celebrating modern architecture beautifully integrated with the vineyards. An advanced culinary school in the region has helped the cities of Flores da Cunha and Nova Pádua to become the twin gourmet centers of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Centered between the cities of Gramado and Canela, this is a region made famous by their well-preserved colonial architecture. While the region has preserved the look of the past, the local hotels and restaurants are very much up to date with a year-round promotional schedule that has been attracting tourist for years. Located at the base of Lookout Mountain near downtown Chattanooga, TN, the Elements Treehouse stands out for its state-of-the-art bathroom constructed of natural elements inspired by Dove’s Elements product range and sweeping forest views. The treehouse is the second house for rent at a treehouse resort – Treetop Hideaways in Flintstone, GA. Founded by local entrepreneurs Andrew Alms and Enoch Elwell, Treetop Hideaways came about as an idea to allow childhood memories to flourish and for families to experience sustainable living close to the city. The Dove Men+Care Elements Treehouse is designed by architect Pete Nelson, a world-renowned treehouse architect, host of Treehouse Masters and owner of Nelson Treehouse and Supply company. It features modern architectural designs surrounded by nature, utilizing the most efficient and sustainable systems. In the morning, sip on local MayFly coffee while lounging on the private deck. Feel the cool morning mist, listen to the sounds of birds chirping and the flowing stream on property. Interior designed by Will Taylor, founder of Bright Bazaar is done in nature-inspired style, with sage bedding, charcoal-etched wall art, and sandalwood accents. Green, white and grey Earth tones create a rustic yet contemporary ambiance. Connect to Alexa to play your favorite music as you nap in the Tuft & Needle queen mattress downstairs or climb to the loft where you can see the tree canopy through the skylights from the comfort of two beds. The focal point of the treehouse is the spa inspired Elements bathroom with charcoal wood paneling, clay sink, heated flooring, temperature controlled 5-head shower, linen robes, Dove Men+Care Elements toiletries, and a glass enclosed tree in the bathroom with skylight and see-through flooring. Here you can feel like you are showering in the forest, yet have your preferred water heat set on the digital keypad. Grab a cold beer from the refrigerator and get some steaks or hot dogs started on the outdoor grill. The outdoor fireplace is perfect for roasting marshmallows under the stars and reminiscing about good old campfires. Chattanooga is quickly becoming a top travel destination voted ‘Best Town in America’ by the readers of Outside magazine. Surrounded by acers of forest, Treetop Hideways is located within minutes of world-class climbing, mountain biking, trail running, caving, and more. Nearby attractions include Ruby Falls, Rock City Gardens, Tennessee Aquarium, Cloudland Canyon State Park and North Chickamauga Gorge. The Dove Men+Care Elements Treehouse is the perfect family friendly retreat to spend summer holidays in nature and comfort. Hotel restaurants typically don’t have a good perception when it comes to offering superior quality food or unique cuisines. But the W Atlanta – Midtown is an exception. Inspired by its Georgia location, TRACE restaurant incorporates southern cuisine in the menu, using seasonal locally sourced ingredients. The Midtown Atlanta hotel can be described as urban chic at best. Glamorously dressed people can be found getting out of their uber expensive cars into the illuminated car port. The lobby feels like a trendy lounge with live DJ, as patrons cheer their martini glasses. The interior of TRACE is contemporary, yet comfy. Tall glass windows line one of the walls of the room, while the exposed ceiling creates a feeling of a warehouse. Then there are colored pots and pans covering an entire wall, dark wood floors, and giant blue gray screens hanging from the ceiling. I feel like I’m in a 21st century barn! Cocktails are the main attraction at TRACE. In addition to regional brews and global wines, hand crafts cocktails with unique names are rotated off the menu often. My favorite was Anger Management (perfect after a tough week right?) with mango vodka, agave, pineapple and orange juice. The powdered habanero around the rim of the glass is sure to give you a burn with each sip. Gotta Wear Shades (I told you the names are creative) was also quite refreshing for a bourbon drink. It had fresh blackberry/ blueberry juice, peach bitters and Ridgemont Reserve 1792. The menu is sectioned into shared plates, salads, entrees and sides. Southern favorites such as fried gulf oysters, deviled eggs, and thrice cooked wings are nostalgic starters. The oysters are fresh are corn flour battered, served with spicy rep pepper jelly aioli. The mushroom and goat cheese toast is hearty and delicious. Grilled salmon is seared crisp on the outside and tender in the center. It feels more of a personal entree than an app plate though. Everything comes with generous portions of healthy greens sourced from GA farms. The crab and avocado salad was my favorite. Again, a good portion of greens is topped with fresh steamed jumbo lump crab meat is perfect for seafood lovers, and the grilled avocado adds a surprise element to each bite. Gulf catch of the day, grouper in this case, was chewy, though well seasoned with with black pepper, and sat on some very spicy cooked kale. Another twist I enjoyed was the pimiento mac and cheese. Though the pimento made the dish a bit runny, the toasted bread crumbs added a crisp nice texture. For dessert, I tried the chocolate mousse cake, a rather rich flourless version with dark creamy mousse. The raspberry and chocolate sauces were a bit runny for my taste, but good enough to lick the plate clean! The coast, the mountains, and the home: that is the landscape of authentic Puerto Rican cuisine painted by Atlanta-based renowned Chef, Hector Santiago. Known for his stint on Top Chef, Santiago has made a name for himself through his restaurants Pura Vida, and his most recent foray in the Atlanta food scene, El Super Pan. INSPIRED BY THE WORLD – El Super Pan boasts traditional dishes from all around the Spanish Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic), some of which have very non-traditional fusion elements from other international cuisines, particularly flavors from East Asia. One would never see pork belly buns, fish sauce, or anchovies in Puerto Rican cuisine, but Santiago is a firm believer in the expansion of what we know about food. He is inspired to create by the fresh ingredients grown in whatever environment he happens to be cooking in. Santiago, along with other Atlanta-based Puerto Rican Chefs, Julio Delgado and Andre Gomez, will be planning a menu for Go Eat Give Destination Puerto Rico that provides a true glimpse into the everyday food in Puerto Rico; a real slice of life. But don’t get me wrong, there is nothing “run-of-the-mill” about everyday Puerto Rican food. It is full of layers of spices, textures, and strong flavors, because food and eating is such a big part of Puerto Rican culture. Santiago said that when he was a kid in Puerto Rico, cooking at a young age was extremely common, and all of his friends used to come to his house to cook together, laugh, play, and eat. YEAR-ROUND FOOD FESTIVALS – Santiago explained that there is an immense festival culture in Puerto Rico. There is always something going on and with that, comes the food. He joked, “If you’re not drinking Cerveza in Puerto Rico, you’re probably eating!” There is truly a festival for every occasion on Puerto Rico and for the harvest of every possible staple food you could think of. There are coffee festivals, banana festivals, taro festivals, corn festivals, tomato festivals, orange festivals and more than five different festivals dedicated to crab. Puerto Rico is also a growing home to very large, internationally recognized culinary festivals, like Saborea (savor) where over 70 chefs, brewers, mixologists, and baristas come together to celebrate the best the country has to offer. I’m not sure there are many other places in the world where food is SO central and so celebrated–that’s how you know it’s going to be good. THE COAST – To start, the chefs will present a taste of the coast. Attendees will taste bacalitos, which are fritters of salted cod. Santiago says bacalaitos are a very traditional Puerto Rican dish, despite the fishes’ natural cold water habitat. They are a food tradition left over from Spanish influence, so they import the cod to keep the tradition alive. There will be a variety of empanadas and alcapurrias. Alcapurrias, unlike empanadas, are made with a batter of mashed root vegetables like plantains and taro, and are often stuffed with fish or crab. This is the food people think of and crave in the coastal regions of Puerto Rico: little, deliciously crunchy, fried seafood snacks that are easy to grab and go. THE MOUNTAINS – For the main courses, Santiago, Gomez, and Delgado will prepare a taste of the mountains, a frequent weekend escape destination for many Puerto Rican families. One of the dishes include Mofongo. Although you will find similar cuisine throughout the Spanish Caribbean, mofongo is thought of as originally Puerto Rican. It features green plantains mashed, fried, and served with crispy pork chops spiced with, of course, adobo and garlic. Pork is a common and celebrated form of protein in Puerto Rico. So, we will also get to taste Lechon Asao, pork slow roasted until the skin is thin and crispy, which will be served with arroz con gandules (pigeon peas). All of these thoughtfully planned out and expertly prepared dishes, combined with the live music and dancing always present at Puerto Rican food festivals, we are all going to feel as if we are actually there. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate this amazingly rich culture than through a fiesta of food, one of the things it holds most dear. So let’s eat! GET YOUR TICKETS TO DESTINATION PUERTO RICO TODAY! Jason Santamaria is a Beer Architect, a somewhat unusual title. He is the president and one of the co-founders of one of Atlanta’s newest players in the Craft Beer scene, Second Self Beer Company. I recently had the pleasure of visiting the brewery at their location on the West Side of Atlanta, and got to know how exactly he and Chris Doyle, “The Alechemist”, were building. Jason (left) and Chris (right) at the opening of their Tasting Room. Chris and Jason have been brewing together since 2005. Jason comes from a culinary family and he claims that this background is part of the reason he felt a connection to brewing craft beer. But for him, it wasn’t just about making the best version of a beer that many others were already producing, it was about making something entirely different. The first beer that Jason and Chris produced and took to brewing competitions, was a Red Hop Rye. The problem was, it didn’t exactly fit into any particular beer category. Essentially, they combined elements from three different beer categories: Red Ale, IPA, and Rye Wheat beer, and came up with a new style of beer. For Jason, “it’s a perfect example of American ingenuity in beer.” This is Second Self’s beer philosophy. They are constantly working to create beers that have never been thought of or heard of; sophisticated not just in structure or flavor, but in concept as well. Jason has even introduced international cuisines to American craft beer. Second Self’s “Thai Wheat” was inspired by Jason’s travels to Thailand in 2010. He took cooking classes while there and learned about a tradition spice blend, “well, technically a tea,” he said, that is now the base of the beer. They use fresh lemongrass and ginger, which is something you would never find in a traditional wheat beer. He mentioned that it took about 100 iterations to perfect this drink. This kind of detail-oriented production is what is needed to make the type of beers that Jason envisions: Beers that are able to pair with a multitude of cuisines and flavors. Beers that are not too overbearing, but that still maintain a complexity of flavor that make them a delight to drink on their own. Jason talks about beer as a sophisticated sommelier would talk about wine, and there’s a reason for that. “Wine’s been at the dinner table too long and beer needs to have its place too,” he says. I believe Second Self is creating a new space within American Craft Beer that is doing just that; it asks for a spot at the dinner table based on its merit and thoughtfulness, and I believe the beers Second Self is producing deserves that spot. So does renowned Atlanta-based Puerto Rican Chef, Hector Santiago, which is why you will see Second Self beers alongside our amazing menu of expertly prepared Puerto Rican dishes at Destination Puerto Rico (by the way, I am partial to the Mole Porter). Any beer with as much insight, enterprise, and creativity behind it as the ones Jason and Chris painstakingly draw the blueprints for, build and perfect, is sure to bring not just beer, but any dining experience, up to a whole new level. Second Self Beer Company has just opened a new Tasting Room. You can book a tasting tour of the brewery on their website! ~ By Virginia Spinks, intern at Go Eat Give. Virginia is a senior at Emory University majoring in religion and anthropology. As an Atlanta native, she has grown up around many different cultures and cuisines, and has always had a passion for food. She views food as an experience: a point of connection to bring people together and create lasting memories.

2019-04-20T22:33:15Z

https://goeatgive.com/category/usa/atlanta-destinations/

I got an email recently from a woman who was struggling to make a big decision. She had been dating a guy for several months and he was ready to to take the next step of commitment with her. But she wasn’t sure. She felt torn, she said, and that made her a bit anxious. But she couldn’t put her finger on why she felt that way. Maybe you can relate to the position she was in—having a big, life-altering type decision to make, but not sure which way to go. The guy was great, she told me. Her friends loved him and he treated her well. On top of all of that, usually her mother didn’t like her boyfriends, but in this case she would make comments about how this was the “best guy she had ever dated” and how disappointed she would be if it didn’t work out. And so as her boyfriend waited for her to make up her mind and her friends doted over her with compliments about him and her mother made jokes like, “don’t screw this up!” she felt beside herself with anxiety. Am I supposed to feel like this? She wondered. Why “Finding Yourself” Matters So Much. You hear people talk about “finding yourself” all the time and yet most of us don’t really know what it means or why it matters. In fact, I think the term gets sort of watered down. We think of “finding yourself” as this cursory thing we do, on the side, if we have time, after we get the more important work of life done. We forget what an incredible danger it is to live life without knowing who you are. We forget there is very little progress we will be able to make in this life if we don’t have a firm grip on who we are and why we matter. The language psychologists use for a person who hasn’t “found themselves” is: lacking of a sense of self or a lack of personal identity and psychologists recognize that when a person lacks a sense of personal identity, their problems extend into every aspect of their life: relationships, career, even mental and emotional health. Not to mention, it can be really difficult to make a decision—even a small one. When we don’t know who we are, we end up spending more time wondering about what other people want from us than about what we want and need for ourselves. Which, of course, can be incredibly anxiety-producing. How can you possibly measure your success or progress or integrity in life if you’re measuring by other people’s standards? The measuring stick is constantly shifting, depending on your circumstances, your situation, your surroundings, or who is doing the asking. You feel pulled between your boss, your mom, your friends, your spouse, and maybe, just maybe, some very quiet, inner-voice. And at some point, you will let one or more of them down. You cannot possibly meet so many expectations. It’s exhausting. It’s awful. I’ve been there. And in many ways we are all there at some point in our lives—including the young woman who sent me that email—because finding yourself is not a one-time event. It’s a journey we’re on together (tweet that). Lack of Personal Identity and Depression. There is a psychologist and author named Albert Bandura who has done a considerable amount of research around something he calls self-efficacy, which could be translated: a strong sense of self. He makes a specific connection between a weak sense of personal significance and depression. I know depression is a complicated issue with lots of complicated answers. Not to mention, I have gone around and around with depression in my life. I’ve spent years on medication and in therapy and it hasn’t been until the past five or ten years that I’ve discovered some freedom from it. Just the thought depression is something that sort of haunts me to this day. But it hasn’t been until I’ve begun to develop a stronger sense of self that I’ve been able to find a bit of freedom from my depression. That is not a prescription, but it is a suggestion to consider that if depression is as much a part of your life as it has been of mine, it’s worth considering it might help to work on finding yourself. Bandura says, “A weak sense of personal-efficacy operates on the cognitive source of depression in several ways.” He lists three ways specifically, and since his prose gets a little thick from there, I figured I would translate them so they’re easier to understand. You can see his full text here. Third, it influences the story we tell ourselves about personal accomplishments and failures. Bandura’s research actually showed that people with a strong sense-efficacy felt slightly better about themselves socially and emotionally than their peers. The story they told themselves about their successes was, “that’s because I’m smart and capable,” and the story they told themselves about their failures was, “well… I couldn’t have been expected to do well because I didn’t get much sleep [or that person was distracting me… or whatever.]” This isn’t to suggest we should have inflated egos (which can cause depressed states of their own) but rather that the story we tell ourselves about our successes and failures influences how we feel about ourselves. How do you process successes and failures as they happen to you? What does this tell you about how much control you have moving forward? What is the story you tell yourself about your personal accomplishments or failures? When it comes to finding yourself, depression and making big decisions, it shouldn’t surprise us that the mind and body are profoundly and miraculously connected. How Do I Know If I’ve Found Myself? A lack of a strong self often flares up during times of change or transition in our lives, since often times we mistake our sense of self for things like: the city we live in, the person we are married to, our job, career, money, family, status, etc. Our true self does not come from our outer-life. It comes from our inner-life. So when we move to a new place, leave a job, have a baby, see our grown kids leave the house, get married, or start in a new position, we often find ourselves thinking, “who am I?” This is normal and also an invitation into a deeper journey of finding yourself. Finding yourself is the process of discovering who you are and why you matter apart from outside achievements, relationships, and even in the face of great challenges or in life’s shifting environments. A person who is finding herself is learning to trust the the sound of her own voice, listen to her intuition, take action based on her convictions, face conflict and criticism with grace and power, and to visit that place of peace inside herself, despite what is happening around her. When you have a strong sense of self, you are able to adapt well to changes, to soothe yourself in times of sadness or discomfort, stay true to your convictions (even when there is outside pressure), avoid codependent or manipulative relationships, set boundaries with pushy people in your life, leave behind a constant need for approval, drop the guilt, receive criticism, act authentically, lead gracefully, and take responsibility for your life—no matter how it turns out. Yes, it is a huge task to “find ourselves” and one that is never fully finished. In fact, once we feel like we’ve “mastered it” life usually hands us more challenging and interesting situations to help us continue our path of growth. One hard truth about developing a strong sense of self is that so much of this important development takes place in childhood. If you have faced some kind of trauma in your childhood, or if your parents didn’t help you establish a strong sense of self—or if you came from a religious background where developing a strong sense of “self” was considered selfish—you might still have a lot of work to do when it comes to finding yourself. The good news is that it is never too late to begin your work. In fact, if you are feeling profoundly lost as you read this, you are in a beautiful place. Below I’m going to include a list of things that have been vital to my own journey of finding myself as I’ve been guided by great therapists, friends, advisors, mentors and my own intuition. Your journey will look different than mine, no doubt, but still, I hope this list helps. Know and own your story. Like anyone, there are parts of my story I haven’t wanted to own. Do you ever get that feeling when you think about how certain events have unfolded in your life? you think… truly. Honestly. Please God anything but this story. And yet, our stories are our stories. I am in process of writing my own brave new ending to my story. It is not easy. In fact, sometimes it feels downright awful. It means re-routing old beliefs, re-wiring brain patterns, letting go of ways of coping, learning to face the conflict and the joy and the pain of life unguarded, and it means I end up failing and losing my temper and crying in public more often than I would like to admit. I avoided seeing a therapist for years because I thought to myself, “oh, it’s not that bad. I’ve got this. Look at me. I have so many opportunities. I have a great family. What am I complaining about?” All the while, deep down I knew I needed some help to sift through the more complicated parts of my story. Do not try to walk this path alone. It’s too treacherous. If you aren’t comfortable finding a therapist, ask a few trusted friends or family members to walk with you. When you begin to re-write your story, parts of yourself you never knew existed (hint: less-than-pretty parts of yourself) will inevitably come up. When this happens, practice gratitude for the support around you and for the opportunity you have to heal and grow. Learn about yourself and how you are wired. I read all the time. I’m always trying to figure out more about myself, how I operate and why it matters. This has been a lifeline for me as I walk this journey of finding myself. Figuring out the driving motivations behind why you act the way you do not only helps you own your story, it also helps you interact and communicate in a positive way with others. Below, I am including a list of resources I have used that have really helped me to discover how I’m wired. This list is certainly not exhaustive but I hope it helps. We often “find ourselves” in the situations we most want to avoid. We find ourselves in unrest, conflict, discomfort, fear, illness, distress, loss, transition, change, disappointment, failure, even in bad relationships. So if we spend our lives trying to avoid these things, we may miss the very messages and lessons life has to offer us. These days I tell myself, over and over again, “everything that happens to me in life is an opportunity to learn” because I have learned the hard way—it is. What seems like the worst thing that could possibly happen to you might turn out to be the very best thing. Because sometime it takes losing ourselves to find ourselves. And when we resist these lessons, we resist the very beauty and joy life is trying to offer us. Think back for a moment to the young woman I mentioned in the beginning of this post who is trying to make a decision about whether she wants to marry her current boyfriend. Notice how much time she spent explaining what other people wanted from her, thought about her (and her boyfriend), or what they were expecting her to do. And trust me, I’ve been there. Here’s my advice for her: you already know your answer. It’s inside of you. That isn’t to say we don’t need the support and help of those around us. But it is to say we must be careful who we ask, because what we really need from those sources of support is not advice or direction. What we really need is someone to help us discover the answer we have always known all along. What we really need is to find ourselves. For additional reading, check out my list of recommended resources here. Excellent, very well stated and developed, thank you! I am grateful that you discussed the issue of the major misunderstanding by most people that “finding ourselves” is a one shot thing. I am convinced that at some level I will be “finding myself” right up to the millisecond before my death. However, that doesn’t mean I am a lost soul. It’s just that this is a lifelong journey and process. I was one person at 21 just before I married, another at 29 when I first became a father, another at 48 when the youngest headed off to college and we were empty nesters, etc, etc. The secondary and tertiary “me” was changing but the primary “me” changed much more slowly and profoundly. Keith—that is so true for all of us. Thanks for pointing that out. As long as we’re here on earth, we’re changing. Every new experience changes us, and we’re never finished with our work of “finding ourselves”. But those moments when we seem to reach a new understanding of ourselves sure is rewarding. I had so many thoughts running through my head as I read. First, “The Runaway Bride,” as Julia Roberts tries to figure herself out. Second, they think that some of depression is inflammation of the brain, I second their finding as I have reduced my body inflammation, I have a more positive outlook. As my son’s psoriasis flares (inflammation) so does his doom and gloom. Last and by far the hardest is when society says that introverts are bad and extroverts are good….that’s a tough thing to get over. Keep writing…you have amazing things to say! Thanks Ann! I hadn’t heard that depression and inflammation were connected, but it makes a ton of sense with my personal experience. I suffered from IBS issues for years (inflammation, Auto-immune, etc) and when my body was the most paralyzed, so was my spirit and mind. It’s amazing the connections between our mental, emotional and spiritual health with our physical health. Thanks for sharing that, and for reading. PS) Excited to hear about the healing you and your son are both experiencing—physically and emotionally! Bethany, that’s so great to hear. The insights you shared in your post are really insightful. Marriage has this special way of bringing all kinds of things to the surface for us, so we can deal with them. I hope my words are able to help you continue to find clarity and direction. Keep me posted on how things transpire for you. I’d love to hear what comes next! Allison your blog post was a beautiful response to an important question. I think the journey to self requires a certain softness and self forgiveness. There are pieces of ourselves that are hard to accept… attitudes and behaviors we would rather not admit to, or wish would go away. However those things are part of our whole package and the journey to self acceptance, to loving yourself, to believing in yourself, to finding that inner voice that knows exactly what is right for you… requires an acceptance of it all…. the good and the bad and an understanding that to be human is to be fallible… and every moment is a chance to begin again. I love the thought of adding softness and self-forgiveness to this whole process. That has always been a difficult posture for me. But you are so right: there are difficult parts of ourselves to accept, and we need lots of grace to do it—to be at peace with our whole selves, exactly where we are, no matter what. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. Appreciate you. I really enjoyed reading your article and I am always impressed about the fact that it is possible to feel connected to a person you don’t know personally. Sometimes in life you feel alone and lost with all of your thoughts and emotions. In those situations it is a gift to realize that there are other persons at the same time, dealing with the same thoughts and emotions just by reading an article, having a deep conversation and being brave enough to share what is really going on inside. Thanks for sharing those issues! It’s the only way to bring us all into the process of finding ourselves and dealing with the ups and downs in our lives. Greets from Germany and keep it up! Sonja—what an incredible compliment. Thank you so much for writing. I love what you said and it’s amazing to me that I feel connected to each of you who are reading, too. I think about you all as I write and I love reading comments and emails from you. I hope these words can be comforting for you in those times when you feel again like you’re alone. You aren’t! Thank you for being a part of this and for sharing your thoughts here. Appreciate you. Wonderful post and very timely for me in particular. I had a conversation with someone recently and her situation was that her boyfriend was hesitant to commit further in their relationship until he felt that he had experienced life. Reading your words made me think that perhaps it’s less about experiencing life and more about discovering his sense of self. So much wisdom in this piece. Thank you. You’re welcome Delilah! Thank you for reading. There is a lot of wisdom you share in this post, Allison. It is so well written and truly speaks to my heart. I am in my mid-40’s and feel like “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for,” (Thank you, U2) Though I am happily married with two healthy, happy children, I have poured my life into them. All too soon, I will be in my own company again, so before I embark on that transition to an empty nest, I choose to be proactive and really know myself and be known. I have avoided this for so long, pushing past hurts deep down and staying busy to keep them covered. As a result, I’ve cycled through depression, anxiety and addiction. I am slowly sifting through the past, owning it, embracing it, letting go and moving forward. Kristin—thank so much for being vulnerable here. As this new season approaches, I know you’ll find the courage to keep digging deeper and discovering new layers of yourself. It will be scary at times, but ultimately a gift. Can’t wait to see what unfolds for you! Thank you for writing this! Over the last month or so I have felt so lost and kept thinking “how do I find myself?” The timing of this post was prefect and has been healing to read and contemplate these things in my own life. Once I am caught in this cycle it is so hard to break free. I think your advice has given me a boost to break the cycle and start a new one of discovering me, the real me. Kara—I’m so glad! Thank you so much for reading and for sharing here. Even though this post is months old, am glad i have read it NOW! Like you mentioned in one of those thoughtful quotes you shared with us recently, time is on my side! This post is so timely for me and very eye/heart-opening. I lost my dad in 2010 and it is still difficult to own and accept that part of my story. As i was reading through the post, my heart understands more that i need to accept my whole story and write my own brave new ending! Thank you and please keep writing! About relationships, sometimes we focus on what the other person is doing, what he/she isn’t doing and we get consumed with all that. But thanks for pointing out that it actually begins with us; searching within and embracing our whole being. Sometimes we behave is certain ways and we never take the time to ask ourselves why, i am learning that healing starts by intentionally paying attention to the “why” beneath our choices. I agree with what you said about religion too; “if you came from a religious background where developing a strong sense of “self” was considered selfish”. This reminded me of, “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Clearly, we cant give what we do not have, therefore, self-love is not selfishness. Thanks for this lesson too. I truly appreciate your openness to share your personal stories too, they teach me about vulnerability which was a no-no for me until i decided to take the risk! I am determined to take on the journey of self-discovery and i know the reward is worth the fight! I am reading all your old posts and trying to apply them to my life. You have been through a lot it seems and so I am trying to let you help me be positive. I also struggled with infertility. So when I had my son and couldn’t have any more, I made myself happy with that. We both suffered from depression, and when he took his life at the age of 25, well, I just lost all hope for anything and everything. Since then I have lost his little dog, my younger brother, my younger sister in law and my husband lost his job. I do my best to stay positive, but it’s very hard. I am wondering if you would write a post about loss. Just a thought. Thank you for this blog. I am a self victim if I can put it like that. I was engaged and had three beautiful kids with the guy however he left me and married to someone else now. I have been struggling to accept that he left me for another woman. This happened in 2008 ,my son was 4months by that time. I am very happy today that I have come across this article. I am in a toxic relationship but it is very difficult to make a decision. Reading this was exactly what I needed!

2019-04-21T10:44:35Z

https://allisonfallon.com/finding-yourself/

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2019-04-22T12:38:17Z

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Today, that quote means more to me than ever. You see, since I started consulting in 2007, I’ve gotten on an early morning flight almost every Monday morning (besides when I was in business school). Well, today I’m not on a plane, and I’m not getting on one. I have left my job. I am no longer a management consultant. And you have no idea how hard – and scary – it is for me to even type those words. I’ve been a consultant for my entire adult life, and (although I don’t recommend this) it had become a big part of “who I was.” As I mentioned in this post, I kind of chose my job because everyone else at my college wanted an offer from my company, and I was fortunate enough to get it. So, I figured it must be great. Over the years, I was fortunate to realize that it was great – I learned so much about business and the way various companies operate, got such amazing opportunities and responsibilities, and met such incredible people. As of today, I am taking action. I am making a promise to myself to go confidently in the direction of my dreams, and to live the life I have imagined. And I will appreciate and enjoy every single moment of it. So tell me in the comments … Have you ever left a job? What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever admitted to yourself? What can you do to make your life a little bit better today? Wow Megan! I’m so so proud of you! That is a great and huge step in following your dreams. It may not be comfortable right now and actually quite scary but I know you are finally doing what you want to do! I know how scary being jobless is and that is awesome that at least you have a view. It is hard to know what to do sometimes – and you have done an AMAZING job! Good luck I know this is the start to a wonderful a new journey for you! Thank you so much for the support and encouragement, Sara! I’ve been busy researching all kind of fun stuff like how to register/ license a business, how to pay taxes when you’re self employed, and brushing up on my marketing, so the fear was far greater when I was actually trying to work up the courage to quit! My long comment just deleted thanks to airport wifi gah! I’ll try to retype it. MEGAN! I could NOT be more proud of you. You know how I feel about taking risks and pursuing your dreams so I am so onboard with your choice. And don’t think for a second that you could ever disappoint your readers. You are by far one of the most impressive person and blogger I know. Your courage and strength to take the leap makes you even more so. 2014 is going to bring amazing things for you. I have no doubt about this! So excited to follow your journey. Know that I am always here to bounce ideas off of or to just talk through the scariness of it all. I SO get it. p.s. I just read this to Curt and he said “damnnnn girl!”. That’s his way of saying you’re incredible, and I could not agree more! Your support and encouragement means the world to me. Your comment was incredibly flattering and heartfelt – and then ended with a laugh … the perfect comment in my mind! I know that you know the exact mix of excitement/ fear/ relief that I feel, and I’m excited for us to help each other along on this fun journey! Amazing…..so enjoyed this! Even happier that you were my “Elf” and now will have time to share all your knowledge! Bring it on, as I need all the help I can get! Thank you, Janet! I’m excited to keep sharing some of my knowledge here – and if you ever have specific questions, feel free to ask! Wow Megan! I’m reading this post and I’m smiling from ear to ear because I am so happy and excited for you! It is so rare to find people that let go of their current comforts(good job, status, etc.) and go for their dreams. You are a true inspiration! I hear way too many people say, “I will do it one day” or “next year” or “when the timing is right”. Those are the same people that are in the same place 15+ years later and wish they would of pursued their dreams when they had the energy, passion, and drive. You are young and the world is yours. Enoch and I could not be more proud of you! My first job out of school was with GE healthcare and I was 1 out of 8 selected for a prestigious 2 year engineering rotational program. Long story short, I hated my job, barely slept, and was so stressed that I lost weight and my hair was thinning. When I told my family and friends I wanted to quit they didn’t support it at all, the only one who supported it was Enoch. They kept telling me it would get better, but it didn’t. I felt that if I quit I would disappoint a lot of people. One thing Enoch told me and to this day is the best advice I’ve ever received is, you can’t worry about what people will think (yes, this is easier said than done 😉 ). They will have their opinions but you can’t let that affect your decision. I quit my job 4 months later and felt a huge sense of relief. When I told the head of the program I was quitting she first tried to convince me not to, but eventually she realized my decision was made and I would not budge. Funny thing is when I handed her my letter of resignation the 50+ year old woman said she wished she had as much courage at my age to have quit her job. She admitted how she has not been happy for the 30+ years she has worked there. Quitting that job gave me the opportunity to find a different field of engineering that I was more passionate about and actually enjoyed. I will say that if it wasn’t for Enoch being my rock and supporting my decision 100%, that decision would have been a lot more difficult to make. We are very lucky to have the partners we have in our lives that support our decisions and dreams. Following your heart and dreams is worth every risk. Looking forward to following your journey. I know it will be a success! Ps: Love the above picture of you. You are glowing with happiness. Thank you so much for sharing your story, Angela. My father-in-law wrote me to say that your comment was so insightful and spot-on to my situation, and I agree! It’s SO nice to hear about people who were in similar situations and went with their heart, because (like you say) so many others don’t end up doing so. Also … your text yesterday morning meant so much! It was before many of the comments came in, so I wasn’t sure how people were going to react, and it was exactly what I needed. See you guys soon! I’m going to stop letting fear of failure stop me and go confidently in the direction of my dreams. I admire you and hope to find it in me to live the life I imagine! I hope you find it in you, too, Jill. Honestly just taking the leap is so freeing and wonderful! Get out there and do what you need to do for your happiness! Ah Megan, my heart is so full as I read this post that I know I won’t be able to articulate everything I am feeling. I am so, so, SO happy for you. Not because I didn’t think you COULD live a healthy life while having a demanding job, but because it wasn’t what you WANTED to do, so you’re not doing it anymore. I can tell that you are so passionate and so driven, and I can only imagine how wonderful you were at your job. Yes, I admired (and continue to admire) you IMMENSELY for keeping the schedule that you did. But I admire you even more for taking this step. I’ve never had a job as demanding as yours, but I have loved people who certainly did. And let me tell you, all the money and prestige in the world really doesn’t make up for the time lost when that kind of job becomes your world. You are going to be AMAZING in whatever you choose to do. Absolutely amazing. . Amy, thank you SO much for your support. I admit that you were one of the “blends” I worried most about, since you’ve always been so nice to comment on how much I was balancing and are incredibly successful yourself. But hearing your kind words makes me even more relieved than I already was. And thank you for already helping me get up to speed on the corporate wellness industry by sending over the article today! I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!! we must catch up! Thank you so much, Clare! Your support means a ton! And YES – I would love to catch up and hear about all the great things going on in your life. Give me a call or shoot me an email anytime! Megan – I am SO incredibly happy for you and cannot wait to see what the coming weeks, months and years bring! While I am sad we will no longer see your smiling face around the office, I hope to see even more of you in Dallas!!! Thank you so much for your email and this comment, Dawn! I really appreciate your support. So happy to have a yoga teacher friend close by :). Thank you so much for your support, Maegan! I really appreciate it! Looking forward to being an SO with you, and would love to grab lunch sometime! I am so proud and happy for you!! I know how scary it is, especially not having “it all figured out” but ultimately our number one priority is AND should be our happiness. Thank you for being such an inspiration. ps. You look absolutely gorgeous!! Thank you SO much for your support, Amy. I know you know how it feels! I’m excited to help each other figure things out this year. I know it’s going to be a great one for both of us! Thank you so much, Jillienne! I hope you DO have enough guts to go for what makes you truly happy! It took me several years, but it’s never too late. I appreciate your support! I am so thrilled and excited to be reading this – you have been hinting and poking, and I knew it was coming especially from one of your comments on my blog. It sure IS scary – and while all of those people who will tell you ‘this is the time in your life to do things like this’ are right … that doesn’t make it any LESS scary! And I have two opinions on the ‘you seem happy’ thing: first off this just means you are a good employee, keeping on a brave face as you work through things, only revealing your dissatisfaction to those like your husband or family. It is also one of those key phrases you never use with a depressed person because it ends up having the opposite effect – and as a result is just as ineffective on someone unhappy for any reason. I am happy you are following your dreams, and also love the pics and motivational images! Great stuff and good luck embarking on this scary journey! You are very perceptive, Michael! I was hinting, you’re right, but I wasn’t sure if anyone was picking up on it :). What you said about ‘you seem happy’ was really interesting – I never thought ill of anyone who would say that, it was more of a sad feeling, like “ugh … I wish that were actually true …” The good news is, I already feel amazing. I’m so excited for this journey and the year to come! I appreciate your support, as always. There was an article at Geekmom about this subject (http://geekmom.com/2014/01/say-this-not-that-depression/), and I have a running blogger friend who is struggling with depression, and our boys best friend from Massachusetts had her cousin (who they hung around with on our last visit back) kill herself this past fall … it is scary stuff. Wow, that article is so powerful, thank you for sharing. There are several of them I relate to – when Kevin would remind me that many people were worse off than me, I would feel even guiltier for being down because I knew it was true, but yet it didn’t make me feel any better at all. I don’t take your post as a downer, but rather a serious thing we need to recognize. Thank you! That (others are worse off) is one of those things meant to help but it is almost always hurtful and destructive. It makes us question the validity of our feelings. Yet it is done with the best of intentions. I have always been good at compartmentalizing, and as a result I could never get too mad, because each little thing was held separate and I would say ‘not so bad’ … but when I finally recognized what was happening it was like the ‘death by 1000 paper cuts’. Lisa and I struggled with fertility and multiple miscarriages (requiring too much time at Brigham & Womens) … and so many ‘helpful’ things were said. Even though our oldest is 17, you just never forget. Wow, thank you for sharing this. I’m so sorry you had to deal with those struggles. Although you never forget, you have shown so clearly that you’re so grateful for your boys now, which is an amazing and inspirational thing! Megan, I am sooooo proud of you and happy that you are following your heart. I have felt helpless while standing by feeling your unhappiness and hurt. Find happiness – YOU deserve it. Megan, what an exciting change! I was very inspired by your post. Good luck, I know you will be successful!! Thanks so much for your comments, Lara! I really appreciate it and hope all is well with you! Of course I don’t think you are crazy, Rachel :). Like I told you in my email, it was perfect timing. So glad we’ve gotten back in touch! Good for you! Life goes by so quickly, and if you can do something that makes you happier than what you were doing, I say go for it! Good luck in your future endeavors! Thank you so much, Tempie! I really appreciate your support! This is such a refreshing perspective to read – I’ve only recently found your blog but I have to say I admire your decision very much! I have been there just a few months ago – unfortunately I stayed in a job I hated for so long I still haven’t completely “detoxified” after 5 months of complete rest and immersion in personal projects. Good luck in all your endeavors and I’m looking forward to reading your bog in 2014! Thank you so much for your comments, Raluca. I’m so sorry to hear that you have experienced something similar, but I’m glad you’re finding your way to happiness. What you said about taking a while to detoxify and reset really struck a chord with me. I was thinking today about an analogy – see if it resonates with you. You know when you have a necklace that is incredibly knotted up? It’s just a huge bundle of knots and seems impossible to break free. Then you work on it for a long time, and you get to a mini breakthrough, and a big piece of it releases … but then you realize you still have dozens of other knots to work on. You have several more breakthroughs, but it really takes a while before the necklace is straightened out again. I honestly do think that’s like the stress that unhappiness and fear builds up inside of us – and I think it will take me several months to unwind as well. If you think I’m crazy for unloading this strange analogy on a new reader, I’m sorry :). Good luck to you in 2014! Thank you so much for this reply! I love analogies and “story telling” – I think they are still the most powerful tools we humans have for learning and understanding new situations. Wishing you all the best and I’m so happy I found your blog at this time – it must be some kind of sign. So glad you don’t think I’m crazy! I’m glad you found me, too! Hi Megan! I just saw this posted on facebook so I clicked over to read. I love your passion for nutrition and wellness! I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist myself and got a masters in nutrition communication since we were in Theta together in college 🙂 If you ever want to talk about the field, let me know! Hi Caroline! So great to hear from you, and thanks so much for your comments! I’ve been loving following your delicious looking recipes on pinterest, but I’m so happy to now see your beautiful website and blog! I would LOVE to catch up and hear how you got your start in the field; I’ll send you an email in the next few days. Thanks again! Thank you so much, Arman! Like I said to Amy, you were another of my blends that I was most worried about, so I’m thrilled to see your reaction. I know you relate to the uncertainty and to the desire to follow your dreams (I loved your recent career post!), and I’m so excited to see where this year takes YOU, too! Megan, there’e no need to be scared about failing or to be worried about what people will think — because you have already succeeded — by making the decision and taking steps to pursue what you feel will make you happy. The future is always uncertain, but you’ve got a heartfelt dream and you’re going to go for it. You’re not giving up — you’re standing up. Congratulations !!! Thank you so much for your support, Dad. You’ve always been the biggest proponent of balance for me – and while I previously took that to mean balancing as many things as possible, I now understand that it means more than that. I’m excited to find the real balance in my life! This is so amazing! I only started reading your blog a few weeks ago but I am so glad I came across it in time to hear about this! I love that you have figured out the direction you want to go in to find what makes you happy. I hope to one day be able to do something similar! Congrats and best of luck! Thank you so much for your support, Lisa! I’m so glad you’ve found me, too :). And I hope that you do end up doing something similar in the future, if it makes you happy! Congratulations Megan. I have read your blog every day but today? Was the best ever! Please don’t stop the blog because although I don’t respond every day I am motivated every day. Today I copied several of your sayings and intend to put them in my office….. Follow your dreams…….believe in yourself and there is no doubt you will continue to be the shining star you have always been. Thank you so much, Danielle! I love your thoughts on success – I agree! Megan – I loved reading about your journey through discovering your passion and making a tough but rewarding decision! It’s true what they say…the greatest risk is not taking a risk at all! You go girl…it will all come together – the best is yet to come! Thank you so much, Ruthie! I really appreciate your support! Let Mike & I know if you are ever interested in a job in Atlanta. You would love Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s employee wellness program… Congrats and good luck!! Thank you for your comment, Rachel! The employee wellness program sounds awesome, and I’d love to see more of you and Mike … if only it was in Dallas! So very excited and happy for you – you are a true inspiration! Thank you so much, Laurie! I really appreciate your support of the blog and my decision! This post makes me so happy for you!! What a bold, wonderful move! CONGRATULATIONS!! I’m sure you will figure out and be successful at health coaching. Passion and dedication will pay off….enjoy the adventure! Ashley @ This is the Place recently posted…2014 – New Year, New Race Schedule! Thank you SO much, Ashley! I really appreciate your support. I’m so excited for the adventure!! I am so thrilled you took control of your life and left the job you were NOT happy with – even if this means not knowing where you’re going to go next!!!!! I cannot believe you had to fly every Monday. I am TERRIFIED OF FLYING so holy hot damn, I give you even MORE CREDIT!!!! I am so excited to see where life takes you! Thank you so much for your sweet comments, Gigi! I can’t wait to enjoy life more – like it looks like you are always doing :). I was never scared of flying, just didn’t enjoy it! Congratulations on making that leap! And yes I know it’s scary. I was thrown into the world of freelancing five years ago after I was laid off. I knew nothing about running my own business, yet here I am living in an expensive city (LA) and managing to do it. If you have a will, you find a way. Life is too short to not try something you are passionate about and just settle for something you’re not! Good luck, and I look forward to following your progress! Congratulations on finding your way, Tonya! That’s very inspiring! How do you usually find freelancing work? It’s definitely something I have considered trying to add in. I really appreciate your support!! Saw this when you posted it, but haven’t had a minute to sit down and type out my thoughts. I seriously had tears in my eyes as I read about your decision. You are such an incredible person, and this move will bring you so much happiness. Best wishes in you new endeavors, and please let us know how we can help things along for you! Robert, thank you so much. Your care and concern comes across in all your comments, and I really appreciate your support of the blog and this decision! I’m so excited for my next steps! I know it may not seem like it now, but you are such an inspiration! You are so strong and focused and great things lie ahead for you this year. I hope you find happiness in whatever you do. Thank you so much for your kind words, Christine. I really appreciate them!! I have a great feeling that this year will be a very happy one for me! I almost missed this big announcement – WOW & CONGRATULATIONS!! What a huge step in the right direction. If you have the ability to leave a job that’s not bringing you joy (and adding to the stress) and follow you passion, it’s something everyone should do. So proud of you for having the courage to act and do it! Excited to follow your journey this year! Thank you so much, Heather! I really appreciate your encouragement. It was scary, but I can already tell it was the right decision – I feel amazing, relieved, happy, and like a normal person again – I can actually think about something aside from work! I do appreciate that I have the ability to do this and feel very lucky for it! Thank you so much, Nithya! I appreciate your continued support so much! And I know we’ll keep in touch – I’ll be bugging you for more delicious Indian recipes, and I’ll be more than happy to reciprocate with tips for how to stay healthy while consulting. I know you’ll be amazing! I needed to read this!!! I am currently contemplating a leap career-wise and am scared out of my mind. Davida knows this! It’s nice to know I’m not alone. And I think you’d be SO GREAT at corporate wellness! I’m so glad it helped, Caitlin! If you ever want to chat about your decision, feel free to let me know and we can hop on the phone! I know that with an MBA there’s a lot of pressure to do more “traditional” jobs, but I hope your decision (whatever it is) makes you truly happy! Awesome! There is no better feeling than taking a leap of faith and discovering so many new things! Good luck! Thank you so much, Danny! Appreciate the wishes, and hope all is well with you! So excited for you! For me, walking away from crazy long hours (attorney at a big firm) was the best thing I did in my life for my marriage, my health and my happiness. I looked around me at people who ate dinner with me more than they did with their spouses and I knew it just wasn’t the life I wanted. It took 2 tries, but I found a job that I love with the same intellectual challenge and dinner with my husband almost every single night. TOTALLY worth walking away in that leap of faith, knowing there had to be something better for me out there. And I think you’ll love getting certified as a running coach — I found it awesome for my own running, and helping others was almost just a bonus! Thank you so much for this comment, Carina! It’s so nice to hear from someone who relates. Yes, I ABSOLUTELY spent more time with my colleagues than my husband – in fact every Valentine’s Day I would joke that I should gift my colleagues instead of my husband because I spent more nights in whatever city we were in than I did at home! Even though it sounds like an obvious decision to people who can’t imagine that lifestyle, it was still really hard to walk away. I’m so, so glad that you found the job that is perfect for you!!! And yes, with the running coach thing – it was something I wanted to do even before I considered that as an addition to my career, but now it makes even more sense! Missed this post the first time but it truly resonates with me. I was a management consultant from 1995 – 2003 and prided myself (after early health/wellness failure) on staying in shape and eating right on the road. I ran over 15 marathons and tons of other races during that time and converted many colleagues to runners and healthier eaters. Last year, I left a very unfulfilling health IT job to go back to a corporate health and wellness job but it fell through. I am now blogging, doing some independent consulting and looking for the next “right” new thing. I wish you all the best in your new career. It seems like you are meant for it and can only succeed! Wow, Erica, it seems like you’ve really been through some ups and downs! I bet we’d have a lot to talk about – shoot me an email if you ever want to bounce ideas off one another. In the meantime, good luck finding the “right” thing! I’m pulling for you! Meg: When I reread your incredibly inspiring and so very “from the heart” blog entry of Jan. 6th, 2014, it brings a tear to my eye = tears of joy for you and you courage to take such a wonderful and courageous leap of faith, with the conviction that you, and all of us, should do what needs to be done to find true personal happiness. You rock, Girl! Thank you for your constant support, Gary. It really does mean a lot! Wow Megan, I’m so happy for you. This blog post was super motivational. You are right, “dream jobs” don’t exist, we must create them. This is what I have just started and I feel happy for my first step. After being a teacher for 12 years, I decided to leave the school and become a writer. Maybe I am not best at it, but writing is what I enjoy most in my life.. After a month my first book will be published.

2019-04-22T03:30:44Z

https://www.thelyonsshare.org/2014/01/06/living-the-life-i-have-imagined/

What actions might be needed to jump start the tourism industry in Pohnpei? I believe much has been said about this topic in the past. However, I'd like to bring it up again; so that we can have a new and fresh look at it again. I hope those who are in the know about this subject matter--would contribute to this discussion. First, tour operators used to say that Pohnpei airport was too short for charter flights. Well, the airport was extended several years ago with financial assistance and technical assistance from Japan. Second, others use to complain that there is not enough room. Well, there is a new couple of storey hotel building in town. We probably have over 300 rooms available--more or less--Cliff, Ocean View, the new Hotel, Joy and others. 1. If there is already a serious and comprehensive report on how to start the tourism industry in Pohnpei, I am asking anybody to let us know; so that we can read it and update it; or take some actions accordingly. 2. I am assuming that a complete and good report does not exist. As such, let me offer some ideas: a) a tourism market analyst should look at the resources that Pohnpei has to offer; and b) determine whether they could attract certain type of tourists from China or Korea or Japan or America or Europe or where. 3. The question is whether at least one charter flight could be arranged from either Japan, Korea or China per week? If we start with that assumption, what are the necessary actions to take in order to accomodate the planes requirements; and to accomodate the tourists; and make them occupied or happy or contented for at least 3 days; before they return home. These are my initial comments and suggestions for now. Is it possible or not to have a modest number of tourists to come to Pohnpei consistently--every week--for a whole year at a time? If possible, then, we should go for it. Any other observations and suggestions would be appreciated. The public could give the Pohnpei Visitors’ Bureau a big pay raise and a bigger round of applause. If not, then try the opposite or something else, but don’t do nothing and expect something. For example, the US national debt was doubled; the jobs were going over-seas; so the Americans tried a different approach to the problem. They elected a billionaire CEO instead of the customary career politician. Like the idiom goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” So they tried someone very different from your ordinary politician. Of course, the world is still full of insane people, who demand the usual approach to a growing problem. But that's another topic. Anyway, that is my two cents and I hope you would appreciate it, like you said that you would. There is much left unsaid about the complex issue of tourism. Other Micronesians should contribute in this discussion, rather than in those they detest. So I heard that for Guam tourism, the Korean tourists are known to prefer smaller hotels, not the fancy big ones. And they also don't spend as much. On the other hand, the Japanese tourism prefer to stay in the large hotels; and do spend a lot per visitor. Whether this distinction is related to the tourist promoters who are linked the particular hotels, it'll be good to know. It's not good to make such generalizations. I don't know what can be said of the Chinese tourists or US tourists or Russian tourist. I think if we really want to try to develop Pohnpei tourism, we need, first of all, to understand such preferences of the different groups as tourism targets; and at the same time, we need to know if Pohnpei can provide what the particular group would find as contributing to their positive tourism experience. So this is the basic principle of business an marketing analysis; and is needed before we can begin to design the tourism program and promotion. So that is my first recommendation. Just some thoughts on this nice and noisy New Year's day--Jan. 1, 2019. First and foremost Tourism critically require CLEANLINESS! Our Environment must be presentably clean without artificial rubbish. Our Air, Ocean, Rivers, streams, shores and riversides must be clean. Appropriate infrastructure must also be in place. Build it and they will come. We must invest heavily into advertisements locally and globally. Preserve our Customs and Traditions. Not what is happening today where the Tourist would come and see the traditional Leaders sitting infront in Western clothing. For Pohnpei this is what it needs for Tourism to move forward. Did you say that we need clean up our environment and rake our yards? Well, I'll be damned! Trump was right all along! So I am looking for a tourism study that shows and analyzes the "segmentation" of the potential tourism targets. Tourism, like any product lines--such as soft drink, beer, food products--could be more understood if a "marketing study" shows the segmentation of the potential market including desirable and undesirable behaviors; spending patterns; tolerance for long flights; desire for shopping vs. visiting cultural sites; duration of vacation days per different groups; what would constitute a happy tourist; etc., etc. Needless to say, once you understand your potential customers--it'll be easier to improve the sites where the tourists would visits; etc., etc.,. So the question is this: does Pohnpei have the basic assets that could be developed or improved--so that the different segments of the tourism population could be attracted to visit? Tourism matters. Don’t count the US out. We have A LOT of eco-tourists who snorkel and dive. Does FSM have the logistical capability of handling 300 avid snorkelers and divers at a time? Protect the mangroves and reefs; without them you will be left with a deserted ocean. Is it possible to Charter a non-stop flight out of Los Angeles? If so then running ads in the diving and adventure magazines might allow you to fill those planes. Sundays out of LA and back on Saturdays would allow connections to be made to any destination in the US; with the folks leaving their offices on a Friday and returning to work on a Monday. Perhaps use the planes for domestic flights during the week. Does Yap and Chuck have airports large enough to handle those kinds of aircraft? Beyond tourism: FSM has one of the largest exclusive economic zones on the planet. I can imagine as a small country your fish and ocean resources are being exploited with very little return to FSM itself. The fishing boats should be flagged in FSM. The workers on the boats should be Micronesian, the processing plants should be Micronesian; and those ocean resources should be closely monitored and aggressively protected. I know how this world works; I am confident you are receiving a few pennies on the dollar of economic return. What percentage of capital outflow is represented in diesel fuel imports for energy production? Given topography and climate that is about as big a waste as I can imagine. Given your cost of energy; tidal, solar, and wind could be gold plated and still be more profitable than diesel generation. But more imporantly it would stem the hemorage of capital those imports represent. Capitalize your own banks and businesses. That single action would probably be the second most effective way in stemming capital outflow and encouraging capital formation. Invest locally and use reinvestment to grow; it is the only way you will be free; and that matters. So, yes, US divers is just one segment of the possible many segments of the tourism market. I am assuming this segment, if you look at it closely, will have its own characteristics and behavior and spending patterns that would be very different from other segments such as tourists from China or Korea or Japan, etc. The question is what kinds of assets or attractions does Pohnpei have--or that can be developed--to cater to this segment of the tourism industry. First, is the cost: there are closer destinations such as Belize, the Carribean islands, etc. which will cost less, in terms of airline costs, to visit compared to the price of the tickets to Pohnpei and back. Second, what about the attractions for tourists: will the US-based divers be willing to bypass Hawaii and its other islands--to come to Pohnpei. Do we have such hot diving spots in Pohnpei to compete with other diver destinations? I think it's limited. These and more are some of the items in the list to be evaluated if were we to try to focus on this segment of the market. It is doable but we need to make a good case as to why the US-based divers would be attracted to come to Pohnpei and not other less expensive and accessible destinations that have more to offer. I don't want to sound negative. American divers have a lot of money to spend compared to other segments of the tourism population so it should be seriously considered. It'll be good to hear from marketing experts regarding this segment and as to whether or not, it should be the focus of the Pohnpei tourism promotion drive. Just some ideas. Has anybody considered cruise-lines. I hate traveling in airplanes for long durations. A service based economy would certainly not be a first choice. The South Pacific has multiple times the number of fauna and flora species than the Caribbean Basin. I thought Pohnpei had healthy coral reefs and good water clarity. That is the only attraction needed to attract divers and snorkelers from around the world. Has the entire planet been trawled with bottom nets? I was hoping a few spots were missed. Flora and Fauna is what the world wants to experience; it is that simple. Unfortunately the density of both flora and fauna in our oceans is rapidly decreasing. If there are healthy coral reefs with large numbers of fish then imagine a market where the product is exposure to the most species of flora and fauna on the planet. It sounds foolish to use scarce capital to hire marketing experts for such a rare market. That is like saying you don’t know what you have in your hands. Pohnpei will never be able to compete with the highly sophisticated and highly profitable casinos in places like Las Vegas, Macau, Hong Kong, Monaco, London, etc. A tourist attraction unique to Pohnpei is Nan Madol, a United Nations World Heritage site. But until it is restored and maintained, made more accessible to visitors of all ages, and supported with world class tour guides, lodging, and restaurants, not many people will spend thousands of dollars to visit the place. So if casino is out, what is it that might attract Chinese or other gamblers to Pohnpei? I don't see any. Cruise liners is one possible ways to bring tourists in. But I don't think somebody will deliberately get on a cruise-liner with Pohnpei destination solely in mind. What we can do is for our tourism promoters to contact the cruiseliner operators that pass thru our waters--so they can make a scheduled stop on Pohnpei port for a couple of days. I heard that some of these cruise-lines go to Guam or Saipan and other destinations in our neighborhood. So it might be possible to find ways to get them to stop, more often, or on a regular basis at Pohnpei port. What about Korean visitors or Japanese visitors? We do have some Japanese visitors that come thru on a more regular basis. There are Japanese-speaking local tour operators who are equipped to hold Japanese tourists--if or when they come. But I am beginning to think that we need to approach the development of the Pohnpei tourism in a slightly different way. I don't think our own government agencies and employees--who are tasked to promote and attract tourists--can do the job. It's not that they are not qualified. It's just the way the mass tourism market work. If we want to bring in, say, 200 to 300 tourists to Pohnpei on a charter flight, I think we need to have the involvement of tour packagers or tour promoters--located where the possible tourists are. The promoters will be the ones to advertise the tour packages; arrange for flights when there are about 200 to 300 interested tourists. They can facilitate and make bookings with the local Pohnpei hotel from their offices in Japan or S. Korea; and even plan out, example, a 3-day package. The tour operators are the ones who know the needs and desires of different tourists group. So they will be the ones who we can depend on the make the arrangements. It may mean that our governments will need to find partners who are tour operators; and pay them certain amount plus commission in order for them to sell Pohnpei as destination. I think tourists visiting out-o- the-way places like Pohnpei would like to be dealing with reliable and trustworthy tour operators--for their safety and for assurance about the value of their vacations. So I don't know what assets or attractions(?) are there in Pohnpei to attract a certain group. We still need to conduct tourist marketing studies, the segmentation of the market. In the end, we want some sort of tourist profiles as per different countries as segmented by age group, family group, environmental study group, historical study group, divers group, etc., etc. In short, I think we need to develop working relationship and compensation package agreement with tourist promoters. We need to bring some of them to Pohnpei to look at our assets; and advice us on how to improve Pohnpei; so that future tourists will be satisfied once they get here. Just some thoughts. Besides the Nan Madol World Heritage site, FSM has spectacular sport fishing and scuba diving to attract tourists. WWII artifacts and shipwrecks can also attract both Japanese and American families with WWII historical connections. And yes, we need experienced tourism industry professionals to propose marketing strategies for possible implementation....IF the people and the government are really serious about tourism, that is. So far, I haven't seem much evidence of serious interest, sad to say. FM, I agree that FSM has many attractions that could draw tourists to visit. But for business strategy, I think the government officials who are responsible for tourism policies should really work with professionals--so that the different FSM states' attractions will be identified and amplified--for the purpose of differentiating each one as a unique destination in itself. I say this because when we say FSM, it means a large region; so it'll be difficult for tourist to be able to visit all the destinations in the FSM. So, let's say that a typical tourist--from Japan, S. Korea, US, Europe, Russia, etc.,--has only 3 days for vacation. How do we attract those kinds of visitors to a particular destination. I would say that we should assume that these tourists with only 3-day vacation time will only be going to one destination--whether it's Pohnpei or Chuuk or Yap or Kosrae--in the case of the FSM. Of course, other competing destinations for the 3-day vacationers are Hawaii, Guam, Palau, Saipan, RMI and other nearby locations. So for the FSM, we need to define the potential destinations within the FSM. We can say that Pohnpei is unique because of its Nan Madol ruins plus its diving spots. Chuuk is unique because of the World War II wrecks. Yap is unique because of its traditional money and its sting ray alley. Also, Kosrae has its own ruins and special forests, etc. In short, we need to understand, on one hand, the tourists profiles and segmentation; so we can target the different segments--in order to lure them to the spectacular and unique attractions within each of the FSM states. On the other hand, we need to define our destinations in a way that they will attract the different segments of the tourism population. Just some thoughts but I am sure these are already well understood by government officials responsible for tourism development and promotion. Hope so. Of the three Freely Associated States, only Palau has a thriving tourist industry. Both the FSM and the RMI would be wise to learn from the ROP how to effectively attract tourists. In the meantime, fisheries remain our only significant income-producing industry....and that income will continue to fluctuate annually due to tuna migration and global warming. I learn much on tourism from your comments, but I sometimes feel you are leap frogging. I think Factsmatter pointed out a problem which is the lack of "serious interest." Shouldn't we address this problem first? Does anyone know why Micronesians, excluding Belauans and Chamorros, lack the motivation to develop their tourism industry? For example, lack of physical fitness, low energy, or maybe poor diet is to blame. Too much substance abuse maybe? Too content with no dreams or visions for greatness? Too lazy? Don't want to change lifestyle or develop self? Land's too sacred to be developed or discussed? Bored of same old leadership? Not enough public lands like in Koror and the Marianas? Are Micronesians really free men and women? If so, then why are we not "seriously interested" in building up our tourism, economy and country? Maybe we just don't like tourists and want to be left alone, like most conquered peoples living in injun reservations. Or maybe we dread the ecological, cultural, and economical impacts of tourism. Anyway, I think we should also consider the public's opinions, especially the local communities' and land owners,' when planning these ventures. Because everyone will be impacted. z, yes, you are making a lot of good points. I am hoping that by engaging in serious discussions about Pohnpei tourism, we can come to some conclusions; and some answers to questions which you have raised. I don't want to believe that Pohnpeians are lazy or don't want development thru tourism. But I also don't have an answer as to how to develop tourism in Pohnpei--to a level similar to Palau or Guam, etc. Maybe some of the reasons that you say are correct. But I am not sold yet on the idea that we are the cause of our own problem--our attitude, our way of life, low energy, etc. In the end, it might prove that tourism--in the volume comparable to Palau or Guam--simply cannot occur in Pohnpei for the following reasons which have been mentioned by different people--some in this Forum, etc. Pohnpei does not have the beaches that attract family-type tourists. Pohnpei is too far out of the way; so it'll take many vacation hours spent on the plane; so it does not attract people with only 3-day vacation. Pohnpei does not have large shopping centers such as those in Guam (Walmart, Duty-Free, etc). While Nan Madol is one of the best place in the world to visit, it would only take probably a couple of hours to make a tour to Nan Madol; and what do you do after that. Another problem that I see is restrictions for hiring quality service people, such as workers from the Philippines, to come work in Pohnpei. It is difficult to recruit these workers because they also have to get US visa just to transit thru Guam a couple of hours in order to go to Pohnpei. In contrast, Palau has good beaches although you have take boats to the nice rock island beaches. But some of the hotels in Koror have built artificial beaches by the hotels to cater to their tourism customers. The population of Palau is small; so the number of Palauans working for tourism is small. Most of the service workers such as waitress at restaurants, cooks, etc, are from the Philippines. And it's easy for Palau to bring in workers from PI because they don't have to go thru Guam--so they don't need to apply for visa which is costly as well as time consuming. Most importantly, Palau has been able to maintain its clean environment which is appreciated by the tourists. So should Pohnpei give up on tourism because it does have the same assets and attractions as Palau or Guam? At some point in time, the leadership has to decide. I would say that we still need experts on tourism development and marketing and promotion to visit Pohnpei under contract with the Pohnpei State or with the FSM. They still need to do assessments of our assets and attraction sites. They need to help us figure as to whether or not our assets and attractions can be good enough to attract a certain segment of the tourism population. We don't have to have mass tourism although the airport has been extended to accommodate charter flights. We might be able to focus on smaller number of visitors; and then, build from there. We'll see. Does anyone know why Air Niugini and Air Nauru do not want to land in Guam? Only Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, South Korean, and Philippines airlines like to land in Guam. Why is this? Anyone know why Air Niugini and Air Nauru hate Guam so much? Disregard everything that you are talking about with regards to tourism in the FSM. Let us explore this question instead. Why does the US Government allow Japanese, Chinese, South Korean, Taiwanese, and Philippine airlines to land in Guam but not Air Niugini and Air Nauru? Is it because the pilots have curly hair? Why is this? I think any airline that wants to fly to any country must be able to meet that country's standard. In order to fly to Guam or Honolulu, the aircraft must meet US safety standard; pilots must meet training and retraining requirements. The airline must also have an office and crew at the airport; to service the plane and customers. It probably can contract other airlines to provide these services at the beginning. It also probably need to lease or own those ramp walkway that are moved to connect to the plane once in place; for customers to work thru to the airport--unless you have a small aircraft which only requires customer to exit the plane; and walk on the airport open air to the building. The 2 airlines that you are talking about probably don't have the volume of customers to Guam--to be able to invest on the required infrastructure. It probably does not have enough revenue to meet insurance requirements. Lastly, I am sure the business competition from United or other more established US carrier will always be a factor. I heard that United--like the Continental before it-- keeps reducing its ticket prices whenever Air Nauru tried to have flights to Guam or other destinations in Micronesia-in order to undercut Air Nauru's attempt to get a foothold of the Guam market. So I am sure it has nothing to do with "curly hair" but more on stiff competition; as there are other "curly hair" pilots in United and other carriers that come to Guam. Air Niugini has been trying to get landing rights into Guam since 1970s. However, for some strange reason, the US Government never grants them landing rights, despite the fact that it grants landing rights to Asian country airlines from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Philippines. What would be the reason for not granting landing rights to Air Niugini? Please tell us because I think you already know this. We just need to justify why should a tourist fly over Guam and Hawaii to come to FSM. Once we can get that traveler to FSM, we will have tourist. Good question. I think some smart person--with practical experience in tourism program planning and strategizing--might be able to provide some answers. Or, it'll be a combination of experts in business development and marketing strategies; or some people from Japan or S. Korea who actually have real life experience with packaging tours from their countries to Pacific islands nations such as Guam, Hawaii, CNMI. People with such expertise could be paid as consultant--to put some of their recommendations together to answer the question above.

2019-04-20T14:42:59Z

http://micronesiaforum.org/index.php?p=/discussion/comment/378545/

Understanding how landscape factors, including suites of geographic and environmental variables, and both historical and contemporary ecological and evolutionary processes shape the distribution of genetic diversity is a primary goal of landscape and conservation genetics and may be particularly consequential for species involved in ecological restoration. In this study, we examine the factors that shape the distribution of genetic variation in a leguminous shrub (Caragana microphylla) important for restoration efforts on the Mongolian Plateau in China. This region houses several major bioclimatic gradients, and C. microphylla is an important restoration species because it stabilizes soils and prevents advancing desertification on the Inner Mongolia Plateau caused by ongoing climate change. We assembled an expansive genomic dataset, consisting of 22 microsatellite loci, four cpDNA regions, and 5788 genome-wide SNPs from ten populations of C. microphylla. We then applied ecological niche modelling and linear and non-linear regression techniques to investigate the historical and contemporary forces that explain patterns of genetic diversity and population structure in C. microphylla on the Inner Mongolia Plateau. We found strong evidence that both geographic and environmental heterogeneity contribute to genetic differentiation and that the spatial distribution of genetic diversity in C. microphylla appears to result partly from the presence of a glacial refugium at the southwestern edge of its current range. These results suggest that geographic, environmental, and historical factors have all contributed to spatial genetic variation in this ecologically important species. These results should guide restoration plans to sustain genetic diversity during plant translocations. Unraveling the factors that influence spatial genetic variation and population structure is one of the fundamental goals of ecological and landscape genetics . Patterns of genetic differentiation often reflect spatial variation in gene flow, and landscapes can influence gene flow through geographic and environmental variation and their combined effects [2–4]. Isolation-by-distance (IBD) is the correlation of genetic divergence and geographic distances, while isolation-by-environment (IBE) is a correlation between genetic divergence and environmental dissimilarity [5, 6]. IBE can result from environmental differences between populations that generate divergent selection, which reduces dispersal success between different environments, or from biased dispersal, which leads to higher dispersal rates between more similar environments [2, 3, 6, 7]. Thus, both IBD and IBE represent important ways in which landscape heterogeneity influences genetic structure in natural populations [3, 8, 9]. Inherently, geographic and environmental isolation are not mutually exclusive, and spatial genetic divergence among populations can result from reduced gene flow associated with both geographical and ecologic factors [2, 7, 8, 10]. The rise of modern spatial statistical methods and the increasing availability of high-resolution geographic and environmental data layers now make it possible to accurately describe geographic and ecological landscapes and to simultaneously estimate the effects of IBD and IBE on spatial genetic divergence [5, 6]. Understanding patterns of IBD and IBE is particularly important for species of conservation concern or that are involved in ecosystem management, because the outcomes of conservation strategies may depend upon properly managing genetic diversity. One such species is Caragana microphylla, a perennial sandy grassland and desert deciduous shrub species belonging to the legume family (Fabaceae). Native to temperate Asia, including Siberia, Mongolia, and China , C. microphylla is a widely distributed shrub species in the northern steppe and agro-pastoral ecotone of China. On the high plain of the Inner Mongolia Plateau, C. microphylla is a key component of the shrub steppe landscape, and on the sandy land of the steppe it is a dominant species of vegetation . The species has been valued for its tolerance to heat, cold, and drought and for its resistance to wind erosion, sand burial, and hail storms. It has been used as a pioneer leguminous shrub species for vegetation rehabilitation and stabilization of widely degraded and degrading grasslands in China, because of its ability to serve as a windbreak and its capacity for carbon fixation, nitrogen fixation, and nutrient accumulation in sandy soils , and it can also be served as supplemental livestock forage with high nutrient value . Genetic variation and population structure of wild C. microphylla from the Inner Mongolia Plateau have been evaluated by different marker systems, including AFLPs, RAPDs, and microsatellites [13–17], but no previous studies have quantified the contributions of IBD and IBE to spatial genetic divergence in this system. However, better understanding population dynamics in species like this is an important goal for restoration ecology, ecosystem management, and landscape and conservation genetics. Studies like this one are critical for identifying the factors that shape the distribution of genetic variation in species undergoing assisted dispersal and recolonization so that genetic diversity can be managed properly . The Inner Mongolia Plateau is characterized by pronounced biophysical gradients, presenting an opportunity to investigate the effects of multiple geographic and environmental factors on population connectivity. A temperature gradient runs roughly North-South, while a precipitation gradient runs from arid regions in the Southwest to wetter regions in the Northeast. An ecotone largely tracks the precipitation gradient, transitioning from desert in the Southwest to grassland (high meadow and steppe) in the central plateau and forest in the Northeast, with pockets of shrublands and sandy lands in the Southeast. Here, we evaluated population genetic divergence of C. microphylla across its entire geographic range on the Inner Mongolia Plateau, using a set of 22 polymorphic microsatellite markers, four cpDNA sequences and 5788 SNPs generated through genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). The major goals of this study were (i) to characterize genetic variation and population structure in C. microphylla, and (ii) to quantify the relative contributions of geographic factors (IBD) and environmental clines (IBE) to genetic differentiation in this important restoration species. We collected samples from 221 individuals of C. microphylla at ten sites throughout the natural distribution of the species in the southern Inner Mongolia Plateau of China (SZW, ZXB, DL, XH, and QYH), central Inner Mongolia Plateau (XU and DU), and northeastern Inner Mongolia Plateau (EWK, CB, XBY) (Additional file 1: Table S1 and Fig. 1). Together, these sites cover a wide range of climate space, giving us good power to detect environmentally-driven spatial genetic variation (Additional file 1: Figure S1). Sample sizes ranged from N = 18 to 24, with a mean of N = 22 (Additional file 1: Table S1). Total genomic DNA was extracted from leaf tissues using the Qiagen DNeasy Plant Kit, according to the manufacturer’s protocol (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). We genotyped all samples at 22 microsatellite (simple sequence repeat; SSR) markers (Additional file 1: Table S2) that were developed by Han using the method described by Lian et al. (Additional file 1: Table S2). PCR amplification was conducted in a total volume of 25 μL including 40 ng DNA, 1 × buffer, 3 mM MgCl2, 300 μM dNTPs, 0.6 μM forward primer and reverse primer, and 1 U Taq DNA polymerase (TaKaRa, Shiga, Japan). The forward primers were tagged with a fluorescent 6-FAM or HEX label to produce flourescent-labeled PCR amplified fragments. PCR was performed on a Mastercyler gradient thermocycler (Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany) using the following procedure: 10 min at 94 °C, followed by 10 touchdown cycles of 45 s at 94 °C, 60 s at 65 °C (−1 °C per cycle), and 60 s at 72 °C, then 35 cycles of 45 s at 94 °C, 60 s at 55 °C, and 60 s at 72 °C, and a 10 min final extension step at 72 °C. An ABI3730xl DNA Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) was used to capture amplified products by a fluorescence detection system for SSR markers. Fragment sizes were determined using an internal size standard (LIZ500, ABI, USA), and the output was analyzed using GeneMapper software (Applied Biosystems). Four cpDNA regions, including trnL-trnF, psbA-trnH, psbB-psbH and trnG, were amplified for all 221 individuals. The primers and methodology for amplification of these four DNA regions via PCR were described in Taberlet et al. , Demesure et al. , Hamilton , and Shaw et al. , respectively. Sequences were generated with an ABI 3730XL DNA Sequencer (Applied Biosystems), and edited, assembled and aligned in Geneious (v7.1.7, http://www.geneious.com/). All cpDNA sequences were deposited in Genbank (accession numbers KU564257 to KU564268). A total of 127 samples from ten populations were used to generate the genotyping by sequencing dataset (GBSseq; Additional file 1: Table S1). Individual DNA libraries for each of these samples were prepared using the restriction enzyme ApeKI according to the protocol in Elshire et al. . Libraries were then sequenced using paired-end sequencing across 3 lanes of Illumina HiSeq 4000 (BGI, Shengzhen, China). The quality of the raw read data was examined using FASTQC . GBS data assembly, mapping, and SNP discovery were performed using Stacks v1.23 . In the absence of a reference genome for this species, RADSeq loci were assembled de novo using the ‘denovo_map.pl’ pipeline in STACKS. We used a parameter combination recommended by Mastretta-Yanes et al. : minimum read depth to create a stack (−m) = 3, number of mismatches allowed between loci within individuals (−M) = 2, and number of mismatches allowed between loci within each catalogue (−n) = 2. All other parameters were kept at default values. Those loci present in at least 80% of individuals at each site were retained in the final dataset, and loci with minor allele frequencies lower than 0.05 were removed. GBS genotyping of the samples from population SZW resulted in significant missing data, so this population was removed from the GBS dataset. GBS-seq raw data were submitted to the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) with reference number SRP071628. All 22 microsatellite loci were tested for deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. We calculated common metrics of genetic variation, including average number of alleles (Na), observed and expected heterozygosity (Ho and He), and global and pairwise FST. Both global and pairwise FST were tested for significance based on 9999 permutations. All calculations and statistical tests were conducted using GenAlEx v6.5 . We used the software STRUCTURE to infer the probability of assignment to distinct genetic clusters for all 221 individuals in the ten sampled populations . The analysis was performed using the admixture model and with the option of correlated allele frequencies between populations. Ten runs were conducted for each value for the number of genetic clusters (K), with K ranging from 1 to 10. The length of the burn-in for the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) replications was set to 10,000, and data were collected every 1000 steps over a total length 100,000 MCMC steps in each run. We identified the optimal value of K using the method developed by Evanno et al. as implemented in the software Structure Harvester . Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) sequences were edited and assembled using SeqMan software (DNASTAR, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, USA). Multiple alignments of the DNA sequences were performed with Clustal X , with subsequent adjustment in Bioedit . Haplotype (Hd) and nucleotide (π) diversities were calculated from aligned DNA sequences using DnaSP v5 . We conducted an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and tested for significance based on 1023 permutations in Arlequin v3.0 . A haplotype distribution map was constructed using ArcMap v9.3 (ESRI, Inc., Redlands, California, USA), and a haplotype network was constructed in NETWORK v4.678 using Medicago sativa as an outgroup. Observed and expected heterozygosities (Ho and He) were calculated using the package Adegenet v2.0.1. in R (www.r-project.org). Both global and pairwise FST were calculated and tested for significance based on 9999 permutations using Genepop v4.0 . As with the microsatellite dataset, we also performed STRUCTURE analysis on our GBS dataset, using the admixture model and the same MCMC parameters as before. We used climate-based ecological niche models (ENMs) at multiple time periods to investigate whether current and past climate suitability is a relevant factor shaping observed patterns of genetic differentiation among populations of C. microphylla. Ecological niche modelling was carried out in MAXENT v3.3.3 . A total of 53 occurrence points, obtained from the literature [13–16] and our own sampling, and 19 GIS data layers at 2.5 arc min resolution for present-day bioclimatic variables, obtained from the WorldClim database (http://www.worldclim.org), were included in the analysis (Additional file 1: Table S3). To estimate the distribution of C. microphylla at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), we projected the model obtained by our present-day species-climate analysis onto the LGM using data layers for past climate constructed under the commonly used Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC v3.2) scaled down to a 2.5 arc min resolution and obtained from WorldClim. To model the suitability of C. microphylla under a future climate scenario, we acquired data layers (2.5 arc min resolution) predicted for the year 2080 under, again, the commonly used general circulation model MIROC from WorldClim. As with the LGM scenario, we projected the present-day ENM onto the future climate layers to explore how the predicted distribution of C. microphylla may be affected by ongoing global climate change. The performance of the model prediction was evaluated using the area under the (receiver operating characteristic) curve (AUC) calculated by MAXENT. Model predictions were visualized in ARCMAP v9.3 (ESRI, Redlands, CA). To investigate the roles of geographic and environmental factors in spatial genetic differentiation, we tested for isolation by distance (IBD) and isolation by environment (IBE) using all three marker types collected in our study. In all analyses, population pairwise genetic distances were represented by matrices of pairwise FST / (1-FST) as recommended by Rousset . Geographic distances were represented by the logarithms (log10) of geographic distances between all pairs of populations. For the environmental predictors, we downloaded the 19 bioclimate variables from the WorldClim database (www.worldclim.org) at 0.5 arc min resolution and then reduced covariance by performing spatial principal component analysis (PCA) analysis on the raster layers using the R package ‘RStoolbox’ . We retained the first three PC rasters that resulted from this analysis and extracted the value of the data point on each raster at each of the coordinates for our sampled populations. To quantify IBD and IBE, we performed multiple matrix regression with randomization (MMRR) using the R function ‘MMRR’ . We also tested for covariance between geographic and environmental distances with a Mantel test using the R package ‘vegan’ . In each analysis, 10,000 permutations were used to generate a null distribution for significance testing. To further evaluate IBD and IBE, we also performed a complementary analysis, generalized dissimilarity modelling (GDM). GDM is a statistical technique that uses nonlinear matrix regression to model spatial patterns of biological dissimilarity, including genetic distance, between sampling sites against differences in geographic and environmental variables . GDM uses an I-spline turnover function for each predictor variable to quantify: (1) variation in the rate of genetic turnover along each environmental and geographic axis (the shape of each spline) while controlling for all other variables, and (2) the curvilinear relationships between genetic distance and geographic and environmental distances [46, 47]. The maximum height of each spline corresponds to the relative importance of the associated predictor . Genetic distances for each model were the same FST / (1-FST) matrices used in the MMRR analysis, and geographic distances were based on the geographic coordinates of each sampling site. For the environmental predictors, we used the same three PC rasters as in the MMRR analysis. After fitting the GDM model to these data, we visualized spatial patterns of genetic turnover by projecting the GDM model onto the PC rasters. This assigns a color value to each cell on the raster based on its predicted genetic composition, and greater differences in the colors between cells indicate greater predicted genetic differences. All of the GDM analyses were performed in the R package ‘gdm’ . Twenty-two microsatellite markers were used to evaluate genetic diversity across 221 individuals of 10 populations of C. microphylla (Table 1). The mean number of alleles per locus (Na) ranged from 5.318 in population XBY to 8.091 in population DU (Table 1). Mean observed heterozygosity per population (Ho) ranged from 0.416 in CB to 0.693 in QYH, and mean expected heterozygosity (He) values ranged from 0.490 in XBY to 0.708 in DU. We did not detect significant deviations from HWE in any of the 22 loci. A total of 11 different cpDNA haplotypes (H1-H11) were identified based on 7 polymorphic sites detected in four cpDNA sequences (Table 1). Haplotypes H1 and H2 were the two most common haplotypes, found in 70% and 50% of C. microphylla populations, respectively (Fig. 1b). Haplotypes H3, H6, and H10, on the other hand, were found in only one population each (Fig. 1b). Haplotypes H8 and H4 were identified as the most ancestral and youngest haplotypes, respectively. The populations ETW, CB, and XBY had the lowest haplotype diversity (Hd) and nucleotide diversity (π) with only one haplotype (H8) observed in each population. The highest diversity was observed in population SZW (Hd = 0.771 and π = 0.47; Table 1). Overall, 5788 SNPs from our GBS reads were retained for 106 individuals from 9 populations after quality control and filtering steps. Mean observed heterozygosity (Ho) per population ranged from 0.196 in CB to 0.303 in XH, and mean expected heterozygosity (He) values ranged from 0.247in CB to 0.308 in XH (Table 1). Global FST among all 10 sampling sites based on our microsatellite dataset was 0.115. The pairwise estimates of genetic differentiation (FST) across all 10 populations ranged from 0.017 (ZXB vs. XH) to 0.139 (XBY vs. QYH) (Additional file 1: Table S4). All C. microphylla population pairs were significantly differentiated from each other except for the ZXB and XH pair, for which FST was not significantly different from zero. Comparisons between regions revealed little structure between the central (DU and XU) and northeast (CB, EWK, and XBY) populations (mean FST = 0.071) nor between the central and southwest (QYH, SZW, DL, XH, and ZXB) populations (mean FST = 0.073), but did reveal higher differentiation between the northeast and the southwest populations (mean FST = 0.138). The population XBY showed the highest degree of genetic differentiation from other populations (mean FST = 0.171), followed by populations CB (mean FST = 0.168) and EWK (mean FST = 0.138). For cpDNA, global FST among all sites was 0.360. About 76% of pairwise FST estimates among C. microphylla population pairs were statistically significant (Additional file 1: Table S5). Pairwise comparisons between regions revealed similar patterns compared to the microsatellite results. The mean genetic differentiation between northeast and southwest populations was FST = 0.64, followed by southwest vs. central populations (mean FST = 0.48), and northeast vs. central populations (mean FST = 0.17). For our GBS dataset of 5788 SNPs, global FST among the nine sampling sites retained in this dataset was 0.246. Pairwise comparisons between regions revealed similar patterns compared to the microsatellite and cpDNA results (Additional file 1: Table S6). The mean genetic differentiation estimates between southwest vs. central populations and northeast vs. central populations were FST = 0.164 and FST = 0.168, respectively. Whereas, the mean genetic differentiation between northeast and southwest populations was FST = 0.350. STRUCTURE analyses performed on both our microsatellite and GBS datasets indicated that the best supported number of clusters was K = 2, according to the ΔK methods for identifying the optimal number of clusters (Additional file 1: Figure S2). The probability of membership to either of the two clusters (A and B) was geographically structured among populations and regions (Figs. 1, 2). Specifically, the membership proportions in the STRUCTURE analysis revealed a significant geographic pattern in which individuals in populations mostly associated with cluster A (i.e. SZW, ZXB, XH, DL, and QYH) were more common in the southwest of the Inner Mongolia Plateau (41°N - 42°N; Fig. 1a, 2a), while individuals in populations mostly associated with cluster B (i.e. EWK, CB, and XBY) were found in the northeast of the Inner Mongolia Plateau (48°N- 49°N; Fig. 1a, 2a). In the central region of the Inner Mongolia Plateau (44°N - 45°N), two populations (XU and DU) showed intermediate probabilities of assignment to either cluster, based on the microsatellite dataset (Fig. 1a, 2a). This could result from potential admixture, shared ancestry, or demographic factors. Of the two central populations, although the XU population is more southerly, it shared genetic cluster assignments (35.6% in cluster A and 64.4% in cluster B) more with the populations in the northeast of the Inner Mongolia Plateau than with those in the southwest. The DU population, on the other hand, showed more similar genetic assignments (72.3% in cluster A and 27.7% in cluster B) to the populations in the southwest of the Inner Mongolia Plateau, even though it is geographically closer to the northeast populations (Fig. 1a, 2a). In contrast, the assignment probabilities for individuals in these populations based on the GBS dataset (Fig. 1c, 2b) were much more closely aligned with cluster A (the southwest populations) compared to those based on the microsatellite data (Fig. 1a vs. 1c; Fig. 2a vs. 2b). Three climate-based ecological niche models were constructed using 19 bioclimatic variables for three time periods: present day, the last glacial maximum (LGM), and the future (year 2080) (Fig. 3). The model based on present-day data showed strong support based on the receiver operating curve (AUC > 0.95), suggesting good model fit to the underlying data. The present-day predicted distribution of C. microphylla is consistent with its presently observed distribution (Fig. 3b). In total, precipitation had a greater influence on C. microphylla than temperature, as indicated by jackknife resampling of the regularized training gain (Additional file 1: Figure S3). Compared with its current distribution, the estimated distribution of C. microphylla during the LGM was much smaller, based on projection of the present-day model onto past climate layers, suggesting that a significant expansion occurred after the LGM from the southwest to the northeast of the Inner Mongolia Plateau (Fig. 3a). The ENM projected onto the future climate scenario for 2080 suggests that climate change will result in a significant reduction of the species’ potential range (Fig. 3c), resulting in a retraction to a small zone of climatically suitable habitat in the southwest-central part of C. microphylla’s current distribution. The spatial PCA that we performed on the 19 bioclimate data layers returned three PC rasters that explained >85% of the total bioclimatic variation. Factors loadings showed that PC1 was primarily described by temperature variables (Bio1–11; www.worldclim.org), while PC2 was derived from precipitation variables (Bio12–19; www.worldclim.org). PC3 was driven by three variables – precipitation seasonality (Bio15), mean diurnal temperature range (Bio2), and temperature annual range (Bio7) – and therefore represents an environmental seasonality and range of variation axis. Multiple matrix regression with randomization (MMRR) analysis suggested that genetic differentiation showed a significant pattern of both IBE and IBD for all three molecular datasets (Table 2 and Fig. 4). For each of the microsatellite, cpDNA, and GBS datasets, the model was a significant fit to the data (p < 0.001for each; Table 2), and explained a large proportion of the total variance (R2 = 0.685, R2 = 0.696, R2 = 888, respectively; Table 2). The signal of IBE in each dataset was driven by PC1 (temperature variables), which had a significant association with genetic distances in all three cases (p < 0.01 for each model; Table 2). PC2 and PC3 did not have significant correlations with genetic distances for any of the three molecular markers (p > 0.05; Table 2). IBE was slightly stronger than IBD in the cpDNA (IBE = 0.515, IBD = 0.361) and GBS datasets (IBE = 0.564, IBD = 0.444) and was considerably stronger than IBD in the microsatellite dataset (IBE = 0.702, IBD = 0.260; Table 2). Geographic distances were moderately correlated with distances in PC1 (Mantel’s r = 0.685, p = 0.001) and PC3 (Mantel’s r = 0702, p = 0.002) but showed no correlation with PC2 (Mantel’s r = 0.044, p = 0.553). Generalized dissimilarity modelling (GDM; Ferrier et al. 2007) analysis also revealed significant patterns of IBE and IBD in all three of our molecular datasets (Table 3). Overall, the models were a significant fit to the data (p < 0.01 for each model) and explained a large proportion of the deviance in the data structure, with 77.95% of deviance explained for the microsatellite dataset, 74.81% of deviance explained for the cpDNA dataset, and 89.18% of deviance explained for the GBS dataset. Deviance explained values for non-linear models are analogous to R2 values for linear models. Concordant with the results of the MMRR analysis, GDM revealed significant associations between genetic distances and PC3 distances for each dataset (p < 0.05; Table 3). IBE was stronger than IBD in the microsatellite dataset (IBE = 0.561, IBD = 0.132; Table 3) but slightly weaker than IBD in the cpDNA (IBE = 0.473, IBD = 0.627; Table 3) and GBS (IBE = 0.622, IBD = 0.717; Table 3) datasets. In general, maps of spatial turnover in genetic composition generated by GDM show similar patterns for the microsatellite and GBS datasets (Fig. 5). China’s Inner Mongolia Plateau contains dramatic clines in several bioclimatic variables that are critical for plant growth and community assembly and also exhibits spatial heterogeneity in various soil properties and characteristics , making it an excellent landscape on which to examine the geographic and environmental drivers of population genetic structure. This region contains high elevation arid steppe and sandy soils ecosystems that are traditionally understudied in landscape genetics and phylogeography. The need to better understand population dynamics in key species in these ecosystems is pressing because the entire region is heavily threatened by soil erosion, desertification, and ongoing climate change . In this study, we utilized large genomic datasets, including 22 microsatellites, cpDNA sequences from four gene regions, and 5788 SNPs, to characterize patterns of range-wide genetic differentiation across biophysical clines in C. microphylla, an important species for ecological restoration efforts, on the Inner Mongolia Plateau. We found that genetic diversity (haplotype diversity, nucleotide diversity, average number of alleles, and heterozygosity) was distributed across the range of the species, with more centrally located populations typically showing higher levels of genetic diversity than populations nearer to range edges, particularly to the northern range edge of this species (Table 1 and Fig. 1). This spatial pattern of genetic diversity is fairly common in many different and diverse taxa . While genetic variation can have many other spatial distributions, this “abundant center hypothesis,” in which central populations harbor greater diversity appears to be one scenario that is observed fairly frequently [51, 52]. Under any scenario, better understanding the spatial distribution of genetic variation is central to developing improved management plans for maintaining genetic diversity and for predicting the impacts of potential threats to genetic diversity . The exceptions to this general pattern in our study system were found in the southern populations that we sampled. Several of these populations (e.g. DL, SZQ, XH, and ZXB) harbored among the highest levels of haplotype and nucleotide diversity (based on our cpDNA dataset), allelic diversity (based on our microsatellite dataset), and observed heterozygosity (based on our microsatellite and GBS datasets; Table 1 and Fig. 1). This pattern may be explained by the historical distribution of C. microphylla. When the ecological niche model that we constructed was projected onto past climate layers from the last glacial maximum (LGM), it suggested that suitable habitat for C. microphylla was much more limited, compared to present day, and was primarily restricted to an area in the southwest corner of C. microphylla’s current range. This suggests that a northward expansion following glacial retreat after the LGM allowed C. microphylla to achieve the distribution it has today. Glacial refugia often harbor greater genetic diversity, particularly in plants [53–55], and that appears to be the case here as well, demonstrating how biogeographic histories can influence patterns of genetic diversity observed today. To investigate how contemporary landscape factors affect patterns of genetic variation in C. microphylla, we conducted a landscape genetic analysis in which we employed complimentary linear and non-linear matrix regression analyses to quantify patterns of IBD and IBE. Multiple matrix regression with randomization (MMRR) and generalized dissimilarity modelling (GDM) revealed strong evidence that both geographic and environmental factors play important roles in structuring genetic variation in this system. Overall, the results of our MMRR and GDM analyses were highly concordant, but there were some minor differences (Tables 2, 3). Some of these differences are likely due to the linear vs. non-linear regressions used in MMRR and GDM, respectively [44, 46]. Whether the observed differences result from GDM over-fitting the model or MMRR under-fitting the model is not currently known. In any case, our results can be viewed as strong evidence that IBD and IBE are both significant patterns of genetic differentiation in C. microphylla, even if their precise strengths are uncertain, and therefore geographic and environmental factors are both important contributors to the genetic structuring of populations in this system. There were also slight differences among our three genetic datasets. If we average the results for the MMRR and GDM analyses, we find that IBE played a considerably stronger role than IBD in structuring genetic variation in the microsatellite data (βIBE = 0.196 vs. βIBD = 0.631), but IBE and IBD were much more balanced in the cpDNA (βIBE = 0.494 vs. βIBD = 0.494) and GBS datasets (βIBE = 0.581 vs βIBD = 0.593). There is no clear reason why microsatellite markers would be expected to have lower IBD than cpDNA or GBS markers. There is an interesting possibility that chloroplast DNA, which is uni-parentally inherited through seeds, could show a different spatial pattern from nuclear DNA, which is bi-parentally inherited through seeds and pollen, if dispersal in seeds and pollen are subject to different controls. For instance, if different animals disperse seeds and pollen, which is commonly the case, or if pollen is wind dispersed while seeds fall onto the underlying terrain, then we would expect that patterns of spatial genetic variation in cpDNA and nuclear DNA could be very different . For C. microphylla, which has pollen dispersed by wind and insect pollinators , we would expect that nDNA markers would show a greater signal of IBE compared to IBD, because geographic factors would be much more limiting for seed dispersal. In fact, we do see that IBE is slightly higher than IBD for our nuclear microsatellite and GBS datasets, while IBE and IBD are very similar in our cpDNA dataset, but this difference is fairly subtle. The GDM and MMRR analyses both detected a significant signal that variation between populations in environmental PC1 drives the pattern of IBE. This signal was highly significant (p ≤ 0.02) and explained a large proportion of genetic variation (β = 0.383 to 0.565) in all three of our genetic datasets in the results of both MMRR and GDM analysis (Tables 2, 3). Signals for PC2 and PC3 were not significant in any dataset under either analysis. PC1 captured variation in the bioclimatic temperature variables in our environmental GIS dataset. Hence, our results suggest that IBE in C. microphylla is primarily driven by differences in temperature variables between populations. Both phenology and leaf emergence are linked to temperature cues in C. microphylla [57, 58]. Flowering period in C. microphylla lasts less than 30 days, and shifts in flowering period occur under different experimental temperature treatments . This suggests that differences in temperature regimes between populations may cause differences in phenology which lead to reduced overlap in flowering period and, therefore, reduced gene flow. This pattern of reduced overlap in reproductive timing has been referred to as ‘isolation by time’ and may be a key factor driving genetic structure in this system. Thus, overall, our study presents a strong case for a role of both historic and contemporary factors, including both geographic and environmental variables, in generating the currently observed patterns of spatial genetic variation in C. microphylla. For plants involved in ecological restoration, like C. microphylla, understanding these patterns is critical, because restoration work inherently involves moving plants between areas (even if they are geographically close). For instance, in this system, populations exhibit genetic differentiation between environments with different temperature regimes, and therefore restoration efforts should focus on transplanting between areas with similar environmental conditions. Plants adapted to different thermal climates may flower at the wrong time or out of sync with the local population, reducing the effectiveness of transplant efforts. Because C. microphylla also show geographically driven genetic differentiation, plants that are transplanted from distant sites that are environmentally similar could be effective at introducing genetic variation into struggling populations . Hence, better understanding the factors that shape genetic variation in these species is critical for preventing unintended consequences of reintroductions and translocations and for guiding conservation plans to produce the best possible outcomes. Specifically, the knowledge generated by studies like ours can contribute to managing how genetic variation is distributed in these species, the probability of individuals surviving and becoming established under various climatic factors, and the chances of maintaining genetically healthy populations. We thank Prof. Tieliang Shang Guan, Shanxi University, for the sampling and identification of the plant material and the UC Berkeley Geospatial Innovation Facility for providing GIS software. This research was funded by a grant from the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (ASTIP-IAS10) of China. The funding body did not play a role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript, but just provide the financial support. All cpDNA sequences were deposited in Genbank (accession numbers KU564257 to KU564268). GBS-seq raw data were submitted to the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) with reference number SRP071628. The SSR genotypes datasets and the other rest of the dataset used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Z.W. conceived and designed the study, B.X., and J.L., collected samples, B.X., G.S., J.L., and Z.W. performed the experiments, Z.W. and I.W. analyzed the data, Z.W., B.X., G.S., X.W., and I.W. drafted and revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of this manuscript. All the plant materials were sampled by us. The sampling of plant materials was complied with the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and national and local laws. All the materials were identified by Prof. Tieliang Shang Guan, Shanxi University. Andrews S. FastQC: a quality control tool for high throughput sequence data Babraham. Cambridge: Bioinformatics; 2010. Available at https://www.bioinformatics.babraham.ac.uk/projects/fastqc/.

2019-04-21T12:38:55Z

https://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12870-017-1147-7

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Pick one that’s large enough to hold your shampoo, conditioner, body washes, and razors! I don’t know about you, but our shower curtains get GROSS. Really fast. Especially at the bottom of the curtain. New shower curtains are cheap – so grab a new one that matches your bathroom design and style! I love our microfiber bathmat! They’re really soft and spongy – and they absorb a lot of water! If you have slick bathroom floors, a bathmat is a MUST anyway, especially if you have kids! Get one that adds a pop of color to your bathroom! To top off the best shower experience ever – go buy a new body wash and shampoo. I love trying new scents! While you’re at it, grab some body scrubs too! Winter is coming soon and we gotta get prepared to get rid of all that dead and dry skin this upcoming cold and chilly season!! Do you have any shower upgrade ideas? We’d love to hear them! Guys. Get this. You NO longer have to leave home and get out of your comfy PJ’s and slippers to indulge in Seafood night! We’ve fallen head over heels in love with the new Michael Angelo’s Seafood Meals, and so will you! It’s an upgrade from frozen fish sticks that the kids love! Nothing wrong with those, we’ll just leave those to the kiddos while we indulge in the big people stuff! The new Michael Angelo’s Salmon Piccata is CRAZY good! It’s turned off chilly here this week and I really enjoyed warming up and having this for dinner. Perfection! Made with wild-caught Alaskan salmon, spring vegetables, and a fluffy brown rice in a piccata sauce. It’s super flavorful, and the portion was perfect for me! I’ve been a fan of Michael Angelo’s foods for a long time now, and most people love the amazing flavor. What they don’t know is that the ingredients are simple, and clean. Want a night off from having to cook? Want a super quick and easy seafood night at home? Grab some Michael Angelo’s Seafood Meals, straight from the frozen aisle at your local grocery store. I got ours at Kroger – but you can also find them at Walmart and Publix. Visit their store locator page to see where you can snag yours! You’ll love that you’ll be able to read and understand everything on the label. Real ingredients. No preservatives. Nothing artificial. BAM! Their salmon is wild caught and their shrimp is chemical free! Each week now when I write out our weekly menu plan, I make sure to reserve at least one night for Seafood Night! The family is always super excited – and THIS momma is super excited that I don’t have to slave over a hot stove! Go ahead and visit Michael Angelo’s on their social channels below to see what’s the latest and greatest! Have you tried any of these seafood meals yet? If so, which was your fave or which would you love to try? Let’s face it. Potatoes are an integral part of dinnertime. Especially at our house. My husband is one of those “meat and potatoes” kinda guys. There’s just one thing though. This momma don’t have the time, NOR the energy to stand and peel potatoes, cut potatoes, boil potatoes, and then mash the heck out of them to get all the lumps out. Don’t get me wrong, I do love me some mashed potatoes – but the real deal around our house isn’t as often as I’d like. I’ve always been a huge fan of Idahoan because they are the best tasting “instant” out there, in my opinion. Well, they have overwhelmingly upped their game!!! The new Idahoan Signature Russets Mashed Potatoes are SO STINKING GOOOOOOOOOOOD! You’d swear to the heavens above, that these were 100% completely homemade at your grandma-ma’s house! Not even kidding! They have a very smooth taste, just like original homemade mashed potatoes with just a hint of butter and cream. I made these the other night with one of my super quick and easy chicken recipes. We’re having some remodeling done on the house, and this particular night — by the time dinner time came – I was too tired and needed something hearty for dinner! This was a HIT. Place chicken breasts in a plastic container or large zip lock bag with Italian dressing. Shake around until chicken is well coated. Stick in fridge to marinate for 30 minutes or so. Place chicken in baking dish or pan, pour leftover dressing from the baggie over top. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until no longer pink. Spoon some of the hot dressing from the pan over chicken. Serve with mashed potatoes and your favorite veggies! They’re delicious. Oh, wait…did I already say that?! Makes any meal taste like Sunday dinner! More than 6 pounds of premium Idahoan russet potatoes go into every 16 oz. pouch. They use a new processing method that let’s the potatoes keep their natural goodness and texture. In the end, they taste as good as if you had peeled, boiled, and mashed them yourself! Takes just 5 minutes using milk and butter….or just water! You can get them in a 4 serving, 12 serving, or 20 serving pouch – and the pouches are resealable. You can find them nationwide, including Walmart and Kroger NOW! What’s your go-to recipes with mashed potatoes as a side dish? This post brought to you by Wearsafe. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Sweet Pennies From Heaven. College Safety Tips for Girls and Guys You Never Think Of! The kids are all grown up and leaving for college. They think they already know everything, right?! Yeah, they’re pretty smart – but they’re probably also still really naive. My niece, Hannah – my “mini me” – has just started her first year. Bathroom selfies and all… (God love her heart!). I love her to pieces. College kids HAVE to be equipped with some “smarts” when it comes to their safety since we’re not there to protect them. Here are 7 college safety tips for girls (and guys) that most of them won’t ever think of…until we tell them! 1 . Have car/dorm keys handy BEFORE you get to the car or your dorm room. Don’t wait until you’re there before you start digging around for keys. 2 . Keep pepper spray handy. Most people think about having pepper spray on them, but most of the time they never even buy any. 3 . Use your car alarm! If a stranger is following you in the parking lot – press that alarm button on your key ring. More than likely, they’ll run the opposite direction! 4 . Don’t leave your drinks/food unattended. I know this one has been said over and over and over again – but for realz! Keep an eye on your drinks. You never know what weird creeper will drop something in it! 5 . Never go to the ATM machine alone, especially at night. Make your bestie or room mate tag along with you. If she/he complains, offer them $5 or something off the dollar menu at Taco Bell. Guarantee they’ll take you up on that! 6 . Keep your expensive stuff like laptops and electronic devices hidden away in your backpack or bag when heading out to the car or to the library. 7 . Use Wearsafe! It’s a teeny tiny Tag that keeps the kids and their family/friends one step ahead of an unsafe situation. In this event – it can be hard to get help when you’re fumbling around for your phone. I just set one up, and it was so easy to do! This super small Wearsafe Tag uses your phone to alert your friends and family – by sending them audio from the scene. It starts a chat room where they can coordinate, and/or call 911. Even when your phone is OUT OF SIGHT!! The Wearsafe Tag works with both iPhones and Androids. The app is only $5 a month and comes with a FREE device/tag! You cannot beat that — and there are NO commitments!!! You can Try it free now!!! You won’t find another product out there that will keep your college kids safer than Wearsafe. It’s the only one to offer audio, GPS, and group chat! The Wearsafe Tag is SO small that a stranger don’t even know it’s there! All the while, in a situation, they have NO idea that 911 may already be on the way, thanks to Wearsafe! Group chat – all those in selected network are in group chat to create a virtual situation room. Connects people who may not be connected on a daily basis. They can connect as a team to address how to help person in distress and assess the situation. This gives parents and the college kids both a sense of security. Even while you’re not close to one another, you’re still able to protect them at a moments notice! For just $5 a month. Mind blown. What other college safety tips do you have?! We’d love to hear them. Leave us a comment below or follow us on social media! Since the new year – I’ve tried to get a little more fit and eat better. The biggest problem is my snacking habits, especially during the late mornings/early afternoon. Breaking that habit isn’t easy, so I need this little orange zest drink to help curb my appetite. I found out about Meta Appetite Control – and wanted to give it a shot. It’s a fiber supplement that reduces your appetite for up to 4 hours. That’s exactly what I need to get me through that snacky slump in the middle of the day! Best part is that you can enter to receive a digital $5 off coupon and product sample for yourself to try out! Woohoo! You’ll find out how, towards the end of the post. You just add a couple heaping teaspoons of Meta Appetite Control into some ice cold water, and stir. I like to add ice to mine too, the colder – the better! I really like the Orange Zest flavor – but then again, I’m a sucker for anything orange! You could also add a couple spoonfuls into your morning or afternoon smoothies – to help keep you fuller, longer too! It’s the #1 recommended fiber brand by doctors. It’s made with 100% natural psyllium fiber*! It’s been clinically proven to keep you full between meals, and reduce your hunger. The psyllium fiber in the powder forms a thick gel when it thickens. Thus, giving you a more full sensation. You can find Meta Appetite Control now, in the digestive wellness aisle at Walgreens nationwide! I-C is hosting a coupon opportunity for Meta Appetite Control through the form allowing you a $5 off coupon upon filling out the form. Giveaway opens on Tuesday, June 7th and closes when all coupons have been redeemed. Have you tried it yet? What do you think?! This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/Bounty, however all opinions and spaghetti sauce splatters are my own. I’ve really been trying hard this past week to watch what I’m eating. I decided to give myself one day on the weekends as my “cheat” day and enjoy something that I love. We decided on spaghetti and meatballs. No argument from the family, either. We all love spaghetti. These homemade Italian meatballs were sooooo good and really simple to make. I’m going to share the recipe with you. Just prepare spaghetti the way you normally do to pair with these yummy meatballs. Okay, on to the recipe. You’ll also find a printable recipe down near the bottom of this post. Just print it off and stick back in your recipe box! *About halfway through cooking, turn meatballs in the tins to brown the other side. ** To brown the meatballs really well, turn on the broiler for the last couple of minutes. Watch carefully so you don’t burn them. We recently remodeled and updated our kitchen. I wanted a white farmhouse kitchen, and that’s what I got. However, the beadboard backsplash around the counter and the panel behind the stove is white and shows ALL kinds of splatters. Spaghetti making the worst messes, naturally. The sauce is yummy, but it’s also messy. When it bubbles, it pops and splatters everywhere. Do you have the same issue? I also opted for all white dish towels and dish cloths. I just love the way they look in a kitchen. So fresh and crisp. I never even thought how EVERY thing that you clean up stains those pretty white towels and cloths and they get really dingy really fast. Bounty recently came out with a BRAND new kind of paper towel. It’s Bounty with Dawn, ya’ll. With Dawn. They’re thicker than your average paper towel and you just activate them with water. Then they get all nice and sudsy! I am in LOVE with these. You can rinse and wring these puppies out so you can clean up the whole mess with ONE paper towel instead of 10! Dawn is awesome at fighting grease so that combined with the thickness of these new Bounty with Dawn paper towels is a double-whammy! The towels were good at breaking up dried on food too. I had the oven on, baking the meatballs and the sauce and spaghetti on the stovetop. The heat from the stove made the sauce dry up and after dinner, the new Bounty with Dawn paper towel wiped it up in just a couple of swipes. I was VERY impressed! Make sure to check out the new Bounty with Dawn paper towels the next time you’re at Walmart and pick up a roll to try for yourself. I think you’ll love them as much as I do. Keep in mind that these do not replace paper towels for food prep. My husband almost stuck the meatballs out of the oven onto one of these to soak the grease up. I was like, noooooooo!!!! I don’t want my meatballs to taste like Dawn dish soap, hahaha!!! Visit Bounty on Facebook and on Twitter for news, updates and promotions! What do you typically use to clean up tough messes? I participated in the NIOXIN Challenge blog program as a member of One2One Network. I received free product and compensation but all opinions are my own. All of my life I’ve had thin and really fine hair. I have always struggled with getting curls to stay in or when I style my hair, it just flops after a couple of hours. I remember my mom jumping on me for using rubber bands as ponytail holders cause she said it would break my hair off. They were perfect ponytail holders for me though, because just about anything else would end up loosening and sliding off. I found out about the NIOXIN Hair System Kits and jumped at the chance to review one. I had heard rave reviews so I really wanted to try it out. I was asked to do the NIOXIN 30 Day Challenge and then share my experience. NIOXIN has 6 different hair system kits and I chose system 3 for normal to thin-looking hair with color treatment (yes, I color my hair!). Each kit includes an easy 3 step daily regimen including shampoo, conditioner and a treatment. The first thing I noticed when starting the 30 day challenge was the tingling and refreshing sensation on my scalp. Other than that, I didn’t really notice a big difference that first week in my hair. Then by the middle of the 2nd week, I started noticing that my hair was much easier to fix and that my hairstyle would last longer than usual. It just felt fuller as I would curl or straighten my hair. By the end of the 30 day challenge, my husband even noticed a difference just by looking at my hair. He knew that I had a new product in the shower (which I dared him to use, haha!) but he usually doesn’t pay much attention. He’s used to it being flat as a pancake and he came home from work one day and asked if I’d been to my “hair guy”. HA! Overall, my hair feels much fuller. I’m very pleased with NIOXIN and will continue using it! We encourage YOU to take the NIOXIN 30 Day Challenge and see if you don’t notice fuller, thicker hair. Click HERE to find the NIOXIN system kit that best suits your needs. Start the challenge and then share your results with before and after photos on the NIOXIN Facebook and Twitter pages using #NIOXINChallenge. One lucky reader will win a NIOXIN Hair System Kit of their own. Juse use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Giveaway ends 3/25 at 11:59pm EST. US residents only, 18 or older eligible. Disclosure: The information and products received have been provided by General Mills through Platefull Co-Op. If you’re not a fan of ooey gooey – warm and yummy cookies, then you might ought to just turn around and leave now. I wouldn’t want to be friends with you anyway…I don’t need that sort of negativity in my life. Now, my cookie friends, check out these insane S’mores Cookies!!! Cookies are just pure pleasure. Especially when they’re warm, straight outta the oven. AND even more especially – when they’re filled with S’more gooey-ness! HELLO!!! These new Pillsbury Melts are INSANELY delish! They are filled on the inside with yummy goo and topped with a chocolate drizzle. Oh, and in 2 different flavors….Molten Fudge Cake and S’more Sensation! You can find both of these in the refrigerated cookie dough section. Which is where I spend about 85.677777% of my time when I’m grocery shopping. Baking was easy peasy…just like the other Pillsbury Ready to Bake Cookies, they’re already made into little cookie balls for you. SWEET! Just plop them on a pan and bake for a few minutes. After they’ve cooled a bit, just drizzle that yummy chocolate on top! Mmmm. Well, the whole pan was demolished within minutes. I’ll just say that much. We tried the S’mores cookies and man oh mannnn. They were sooo good! I’m saving the Molten Fudge Cake cookies for this weekend. That way my husband can get at least ONE cookie before they’re el-gono! These cookies are perfect for anytime, but I’m sure I’ll be making these around the holidays too. So easy…and so yummy. Which one of these new Pillsbury Melts cookies are you excited to try? Or do you just want to try BOTH?! You might want to visit the Pillsbury Facebook page too, they’re always sharing FAN-flipping tastic recipes that are easy and delicious. Friends, football season is coming! It’s not THAT far away and I am so excited! I love football and fall weather. It’s the Tennessee gal’s favorite time of the year. I can almost smell the crisp fall air and hear the roar of the fans in the stadium. That just makes me smile!! We are making an effort to eat healthier and so we wanted to take something we love…pizza…and give it a healthy tailgating twist without losing any flavor or fun! So I was super excited to try this new pizza tray grill pan from Gourmet Grillware. This pizza tray is so versatile. It withstands heat up to 1000°F and can be used on the grill, on the stove or in the oven. It’s even freezer safe!! It’s made of food safe aluminum alloy which makes for even heating and easy browning on any surface. It also means it isn’t dishwasher safe. But, it’s so easy to clean you won’t even care! I know you don’t believe me when I say that this homemade pizza is simple. But trust me, it is SO easy to make! You can whip it up in no time flat. Mix all ingredients together until you have a dough similar to biscuit dough. It’s not a firm dough. It will be somewhat spreadable. Place your Gourmet Grillware Pizza Tray onto a stove eye on medium/high heat. Spray on some non-stick cooking spray or spread a little vegetable oil on the pan. Plop your dough on and spread it to the thickness that you desire. Let is sit for a bit and brown. Once it’s nice and golden, flip it and brown the other side. Use potholders to carefully remove the pan from the eye. Preheat your oven to 400° at this point. We chose chicken, zucchinni, onions, garlic and spinach. In a medium pan, with a tablespoon of olive oil my hubby sauteed all the veggies together with a pinch of salt. We keep cooked chicken on hand. He grabbed a chicken breast, chopped it up and threw it in the pan. Once everything was heated through and the onions were translucent, the heat is turned off. This pizza has NO SAUCE! No, I am not kidding. It’s a waste of calories and would overpower the flavors of the veggies. All you do is pour your cooked toppings onto your crust and sprinkle on whatever shredded cheese you may have on hand. Cheese isn’t necessary but can act as a glue to hold all the veggies on the pizza. Throw the pan into your preheated oven and wait for everything to heat up and the cheese to melt. Carefully remove your pizza on the Gourmet Grillware Pizza Tray, from the oven. Let it stand for 10 minutes then cut and serve. Another great thing about this pizza tray is that it is also a great serving dish. So you can cut the pizza right on the tough tray and then carry it straight to the table and enjoy!! Want to win a set of Gourmet Grillware? You can! Enter on the Giveaway Tools Widget below for your chance at a $300 Gourmet Grillware prize pack!

2019-04-25T04:53:32Z

http://www.sweetpenniesfromheaven.com/category/money-saving-resources/product-reviews/

Of Course BPA Can Be Found Inside You! It doesn’t take a rocket-scientist to understand how toxins from plastics can be found in the umbilical cord of our newborn babies, in our blood and in our tissues. Generations of exposure to those toxins that can be found in EVERY plastic bottle is always leached into your water, and it always finds it’s way into the body. When N.I.H (National Institute of Health, the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research) labels our children as being “PRE-POLLUTED” then you KNOW we have bigger problems than most people want to acknowledge at all. The average temperature of water that is processed through reverse osmosis is 190°. This means that the source water has already reached temperatures that cause the chemicals to leach out from the plastic BEFORE you buy and refrigerate it! In other words, the dangers of consuming fluids from a plastic bottle begin at the bottling plant and there’s nothing you can do to prevent exposure to these chemicals whatsoever. It takes approximately 5 liters of water to produce (and fill) a 1 liter bottle of water using the reverse osmosis process. If you understand the volatility of our natural resources, this should be of great concern to you! The reverse osmosis process doesn’t discriminate – is very good at removing the bad things (at least before it hits the bottle, that is) but it removes all of the natural minerals right along with the bad things. Water without minerals has absolutely NO BENEFIT to the human body whatsoever. This is true for distilled water too! It doesn’t matter if the plastic is made with BPA or if it’s BPA-free. There is NO such thing as safe plastic…not for you and your family, and not for the environment. Just say “NO” to all plastics…especially those used for your water consumption! If you decide to take a positive step in the right direction by making the decision to do away with all those harmful plastics impacting YOUR health (and the health of the future generations) reach out to me. There is a better, healthier way and it doesn’t involve a toxic water bottle filled with clear fluids. Your body will thank you for it, the future generations will thank you for it AND the environmental will thank you for it too. I’m an environmental advocate specializing in water. A mini “Erin Brockovich” …instead of fighting for justice, I have solutions for businesses and families. Families like the Donald Trump family, the Bill Gates family, the Seattle Seahawks families, the NY Yankees families and familes like yours and mine. If you’d like more information about the solutions that I have to offer, reach out to me. Lynn Gardner, lynn@liquid-assets-usa.com or call 202 241 1542. With bottled water out-selling carbonated drinks for the first time, there is no limit to the options being made available to consumers by money-hungry providers and most of it is NOT what it claims to be! Bottled water dominates more square footage in the grocery story than any other product! More and more “alkaline” waters and more and more”hydrogen infused” options are hitting the shelves and the $30.00 per gallon price tag doesn’t seem to be slowing anybody down! Wise consumers are looking at affordable, long-term options so that they can have an endless supply of alkalized water in their own home and these wise consumers are looking to consumer ionization appliances as a result. These wise consumers also understand that by purchasing a long-term solution; they save thousands and thousands of dollars over the long run. Longevity. Because consumers are rapidly catching on to the benefits of drinking cleaner, healthier water and more alkaline water and the ionizer industry is beginning to boom as a result. Unfortunately, there are many start-up and 3rd party ionizer companies chasing the market, promising the moon and selling the truth short online. Look for a company that has been in the market long enough to be established AND long enough to have proven to stand behind their product and their warranties, one that offers reliable and reasonable service inside of the U.S. and one that can speak with experience about the life-cycle expectations of your unit. a quality ionizer SHOULD last for 20+ years with simple, routine maintenance. Look for a company that has the stay-power to be there for you long after your investment and one that already has a track record to “prove” how long your investment should last! Reputable. There are good things and not-so-good things about the Internet. One of the not-so-good things is that it’s easy to “look good on paper”. Dealing with strangers on the Internet over ANY investment but particularly a sizable investment is never a good idea. Many of the 3rd party ionizer companies that you see online have already undergone name changes a few times and some have the worst Better Business Bureau ratings possible; that’s saying a whole lot when so many of them have been in business for just a few years. It’s not a good sign OR a good investment to put your money with a company that has already proven to be a problem for other consumers. Look for a company that has been around the block a few times and one that you can go directly to for any concerns or problems that you have. USA Focused. Most (if not all) ionizers are manufactured outside of the US. The majority of the units that you see on the market today are manufactured by the same Korean manufacturer under different labels. The company that you may buy from is likely a 3rd party representative and not the manufacturer at all and in that case, they don’t manufacture, service or warranty the units at a;;. When services is needed, your unit must be shipped back to the original manufacturer in Korea, and at your expense. Look for a USA focused ionizer company that will actually stand behind and service your investment here in the United States. In other words, look for a direct manufacturer and NOT a 3rd party sales entity. Sight Unseen. If you’re going to make the investment in ionization technology for you and your family, it’s not a good idea purchase sight unseen. You should have the chance to see it (and try it) for yourself before you buy. Although one company may give you the opportunity to see and try for yourself most of them don’t. Each ionizer on the market is vastly different from another and it’s not reasonable for you to expect that what you find online is like what you’ve already seen and tried for yourself! Consumers don’t buy vehicles that way…”test driving” one brand and then buying a completely different vehicle without ever seeing or driving it first. That is a risky approach no matter how large or how small the price tag is and it makes no financial sense whatsoever. Look for a company that will allow you to see (and try) the product for yourself before you buy! Warranty: There are warranties and then there are warranties, and it’s important to select a company that will not only stand behind the warranty, but also one that will be able to honor it within the U.S. Wise consumers recognize that there is no such thing as a lifetime, unlimited warranty without a “catch” of some kind. Late-night infomercials often use this strategy to entice sales, but they generally have low-cost items and studies have proven that 98.9% of consumers will not bother to ship back a low-ticket item even with that “money back guarantee”. If necessary, ask to see the full warranty before you purchase (versus a warranty certificate) and don’t just “buy in” to a company that says they’ll stand behind the product “forever”and ever no matter what. Every “lifetime” warranty on the planet has exclusions of some sort and “lifetime” warranty ionizer companies are no different. If they go out of business; you have no warranty and if you’re required to ship your product back to Korea to the manufacturer (avg shipping $600 each way), it makes no financial sense whatsoever. Look for a company that has a solid (and realistic) warranty along with U.S. service centers prepared to offer timely and efficient serving whenever it’s needed. Investing in ionization water technology is (by far) the single most significant investment that you can make for your health and well-being and it makes perfect financial sense for the long run…if you buy the right one, that is! When it comes to anything consumable, it pays to do your homework AND it never pays to skimp. If you’d like more information on ionization technology, reach out to me. Experts Blame Dehydration for Stroke Damage? It’s About Time! Headlines in a an article published by Everyday Health reads – “Dehydration Leads to Greater Stroke Damage”. More accurately it should read “Dehydration Leads to Greater Stroke Risk“. Dehydration is your enemy and it’s time to give it the blame that it deserves. The human brain is 85% water and the blood is 90% water. When the body is deprived of water, the consequences go well beyond what most people understand. We’ve replaced the body’s NEED for water with a beverage-of-choice and we no longer recognize the signs of dehydration. Dr. Paul Bendheim, a clinical professor of neurology from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, says “there are no hard-and-fast rules for staying well-hydrated, despite recommendations to drink eight glasses of water each day“. That’s a no-brainer! Obviously the amount of water each individual needs depends on a number of factors; activity, weight and status of health just to name a few. Dr. Bendheim goes on to say, “prior research found that the majority of people are dehydrated when they have a stroke, but it’s not clear why”. How in the world can it not be clear why people are dehydrated? It’s interesting to note that most heart attacks and strokes happen in the middle of the night when the body is the most dehydrated. It’s a very good thing to drink water before you retire for the night! The 8 Glasses of Water a Day Rule is just THE MINIMUM needed to keep your organs functioning…but it sure isn’t enough to keep your blood hydrated and your veins free and clear! If you’re active, if you’re sick or if you’re overweight, you need a whole lot more than just eight, 8-ounce glasses of water a day to equip the body to battle things like stroke or high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, and a multitude of other conditions! Water is positively key to your prevention and recovery…you were wired that way! Seniors are generally more dehydrated than younger people primarily because we lose our sense of thirst as we age. We may need to be reminded to drink instead of waiting for the brain to trigger thirst. Lots of people set alarms to be reminded to take medications, perhaps it’s time to set up a reliable reminder to prompt you to drink water too. Relying on your sense of thirst won’t do the trick. By the time the average person “feels” thirsty, they are already chronically dehydrated and ready for disaster. Now that you know that stroke (among LOTS OF OTHER THINGS) can be triggered or worsened by dehydration, don’t you think it’s time to do something about it? How much research do you need to read before you take action to properly hydrate your body with W A T E R? It all comes down to basic biology. No amount of consuming any other fluids can replace the body’s need for water. In fact, most choice beverages actually cause the body to work harder just to rid itself of toxins introduced by replacing water with another beverage. If water is so important, don’t you think the kind of water you drink might be important too? Of course it is! It doesn’t make much sense to consume water that has no minerals whatsoever (causes the body to deplete itself of minerals from within which leads to degeneration) and it doesn’t make much sense to drink water that is laced with the chemicals necessary to make human waste potable. After you make the decision to consume the amount of water your body needs; you’ll need to decide what kind of SAFE and HEALTHY water you’ll be introducing to your body. There aren’t a whole lot of options when you look at it that way! Electrolyzed Reduced Water (ERW) is the ONLY way to go for me and my family. After doing our own research; the choice was easy for us. How much research (and testimonials) do you need to see before you embrace Electrolyzed Reduced Water as being the most beneficial water for the human body? I know that my days are numbered but I don’t buy in to the idea that I’m supposed to rot prior to my death, so I’m giving my body what it needs to avoid things like stroke, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, etc., instead of looking for a pill to fix my problem later. After all, there is no cure for any disease whatsoever. With that in mind, it’s time to FIGHT FOR HEALTH! Do yourself, your brain (and the rest of your body) and your family a favor. HYDRATE NOW! Your Bones Are ALIVE And They Need Your Attention! Most of us take our bones for granted unless we’re faced with a crisis like a broken bone or a fractured hip. Our bones are very much alive and they need our attention if we want them to “stand up” to the job that we ask them to do day-after-day and year-after-year. More than 250,000 people over the age of 65 break a hip each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s interesting to note that most of the time people don’t fall a break a hip…they break a hip and fall. How’s that for brittle bones? Demographic reports suggest that 10,000 people a day are turning 65 and that this will continue for the next 17 years! It looks like we have a lot of bone problems on the horizon if we don’t take action to protect them! Contrary to popular belief, men are at risk too. About 1 in 5 men will break a bone due to osteoporosis. In fact, men claim 1 out of every 3 broken hips worldwide. Sadly, both health and quality of life can plummet after a hip fracture. It’s alarming to note that 37% of men die within a year after they break a hip — twice as many as women, found a 2014 study published by the International Osteoporosis Foundation. This speaks volumes to the poor condition of the overall health of those battling brittle bones. It’s time to give your bones (and all of the rest of you) the attention they deserve! Are You “Bad to the Bone”? Our bones consist of 25% water. If you aren’t efficiently hydrating your body, your bones (and the rest of you) will pay the ultimate price. This is just one of the reasons that the elderly often have hip and knee problems. We lose our sense of thirst as we age and if we don’t make a conscious effort to drink lots of healthy water (naturally laced with minerals), we will be living in a state of chronic dehydration and the bones will begin to break down…and that’s just the beginning! Red blood cells don’t last long in the bloodstream so they need to be replaced continuously by new cells, which originate in your bone marrow. This area in the center of the bone is a spongy tissue that churns out billions of new, mature blood cells each day (wow!) just to keep us supplied with the oxygen and energy we need. If we refuse to give the body the amount of (and the quality of) water it needs, this entire system begins to fail. Drinking plenty of healthy water is a very small price to pay to sustain health. How Are You Neglecting Your Bones? 1. You overlook calcium. Adults need about 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day to keep the bones in good shape. A huge source of calcium is healthy, mineral-laced water. Unfortunately most people are replacing healthy water with useless bottled water (all minerals have been removed). So in addition to not consuming enough healthy water to stay hydrated, you’re robbing minerals from your bones to make up for the minerals that are not in your drinking water. Does that make sense to you? I sure hope not! Change you water…change your life! Calcium is just part of the equation though. In addition to calcium, daily magnesium, protein, and vitamin D are essential. Vitamin D increases calcium absorption by as much as 50 percent Since we avoid the sun like the plague these days, it’s important for many of us to supplement with a daily dose of Vitamin D. 2. Digestive conditions increase your risk of having weak bones. These include inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, lactose intolerance, and anorexia nervosa (according to the National Institute of Health Osteoporosis Resource Center ). It is important to note that the leading colon specialist in the world, Dr. Hiromi Shinya, recommends proper hydration with Kangen Water® for colon health. He has examined the colon of thousands of patients before and after a Kangen Water® protocol and the results are astounding. If you suffer with digestive issues, you need to write your own prescription for Kangen Water®. How Are You Damaging Your Bones? 1. Treating your GERD/acid reflux with meds. Bone loss can result from the use of antacids that contain aluminum, which can deplete your calcium supply; this includes products like Alamag, Maalox, or Mylanta. Even the commonly used drugs that treat heartburn — Prilosec, Nexim, and Prevacid — may lead to bone loss, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Alkalize the body and say “good bye” to these digestive issues instead of opting for meds that may be destroying your bones! 2. Taking steroid medications like Cortisone, Prednisone, or Desxamethasone can cause debilitating bone loss over time, notes the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF). You may have taken steroid meds — also called glucocorticoids or corticosteroids — to treat rheumatoid arthritis, asthma or allergies, lupus, Crohn’s disease or cancer. The root cause of these conditions is inflammation and chronic dehydration. Drink ionized, alkalized, electrically charged water and you’ll likely be able to nix the steroids as your body begins to mend itself. EXPERIENCE IT 100% RISK FREE FOR 30 DAYS AND SEE FOR YOURSELF. 3. Phenobarbital is often used to treat seizures as well as anxiety and insomnia. How many people do you know that “need a little something” to help them sleep or to manage stress? The drug is sometimes habit-forming and often misused. Dilantin, another anti-seizure medication, is also linked to bone loss. 4. Moderating your alcohol intake is important for bone health. Too much alcohol keeps you from getting the nutrients strong bones need. Abusing alcohol leads to bone weakness and a greater risk of breaking bones. If you consume alcohol remember; less is always best. So you see, your bones are very much ALIVE and badly in need of your attention. Are you going to give them the attention they deserve or will you hold out for surgery and pain killers? Just askin’. If you decide that it’s time to take control of your own health, reach out to me! I’ve got a solution that may even outlive you and it’s a game-changer when it comes to your health! WANT TO SEE WHAT I BELIEVE ABOUT WATER? I Believe from Kangen Pro Tools on Vimeo. I Lied About Alkaline Water! It is said that “the truth will set you free” so here goes…I lied about alkaline water. I have been busy preaching the benefits of alkaline water without understanding that long-term use of alkaline water can be detrimental to your health! It is vitally important to good health that we keep the body in an alkaline state, however the method that we use to accomplish this can “make or break” us. An alkaline diet is a great start but it’s just not enough to maintain the balance needed. Water is a crucial component. There is a HUGE difference between alkaline water and alkalized water. How can you tell the difference? That’s easy! Alkaline water is enhanced with minerals and it can be tested with a standard pool-type pH strip because pH strips react to a chemical change. Alkalized water will not change the color of a pH strip because there are NO added minerals or chemicals used in the process. Alkalized is produced by the introduction of electricity and therefore it must be tested using pH drops. Alkalized water is water that has been modified with the use of very high voltage electricity. If the electrical influence is strong enough. it will create was is referred to as “dissociation of water”. Dr. Michael Donaldson (below) has become an expert on the impact of alkalized water on the human body and he explains the differences between alkaline and alkalized water much better than I can. I encourage you to preview this brief explanation. This is key to your health! The bad news is that I offered an “uneducated” version of the need for alkaline water. The good news is that the source that I’ve been recommending all along produces ALKALIZED water NOT alkaline water. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better…. CLICK HERE FOR ALKALIZED WATER! If you’ve ever wondered how food suppliers could possibly get by with deceiving the public about what we’re really eating just look in the mirror! We are their secret weapon. Since water is the #1 requirement for health (and life) it’s important to understand what you are (and are not) drinking too! Don’t let your willful ignorance get in the way of making wise decisions about the water you and your family drink! The Water Quality Association has awarded Kangen Water® the Gold Seal for water quality (aka healthy water) year after year. With over 30 million people across the globe already drinking Kangen Water® isn’t it time you got on board too? CLICK HERE for water endorsed by the WQA! Too Cheap to Protect Your Health? You’ll Be Sorry! Some things in life are clearly superior to others of like kind. Here is one of my favorites. Stradivarius violins…there are none in the world like the violins mastered by the Stradivari family in the late 1600’s. These instruments are famous for the quality of sound they produce. Many attribute the difference to the wood used, the region the wood came from, the environmental conditions during the growth period of the wood and the minerals used to “finish” the wood. An original Stradivarius violin is not like any other in the world and it is deserving of the praise it receives. I remember taking a tour of a temperature controlled private facility that houses only the finest things in the world. This facility has armed guards 24/7 and every security measure known to mankind to protect the magnificent items stored there. In one room was an original Stradivarius violin. It was the only thing in this room and it had its own guard. Carefully stored in a temperature and humidity controlled glass case this violin was gently removed from its case twice a day and played by a master violinist just to be sure that it was being cared for in the way it was intended to be and that it is maintained to “perfection” at all times. It was a magnificent sight to see. It’s worth? Millions. What’s my point? My point is that your health is worth far more than the finest Stradivarius and yet we skimp, we cut corners, we ignore the obvious and then freak out when the body “cries wolf” and it quits working. Frankly, some people are just too cheap to protect their own health. They prefer to spend their money on indulgence instead of maintenance. Rest assured, that precious Stradivarius would not be so special if it was not provided the finest “care”at all costs 24 four hours a day. Your body is no different. To maintain “perfection” you can’t continue to ignore what it needs. We are what we breathe, what we eat and what we drink. Quality is worth every penny you pay for it and THEN some. Do whatever you have to do and sacrifice whatever you have to sacrifice to buy non-GMO and organic foods. Take the highest quality supplements you can get your hands on AND last, but certainly not least, hydrate your body with the absolute healthiest water you can find. None of these things are cheap but you definitely get what you pay for when it comes to quality products for your health. I think you’re worth it! Do you? CLICK HERE for the healthiest water you can get your hands on!

2019-04-24T04:06:33Z

https://h2orevival.com/tag/alkaline-water/

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2019-04-26T08:24:40Z

http://swanrange.org/virtual-trek/library/epub-Search-for-New-Guinea%E2%80%99s-Boundaries%3A-From-Torres-Strait-to-the-Pacific/

The Universal company manufactured some of the highest quality chronograph wristwatches that have ever come from Switzerland, yet today, even at a time when the vintage watch market seems to be rising almost by the month, they can still be acquired with a little effort and careful vetting for the very modest outlay of just a few thousand pounds. The sheer value for money offered by this 1939 Unicompax model in stainless steel is unbeatable and we have often commented in our business that if the general public, or even the collecting community, ever wakes up and realises how exceptional these models really are, they will treble or quadruple in worth within the space of a few months. Compared side by side and judged with an impartial eye, these classic Universals are in every way equal to Rolex hand wound chronographs from the same period, yet tidy examples by the more famous brand change hands for five and even six figure sums. A persuasive argument could be put forward that in fact, the Universal was a better watch than its Rolex equivalent, not least because it contained an in-house “manufacture” movement. Universal designed, built and finished its own movements whereas Rolex always purchased its chronograph mechanisms from third parties, most notably Valjoux. This particular example is in nearly mint condition throughout and is of a standard that could be acquired for investment. We specialise in immaculate watches that have been clearly well cared for and these make up the core of our business, but even so, we were delighted to secure this piece for our stock. It was bought privately and we don’t know its past, but it is immediately apparent from its remarkable state of preservation that it has seen very little use and almost certainly been a prized item that its previous owner, or owners, has brought out only on special occasions. The large stainless steel case is almost unmarked, with only the very tiniest of imperfections here and there that must be expected on any watch that is not brand new. There have been no repairs to this case and it is among the best that has survived anywhere. Internally, the snap on case back is covered with an engine turned pattern and signed “Fond Acier ( the French term for stainless steel), Metal Chrome, Universal U.W ( Universal Watch), Geneve”. Interestingly, the reference to metal chrome relates to the high chromium content used in the better grades of stainless steel alloy that were employed by the Swiss luxury watch industry in the 1930s and 1940s. The most common of these, used by everyone from Rolex through to Patek-Philippe, was Staybrite, but there were many others, among which this was one. Steel cases from this period have a very distinctive “glow” that is quite different from current steel models. Anyone looking at this piece, even without any specific knowledge, would immediately pick up on its old fashioned, vintage appearance and the strange shine of its steel case only accentuates this effect. Externally, the case back is stamped with the model reference 32401 and the unique serial number 749815. Unusually, Universal followed the system we normally associate with Rolex, with a serial number on its cases being used to identify age. Omega, Jaeger LeCoultre, Longines, IWC and Zenith are all dated by the numbers on their movements rather than cases. The two extremes for vintage Universal production for 1939 were 733333 and 766666, confirming that this piece was manufactured in the middle of that year. It is fascinating to speculate on who would have purchased such an expensive luxury watch at a time when Europe was facing great financial uncertainty as the storm clouds of approaching war grew ever darker. We do not know the history of this item, but we can be sure that its first owner was clearly a well heeled individual who perhaps regarded it as a safe, and portable, investment during a period when there was a great danger of currency devaluation and a more remote one of occupation. Both pushers and the winding crown are original. These points are important when buying a vintage watch at this level. To be fair, most chronographs with rectangular pushers tend to have their originals still in place due to the difficulty of finding replacements that will exactly fit the holes in the case side, but it is quite another story with those models that feature screw in, round section pushers. Often swapped to enhance the appearance of a worn watch, screw in pushers seem to be changed routinely in the on-line auction world, which is a great shame as old stock originals for brands like Universal, Heuer and Breitling can be almost impossible to source. Similarly, keep an eye out for winding crown authenticity. We have seen a number of Unicompax and Tricompax models from the 1930s fitted with crowns signed with the Universal “U” emblem on their outer surface. This is not correct and Universal only signed crowns in this manner from the 1970s onwards. The appropriate crown for a late 1930s Unicompax is the polished unsigned unit here. When vintage watches are assessed by experienced collectors, more attention is given to their dials than to any other aspect. Dials are vulnerable to damage by bright sunlight, damp and any dust that manages to creep around the outside of the glass, with the consequence that most examples from the 1930s are now showing very noticeable signs of deterioration. No other component is likely to show such a range of deviation in condition and it is not therefore illogical that dial state, coupled with layout and degree of originality, has a greater bearing on commercial worth than all other factors. Cases can be repaired and non-working movements pulled back from the brink with expensive specialist work, but once a dial has become scruffy and stained, it can never again be regarded as both original and near mint. Hence those relatively few watches that exist with near perfect untouched dials command high prices when sold in the physical sales held by the major auction houses. The dial on this watch is absolutely superb. It is guaranteed to be original and unrestored, yet its condition is as close to perfect as could ever be found. Scrutinised from a distance of a few millimetres with the aid of a jeweller’s eyeglass, there is the very slightest ageing to the registers, but to dwell on this point would be to take criticism to a ludicrous extent. To all intents and purposes, this dial is as-new. Its silver white surface is not dirtied or foxed and the printing, in red, blue and black, has not faded with the passing of more than sixty years. A dial in this virgin state will command a premium and it represents a significant percentage of the asking price for this watch. The consensus of opinion is that approximately 40% of the commercial value of the best vintage watches lies in their dials and it is very noticeable that the pieces which attract the most attention in the traditional physical auction sales held by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams are those with dials that are unmolested and still in first rate order. “Universal, Geneve” is stated in black above the dial centre point. Prior to 1937, the simpler signature “Universal” was used. Following on from the official change in the company’s trading style from Universal Watch Co Limited to Universal Geneve in 1937, the double barrelled wording see here appeared on the firm’s chronograph dials. All five hands are original and in superb condition. Their blued steel finish is not at all corroded and is consistent with the excellent state of the rest of the piece. Finding the correct replacement hands for the lower production volume brands like Universal and IWC is very difficult and invariably turns out to be extremely pricey. In our early days in the business, we were occasionally tempted to buy watches that we knew had minor aspects that were incorrect, typically hands or winding crowns, and try to restore them back to factory standard specification. Such watches were often offered to us at what appeared at the time to be bargain prices, but in many instances, proved tremendously expensive to put back into first rate condition. We learnt our lesson many years ago and now only buy those pieces that are complete and correct in every detail. We always advise our customers that it is by far the best route to pay a little over the odds in the first instance and acquire something that is authentic and as it should be rather than cut corners and try to rectify a second rate vintage watch with components that may or may not ever be sourced in the future. To return to the theme of the opening paragraph of this description, it is quite incredible that a vintage chronograph movement of this quality, which is literally second to none, can be purchased for such a small amount of money. Universal chronographs from this period undoubtedly contain some of the most exquisite mechanisms ever created, yet this example and others like it, can be bought for less than the asking price of many mass produced time-only watches offered new in the high street. The movement in this watch is calibre 386, a hand wound chronograph with seventeen jewels that was built along classical lines, with an 18000 half beats per hour running speed and its start, stop and reset features controlled by means of a column wheel. While we deliberately avoid being overly technical on our website for fear of boring the casual observer, this is an important aspect that is worth some further explanation. In order that damage does not occur, it is clearly vital that these chronograph functions operate in sequence. In other words, for example, it is imperative that no attempt can ever be made to reset a running chronograph without first arresting its movement with the stop function. While beautifully made, the vintage chronographs by the elite houses like Universal are delicate and the forces involved when stopping and restarting are enough to wreak havoc with the chain of toothed gears and levers if not synchronized perfectly. The crown wheel, equally correctly referred to as a column wheel, is the purist’s method of chronograph guidance. In order to work, the relevant operating lever has to drop into its dedicated slot machined into the top of the column wheel. If this action is not performed, the respective start, stop or reset function cannot take place. While extremely elegant and very attractive to look at, crown wheel movements required a great deal of highly skilled hand finishing to ensure a perfect fit between this component and the levers that fitted into it and were expensive to manufacture, hence they were only offered by brands at the top of the price scale when new. The alternative system was lever actuation, which achieved the same results by means of a pivoting cam. Far cheaper to produce, the cam arrangement was widely adopted by makers who were more cost conscious and happy to depart from what had been the classical method of chronograph control since the Victorian pocket watch era. The fact of the matter is that lever actuated cams worked just as well as crown wheels, but they lacked the charm and took away the opportunities to display superlative craftsmanship that were offered by the latter. The most prestigious makers, for which the eventual retail price of their watches was not a major concern, like Patek-Philippe, Rolex and indeed Universal, continued to create crown wheel chronographs while other, less eminent brands, would typically market chronographs that employed cam guidance. For the modern day collector wanting to own something truly outstanding, a classic 1930s or ‘40s crown wheel chronograph is an essential purchase and will be a source of great satisfaction. Calibre 386 will always be associated in the minds of enthusiasts with the Unicompax. Launched in 1936 it was effectively the junior version of the company’s Compax that had made its debut a year earlier. Almost identical in appearance and of the same remarkable quality, the Compax differed slightly from the Unicompax on account of it having an additional 12 hour chronograph counter and a 30 minute register, as opposed to the single 45 minute register on the latter. Both variants are highly desirable, though it could be argued that the slightly simpler dial layout of the Unicompax has a certain extra period charm. Movements like this one were hand built and designed with the intention that they would be possessions for life. Their quality was so high that this objective was easily achieved provided that they were maintained correctly and sent for cleaning and re-lubrication every three or four years. The complexity of mechanical chronographs means that it is imperative that they are serviced periodically and if such work is not performed, they will suffer rapid premature wear. We regularly reject early chronographs offered to us on the basis that their neglected movements are well on the way to life expiry and it is so important to only buy an example like the piece here with a movement that is showing no signs of mechanical wear. Finished in distinctive frosted gilt, its appearance reminding us of a pre-War IWC unit, this movement gleams brightly and is not at all corroded or even tarnished. Just as important as condition, though the two factors are inextricably linked, is movement originality. Again, as movements become worn, there is an unfortunately tendency for unscrupulous dealers to repair them at low cost with non-standard components, often from related, but not the correct, calibres. This movement is guaranteed to be entirely standard and is today exactly as it was in 1939 when new. As called for, “Universal Geneve” is signed on the Y shaped bridge, with the calibre number 386 on the base plate. Operation is very smooth, with the start, stop and re-set functions performing with a definite crisp click. Everything here works perfectly and the watch runs without issue, both as a chronograph and as a standard timekeeper. We have fitted this watch with a high quality crocodile skin type strap that perfectly suits its upmarket old world appearance. This is not a genuine Universal strap, but is very similar to those shown with the Compax and Unicompax models in Universal’s advertising from the 1930s and early ‘40s. The strap is brand new and has never been worn. A lovely touch is the presence of the original box that this watch was supplied in back in 1939. Kendal & Dent was one of the most important retailers of fine horology during the inter-War period. An official agent for Rolex, Omega, IWC and Universal, this business offered high precision watches to both the public and the military. In itself, this box is a very collectible item. More information about Kendal & Dent, and in particular its proprietors F.E Coad and B.L Langman, can be found on page 180 of Tony Mercer’s book “Chronometer Makers of the World”. The book “Chronograph Wristwatches-To Stop Time” by Gerd R Lang includes quite a lot of information about Universal and its important role in the development of the luxury wristwatch chronograph as we know it today. There is an excellent large colour photograph of a Unicompax on page 135, with the watch shown from 1945, six years later than the piece for sale here. A close up of the classic Universal calibre 386 chronograph movement appears in the same book on page 236. There is an excellent article in the April 2003 edition of “WatchTime” magazine by Gisbert Brunner, a highly respected horological historian and vintage watch collector, entitled “The 12 most beautiful chronograph movements of all time”. Mr Brunner picks the dozen chronograph mechanisms that he feels are the finest ever made and includes an identical Universal chronograph calibre to the one inside this watch, the 287. Looking at the large colour photograph of the 287 in WatchTime ( page 110) and comparing it to the calibre 386 here, it is almost impossible to see any differences between the two and it seems fair to say that the latter is a very subtly refined version of the former. The price of this watch is £1685 GB pounds. The value for money that it represents is nothing short of astonishing and we cannot recommend it too strongly. It is a beautiful looking period piece that has been manufactured to a quality standard that has hardly ever been equalled. The only reason that vintage Universal chronographs from this era are so woefully undervalued is that the present Universal company has a very low profile and its classic work remains almost unknown to all but the most diehard aficionados. There is nothing about this watch that is inferior to its equivalent by Rolex, Omega or Patek-Philippe, yet the asking price for it here would only just cover the cost of a tidy 1950s steel Rolex Oyster in its most basic format. This is sheer horological excellence that can be acquired on a limited budget and it stands out as one of the very few models that have changed respective positions in the market place. When they were new, chronographs by Universal were among the most prestigious and most costly available and were found at Asprey, Cartier and Hermes. In fact, we have several Hermes adverts from the 1930s devoted entirely to Universal chronographs in our archives and we have used one as the background for one of the photographs accompanying this listing. The text makes great play of the fact that these can be purchased in the Hermes stores in Monaco, Biarritz, St. Tropez and Cannes, giving us a pretty good idea of the target audience for timepieces at this level. Rather anomalously in today’s market, Universal has been forgotten which means, for the moment at least, before somebody resurrects this dormant glorious brand and raises its profile, exceptional early Universal chronographs like the one here are nothing short of bargains.

2019-04-24T05:50:39Z

http://www.vintage-watches-collection.com/watch/universal/universal-unicompax-steel-boxed-1939/

North Americans are known for living some of the busiest lives in the world. Few other people (if any) have as many competing demands on their time than we do. A few years ago I became aware of how obsessed everyone was with being busy. “How are things?” I would inquire. “Oh, you know, super busy.” came the reply. The way they would say it was one part complaint, three parts badge of honour. It was as though they wanted to signal that they too, were “busy.” Very, very busy. After going through a very stressful time in my life, I began a journey to live a radically less stressful existence. This meant many things, including stopping the instinct to be busy. I was shocked at how hard my brain tried to keep pushing me back to my old ways. The ways of my culture. Breathless, constant busyness was portrayed at almost every turn. Whether it is the corporate ladder climbing heroine in a movie, the businessman in a magazine ad or whatever, we have absorbed a view of success that demands 24/7 scheduling of our time. If we have a unifying religion in the West, it is Busyness. Interestingly, our brains and bodies seem to be suffering. Stress-initiated illnesses such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Anxiety/Depressive Disorders and Chronic Fatigue are sky rocketing. We are officially pushing ourselves beyond what we were designed to endure. Some times in our lives are unavoidably busy. As the owner and operator of a busy clinic, a serving member of my church and married father of FOUR kids under 14 I am a busy man. We also do quite a bit of traveling throughout the year. How did I pull this off? Allow me to explain. Research has shown that being active is healthy, but being negatively stressed is not. A few years ago, TED speaker and researcher Kelly McGonigal unveiled new research showing how our interpretation of our busyness can make the stress good or bad. Her evidence essentially showed that if we are overloaded by things we despise or dread, our bodies suffer. But exhaustion coming from activities we enjoy have seemingly positive effects on us. 1. Know Your Have-To’s and Make Them Fun: All of us have to do certain things. Work, cook, commute, etc. If you are lucky enough to do what you love, this won’t be hard. If you work a less than ideal job, well, make it fun. If prisoners in Auschwitz were able to find the good in their lives, you can to. This may take some time, but figure it out. No excuses. Your commutes can be times to plug into a podcast or other enjoyable audio experiences. Be hands-free on the phone with a loved one while cleaning/cooking. 2. Know Your Strengths and Grow Them: All of us have a unique contribution to make to this world and our generation. All of us. As a Christian, I believe very strongly that we bring something to the table of humanity that no one else in history could. If you are not engaged regularly in your passion, you will suffer. Just Do It. 3. Balance Your “3 Passions”: I recently discovered a wonderful piece of advice: “Have 3 passions in your life. One that makes you money. One that keeps you healthy. One that let’s you be creative.” Find those and work them into your life. Take up jiu jitsu or biking. Get into it. Do it. Start drawing. Playing the piano. Blogging. Expand your mind and influence. 4. Embrace Doing Nothing: If you wake up on a Saturday and immediately feel the urge to “do something,” you are caught in the Cult of Busyness. Your body and brain are accustomed to always trying to do something. Make money, clean the house, prepare for some future disaster, etc. The survival instinct is in overdrive in most North American minds. Interestingly, it has been proven that being overly busy destroys productivity. For me, the Art of Nothing comes in 2 forms. ONE, several times a day, even in busy clinic times, I take a 3 to 5 minute break. Either I close the curtain on a treatment table and nap or I watch a funny video on youtube. Just a smidgeon of “nothingness” to alleviate my body and soul. Just living, breathing, existing, being. TWO, for at least a full day each week, I do “nothing.” I can’t necessarily lay there all day because I have 4 children and a wife. But, I don’t do anything on impulse of “I have to.” I will lay in bed as long as I can before I get up. I only do the bare minimum of “have to’s.” I will chose the activities that I want to do, none that I don’t. I will not push the kids to be “doing something.” I will fight my brain’s push to get me to “BE PRODUCTIVE.” No. I don’t want to produce. I want to just exist. Medical marijuana is a hot topic nowadays. Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party is playing peekaboo with the possibility of legalizing marijuana and certainly helping grow the number of “medical” marijuana dispensaries throughout the country. One look at social media and google and you get thousands of messages about the miracle healing capacity of Cannabis Sativa. It appears there is nothing a little pot won’t cure. Claims range from pain relief to cancer prevention. Remarkable! My question is, are these claims true? Or are they a good dose of wishful thinking to help make the bitter pill of legalizing drugs taste better? First, you have to realize that less than 7% of all studies done on marijuana are researching its medicinal purposes. This is probably due to the fact that most marijuana research is funded by government agencies and these tend to relate to drugs in a negative sense. Government has a vested interest in understanding the negative effects of drugs in order to treat addicts and form drug use prevention methods. Pro marijuana advocates will say that the big pharmaceutical companies and the government are both invested in the continued ban of legal marijuana and so will continue to only look in the negative direction and downplay positive research. In part, I would agree that a large amount of research done by medical schools and even universities are funded by drug companies. And these companies have much less interest in finding natural cures than they do in validating synthetic drugs as the core of health care. Furthermore, there are a growing number of areas in which our culture is becoming aware of the plethora of natural cures available that Big Pharma drugs are not able to out-perform. Natural alternatives to anxiety, depression, blood pressure issues, pain management, etc are emerging as we better understand nutrition, exercise and cognitive behavioural therapy as well as other natural remedies. And if you delve into the realm of anecdotal evidence (both in your circle of friends and online) you will run into some convincing cases in which a marijuana compound was found more effective than a pharmaceutical alternative. I have not problems with the notion of finding natural alternatives to health issues, even in the Cannabis Sativa plant. But how confident can we be that marijuana has very strong medical benefits? And are there any side effects worth knowing about? For thousands of years mankind has used both Cannabis Sativa and the poppy seed for its felt effects. In regards to poppy seeds, they have long been known to help induce sleep. Likewise, cannabis has been known for the intoxicating effects of its most famous cannibinoid compound: THC. For at least the past 5,000 years, humans have known how to extract opium from poppy seeds. And since 1804, we have known how to extract morphine from the poppy seed as well. To this day, morphine continues to be our most potent pain killer. And it is a completely natural extract. My point? Poppy seeds have a very specific medical use that works universally: pain killing. No one can doubt or disprove this. There is no need to hunt through conflicting anecdotal and peer reviewed accounts to see what (if any) are the medically useful aspects of poppy seeds. In contrast, even though we have been experimenting with cannabis for as long as we have been with poppy seeds, we know of only two universal effects that come from marijuana: intoxication and appetite stimulation. Since at least the 1980’s, hospitals have been giving synthetic THC to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy because of its remarkable ability to stimulate appetite even in extreme circumstances. But the effectiveness of marijuana for the entire host of claims made online remain tenable and less than solidly proven. There are hundreds of cannabinoid compounds in marijuana, THC is only one of them (and the only real psychoactive one). Cannabidiol is another of these and it has little to no intoxicating effects, making it less controversial. Cannabidiol has been touted mainly as an anti-psychotic and anti-convulsant. Yet its effects are nowhere near universally true (in contrast to morphine) or even very repeatable. Some studies have shown some value in cannabidiol for sleep inducement as well as pain killing and muscle relaxants for Multiple Sclerosis and epileptic patients. But the strength of the evidence is not overwhelming at this point. More time is needed because studies have gone in both directions. Cannabis simply does not have a singular, universal medical value that can be proved conclusively. As for THC, it does indeed decrease fluid pressure inside the eyes and so will relieve glaucoma symptoms. But the effects only last a short while and because THC is psychoactive, intoxication co-exists with the effects, making it unlikely to be safe or helpful for people who have to go to work with their glaucoma medication. To be under the effects of THC all day is not a recommended lifestyle. Especially when safe, non-intoxicating and long lasting drugs do exist for glaucoma sufferers. THC also dilates the small airways in the lungs, bringing relief to those with asthma, COPD and other chronic lung conditions. Again, this effect is short lived and comes with intoxication and alternative exist in both the natural and pharmaceutical realms. All in all, the effects of marijuana on a variety of medical conditions is not cut and dry. Even when positive studies are found, they are not very strong and often you will find other studies that failed to replicate the findings. However, if an individual is finding success with a cannabinoid compound, I am not against its use. I support the right for doctors to oversee and prescribe a variety of cannabinoids (often with little to no THC) in the few cases in which better alternatives do not seem to exist. I don’t see, however, how wholesale legalization has to come hand in hand with the few cases in which genuine medical marijuana usage can be rationalized. It is also curious that it is mainly the psychoactive THC that gets most of the attention from medical marijuana activists. Could it be because it is marijuana’s main intoxicant? And that rationalizing its use would excuse chronic intoxication? Maybe. Just maybe. Before closing this brief article, I have to speak about the negative side effects of THC and marijuana.Since the 1980’s, the percentage – by weight – of marijuana that is THC has arisen in the United States from an average 3% to approximately 12%. This has not occurred naturally but is the result of synthetically manipulating the strains. Much the same way men have bred animals and plants over the centuries. Obviously, the main drive for increasing THC concentration is to maximize intoxication in chronic users who are now desensitized to former dosages. This phenomenon occurs with all artificial intoxicants. And the 12% figure is an average in the U.S., not worldwide. Some strains have been found to be as high as 35% THC by weight. A staggering dosage that is not in the least naturally occurring. With the rise of THC percentages in recreational marijuana we have seen a rise in the ill effects of this drug. The most susceptible — as is always the case — are youths. Studies in both the U.S.1 and Canada2 have shown — with functional MRI’s, blood work, psychological evaluations, brain mapping and sociological research — that a developing brain exposed to marijuana use well before the age of 17 is at risk of cognitive, mood and behavioural disorders. Further, the higher the usage, the lower the youth’s chances are of attaining financial health and independence in adult life. Chronic early use is needed to truly trigger serious disorders but the risks are still ominous. Considering the growing push to render marijuana use socially acceptable combined with the sharp rise in THC concentrations it should be no wonder that health care facilities are reporting more and more issues with adolescent and young adult marijuana use. Proponents of marijuana legalization will say that alcohol is also a drug and that it causes more carnage in our culture than marijuana. Both claims are true. However, alcohol use is much, much higher than marijuana use. Partly because it is legal and mostly because it is culturally acceptable. If marijuana use reached the same levels of use in North America the societal ills caused by this drug would not diminish, they would only grow exponentially. Unleashing another negative substance on our youth and culture is not an improvement by any means. I cannot comprehend this version of the pro-legalization argument. Remember that alcohol can be used in moderation. A glass or two of wine can even be beneficial in every way to your health with zero side effects. It is much harder to use marijuana without intoxication or side effects unless you strip it of its psychoactive compounds (which I do not see any medical marijuana dispensaries doing as this would most likely curb sales downward). And before singing the praises of local dispensaries, realize that a Journal of American Medical Association study, John Hopkins Medicine study as well as a Globe and Mail investigation found that the labels on pot products from such stores were grossly inaccurate. Shedding a poor light on the ability of such outlets to regulate the quality and safety of their drugs. Considering the negative side effects of THC and the shakily established “medicinal” value of Cannabis Sativa, pushing for nation-wide legalized marijuana on every street corner – a la neighbourhood liquor store — seems to be a thinly veiled attempt at plainly and simply legalizing an intoxicant for the pleasurable effects it produces. Arguments can be made as to the economic consequences of legalizing pot, yet this is a different argument than the medicinal one. Be wise. Be prudent. Be informed. The Olympics are over and the new school year is around the corner. I don’t know about you, but watching world class athletes run, jump and swim at peak performance inspires me. I love goal setting. Yet in the past, I set too many goals with too many deadlines. I started on a lot of journeys that did not end where they were supposed to. So I refined my goal setting methods. One thing I tossed out was the big deadline. This is that “etched into stone” date at which you want something completed. I see this as the biggest motivation killer. What happens if you get sick? Or injured? Or have a family or personal crisis? Have a goal in mind for your journey, but do not add a set date. Instead, make a weekly routine up that is broken down into daily tasks. Make them reasonable. For example, if your goal is to increase hip flexibility and the amount of weight you can squat, start small. MONDAY: squat with same weight you have been using but add 3 reps. Stretch for 12 minutes instead of 10. Then, every time you squat, add either 1 rep, or 2.5 lbs per side (5 overall). Usually do both, back and forth. If you hit the wall, don’t add anything for two or more weeks, just keep squatting without going backwards on your reps or weight. Slowly add 30 seconds here and there to your stretching. Off you go on a slow but risk-free and fully realistic journey towards constant improvement. People often over shoot their goal setting and force unrealistic changes onto their lives. Life does not work this way. Change has to be gradual but constant. So slowing down the demands actually increases the speed of results. If you are driving a car and you want to make a 90 degree turn, you cannot go immediately to a 90 degree without turning the wheels 1, 2, 3… 10… 25… 75 degrees and so on. Life is about increments, not instantaneous results. If you can introduce a slow, flexible, daily routine towards improved performance, you will successfully change your long term life style towards your goals. Whether they be financial, relational or health oriented. Dream big, act small. Get there! Over-training is a phenomenon that is becoming better understood. Many enthusiastic athletes forget to listen to their body as they pursue excellence. But this will serve to decrease performance in the long run, not improve it. Many fitness participants follow gruelling schedules and push themselves hard. If you are in the category of people who train regularly you will want to realize when over training begins to set in and you’ll also want to adopt a “smart rest” program as part of your training. If you have 4 or more of the above (especially the resting heart rate), you qualify as being over-trained. It’s high time to take some time off. A solid 3 weeks of no exercise followed by one or two weeks of very low intensity, part time exercise will do you much good. Then head into a 2 week period of moderate exercise and then finally, take another full week off. Be warned, if you are drastically over trained however, it could take several weeks — even a few months — to recuperate. Which is why you want to listen for the beginning signs of over training and not the drastic symptoms. If you are not over trained (have less than 4 — or none — of the above symptoms) you will want to incorporate “smart rest” techniques to ensure you never get over trained. Very simply put, smart rest is pro-active breaks in your training that allows your body to recuperate before you ever go near the over training zone. As we train hard, week in and week out, our multiple body systems can start to fall behind in recovery. This can be our nervous system, our psychological state, our immune system or our musculoskeletal system. Depending on what other stresses are going on in our lives and how well nourished we are, any one of those systems can start lagging behind and cause over training to set in. By pro-actively resting before anything falls far behind, we are protecting ourselves from over training. How Do I Implement Smart Rest? Once every 6 to 10 weeks (you decide by listening in on how your body and mind are feeling), take an entire week off training. During this time, you can go for walks, but no exercise. None. You will want to push the fluids more than usual during your week of rest and you will want to stay away from alcohol and high sugar foods. Nutrition, hydration and rest are the antidotes to over training. Make sure you are going to bed early and on time during this week of rest. Not only will smart rest prevent over training but it keeps your body and mind working at their peek. This will prevent mental burnout as well as injury. Remember, you are not to wait until you are starting to over train to implement smart rest, you are supposed to inject one full week of rest once every 6 to 10 weeks regardless of how well you feel. This is what maintenance looks like. You are building a fence at the top of the hill instead of having an ambulance at the bottom. Try it out and see for yourself the benefits of smart rest! Athletes pay big bucks to go into hyperbaric oxygen tanks and essentially give their bodies oxygen baths. With the increase in atmospheric pressure and a pure injection of oxygen, the body’s tissues (muscles, organs, nervous system) get a hyper-dose of O2 which increases the rate and depth of healing and repair. In fact, stroke victims are being placed through a series of hyperbaric oxygen tank treatments to create an increase in healing of the affected brain areas. As great as this is, many folks cannot afford regular hyperbaric treatments. Luckily, there is a natural alternative. Although not as intensive as hyperbaric treatments, this natural hyper-oxygenation method is risk-free and can be done anywhere, any time. It is simply the art of concentrated deep breathing. Essentially it consists of reaching a state of near hyper ventilation by repetitive deep breathing for a prolonged period of time. Studies have shown that deep breathing not only gives an increased dose of oxygen to the brain and body tissues, but it ignites the body’s “relaxation response.” This response is mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system and does the opposite of the stress response (controlled by our sympathetic system). Stress tends to constrict capillaries and shorten our breaths, resulting in hypo-ventilation. So it may be time to incorporate deep breathing to not only enrich your brain, but relax it as well. As you get comfortable deep breathing, you can adjust it to your liking. Some people like taking 5 or more seconds to inhale. There is no right or wrong, as long as you follow the basic guidelines above. Personally, I enjoy deep breathing outdoors as the air is much more fresh. Don’t be surprised if you feel the tips of your fingers or toes tingling once you’ve completed several breathes, this is one side effect to hyper oxygenation. If you are light headed or nauseous, you may want to pause momentarily. Regular deep breathing is beneficial for anyone. It helps counter stress. It helps athletes decrease recovery time. It is not as popular as regular exercise and good nutrition, but it is a highly recommended health habit. Reading can make your brain more fit. Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia used functional MRI’s to see how reading affects brains. They found that engaging in a good book will fire up not only the language centres of the brain but the sensory areas as well. And it will stay activated as an “afterburn” for up to a day or more afterwards. Sensory activation was an unexpected outcome and the conclusion was that the imagination mimics what the brain is reading. So if you’re reading a high action adventure, your brain “feels” what the character is doing and you are vicariously living through the book. Research conducted in 2009 at Mindlab International at the University of Sussex showed that reading relaxes the body and brain faster than listening to soothing music. Other research has pointed to reading as one of the key activities that can help stave off Alzheimer’s and senile dementia. A common phenomenon in our culture is to gather our information from audio/visual mediums. In an age of the internet and massive repositories of videos (e.g.: Youtube) people are reading less and less. Screen time is replacing study time. Unfortunately, passively gathering information from audio/visual sources does not work the brain as well. In fact, it places it in a state that is less active than sleep. It is essentially a brain-numbing activity. Furthermore, research is showing that screen time in bed works against good sleep. Staring into a light source actually tricks the body’s circadian rhythm into believing it’s time to wake up, so your brain is being woken up just when you should be winding it down. Reading at bedtime will expose your true fatigue and will put you to sleep at the appropriate time and will not disturb your sleep. Reading also is known to stimulate creativity and memory skills. Not to mention getting all the overall cognitive improvements that result when you regularly give your brain a workout. Whether you love fiction or non-fiction (or both) adding a good 15 to 30 minutes of reading into your day can have a powerful impact on your mental health. One of the hallmarks of childhood is how much darn fun we have. Unfortunately, many of us lose this capacity as we grow into adulthood. Although some things are childish and should not follow us into later life, some things kids do are pretty darn smart. Laughing a lot is one of them. You don’t need to laugh all day. Try taking time 4 or 5 times a day to see, read or think of something funny. This builds up and probably gives you 15 to 20 minutes of solid laughter each day. If stress has built up beyond a certain point, you may find it hard to relax and have fun. Fortunately, this can be worked at (like anything else). Make time in your day when you do things you enjoy (or used to enjoy). Regardless of whether or not you get a huge kick out of these, just practice doing something other than work and worry. Watch light hearted comedies. Mr. Bean episodes or Just For Laugh Gags are great starts. Stay away from the 24-hour News Cycle. It only reports on the most horrid atrocities and with the most stressful angle. News websites and channels are taping into your stress centers and getting you hooked on bad vibes. Take one or two months off the news. Seriously, try it! Read more and read light hearted books. Sometimes reading classic children’s literature is the best antidote to being too “grown up.” There is much wisdom in classic books. Work at thinking positively, hanging out with people more and maybe engage in activities that make you laugh (charades, goofy party games, etc). It’s never too late to rediscover the healthier things in life. Relationships, fun, laughter and good vibes. Our world is made up of both good and bad events. Whichever you focus on the most will predominate your life. If you are a human living on earth, chances are you have a social media account. Whether it be facebook, twitter, pinterest or any of the hundreds of options available, people are “connecting” through this digital medium. Therefore, with so much “connecting” going on we should all be very happy and loneliness should be on its way to extinction, right?.. The data has come in and it appears our social ills have only been increased due to compulsive internet use, including social media. An article from the CyberPsychology & Behaviour magazine by PhD psychologists Kim, LaRose and Peng showed that those turning to the internet to fill a social and emtional void were only further disconnected from true human relationship. For many of us who were born in the early 80’s or earlier, a world without social media is easy to imagine. A time when contact was real and organic. In contrast, modern concepts of human connectedness are — for the first time in human history — composed almost as much by digital “relationships” as they are by real human contact. Combine this trend with the affordable nature of mobile devices and the near omnipresence of Wi Fi connections and you can see how we have been transformed into homo sapien digitalis. When I go to the grocery store or to the bank, I hardly ever see anyone stuck in line that will turn and start conversing. They used to. Nowadays, most everyone is looking down at a mobile device if they are at a bus stop, in a line up or even at the park while their kids are playing. I’ve even seen a couple at a restaurant texting away and ignoring each other! After more than a decade of heavy social media use, it appears that we’ve come full circle and must realize that there is no replacing true human contact. The superficial nature of online relationships are millions of miles removed from the real touch of actual human social connection. Soul to soul. Not IP address to IP address. Third world countries who live with much less technology have lower rates of anxiety and depression. Although there are many reasons for this statistics, one thing is certain: they are forced to live more authentically then most Westerners because they deal with people all day, not avatars and internet trolls. The average third world resident’s day includes human contact that is comprised of actual human relationship and has nearly zero time spent in cyber-relationships. I’m not advocated the annihilation of social media, but a much more restricted use of it. A University of Waterloo self-administered test can be used to evaluate whether or not your are spending too much time “connecting” through your computer or mobile device. Although determining this will be more of an art than a science. Perhaps another way to gauge your social media usage is to ask yourself how many of your social media usage is for business or for pleasure. It is inevitable to be hooked into online business connections. It is the new phone book. But it may be unhealthy to use it too much for personal emotional voids. I’ve recently asked myself how many of my “friends” on social media would actually take time to help me physically if I had an urgent need such as moving or renovating my house hold. The list is probably MUCH smaller than the hundreds of names on my facebook friends’ list. Just food for thought. I work in an exercise rehabilitation clinic and prescribe hundreds of different types of exercises. Yet I am surprised at how few adults in our society continue to play their favourite sport once they hit their 30’s and beyond. Usually, once the demands of family and work set in, they turn to mechanical treadmill and dumbbell routines. Fitness has officially become a “must do” and not a “I wanna do!” This is highly unfortunate and in the long term promotes increasing sedentary lifestyles. One simple alternative is to play a sport as part of your fitness approach. There is far less routine in an individual or team sport than in a repetitive gym routine. Further, sports tend to use the body in a safer and more natural manner than many exercise machines and heavy weight workouts do. And they almost inevitably work the core muscles much more than most people’s weight lifting or cardio routine. Everyone who already plays a sport should add sport-specific exercises to improve their performance. That’s what the pros do. Yet most people who are not professional athletes usually do not see playing sports as a legitimate means of getting or staying fit. there are no “all out” avenues for them in their beloved sport. Thankfully, this is is false. With a 5 minute phone call to your local rec centre or YMCA, you will be shocked at how much friendly competition is available for the average joe. I feel that because competition is missing from many individuals’ fitness lifestyle so is the natural motivation to do better and better. If you are willing to compete at something, the psychological and physical rewards increase tremendously. And please don’t get me wrong. I know how life can get crazy busy. You don’t have to join a league that comes with fees and a tight practice schedule, etc, etc. But you can join rec leagues that allow you to jump in and compete any time you are free. My wife and I are raising and homeschooling 4 young children. I have my own practice and am involved at church. Yet 4 times per week my wife attends the YMCA and does a lot of TRX group classes. This group factor is an indirect but real form of competition. It is as much competition as she wants and so she thrives on it. It pushes her harder than solo workouts. I have fallen in love with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I train under Adam Zugec at ZUMA. Whenever I show up I have the opportunity of getting friendly competition. The competitive element keeps my mind focused, gets me off my worries and I workout harder than I otherwise would without even noticing it! Whether it is swimming, racquet ball, tennis, hockey or a running group, the social and physical benefits of a group or competitive environment is available for the non-professional athletes. I highly recommend it. A recent study by the Edinburgh University showed that people over 70 who walked during the week had less brain shrinkage then those who were sedentary. Researchers followed nearly 700 people for 3 years, performing before-and-after brain MRI’s to determine their findings. The study also claimed that reading books or doing crossword puzzles does not seem to help as much as regular, non-strenuous exercise. Seniors who walked during the week had less damage to the inner part of the brain (i.e.: the white matter) and they had more outer brain (i.e.: gray matter). So it appears you can increase your brain size with even a mild form of regular exercise. A Harvard Medical School article stated that a review of literature on depression examined evidence going back to 1981 and concluded that in younger and older patients with depression, regular walking was an effective treatment for emotional problems. It appears something even as simple as daily walks can significantly enhance mental and emotional well being. If you are simply starting out with an exercise program, walking 3 to 5 days per week is enough to see a boost in your brain’s health. As time goes on, a good idea is to diversify your activities. Joining a local recreation centre offers access to swimming, weight lifting and other fitness activities. This keeps you interested and it keeps your brain and body adapting to new acitivities. Which increases the degree to which your brain grows and benefits from an active lifestyle. So you see, it’s easy to make your brain healthy and stave off unwanted ailments! Get out there and enjoy a nice walk today.

2019-04-19T09:32:04Z

http://www.drparenteau.com/category/mental-health/

The new version includes many new exciting functions (RBL, RWL, Automatic white listing) and gives you a very granular control over how the filter works. And it’s still available in a free version! Go and have a look!. Since I have had a lot of problems with false positives with the black lists that I’m using on my Exchange 2003 server I started looking into another way of filtering spam. The obvious choice of additional protection fell on greylisting ( you can read more about what it is here ). The problem with this is that there doesn’t seem to be any free products out there for Exchange and as I don’t want to set up a Linux box ( yet another box in the rack ) I decided to write one myself. Usually i receive 3500-4000 spam attempts per day so that means that 70 mails a day are slipping trough. These 70 get matched to a blacklist that is not that aggressive and the result of this is that my spam level has gone down to almost 0% while I haven’t had a single false positive yet. About the program. It consists of two parts. Greylist installs as a .dll and connects to the SMTP service’s OnInboundCommand RCPT. It reads it configuration from Greylist.cfg and uses Greylist.mdb for logging entries. It also produces a log file in the log directory. Greylist admin creates and configures the above files as well as controls the settings and the white list. Continue blocking for X minutes. Block by Source IP, Sender email address, Recipient address all together or in any combination. White list (always allow) by Source IP, Sender email address, Recipient address or in any combination. Clean out entries older then X days on the first session of the day. Stores data in a Microsoft access database, .mdb or in a MsSQL db. Configures: Block for X minutes, Max age in X days, White list. Configures which items to use when blocking by Source IP, Sender email address, Recipient address all together or in any combination. Displays blocked items and passed items in totals. Displays current items in database. Displays block rate in % according to all entries in the database. Registered users can now set how Greylist will behave on a blocked item. It can either send the 451 message and then disconnect (default) or keep the session alive and accept more recipients. Registered users can now change the message Greylist sends out. This is especially great for corporate usage where each company can have a custom message. For the rest Greylist stays the same for unregistered users. Added new tab with controls for Disconnect on 451 and 451 message. Even though Greylist has been succeeded by JEP(S), the download links remain here for reference. For comments like ‘Hey – great app!’ use the form at the end of the page. Nada. Nothing. It’s for free! See it as a contribution to a better world A free contribution! I’ve released this under a Creative Commonce license, which comes down to that you can use it and redistribute it as long as you refer to me and this site while using any part of my program. The full license is available in the readme file. Register it! It will cost you 50 euro (about 65 USD) and will support the continued development and you’ll get access to the customization options for how Greylist behaves on the communication level. The registration license will be mailed to you as soon as I’ve registered the payment. And if your boss wants an invoice – no problem! I’ll mail that to you upon request. The program is distributed ‘as-is’ and I don’t intend to provide any support for it. But feel free to send me any suggestions to improvements or your own modifications. remote SSE install when the 3rd party vendors couldn’t get their own product to work. they released SSE to market – so their isn’t any documentation!! Lucky us. are onto a terrific little applet here. I have been using Greylist for a couple of weeks now and have found it very useful, it has blocked 180,000 messages since we’ve started using it and has stopped a lot of emails that our GFI MailEssentials was failing to block. One thing I think could be changed is in the way the database cleanup is applied. As I don’t have the IP address checking enabled then over time you will get spam from/to the same sender/recipient causing all future spam from such pairs to get through. I think it’s save to assume that if the First Seen and Last Seen timestamps are the same and over 24 hours old then it is not going to be resent and is probably spam. The clean up function could look for this and delete those entries, the database would be much smaller then. I have added a query to the Access database to do this for me. Following on from this, is there an easy way compact the database? Access is especially wasteful with regards deleted records and I find the database can grow to 100MB in a couple of days. To run a compact on the database I am having to disable Greylist to remove the file locks and then enable again afterwards. I came across this tool and it looks to be a good tool. There is one issue I faced. After applying this on exchange server, I had socket errors when trying the email test on dnsreport.com so I restarted the server and it went fine. Maybe it is mandatory step and has to be in manual for product. Usually my own email account got about 50-100 spam emails each day. I used to run with the GFI sollution, but it kept crashing our server, and let quite a few span-emails through. This has let 3 spam-mails through during a 3 week period! I am running with the built-in exchange “intelligent filter” along side with greylisting, and have made a short “whitelist” of domains, and it works perfect! If you are using the SQL DSN and you lose connection to your server, what happens? Does the software fail back to the Jet DB locally? Does it stop greylisting until the connection is restored? If that happens then it will fallback to not blocking / greylisting emails until the database connection is restored. It will try to restore the connection every couple of minutes automatically. Then it will log these error sessions with code 999 in the logfile. This has been tested quiet extensively to make sure that it works correctly – and it does. What’s changed from 1.3.0 to 1.3.1? Gmail accounts seem to be blocked completly. When it resends the first and last timestamps are always the same. I’ll update later if this changes for me. Also is there a way to track which email are passed? Micheal: I’ve posted a reply to your question in the community forum –> here. Ahh Nevermind. Gmail uses multiple servers, blocking by IP address kills these for a while. 1) from the /23 part, you generate the subnet mask. This is an unsigned 32 bit integer with the 23 upmost bits set. Thanks! I’ve choosen another path though. I’m not converting the IP’s to serials and then do a more then less then comparison between the source ip. This will be implemented in the next major version which ‘might’ come in a month or so. 1,000,000 spams stopped and counting! Hi Chris, just thought I’d pop you a quick note. We’ve got the registered version running on a dozen or so servers now – just on our 8 top servers we have prevented over 1,000,000 spam emails reaching the servers. As for the latest (couple of days ago) Trojan that is trying to spread by email – well, all we’ve noticed is the greylist logs are a little bigger. Thank-you very much for your wonderfull tool: it really works as expecded stopping tons of spam mails per day. Can this be configured so that it only works on one domain? As I host mail, I do not want to annoy customers while I test this. Heyden Kirk: Unfortunately not. The next version (2.0) which is still under development will have a function for ‘learning’. This means that it does all the processing while no mails are blocked so that the filter gets to know you senders email patterns. I had a slight issue with the greylist program recently, it was running amazing for about a week and then all of a sudden it stopped allowing email to get through. I disabled and then re-enabled to see if that made a difference, disabled, deleted the directory downloaded a new copy and started it up and same thing, full blocking of all email to the server. Is there anything I can check because while it worked, it ran like a champ. Problem is, in this way i am not able to identify the original user who is sending email to my gmail account. For example if Sue at sue@hotmail.com sends an email to my gmail account and it gets forwarded to my test domain account it will have the same format in the database as i mentioned earlier. Since from the database i would never know that email came from Sue, what would be the way to identify the original user of the email? My guess was that since my gmail account is already been whitelisted, when Sue sends me an email it really dosent matter if i whitelist her email separately because my gmail account is already in the whitelist. I apologize if my language here is a bit confusing. Any help on this would be appreciated. I would love to implement this in my real environment. I have problem to get e-mail through while having greylist enabled. I am running version 1.3.1. I have tried disable and then enable it again. I don’t know what to do. I have also tried download a new copy. Greylist have worked great for about 6 months, but now something have happened. I have had some problems with this on certain customers servers. Here are some tips to help those of you in trouble. After creating a database and enabling the Greylist sink, sometimes all mail will be blocked. Greylist admin will also report nothing. There is another problem where you have run the enable command too many times. This creates more than one sink. I have found this to be a huge problem and not even realising it. Hi. Just added this great tool to a site. It look fine, but i realized after 1-2 hours that it was not so happy to talk to some mail servers. In the log it said “SMTP – 250”, but on the sending server it said “host dropped connection”. I tried everything of the above things. At last i had to drop using it. Any ideas ?? P.S. Really sorry about that because greylisting i a smashing good techique. I also noticed that messages with status 250 in log file are dropped. has someone any ideas to fix this bug ? This mails are “return receipt, delivered or read messages” and JEPs are blocking this messages. I think that is a huge bug. Lars: Regarding the ‘interesting problem’; it’s not a lot message you see, but the autowhitelist in action. When you have it active then when a outbound mail is sent, then the recipient email address gets added to the inbound sender whitelist. This gets logged in the listener like that. After x hours then the sender email address gets automatically removed. Thus, not a bug – it’s a feature. I would just like to say thanks for taking the time to write one of the most amazing programs I’ve ever seen. I’m planning on registering our copy as soon as I can get it approved. I have just installed this on a server running 2003 and Exchange 2003. Emails are coming straight in from everywhere with no delay at all. he system is also running Symantec’s Mail Security for Exchange, do I need to uninstall this first?? Also, when I telnet to port 25 on the server it still appears that Exchange service is listening, should the SMTP banner look different? Seems like it’s not activated. Have you enabled it? Normally Greylist works fine with other spam products, but ofcourse there’s no guarantee. I know that other people use Symantec’s products together with Greylist. The banner should not change as it’s not replacing the IIS SMTP service. More questions? –> Look in the Greylist forum. You rock! Thanks for the great tool. A solid Directory Harvesting Attack killer is what I was looking for. This looks great. Thanks, and I’m looking forward to trying this out. i have been using version 2.0 for almost over 3+ weeks and it works great. Blocks tons of spam and very very easy to configure. I did not see anything that i would say is wrong at the moment. Cant wait for the final version. I know you said you are 95% done but how much time span are we looking at? Enterprise Sales Partner, Corel and Novell Business Partner.). directly from you. Please write us the terms of reselling and prices too. We could pay with credit card. Please write me your fax number too. If we order, could you make out the invoice to us, NOT for the enduser? Forum is not accepting new registrations as process fails when it tries to send you your confirmation email. It looks like the author’s greylist package is stopping the mail? the Hungarian direct partner of ACDSystems, Ulead, WinZip, StarNet etc.). This is important for us. I used greylist in linux, http://www.logistic-china.combut now Exchanger can use it. Thanks for your job. will there be an ‘upgrade license’? we’ve paied for 1.3 just some weeks ago and were pretty satisfied with the solution. now we’re wondering if everybody has to pay these € 150 .. Christian: No worries – if you already have a Greylist license then you will recieve a cupon code that can be used for getting a €50 reduction on JEP(S). These codes will be sent out in the next coming weeks. (1) If you get a 250 in your logs *and* mail is not coming in, try stopping any other antispam solution and/or running “iisreset” again. On two servers, I found the following to be the case. This last step suggests to me that something is awry with either Trend Micro’s antispam solution and/or this greylisting dll. (2) 200 replies in log might be result of blank entries in the whitelist portion of your MS Access DB. When you get a 200 error, you still seem to get mail, even spam. To fix this, try deleting the blank entries and run “iisreset” from the command line. (200 reply = “nonstandard success response”, see RFC 876). (3) I created a “greylist-bounce.bat” file in my greylisting folder to “fix” things when mail seemed to mysteriously stop working. For whatever reason, that seemed to work. (4) Incoming mail from Gmail and Hotmail (dunno about Y!) might a huge problems in some environments. On one server, new mail from Hotmail got bounced a couple of times, and new mail from Gmail would range from like 5 minutes to several hours (like 12). I have my suspicions why this is the case (different IPs, different policies on different servers, etc), but the bottom line is that this could be very frustrating for users and possibly lethal to your job if, say, the CEO sent a super important email from his gmail account to someone to the Exchange server. This criticism is more directed to greylisting as a whole, rather than GRYNX in particular. (5) I have found this program to be 90% to 99 to 100% effective. On the server where it was 99 to 100% effective, most of the spam seemed to be dictionary attacks and/or email sent to an old domain that the Exchange server had in its recipient policy (e.g. asdfasdf@olddomain.com, 12345@olddomain.com, info@olddomain.com, hr@olddomain.com, administrator@olddomain.com, etc). On the server where it was 90% effective, a lot of the crap spam seemed like stuff that users had subscribed to (coupons, job board sites, etc). This type of spam is much harder to deal with, as it seems to adhere to proper RFC standards. (6) This solution is good quick fix if you’re in a pinch and need something fast and free. Ultimately, if you’re running Exchange and need a “free” greylisting spam solution that is enterprise-worthy, you’ll probably want to put some sort of postfix/tumsgreyspf-like box in front of your Exchange server. GRYNX is a very cool project, and while I thoroughly appreciate the hard work that has gone into it, I think that something like tumsgreyspf is much better suited for mission critical environments (the admins at RealityKings.com use it, in fact). GRYNX “works”, but only if you’re willing to fiddle and goof around a bit before you roll it out on your production servers. If you’ve got that much time to burn, then perhaps consider implementing postfix/tumsgreyspf to begin with. As the saying goes, fast, free, and good — pick any two! Thanks for your feedback – this is very valuable to us in developing the new versions. We’ve released a new version under a new name, JEP(S), and under another website, http://www.Proxmea.com, which addresses all of the issues in your feedback. Be sure to check it out! (1) This is no longer an issue as JEP(S) handles all installation of the sinks. Further is there a smart tool included (View sinks) which helps in positioning JEP(S) correctly together with other mail add-on’s. (2) Also no longer an issue, fixed in JEP(S). (3) No longer an issue, see 1. (4) No longer an issue. JEP(S) can use Realtime White Lists (RWL’s) which identifies especially large companies. When in use then the SourceIP is exluded in the processing. (5) We also include tarpitting in JEP(S) which protects against harvesting attacks. (6) I hope that you, after reviewing, see that JEP(S) is a lot more mature and that it’s more aimed at the enterprise market – without letting go of all installations in smaller systems.

2019-04-23T10:19:14Z

http://www.grynx.com/projects/greylist/

Click Here: https://www.ampmpodcast.com/mastermind and Register Your Spot in the Webinar! In this podcast, Manny Coats talks with Kevin King and discusses Amazon Private label ninja stuff. When did and for how long Kevin King been selling in Amazon? Kevin King shares his experience being a private label seller. Kevin King shares some strategies when selling in Amazon. Kevin King shares some tips in launching new products. How does PPC affect my organic ranking? Manny and Kevin talks about PPC strategies. Kevin King shares his strategies when it comes to keywords. How do I benefit from translating my product titles? Kevin and Manny talks about “brands”. How many units should I start with my product? Kevin shares on how to deal with Chinese suppliers. Kevin and Manny talks about product packaging. How does packaging affect product sales? What images should I put for my product? Manny and Kevin talks about product pricing. How should I set my product price? 00:39 MANNY: I’m here with Kevin King and he’s always doing ninja stuff. We will be discussing how to generate recurring revenue 24 hours per day during the AM and the PM. I was watching a Quentin Tarantino film of about three hours long, I was making money, how cool is that?! I did the amazing interview with Kevin King and although the quality of the audio isn’t of the best, it is worth listening to every minute. You’re pretty successful with Amazon FBA. If you don’t mind me asking, how much are you doing in sales per month at the moment? 01:55 KEVIN: Right now we’re doing low six figures per month, and growing. 01:57 MANNY: Wow. How did you get into Amazon FBA? 02:08 KEVIN: I’ve been dealing with Amazon for years. I’m one of those guys who has an old school account – I can get the daily withdrawals; I don’t have to wait. I buy tens of dollars of stuff for myself and my business through Amazon, I’m a big customer. If I see something in the house which I want to sell, I put it up on Amazon. I’ve been dealing with Amazon for 15 years in another business of mine called Amazon Advantage which is a principle for media, books, DVD’s etc. where they actually issue purchase orders and you send your stuff in on consignment and they pay you. I’ve had a business account for 20 years so we wholesale to them on that side – It’s a little bit different to the FBA. Two or three years ago I stumbled into something online where people were doing this FBA thing – didn’t get right into it at that moment as I was busy with other business (I can kick myself today!). I started with FBA about a year ago. I had a buddy – we did a little bit of retail arbitrage just to get my feet wet a get to know the system, how Amazon ships things and how they work. I quickly realized that the work was too much in relation to the return. My buddy was a bit more enthusiastic and started with it right away. I was in the developing business for years – I saw the FBA business last year May and read up on it, listened to podcasts – I was all in. I got my first product launched at the end of July. I have 7 products right now on Amazon. I don’t count the first to as they were a test run. 06:02 MANNY: It seems like there’s a common theme with the successful people, the ones who are doing really well and that is that the first products initially just fail, they don’t do very well. It happened to me too, I just didn’t do my research well. The one product is not there anymore and the other is just not doing well. 06:28 KEVIN: I have two in the beauty category that are just like that. I followed the formula that most of the podcasters teach – many people go with this formula so when I chose the product in May last year so unfortunately there were about seven guys that had the same product. By the time I got it launched, there were about 100 of them. The product was a serum and there’s no differentiation – I tried to make the packaging different but a serum is a serum. I quickly learned to not play whatever everyone else is playing. I then chose a product that is whole different then the first two – a category newbies wouldn’t choose and I’ve been doing good ever since. They’re still a standard sixe product on Amazon but in an area where not a lot of people want to mess with. 08:13 MANNY: Are you saying that they don’t want to mess with it as the price point per unit are just higher? 08:18 KEVIN: You are still paying a buck or two to get your product and selling it for $15 and to bring it over – instead of paying a small amount for DHL or whatever service you’re using, I’m paying airfreight so it is costing me more and taking longer to come in. They’re still the standard size so you don’t pay extra to get the products in. 09:18 MANNY: I always say like a basketball player’s shoe box. I’ve been doing the same for a while and some people will come back and say that I’ve said something else in a podcast but times change, things change and you’ve got to change your strategies. Lately I’ve also been telling people to stay away from the cheap stuff. It’s hard to get the right margins for Pay Per Click. If you have something that you can sell for $30 or $40, that would be great. You’ve then got a bigger chance at success. 10:09 KEVIN: The best cost product I’ve bought was $20. I’ve sold it for $79. If I sell anything, I try to triple the cost to cover shipping cost etc. if I don’t come close to triple my cost, then I’m not interested in selling the product. A lot of people do not have the finances to start something like this up – those who are asking what they need to start it up are most probably looking to just get rich, something like a lottery ticket. Most of those people have given up and started something else. 11:11 MANNY: If you start up with just $200/500, you can’t get into the products that were mentioned. You can’t buy a $10 or $15 product with $200. 11:31 KEVIN: A lot of people only want to do this as an alternative to their regular job – to pay credit card debt, to go on vacation and that is all good. If you want to make a living out of this only, you’ve got to put some money in. I’ve invested quite a lot because one of my strategies is not to just go out and find something out of the global sources, bring it in and sell it on Amazon – half of my private label products, I develop from scratch. I’ve hired people on Upwork who made sketches for me and did all the CAD designs and another guy who alternate the sketches to see from different angles so it looks like a real product. I then do 3D printing so I can test the product out and make sure it is correct/give it to someone to test it out. I only then put the product out there. I go look at all the negative reviews and where there is a gap in the market – if someone sells the product for $10, I sell it for $40 to cover the high end of the market. My sales may be less and my BSR lower, but I’m making more money. All my products right now are between 3000 and 7000 BSR. I’ve got products making me $500 profit a day which is 7000 BSR which is after expenses, advertising costs, sponsored ads, everything. That is one of my strategies, to create these custom products and the major advantage to this is you can have higher margins and zero competition. If you search for one of my products, there are 1000 hits but 800 of those are all the same product with no differentiation. One of my products in the Sports category is not custom but I differentiated it by adding 3 other components and it’s the most expensive in its category. I also do custom packaging on all my products. There’s two reasons for that: I’ve shown my packaging in one of my listings which I’ve never had a problem with, with hi-jackers – another reason is that I look at these products for long-term retail. Amazon is a great platform to launch in, to prove you have a good product and to get feedback from customers, improve the product and then take it to retail in the big stores not only to make money but to lavage yourself to if something ever changes on Amazon, if you lose your account for some reason, you’re not just out there flapping in the wind. 16:07 MANNY: This is a lot of good information. You’re on pace to do seven figures this year. You’ve made over a million backs. 16:31 KEVIN: With the holiday season, based on last season and what I could’ve done if I was prepared during December and January, I expected this year to do $2,5M to $3M this year. I’m launching a few new products now and if I get a single or double, at least ten a day, with a $15 margin on each product, that’d be good. If I launch a new product, I’m willing to spend some money to get it going. I’m going to get reviews. Reach for the top 10 000 reviewers and find the ones that list things they love in their bio – get 10 of 15 of them and give them the product – offer the amount to them, give it to them for free and have them order it through Amazon so it go through the system. That’s a good way to get started and then use services like review check to get your reviews up to around 15 or 20. Some people say you need to wait to do Pay Per Click until you get a certain number of reviews, you don’t need to. Five reviews will be sufficient. You need to turn on pay Per Clicks and start making money instantly. The best investment is through Pay Per Click as you can buy your way to the top. I you buy a product for $20 and you sell it for $79, after all the commissions and fees, you can still afford to pay $10 per click/sale average. The way I look at my sales is: I take the product and say I’m going to spend $10 on marketing. If I sell 10 per day, it’s going to cost me $100 per day to sell those products on Amazon. If four of them were sold through sponsored ads, I’m acquiring them in my personal figures – I still calculate them as ‘losing the money’, I’m willing to break even now in a competitive space. I launched a product in December and I was spending about $600 a day to get that product launched. I was still making money and it still sells the same amount each day, I’m only paying $40 per day in advertising so if I have to initially not make money because of advertising, that’s fine. With Pay Per Click you build up the recognition for your product, unlike with the normal reviews. 22:50 MANNY: Pay Per Click will increase your organics, I say that too, but a lot of people say that Pay per Click does not affect your organics. You believe that too? 23:15 KEVIN: I believe 100 percent that it does increase your organics. Why wouldn’t it? Amazon is all about selling products. If they know that you are selling a product and it gets lot of searches, why wouldn’t they show it organically to you? You’re buying space through Amazon with Pay Per Click just as you would buy shelf space in a grocery store. You’re doing the same thing on Amazon through sponsored ads and proving yourself. 24:52 MANNY: Do you feel like there’s a difference between having that top spot at the top of all the searches vs being on the side panel or different positions for Pay per Click? 25:01 KEVIN: I think the most important thing is to be on page one. If you look at studies, only 30% of people go past page one. Most people will scroll through the first page and see what’s there. Best position is to be on the top left position. 25:49 MANNY: For those of you who are starting out – if you start out, you’re not going to be on page one initially. You’re probably going to be on page 17. If you can get a few reviews and start Pay Per Click, you can be on page one within a few hours. There’s very few industries where you can get in and get that immediately from page access. You might not be making money initially; you’re trying to buy op your organic ranking. The first month is almost a throw-way to build up your position. 27:02 KEVIN: I’ll let my Pay Per Click run for about seven days before I make any major adjustments. As long as I’m in that top two spots initially, I’m fine. If the keywords doesn’t look good, I’ll lower my bid and give it a week before adjustment. 28:23 MANNY: If you’re adjusting the bids on that keyword, are you saying that you’re initially running an automatic campaign and then you’re moving to a manual and then you’re adjusting them specifically manual? 28:38 KEVIN: I initially run an automatic campaign to see if Amazon thinks the product is what I think it is. At the same time, I also run a manual broad to pick up on other things. After a week I’ll eliminate the automatic, I’ll then see what’s working and what’s not working. Once I settle on keywords, I’ll move to a phrase or exact and see what works best. 29:46 MANNY: if you’ve got a small subset, 15 keywords or phrases that are awesome, you’ve eliminated all your automatic campaigns and you’re now on manual, are you setting up different campaigns for each keyword so you can control the individually? 30:00 KEVIN: No, I just put them online with a $500 budget daily. 30:08 MANNY: And then you just control the bids by going in there and checking the keyword phrases. 30:13 KEVIN: Yes. I’ve done them automatically, I’ve tested it where I just lower the bids so I get $1 for Pay Per Click to see if I can get someone that goes to page six and sees my product. I wouldn’t recommend continuing that. 30:46 MANNY: So if you’ve got these 15 awesome keyword phrases set up in your manual campaign, do you still find it’s worth it to have 5000 characters’ worth of other keywords if you’re not pushing those through Pay Per Click or is that still super important for the organic side of stuff? 31:08 KEVIN: Amazon has changed and it only allows you to have 5000 characters and it’s not keywords. I take a different approach on that, on a lot of what people and Amazon says is a lie. In my first line I repeat all my main keywords even though they’re in my title or wherever for in case they change the algorithm. In the next few points I fill in with a lot of random words, unique words that are not in my description or bullets or title. Those are just casting a wide net. For example, if I have a dog product in there, I will search for the top dog breeds and I’ll put those in there because if someone is looking for a dog product, they might type in “dog food” and you’ll appear for that. In the last line I will put in Spanish translation of my keywords as there’s a lot of people that do not speak English in the United States and has the second highest population of Spanish people. 35:09 MANNY: That’s awesome information. You basically resurrected a failing product. 35:16 KEVIN: Once I did that for the first product, I went and did it for all my other products. The products are in different categories so it won’t work for every product necessarily, it didn’t work as well for all my other products. 35:49 MANNY: Awesome! How do you deal with misspellings? 35:53 KEVIN: I use the extra space in the last bullet to deal with that and Amazon will autocorrect that too and you’ll land up in more products with the misspellings. 36:35 MANNY: I’ve noticed that too. If you have that keyword on there, it would show in your search and ask “Did you search for this?”. I am actually for a number of highly misspelled keyword phrases. 36:57 KEVIN: With the Spanish and the serum product I had – if you type it in, thousands of products show up and because I’m not doing Pay Per Click, I’m on page four or five for that listing. Also if I’m selling a toy I’d put in ‘toy’ and ‘toys’. 38:39 MANNY: Do you have the Amazon App, the A9 app? 38:49 KEVIN: No, I’ve never seen it. 38:50 MANNY: It’s pretty trippy. A lot of people don’t know about that. I want to talk about brands in terms of actually bidding on those – do you do anything with competitor brands’? 39:23 KEVIN: No, I’ve tested it – if you put words in there and it’s some uncommon brand it doesn’t make a difference but if it’s a major brand, it’s probably not going to work. 39:46 MANNY: So if you’re in a category where they say there’s two or three sellers who are just dominating, 1000 units a month each in sales, would you consider using their brand name? 40:10 KEVIN: What I’ve found works better is if you do a broad Pay Per Click on that for example ‘eyelash serum’, I’ll get people typing in a brand name that’s ‘Unique eye lash serum’ then Amazon won’t give me any searches as they’ve filtered it out. If I leave it as a broad match, just eyelash serum, I can pick up some of the brand stuff. 42:30 MANNY: You said you start 1000 units a time when you’re starting with a new product, is that your standard, do you always do that? 42:45 KEVIN: Yes, that’s my standard. When am looking at my product, I’m pretty confident. If you have less units, you can’t really promote it as you’re going to run out of stock soon. You spend a lot of money to get that product launched and for reviews, you can’t do that with 200 units. Another thing I do is I do inspections in China before the product is shipped to the USA to make sure everything is there that needs to be there and that the products look good. I find that after I’ve started doing the inspections, the products started looking better and I had less problems with my products. 48:29 MANNY: They’ll even do the three-foot Amazon drop test for you. 48:32 KEVIN: I have them drop the master product form three feet because when they’re being shipped, they handle them roughly and you don’t want to deliver a product that has a dent in. I also order a few extra boxes for in case this happens and for returns of products that were never used, so I can resell them then. 50:15 MANNY: For all of you who think that Kevin has all of these things going on…how many people do you have in your company? 50:30 KEVIN: It’s just me. 50:31 MANNY: Outside of hiring a couple freelancers to do your specifications and that, it’s just you? 50:39 KEVIN: I’ve got a bookkeeper coming in once a month as I don’t like doing the nitty gritty stuff. I also have some guys I get to do my packaging. I’ll sit down and do the sketches on paper and send it to them and tell them that’s what we have to create and we’ll communicate back and forth for a week. That’s all for $110. When my pallets come I’ll have someone assist me in removing the pallets and getting Amazon stickers on the boxes and shipping them to Amazon. 52:42 MANNY: You’re one of the few people I know who handles a big amount of inventory who don’t ship them directly to Amazon, you ship the stuff to your house? 52:55 KEVIN: Right now I’m working from my house but it has gotten to the point where I’ll have to get a little warehouse. On the first thousand units I put a PC barcode, not the Amazon code, for in case somebody hi-jacks the product. Now I let Amazon put that label up for me. My inspection company checks everything for me. I ship them via central freight so it costs me $150 instead of $1000 for UPS. I’ll pay that extra 20 cents for them to label it. I’d like to have that eyeball checked. 56:24 MANNY: Especially if your order comes in and it’s $80 000 worth of retail goods, a few dollars more wouldn’t make a difference. For the listeners who say that you can’t do it, you don’t have the time, this guy is doing it alone. You can do it, you just have to take that first step and do it. You can’t just keep learning forever, you’ll have to dive in. 57:00 KEVIN: I’ve been there, I’ve had companies where people worked for me out of a warehouse and I don’t want to get to that position. I cap this, I don’t want it to grow that much. My goal is to get this to $10M by 2019 and I might have to bring on one or two people. I just want to make enough money to survive and enjoy my life. 58:05MANNY: That’s cool. It’s ironic because I will ask a question and you’ll come up with five things and I’ll want to go back to each. This is so full of information. Four-color-box is the technical term for having unlimited color. Are you having your supplier do that or do you have it done and then ship it to your manufacturer? 58:44 KEVIN: I let the supplier do it. I send my designs through to them. I had them change something once and the inspector caught the problem and had them repackage the items. 59:58 MANNY: What does it cost you typically when you’re doing custom boxes? 1:00:15 KEVIN: It depends on the box – I’m not doing a fancy box. I just take their basic template and redo the artwork. It depends on the thickness of the box – sometimes it’s 10 cents, the most expensive is $2.06 and then it’s a really nice, thick box. People eat with their eyes. You have to give a good image of your brand. It adds a sub-consciousness to your product. 1:02:59 MANNY: For your main image itself, do you put your product box in that white background or in the secondary image? 1:03:12 KEVIN: On some products I do put the product box. I put the price box in the background and the product box in front of it. It helps the product to stand out when someone is going through the pages and it’s clean, without “Number one seller!” and “Best seller!” banners. You have to still have a white border around the edge of your image – without it Amazon software sometimes remove the photo. 1:04:46 MANNY: Do you use all your images; do you fill every space? 1:04:48 KEVIN: Yes, I do. I make sure they’re all 1500×1500. I don’t use any image from the factories. I create all my images and try to show my product in context so people can relate. Your second image is important as it is visible when searching. 1:07:10 MANNY: How long does it take your inspector to do an inspection? Many people believe they should get the product out right away, so if you add the inspection process, how much time does that add? 1:07:30 KEVIN: Usually I give the company 48 hours to complete the inspection but they do it in 24 hours. If my product is done on Monday, I can let the inspector know and I’ll have the report back on Wednesday. 1:08:04 MANNY: For protecting your products you use a five wall box and corner protectors. What I the costs of that and can you have all suppliers do that? 1:08:22 KEVIN: Some suppliers don’t do the five corners so I choose three corners and just ask them to but Styrofoam around it. There is an extra cost but it’s not huge – maybe $50 total for the whole shipment. 1:09:05 MANNY: Great! You typically ship these products via sea or air express? 1:09:13 KEVIN: I do both. It depends – I just had 1000 items come in and to ship them by air was going to cost me $2500 and shipping them by sea was going to be $1900 so I just had the whole thing come by air. If the container is heavy, it comes by sea. 1:10:27 MANNY: In a different conversation we were talking about pricing and how people end their products on .95 or .99, you don’t do that? 1:10:38 KEVIN: If you want to make things look more expensive, you put a period with two decimals after them. If you list your product for $39.39, it feels less than to just say $39.00. There’s a psychology and if I list cents, I will do .88 or something unusual to make it stand out. 1:11:56 MANNY: Dealing with your suppliers overseas – do you use any NDA’s or not? 1:12:06 KEVIN: You can do it but it’s just cumbersome. I don’t do it, even on the products I developed, they’re just going to knock you off. I had a product come out and it went through the trademark and everything was fine. They publish it in a little magazine and they have a certain amount of days where someone can raise an objection and there was a law firm that raised an objection to one of my marks and said it was too close to them, it wasn’t worth fighting as it was a big firm, so I changed the packaging. 1:15:36 MANNY: Nice. Maybe we can do a part two and talk about all these other things like 3D printing, tooling for your products and customize the products, how you do some cool ninja things with your Pay Per Click and what you do when inventory is running low. If you want this – tell us on our Facebook group/website. Please also head over to Periscope app and follow me – @mannycoats and get to know me, it’s not all only business. Go to AM/PM Podcast and post your questions there – go over to our Facebook group and request access, it’s called the Amazon FBA High rollers and we’d love to see you there.

2019-04-26T00:14:15Z

https://www.ampmpodcast.com/kevin-king-delivers-amazing-value-fantastic-interview-advanced-private-label-ep33/

Exciting New 2019 Renovation Projects! Hi friends. We’re excited to share that we recently purchased a couple of properties and we’ve got some exciting renovations coming up this year! As you know, Emma is based in Springfield, Missouri and Elsie lives in Nashville, Tennessee. We knew we wanted to invest in some properties we could Airbnb, but also live in ourselves when we come to visit each other’s cities (which is a lot). So first, up—Nashville! Above is a photo of the duplex we just closed on in Nashville. We each purchased one side of the duplex. It’s a brand new build with a pretty basic design, so we’re doing a (tiny) bit of renovation and furnishing our side in our own style! It’s been really fun so far. I (Elsie) am almost wrapped up on my side and I’m coordinating a lot of Emma’s now since she isn’t always in town. We’re both so excited because this home will give Emma and Trey a place to stay for longer periods of time. Emma comes often for both work projects and to visit, and although she’s always been welcome to stay with me, I know she’s excited to have a little house of her own with a fenced backyard so they can bring their dogs too. Trey has a sister who also lives in the Nashville area and she and her husband have two (adopted) little kiddos as well. So, Emma wanted to be able to come visit more to spend time with their nieces and nephews in addition to all the work trips she does out here. Once it’s available to rent, it will also be cool because larger groups could potentially rent both sides for a bigger space. I believe this is the first time we’ve renovated a contractor-grade new build, so we’re excited to share the room before and afters with you as the months go on! It’s amazing what even small changes to a space can do to personalize the feeling. Here we are in my mostly completed kitchen, minus that light fixture behind my head. I’ve decorated my side a little more of a farmhouse vibe with a lot of texture. I’m trying to make it as cozy as possible. And I did a cooler color scheme with greens and blues (yes, you read that right, some BLUE!). On Emma’s side, she chose more modern finishes with a warm color scheme. We are really excited to share the full reveal with you in the next few months! In our hometown of Springfield, Missouri, we purchased an adorable historic home in the Rountree area (our favorite neighborhood in our hometown, if you’re not familiar). It’s a very sweet neighborhood. And just around the corner from this house there is a pizza place, a coffee/wine bar, and a small brewery. It’s the perfect neighborhood to take long walks on summer nights. And it’s just a few minutes from our downtown, so it’s super conveniently located to do just about anything. I (Elsie) am so excited because one of our personal goals was to spend more time in Missouri with our family. We are planning to spend Halloween and Christmas in this home, starting this year. It’s extra special because I’m imagining us waking up there on Christmas morning (it will be Marigold’s first holiday season with us!). It feels SO magical to me to have this home where we can make memories with our children in our hometown. I’m imagining cousin sleepovers and gingerbread houses, plus there is a fireplace so Santa can visit … all that good stuff! I nicknamed this one “holiday house” since we’ll be spending so many holidays there! This photo is from last Thanksgiving right after we closed. It was my first time to see the home and I was instantly in love! Emma and I have designed this home together and we have worked to choose things that go well with the age of the home (it was built in the 1920s). We’ve already done quite a bit of work since then, including a full kitchen renovation, which is nearly complete. Emma has been documenting a LOT of the progress, so be watching our IG stories to see all the behind the scenes. We will for sure we sharing LOTS of room tours and how we updated things with you soon. Nova loves the house! But don’t all kiddos love running around empty houses? She has to hide in every single closet and try to scare us. Haha! Just like with the Nashville homes, we’re planning to rent this home out as a short-term rental (like Airbnb) when we’re not using it. So if you’re ever passing through Springfield, Missouri, look us up! We’ll be sure to have links to our properties once they are available. Before I go, just a quick note! We realize how lucky we are to be able to invest in these properties. Please don’t think it’s something that came overnight for us or something we take lightly. It’s an opportunity we worked and planned for years to be able to achieve and we’re so excited to share our journey with you! Photos: Katie Day, Trey George, and Jeremy Larson. Yes- giving to charity is very important to us and we’re always open to reminders of how important it is. We actually donated a house we bought in cash to Habitat For Humanity a few years ago (you can see it here in our archives) and have a program set up to give a portion of our ad money to a different charity each month. Regarding airbnb “ruining or taking over” neighborhoods- I also think this is an important conversation that we want to continually have and stay educated on. Every city is so different. Both these communities have protections in place to make sure short term rentals are moderated. In Springfield they started something new where there can’t be too many bnbs in the same neighborhood. And in Nashville it is very strictly moderated, so we know there are not too many bnbs in the city (in fact there are currently less than there have been in years). We believe we’re contributing something positive to both these communities with these short term properties, and we’ll be staying in them ourselves as we travel back and forth to visit. We’re always open to having thoughtful conversations on these topics! I didn’t know about your monthly charitable giving — I’d love to see which organizations you’re supporting! . As a nonprofit employee myself, it can be really impactful when folks share where they donate and I’m always curious about great organizations and what they’re doing. Looking forward to seeing the renovations on your new places! It’s linked on our About page (at the top of the site). But to be 100% we don’t plan to necessarily talk about giving to charity every time we do it. We will sometimes, like the Habitat for Humanity project we did and we’ve done a number of food drives for our local food banks in the past as well. But it does feel a touch inauthentic to us to always be talking publicly about donating to charity, sometimes it feels good to just do it but not talk too much about it. I hope that makes sense. I am glad to hear Emma’s thoughts on this topic. It seems publicly announcing charitable giving at any scale can turn into a race to prove who is giving the most or at least broadcasting it the loudest. For myself, I don’t truly feel that great about what I’m giving unless it isn’t known by others. Sometimes one of the most thrilling parts of the gift is the pat on the back – if I give it to myself and hold it quietly (internally) I feel my giving is purely motivated but if I am seeking kudos from others that is self-serving. Emma, I’d really like to read a “guide” written by you in 3–5 points on how you read up on causes, choose what to support, decide whether it’s once or a long-term commitment and follow up. Either as a company or as a family. Maybe you’ve planned something like that already? What a sweet, smart reply. I wouldn’t have had that much grace. It’s thoughtful of you to be concerned about charities. Elsie and Emma have donated time and resources to a wide variety of non-profits and charitable organizations. Sometimes they have mentioned these charities on their blog, but many times they just quietly give and support. I’ve always been puzzled about the idea that Air bnb is detrimental to neighborhoods. If the person who moves in next to you doesn’t mow their grass, take care of their home, or has dogs that bark all night and poop in your yard, you are kind of stuck with them. Air bnb owners have much more incentive to keep their homes and yards tidy and be good neighbors. Not trying to be argumentative, just my thoughts…. @Pat It is detrimental to neighborhoods in that it takes housing stock off the market and makes housing more expensive. It happened in New York City when thousands of apartments were taken out of the pool and rented as short terms. Less stock equals higher prices, this trend is exacerbated in neighborhoods desirable to tourists. I’d also like to point out that it is not fun to have airbnbs as a neighbor. There are parties, you don’t know who is coming and going, even if you had perfect hosts and only the best vacationers, who wants to live in a neighborhood without real neighbors? You lose local investment in the community. It is currently happening in my neighborhood in Kansas City. I hope they continue to put ordinances in place to protect housing affordability and current residents. I hope that Elsie and Emma take this seriously as I do enjoy this blog, but I also hope they can relate this type of thing on the blog rather than just showing how fun it is to buy and redecorate a house and then use it to make income as an airbnb. Like I said in my comment above, it’s different in every city. The cities we are doing these homes in are very moderated and there will not be unlimited bnbs due to laws in place. I agree that it’s possible for it to get out of balance (and stories from New York and New Orleans provide valuable perspective). That said, in these cities we feel it will provide a helpful option as well as a place we can stay when visiting each other. We would never try to oversimplify this debate. There are definitely a lot of valuable checks and balances that need to be in place, but we don’t believe we’re overstepping those boundaries. We love our cities and want to invest more money, make these properties nicer, pay taxes etc. 🙂 For example- we considered buying a second home in Missouri for a while because we want to visit more and it’s nice to have your own space (especially with another kid on the way) but we felt it would be weird for it to sit empty so much- this is a win/win for us since we have a place to stay and we’re making a nice bnb for others to stay in as well. I thought Nashville passed a rule stating that a home had to be your permanent residence in order to be used as an Air Bnb? I have lived in two cities that drastically changed because of Air BNB culture. If you are on the owner side it’s great.. ( who doesn’t love fluid income?)…but for the majority of OG locals it can be a nightmare (I’m looking at you Bachelorette parties en masse). Look at what happened in East Nashville over the last decade. IN 2008 you could buy a home there for $70-100k. Now developers offer to owners in cash under market price to sell and then bulldoze the home to put up as many tall and skinnies/duplexes/quads as possible. It can be a super sad thing. Nashville does have those laws for residential zoned properties (we purchased a property with a different zoning). I have heard so many different experiences about the growth in East Nashville. Not all good, not all bad. It’s a big and complicated issue for a city to grow that fast. I’m always curious to learn more about people’s experiences who have lived in Nashville much longer than we have. As far as bachelorettes- we have a no bachelorette party rule (and very strict rules in general) and have never had a problem with it. I definitely think that’s something owners need to be responsible for since Nashville has so many bachelor/bachelorette parties (and I also honestly think those parties are better off staying in a hotel downtown). Good job on the no bachelorettes! It makes way more sense to have them stay in downtown! I moved to Nashville in 2003 and lived there 11 years (4 years of that in east nashville). Nashville will always have a piece of my heart. I saw the ups and downs of progress, and honestly I mourn the Nashville I know. That’s not to say that there aren’t awesome things happening there (because there definitely are) but those things came at the expense of a lot of really great things… primarily how accessible Nashville used to be and how many of the artists and makers and small business who launched Nashville into what it is now, can no longer afford to live or do business there now that the NY and LA money came in. It’s happening in a lot of cities, and I suppose it’s to be expected… but it is sad. Hopefully things will level out over time. I do wish you luck in your endeavors there though.. I still believe Nashville is a winner. Marisa: I know Elsie and Emma personally and you really couldn’t wish for better or more moral business women. These properties are in office/commercial zoned areas of Nashville and in no way take residential inventory “off the market”. I rarely read these comments, but it seems some people are so blinded by jealousy that they freely make negative assumptions. Just annoying when uninformed folks are bitterly critical toward these gals follows all the rules and are contributing positively to society in every way. I trust being seasoned business people that they did the research and are grounded in their values. Please celebrate others success! I’d also like to point out that I would much rather rent an Airbnb from someone who owns a small business and then to rent a hotel room from a large chain. I assume you hadn’t thought of that. If you are disappointed with your own success look into changing that for yourself. Congrats Elsie and Emma! I have loved watching you grow and blossom through the years and share your gift with so many people. Isn’t supporting Airbnb the same as supporting a “large hotel chain”? The difference is, those small business owners have no protection, and you’re still supporting a large corporation – who is using free labor to make money. You as a guest also don’t have protection – Legally and safety-wise (hotels have to pass rigorous safety standards. Your Airbnbs do not. Your gambling whether smoke alarms, CO2 detectors, locks, electricity, plumbling etc all work properly). Hotels also do not take homes away from low income and middle-class families under the guise of progress. with no control or over-sight. I trust you hadn’t thought of that, though. Jenny, I have to respectfully disagree with a number of your points here. Guests do have protection. I can’t speak for every city in the world but in both Springfield and Nashville you have to pass multiple inspections (for adequate smoke detectors and other safety measures) before you can obtain your short term rental permit and legally have guests stay in your home. I think this is a great law and I am VERY glad as both an owner and someone who rents short term rentals to stay in with family on vacations that this is the case. And if anyone out there reading this does ever stay in a short term rental that didn’t have smoke detectors or locks on a door, etc you should absolutely inform the owner and if needed (like if they do not resolve the issue) leave a review on the website and contact the city to let them know. Also, we did not take a home away from low income or middle class families. We are a middle class family, for one. But more importantly you may not know this but there are actually quite a lot of laws and over-sight for short term rentals. Again, I am not an excerpt on every single market but in both Springfield and Nashville there are only certain zoned areas you can have short term rentals in OR there can only be a certain number in an area. I personally especially like this second option (this is what Springfield has) because it protects neighborhoods from being completely bought up by investors for the purpose of short term rentals. Both of the properties we chose to purchase completed the requirements of these oversight measures. 1. It’s Elsie + Emma’s business what they do with their money. No one else’s. They have worked hard and earned it. They can do whatever they please with it. 2. I doubt if they were men, anyone would be making comments like this. Instead of shaming them for making money, let’s cheer them on for working hard and making intelligent business decisions. In addition, if you are here on their website, consuming the FREE content they create (like all of us), then you too are profiting from their hard work. How exciting! Always love seeing how you guys renovate a space and this one feels so special since you will be able to spend more time together! And the story about your grandma and her sister! Life goal for sure! Congratulations on the new properties! That’s so amazing and I can’t wait be able to invest like this one day. Hard work and dedication! Your renovation projects are my very fave posts that you do. Can’t wait to see the progress. How fun!! I know it’s always a little gauche to talk about money, but in the same way you do DIYs and decor breakdowns I would love a little peek into how you manage your properties. Like are they mortgaged, what kind of mortgage, are you mainly going through the business as a corporation…etc. etc. Anyhow, super cute- and I love the idea of calling it the “Holiday House” ! Agreed on this topic. I would love to see more business related posts now that the ABM business is growing. I’m sure many other readers would love to follow the avenues you ladies have taken towards success! Good to know of this interest! I am personally always super interested in learning more about other peoples’ businesses and investments and learning from others over the years has really helped me so the thought of doing that in any small way for others would be something we’d be interested in. Although, obviously, talking about money can be quite intimidating as well for a lot of reasons. I am so happy for you guys! That is so exciting, I cannot wait to see the finished renovations! Emma! 🤗🤗🤗 great little hint there. Congrats! This is AMAZING! I can’t wait to see what you guys do with the spaces. Especially that duplex – I love the idea of you each decorating your halves in your own styles! 🙂 – Mike. So fun! Congrats and looking forward to seeing the room/house tours in the future. Sorry you had to put the disclaimer at the end, but I know it comes with the territory (unfortunately). Keep being you and enjoy the blessing of what you’ve been able to accomplish with all of your hard work. Yes- we love to follow Sherry and John too! They’re so inspiring! I am 110% obsessed with everything John and Sherry do and have been following along with their renovations for years including their duplex. 😉 They are amazing. I’ve always gotten the impression that Emma & Elsie were extremely passionate about giving back, so I’m a little surprised by the charity comments. This is really exciting news! Congratulations to you both! I know, it’s to each his own, but I would never think of asking a friend if they contribute to charities. And for someone to bring that up here with “internet friends” is very bold. It’s none of our business how you ladies disperse your funds. Have a beautiful day Elsie and Emma! My husband is currently getting his real estate license and we want to invest in both long term and a few thoughtfully selected short term rentals. This is very inspiring! I agree with the comment about how impressive you both are at hearing the naysayera reapectfully and answering true to your own research and opinions. Younguys could offer a Master Class in that skill! Lol. Wow! Congratulations! You gals work so hard and keep me amazed by how much you accomplish. Kudos to you both as well as your team. I cannot wait to see what you make of these spaces! This is super cool. I love seeing you succeed. Never begrudge the successes of others, let them inspire you! I’m so looking forward to seeing how you will transform the places, I’m so excited! Wow, you guys are so flipping inspiring! I LOVE hearing these updates and seeing how well you’re doing. I’ve been a long time follower, so this makes my heart sing! Can’t wait to stay in one of your Airbnb’s when I’m over your way next! Ah I love that you guys bought the duplexes next to each other…such a sweet sister dream! And really how wonderful for you guys to have places to land when you want to go visit your family AND that you’re sharing those places with others. 🙂 🙂 I can’t wait to see all three properties finished! I dream of renovating an older home someday! Wishing you luck with both projects! To me, it goes without saying that you guys are incredibly thoughtful and generous people. It is so obvious in every way through this blog! I saw someone say this, and it would be cool to hear about how you decide to donate to what causes-truly because I value your guys’ opinions so much 🙂 either way, you have NOTHING to explain to anyone!! Looking forward to your renovation and design posts on these properties. Halloween is my favorite time of the year as well. Cannot wait to see your decorating inspiration for the holidays. I love that you support each other as sisters in your various projects and investments. I hate that there are so many trolls on the internet you and your sister have to constantly have to explain yourself or validate your choices to them. You both are clearly amazing and warm individuals and anyone who reads this blog can see that. I am also especially upset that some people also have to troll the comments, eg. with regards to charitable giving. All these people should be ashamed of themselves. We should be celebrating with you, this is an amazing bit of news. So sad that people feel the need to pull other people down to feel better about themselves. You do you Elsie and Emma. Can’t wait to see the posts. Apologies if this has already been mentioned/ posted something like this and I missed it, but it would be amazing if you guys could post about some of the strategies you use to help save for a home. My husband and I are having trouble finding a balance between “put every penny away for the future” and still being able to enjoy the here and now. Any advice or resources would be amazing. I really enjoyed reading these comments. I’m not American but Air BNB is impacting communities around the world (including my hometown in South Africa) so the debate is very interesting to me. In addition, someone wrote that they’d be keen to hear more about the business side of ABM. I’d like to second that! Would love to read periodic updates on this too! Just getting caught up and delighted to see this post, I would be very interested in hearing about the recent law changes and how it affects the market. You girls do good work, and I had to chuckle while reading comments from previous posters that want an essay on your contributions. You handled it well.

2019-04-26T03:38:40Z

https://abeautifulmess.com/2019/03/exciting-new-2019-renovation-projects.html

LAZ wrote: Meanwhile, I have detailed my experiences in making waderoberts' hominy casserole here. If you tried this dish, I'm curious to know what you thought of it. (Be honest. While I believe I executed it well, I don't have anything personal vested in the recipe and Wade doesn't seem to have posted here in over a year.) If you didn't try it, why not? And if there's anyone out there who's tried a hominy casserole before, how did this one compare? Looked great, tasted...not so great. The Cheez Whiz was tough to take. I could not, however, imagine a better execution. figmolly wrote: I really enjoyed the dish I prepared too (is it too gauche to label it a favorite?). Having never cooked green mangos before I was skeptical leaving the skin on, but they proved delicious and almost more vegetable like. Thanks, sazerac! How could it be gauche to praise sazerac's recipe? Although I'm sure the execution in your skilled hands was as good as it could be. It was a great dish. Looking back at sazerac's pronunciation, I can see one of the things that might have attracted you to the recipe. Was it difficult to make? And would you ever use a dish like that as part of your catering repertoire? It was actually very easy to make and I will definitely make it again for home and possibly catering. I didn't love the presentation and would probably cook the fish seperately so it didn't fall apart as much (for catering; at home I don't care as much about presentation). sazerac mentions an alternative version where the turmeric is sprinkled on the fish which is fried and added to the sauce. I may try that. I will also add a little more heat next time...I made it after the dip and I didn't want to be known as the Hot Queen so I kept it tame. Aaaah, the dip. I tripled GWiv's recipe and started with 25 whole steamed jalapenos and 1 steamed habanero. I steamed the peppers and garlic in aluminum foil in a 325 oven (lower than I would go for roasting) until they were soft but not browned. I cut the stems off of the peppers, but didn't remove the seeds. It doesn't give any indication in the recipe that this should be done, but my dip was super spicy even with only one habanero (and no fresh). I did add about a teaspoon of fresh garlic and a few extra soda crackers and olive oil to try to tame the heat (if I had more feta I would have doubled the other ingredients without adding more peppers). I really loved the flavor and it actually tamed with chilling and the fresh veggies - still I could only eat a small amount. Just made guacamole yesterday and didn't have fresh jalapenos so he added a touch of the dip and it spiced it up nicely. It was fun making Trixie Pea's Mac N Cheese for the potluck. I had tasted this recipe before and had actually watched her make it once at my house. I had been looking for a chance to put my own spin on the dish, and this turned out to be the perfect opportunity. I didn't really change the basic recipe all that much because it's pretty dammed good as it is, but I've never followed a recipe to the letter in my life, so I had to change up something. I doubled the recipe that she posted on LTH. In addition, I added some ground mustard, halved serranos and tomato paste to the roux before making the bechamel sauce. I later removed the serranos before adding the cheese to the finished bechamel. I ended up using 5 different cheeses; Fontina, Aged Reserve Gruyere, 5 year aged English cheddar, a mild bleu and some Parmigiano Reggiano mixed in with the panko on top. This was by far the richest (and most expensive) mac N cheese I have ever made. About the only things I would do differently next time is to maybe use a little more tomato paste than I did to give the cheese sauce a richer color (or use an orange cheddar) and I'd probably mix the panko with a bit of melted butter or truffle oil before topping the dish for better browning. I hope everyone enjoyed the dish. There wasn't much left at the end, so that's a good sign. Sunday was just great. Due to WBBM's traffic lies and my precautions, I arrived awfully early and found very little to set up. I have to start by thanking Molly and Justin for being excellent hosts. They got everything organized and remained helpful from start to finish - providing a utensil or pointing people to supplies they needed with patience, graciousness and aplomb. I think they got a kick out of everyone coming to their place for a change. This was my second LTH event, but I found everyone as friendly and delightful to talk to as I've read. Conversation ranged from proper internal use of drain cleaner, to lost cities in distant lands to the social skeleton key that is the 40 Year Old Virgin. That said, there was much memorable food. My eating was divided unintentionally to three courses. Salads, appetizers and meats from around the world. Two memorable tastes from each one: As others have said, Ramon's goi ga (a la jygach) was a refreshing blend of of flavors and textures. Despite her claims, I don't think a culinary mishap got anywhere near that dish. I also very much enjoyed the Terrasinis' spicy pickle. I heard that Mrs. Terrasini dialed back the spice for the masses. Well, let loose the hounds! I would certainly like to taste the uncensored version. Wustlmike's olive oil flatbreads and the Giles's sardine dip married nicely. I returned for 2nds on the eatchicago-inspired pissaladiere tarts as prepared by KennyZ. And if he truly made the puff pastry as he intended, my awe in addition to my kudos. Meats of the world yielded, among other fine contenders, Cathy2's preparation of extramsg's brined pastrami. As I showed pictures in this thread to my foodie Boston friend Abby, she immediately eyed the pastrami. "That looks great!" she wrote. It was, Abby. It was. And the piquant bites I had of JoelF's nuea naam tok as turned out by thaiobessed were a great pleasure indeed. I realize that I forgot to add a starch plate. Or a Nubian plate. Sadly, there were many dishes I lacked the capacity (fortitude?) to try. And for the desserts, I find myself echoing others' - Kennyz's herby fire-mint-chip ice cream made the mint chocolate chip I enjoyed as a youngster seem like a silly childish thing. Although I cannot remember if it was ultimately sorrel or another herb that finally made it in. Also, I greatly enjoyed Cookie Monster's prep of Bruce's butter cookie dough cobbler. Then again, I'm liable to go Manchurian Candidate for some stewed fruit and a crumble topping. More than anything else, I loved being a part of such a large-scale, cooking-focused endeavor. With so many people excited to cook and serve others, dozens of hands darting this way and that to stir a pot or plate a dish, my foodie-predilections felt right at home rather than the fringes they normally occupy. It was just enriching to be in the mix with other like-minded cooks and eaters. And that was what I'll remember best. Of course, many thanks to all the people who made this possible - especially the organizers and the hosts. I look forward to the picnic with great anticipation. Last edited by gastro gnome on June 25th, 2008, 9:55 pm, edited 1 time in total. I have to admit that I was not as fond of the radish dish as some other LTH'ers. I kept playing with it to evoke either the intense freshness and spicy undertones of raw radishes or a more flavorful cooked variety. I tried adding sauteed shallots and some fresh thyme, but do not think this greatly changed the taste all that much. The addition of the radish greens were a riff on the suggested variation of watercress in the posted recipe. I had so many lovely greens that it seemed a shame to go out and buy watercress. In retrospect, I might have added more. Some of you may have been wondering about the bread I served underneath it. I was trying to evoke the open-faced sandwich that I believe many of us have enjoyed. I intended to toast the rye bread into croutons, which I think might have been better than the sop the fresh bread became. But those are some deliciously 'enriched' slices of bread that I brought home with me, buttery with some radishy-notes. One technical note. In order to avoid overcooking them, I cooked the radishes in three different groups based on size and stopped the cooking when each was done. This might be impractical in smaller batches, but I think it helped to preserve some texture. I found the Derby Day salad straightforward to prepare. I think that the largest possible platter to avoid too much mounding of the lettuce is ideal for service. Or perhaps I put out a bit too much lettuce. I found that most of the flavorful toppings disappeared faster than the greens themselves. Maybe I should have upped the ratios there. As LAZ mentioned, I found the pecans a little vexing. I have never candied anything before, but I am pretty sure that even this dialed-down version could have turned out better. Not much of the sugar and butter really clung to the pecans. I think that perhaps melting the butter in a smaller pan and whisking to incorporate the sugars and white pepper before pouring over the pecans might work better in the future. Of course, the star of this dish was the dressing itself. I chose this recipe to showcase in-season strawberries and was somewhat uneasy with the choice of bourbon as a flavoring agent. I have had it in some sweets but seldom in other applications. Well, the worries were gone with first taste. What a wonderful dressing this was. I did dial back on the lemons and increased the booze a bit as LAZ pondered doing in the original thread. It was probably closer to 3/4 of a cup of lemon juice and 1/3 or more of a cup of bourbon. I also did not measure the olive oil very carefully, but I think it was less than 2 cups. I just started whisking the non-oil ingredients and adding the light olive oil slowly until a rich emulsion had formed. Maybe call it 1 2/3 cups. Because of the addition of the mustard and honey, I found that this kept emulsified in the fridge very well. It was still integrated by the time I had poured it at the party despite being made some hours in advance. So that's my cook's take on this little experiment. I really enjoy reading people's account so how the cooking went so do post about your experience! Perhaps you started with bigger heads of lettuce than I used for the original salad. I probably should have given the measurement in cupfuls of greens for more accuracy -- but since I didn't measure them, this would have been difficult! The bibb lettuce I used was about 4 inches in diameter. gastro gnome wrote: What a wonderful dressing this was. I did dial back on the lemons and increased the booze a bit as LAZ pondered doing in the original thread. It was probably closer to 3/4 of a cup of lemon juice and 1/3 or more of a cup of bourbon. I also did not measure the olive oil very carefully, but I think it was less than 2 cups. I just started whisking the non-oil ingredients and adding the light olive oil slowly until a rich emulsion had formed. Maybe call it 1 2/3 cups. Ah, I thought your version had a bit more bite -- I imagine that was the reduced proportion of oil rather than the higher level of bourbon. I typically use a standard 1 part acid to 2 parts oil for vinaigrettes, and I don't bother with whisking but just pour everything into a jar and shake it up. Thanks so much for trying my recipe. It's so fascinating how different cooks can start with the same recipe and end up with varied results because of different methods and equipment, variations in ingredients and so on, not to mention different tastes, even in a simple dish like this one. We touched on that in this thread. You have to wonder how large restaurants manage to come up with consistent results when they have so many different cooks. Perhaps it would be fun sometime to do an experiment in which a group of us all make the same recipe and then we compare the final dishes. LAZ wrote: Perhaps it would be fun sometime to do an experiment in which a group of us all make the same recipe and then we compare the final dishes. Sounds like a great idea to me. When/Where? nr706 wrote: Sounds like a great idea to me. When/Where? Maybe it would be better to figure out the recipe, first? One criterion I can see is that it should be a dish any competent cook can make, rather than something that requires a lot of practice to get right (e.g. barbecue). Ideally it should be something that can be served cold or at room temperature, so the venue needn't have a kitchen. And perhaps it ought to be part of another event, so that the prospect of a large quantity of something all the same doesn't seem so boring! My original, inadvertent experiment of this nature was with cookies. I enjoyed making Bridgestone's Christmas Meatballs, as I have been somewhat obsessed with charcuterie over the past few years. This was an interesting project for me because even though my wife is of Swedish descent, not very many family recipes from the 'old country' seem to have made it the present. The wife enjoyed the meatballs (they reminded her of stuff her grandmother used to make for her when she was little) and I received several positive comments about them, including 'exemplary' and 'textbook.' I personally prefer a spicier, more aggressively seasoned rendition but that's just not the nature of the Swedish meatball. These were subtle and aromatic, with faint but distinctive notes of freshly-ground clove and allspice. Because I knew I'd be re-heating this batch, I felt like they needed a sauce, so I created one with the pan drippings that were rendered after I fried the meatballs, by creating a roux in the pan and adding beef stock to it. I also re-emphasized the clove and allspice in the sauce and then ran it all through a chinoise. Thinking about it now, some thinly sliced, sauteed mushrooms would have been a nice addition to the sauce, too. The very best thing about the meatballs was that they were remarkably tender. This was mainly a function of triple-grinding the meat, something that the sagacious Bridgestone advised in his recipe. It had a huge impact on the final product's texture, which was soft and delicate, and I definitely plan to apply the technique to future projects. The one downside of this tenderness was that, before cooking, the meatballs were difficult to keep spherical. As we rolled them and aggregated them for frying, they tended to develop some flat edges. This might have been exacerbated by my adding too much stock to the breadcrumbs that went into the balls. I'm not 100% sure. In any event, based on the results, the feedback I received and the fact that the entire pan of meatballs was all but polished off, I'd pretty much call the endeavor a rousing success. It was great meeting everyone at the potluck. There were many outstanding dishes. I have been obsessing about YourPalWill's Cochinitia Pibil (made by aschie) since I put the first bite of it in my mouth. So...today I found myself at Tony's buying habanero chiles, banana leaves, achiote and five pounds of pork shoulder. I post on the results after Sat. I also made Ramon's chicken salad (made by jygach) the night after the potluck. I think next up will be KennyZ's mint ice cream. JoelF's Thai Beef Salad (Neua nom tok) was a cinch to make. I grilled the skirt steak to medium rare (I'd probably go rarer next time--it "cooked" a bit in the dressing. I stay pretty true to the recipe (tho I added a handful of mint). I'll definitely be making this again over the summer (Thanks for the recipe JoelF if you're out there). • Instead of using white sugar, I decided to use palm sugar which, I thought, would give the dressing more depth of flavor. However, my package of palm sugar appeared to have found an undiscoverable hiding spot in my cabinet. As a substitute, I used a combination of white sugar and turbinado sugar. • Instead of all Napa, I used a combination of Napa cabbage and red cabbage for a crunchier texture. Others asked me to share my culinary mishaps with the Red Velvet Cake. So, in the spirit of bringing it all to the table for my LTH friends, here are my mishaps and misfortunes with dessert. The LTH recipe for Red Velvet Cake linked to two recipes. The first used a bottle of red dye. The second used pureed red beets. I elected to go with the beet version as I had no desire to ingest dyes. Since this was a Southern cake I felt it warranted dipping into my store of White Lily flour milled in the South. This recipe not only used beets, but also had melted chocolate in addition to the cocoa. The cake batter had no hint of red but, as they say, the proof is in the baking. Sadly, 35 minutes of baking did nothing to enhance the color. It looked like a basic chocolate cake. At this point it was 1:00 am and my bed was calling. The next morning all that remained for me to do was to whip up a cream cheese frosting and slap it onto my nine-inch cake layers. I turned to the internet and picked a cream cheese frosting recipe under the mistaken impression that they were all pretty much the same. This recipe used three ingredients – cream cheese, butter, and confectioners’ sugar. Three ingredients that, despite my efforts at stirring, whipping, begging, and praying, refused to come together to form a frosting. “Perhaps it will firm up once it’s on the cake,” I hoped, as I attempted to spread this mixture on the cake. It did not, and just kept slithering down the sides of the cake and pooling onto the parchment strips I was using to keep my serving platter pristine. After ten minutes of spreading and then watching the slip sliding I accepted this cake as a lost cause and skimmed through the recipes to find a different dessert. Staying with the chocolate theme, I selected Super Chocolate Brownies as per the recipe posted by tcdup. I quickly mixed together two batches and heaved a sigh of relief when they emerged looking dark and shiny. After they cooled, I cut them into squares and placed each batch on a plate. As I was wrapping the plates with foil, one plate slid out of my hands and I watched in horror as one batch of brownies lay on the floor in tiny pieces! It looked like we would have only one batch of brownies instead of two - not the end of the world. At 3:00 p.m. I packed the food, took it to the car and drove off to pick up Cynthia. I was sharing my kitchen disasters with her when, to my utter dismay and horror, I saw the second plate of brownies slide from their safely ensconced position and land upside down onto the floor of the car in, you guessed it, small pieces. Cynthia helped me salvage a few pieces but clearly this was not an appealing pile of brownies! You decide – just culinary mishaps or evil spirits. BTW the brownies were indeed super! Apparently, several of us had our tribulations. jygach wrote: A number of people asked me to post on my rendition of the Goi Ga . I pretty much followed Ramon’s directions with a few minor changes. Was this recipe as much work as it looked like? It was wonderful, but it looked like it took loads of chopping. justjoan wrote: will someone be posting pictures of the food soon? I do hope so. I was there, and I'm still eager to see the photos. Perhaps all the photographers are just taking extra care with their processing. And here's the menu-related portion of the playlist of food tunes. I tried to have a song for every dish, but a few of the latecomers aren't represented. I wish I'd done a better job of photographing the food but between the setting-up, the food prep and the eating, some stuff slipped through the cracks. I'm sorry that there are gaps in the coverage (including the dishes I made ) but I think this is a fair representation of the spread. Again, I'm sorry if I left anyone's dishes out . . . ronnie_suburban wrote: I wish I'd done a better job of photographing the food but between the setting-up, the food prep and the eating, some stuff slipped through the cracks. Lovely, Ron, thanks. Gorgeous photos of great-looking food! If we ever do this again, we should have a photography station. WOW. what an amazing array of food. Nice pictures Ronnie! I'm impressed that you were able to get as many of the dishes as you did. There was so much going on, my camera sat in its case for the entire event. And, on a slightly egocentric note, it looks like Gary nailed his batch of "laxpudding", too! I positively couldn't have done better myself. Bridgestone wrote: And, on a slightly egocentric note, it looks like Gary nailed his batch of "laxpudding", too! I positively couldn't have done better myself. He indeed did nail it, and it was sensational. And I'm embarrassed to admit that I'd missed your informative and generous review of your meatball making experiences, ronnie. Thank you very much! Don't know if I missed it, but did figmolly post a recipe for those wonderful chocolate truffles she served as a mignardize? I went through all the pages of this thread, plus LAZ's amazing recipe index, and I couldn't find anything. Of course, being as she's in catering, it might be a trade secret, and I'd understand. But I didn't want to miss out on it if it was simply an oversight. High praise indeed, though it is mainly due to your delicious recipe and recipe writing skill. On a slightly egocentric note of my own, I'd like to point out that Ron's terrific picture, among many, is a pre decorated Laxpudding, I went total Martha Stewart on its a**. This was a wonderful event, thanks again to LAZ, Cathy2, The Figs, LTHers who came to the event, delicious dishes in hand, and all who have contributed to the recipe index. Hammond may have the prize for best and worst item, gravlax spectacular, Raicilla vulgar. Don't know if I missed it, but did figmolly post a recipe for those wonderful chocolate truffles she served as a mignardize? Melt 5 oz. of semi sweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, butter and whipping cream over low in a heavy bottomed saucepan and mix until chocolate is melted (it's not neccesary to do this in a double boiler because of the butter and cream, but you do need to watch it carefully). Remove from heat and add liqueur, mix well. Pour into a dish about 1" deep (I use a 9x13 casserole). Chill in the fridge until hard (I usually do this overnight). In the morning remove from fridge and let sit out about 5 minutes (will vary depending on temperature - you just want the chocolate scoopable). With a melon baller and cup of cold water, make chocolate balls dipping in water between every other one (I usually find dipping it between every one makes it too wet). Place on a sheet pan back in the fridge or freezer. Temper the remaining semi-sweet chocolate (there are some instructions here). Dip each truffle in chocolate and place on a clean sheet pan. Decorate with a candied fennel seed. Chocolate note: I used Callebaut chocolate pistils for the semi-sweet and Sharffenberger unsweetened. Thanks, Molly. That Sambuca made a good truffle quite remarkable. I was sorry to miss the potluck (was out of town), but I learned from Cathy2 at the Sun Wah pig roast that my recipe put in an appearance for me. I’m pleased that my hazelnut torte was baked by justjoan. (Too bad you couldn’t be there, jj.) Looking at Ronnie S’s picture of it, I’m curious what changes you made in it. It looks way jazzier than my version, which I usually serve rather haphazardly coated with whipped cream. EvA wrote: I was sorry to miss the potluck (was out of town), but I learned from Cathy2 at the Sun Wah pig roast that my recipe put in an appearance for me. I’m pleased that my hazelnut torte was baked by justjoan. (Too bad you couldn’t be there, jj.) Looking at Ronnie S’s picture of it, I’m curious what changes you made in it. It looks way jazzier than my version, which I usually serve rather haphazardly coated with whipped cream.

2019-04-20T05:08:51Z

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=203050

I wrote something yesterday while I was feeling pretty energized. I sat myself down and let the feeling be. At some point I really felt the urge to write, I mean, I scoured my desk for a pencil because I didn't want to miss something. I ended up posting it on a closed group that I am a part of on FB. I posted a reply to show where I was coming from, after seeing the time that I posted it I think I rolled my eyes a bit... "As if!" Still don't know why, and if I add up all the things where I'd say "still don't know why" I could summarize that there's a bigger picture. Something of a positive distraction while nature works at her pace. there's another curious thing that happens when I get worked-up or feel like I am getting pulled down. It's likely that I've mentioned this before. Songs play in my head, very specific songs with lyrical content that (though subjective and absolutely biased ) speak to my exact situation. I'd be worried if the hints were negative, but they are always trying to life me up. I think it's pretty cool and it makes me smile. She said "I'll take you some place where I know it will change" "Arise, remove your earth, shake off your dust, raise yourself, that you may travel in company with the spirits, for your wings are those of a falcon, your gleam is that of a star..." 'It is man's duty not to acquiesce in his merely human state, but rather, in the strength of his contemplation of things divine, to scorn and despise the mortal part which has been attached to him because it was needful that he should keep and tend his lower world. 'If man takes upon him in all its fullness the function assigned to him, that is, the tendence which is his special task, he becomes the means of right order to the Kosmos, and the Kosmos to him.'" I am pasting something Roger wrote to Jan because it fits well with my previous post. I was looking at older posts and found this. I also found one where you mention basically what is happening right now with the US and Syria. Sorry if this moves about in too many directions but I feel the need to post it in this way. Let’s be a little provocative: to me, a grown up human being is someone who naturally relates to the ‘Unus Mundus’ because doing this has become a fully integrated function corresponding to a bilateral or reciprocal need: the need to consciously feel one’s working belonging to the universe, and the need for the universe to be consciously recognized in its living relatedness, Eros. So paradoxically in the culmination of 'amour-propre', self-love, where we in some ways seek nothing but our own good and own well-being, the ego and its will principle become so 'immersed' and unified with the greater field of energy, that they 'vanish' alltogether, because there is nothing egoic that 'stands out' anymore, and the sense of self-ness becomes condensed to its most basic form of simple 'being'. As any natural growth process, Unio corporalis requires time. It also requires conscious acceptance. What I mean by ‘natural relation’ is that the relating process has become integrated, that is to say ‘works’ as a ‘natural function’, another ‘sense’. Of course the personality shift it implies is the fruit of this progressive growth process. On this path paved with abandoned ego desires, the (pavlovian? ) wish for bliss eventually finds its place as something else unfolds. The ‘crystal body’ is not the exclusive treasure of some people considered as ‘holy hermits’. (If they are ‘holy’ it is because they are “whole-y”, and no saint at all by the way). It also permeates, filtrates through, and finally gilds the surroundings of the life of ‘simple beings’ as you put it. It is, and incarnates in the acts (not necessarily ‘deeds’) of the individuals concerned. Was reading something of Remo's work tending to the Child archetype. I had to laugh a bit, seems I was setup (life conditions) to have to deal with it. My impression was that out of two images the child appears, yet split, and is the next image to contend with. *I'm putting my own words to that to give a description of what it feels like. "Image" Edit: I had the chance to speak with my parents about being adopted. Many interesting things came from that. In the conversation I explained that this heartbeat that formed me I had no choice to become unfamiliar with regardless of how much love they gave me when I was young. It's not their "fault" that I have things to deal with in that regard, I said. My dad said "you were our chosen son". This morning (in the shower!) I remembered the gift I received from them on my 1st birthday, a drum (a new beat). *edit: just read (today, Monday) that everything in nature is dual - 4. "So maybe Hillman was right. We don’t have to ground the puer out of fear for his extravagances. Wait a while, and life will bring him closer to earth." How's this for a type-o? Lapis Philosophorum: Also known as the ultima materia, aqua permanens (=its libido aspect), rubedo tinctura, filius macrocosmi or philosophorum, quinta essentia, panacea, medicina catholica, rotundrum, elixir vitae, lapis exilis (stone of no worth), everlasting food): the Philosopher's Stone, prized goal of alchemy. According to legend, the Stone, a freed form of the spirit of Mercurius trapped within the prima materia or initially unprocessed raw material, grants immortality, heals all disease, and transforms base metals into gold. Jung saw it as a Self symbol--one compensating Christ--and the goal of individuation. Zeus was heavy-handed at times, as a result I had difficulty in storms because I was afraid to get hit by lightning. Might not be good to carry that with me, or maybe I should just to let it clear. i am unsure about that. Might as well keep the ball rolling. There are a couple of people who helping me with an intense time. I feel pretty blessed in a lot of ways. One song sent me on a search and I ended up here. Call me crazy, go ahead, nothing can take this away from me. I wrote on a FB group page that I've wept what felt like blood on my drums. I just read this page and I guess it makes more sense. *btw, I'm tired of talking about them. this morning I was wondering if individuation was the culmination of Romanticism, it was a totally random thought - I've never really studied Romanticism. I started to search that idea and found some really (really) cool stuff. Hi, I hope everyone who still reads here is doing well. I have an interface that allows me to play into my computer and record the random stuff that I am trying to process. Anyway, the other day I was playing and looking at the guitar strings vibrate. At that time I was playing something I thought was pretty cool, and thought that I should stop the recording and make a note about it. I stopped the recording at the 137th bar (I didn't see the screen, just reached up and pressed the space bar). This is meaningful to me because I felt really good about what I was playing! there's something I wanted to write about on the day it happened but I've let it sit for a while. Just now I felt compelled to write about it. I often read Gregory's posts and find some ideas in there that are very similar to things I may have been contemplating at the time, etc. Well, this last one was pretty vivid. I was walking my dog and kind of laughed at a random idea that came up. I was thinking of some kind of peg leg person playing some kind of pirate music. I don't know why but I felt it was comical, and I could visualize it pretty well. Shortly after that day I came across Gregory's post talking about the golden peg leg. Ok, fine, similar theme. Why the hell would I think about it in time with that post? I've looked at it a bunch of ways and I still just have to let it be. Not sure what to make of it, if anything at all. Pascal, I am glad to see you posting about complex and deeply meaningful synchronicities. I have been experiencing lots of them many times a day for several months. Other people I know in person or online are also having visions and encountering new people in their every day lives who are also surprisingly having deep spiritual aspirations recently arising in them. I have been thinking frequently of our deceased blog mate Ann Elliot. She wrote mystical books that are still posted online by her family. I think there is one I read a few years ago... and in a recent dream I heard an inner voice say that I will discover answers to some of my deepest concerns from Ann in a very specific book... I will recognize when I go to see again what it might be. Thank You for your continuing participation all these years in preserving the Ann/Suzanne Blog. I have two wonderful daughters nearby where I live... but you in effect are like a wonderful son at a distance who shares all of our similar devotion to knowing we have a purpose in our lives now and most likely will be in the same afterlife locale together. thanks for a being like a mom at a distance! I can't even describe how much I have learned from you and this forum, it's pretty amazing. For instance, again, Greg's posts. I recently wrote the words PANIK to you in a message about an event I attended (that word was part of a synchronicity). Now I read his latest post and laughed out loud. I suppose I just have to settle in to the fact that it's all connected. *edit: after submitting my post I read it. The image fit so perfectly with the idea of a "mom at a distance"! Today I read the most recent post in Gregory's thread. I swore, I got up, and I walked away from my desk. Why o why, that's all I can say. I don't mention mana for I don't know how long and there it is. I posted on FB this morning on a thread by a Jungian named Craig, it was about Elijah and Mana. I know where I'm stuck. Why? The only song I've ever recorded and put spoken word to is a song I named THESEUS. I had no idea what Theseus was about when I named it. Just read another thread, I wonder if the forum will close? I hope not but it is a possibility. You must feel a little lonely now on the forum. A little, but it’s ok, we have our reasons. For the past couple of years I thought to let it go, but this magical life keeps offering reasons to stay. It’s weird, I just thought to post here because of a song lyric that I am listening to. I debated it because - not sure why. Hi All, Actually it was not us but Remo who started the Ann-Suzanne Blog. He clipped it off from an earlier thread. Of course many of our old faithful posters here and throughout the rest of Unus Mundus no longer post. Some reasons have been that they were moving into work situations and would not be making personal experiences and opinions open to be read by folks wandering in who do not become posters. One of the largest reasons for less devoted posting is, that sadly to us who loved them, many have died over several years mostly from old age. Some of those persons were among our most spiritual as well as intellectual posters. A few people in my personal life have asked me about the forum. I trusted them to come and read. They all replied that this is an amazing forum with wonderful posts that are superior to many new age books about the esoteric topics we have created and maintained I suppose for about 10 years now. I call all of this forum, not just Ann-Suzanne, but instead -- THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WORLD SOUL. One person in my family says it has so much astonishing information that the individual comes by once in awhile and reads more pages. However I do not think that any few people I might know are the ones bumping up the number of readers of our present Ann-Suzanne. Just a very few months ago, I commented to two family members that I expected the number of drop-in readers to reach over 200,000 soon. The number is now actually more than that. Every time we two post, there is a kind of surge of readers. I do not know who they are or why they are likely coming back and not just brand new viewers. Once in awhile I go to various entire forum topics and read some of the very oldest posts from when there were mostly then only a few members and then more coming in and joining in for months or years. It is actually a very fast surge within a day or two of new posts. Perhaps somebody may post who and why they come after reading my comment here. Actually every day and every night, I use the belly brain meditation method that Remo taught us all in the beginning of this wonderful gathering place. It has been a blessing to me and many old friends who were here years ago even if they are not with us any more. If there is a real afterlife, Ann and I wrote emails about probably meeting again over there in the dimension suitable to our mutual ideals and devotions. Today I realized that it is good that I don’t want to excomunicate the church from me. Christ is the pure light, Mercurius is its complement. If it takes over the light, then, I suppose it is a false light. Revealing itself in self-discovery. I asked recently “what is the subtrate onto which my thoughts are placed” - it is Mercurius. Not sure where to post this. In the past 36 hours or so I feel like Neo in the matrix. I’m tired from the info. Yesterday morning when I was coming out of sleep I heard a very loud popping sound, like snapping out of something, vacuum-like. Tired, but not exhausted, keeping my limits as best as I can. Art thou noble to receive? Know this: I, Mercurius, have here set down a full, true and infallible account of the Great Work. But I give you fair warning that unless you seek the true philosophical gold and not the gold of the vulgar, unless you heart is fixed with unbending intent on the true Stone of the Philosophers, unless you are steadfast in your quest, abiding by God’s laws in all faith and humility and eschewing all vanity, conceit, falsehood, intemperance, pride, lust and faint-heartedness, read no farther lest I prove fatal to you. For I am the watery venomous serpent who lies buried at the earth’s centre; I am the fiery dragon who flies through the air. I am the one thing necessary for the whole Opus. I am the spirit of metals, the fire which does not burn, the water which does not wet the hands. If you find the way to slay me you will find the philosophical mercury of the wise, even the White Stone beloved of the Philosophers. If you find the way to raise me up again, you will find the philosophical sulphur, that is, the Red Stone and Elixir of Life. Obey me and I will be your servant; free me and I will be your friend. Enslave me and I am a dangerous enemy; command me and I will make you mad; give me life and you will die. This will be a shorter reply tonight. I will add more tomorrow. Where I live near Washington DC, we had an alert this afternoon that a serious tornado was coming our way. That ended for some hours what I wanted to write about the topic right above here from my blog mate. If World War Annihilation takes place sometime soon, because of the insanities going on among many nation leaders and religious leaders who literally want to have the "End Times"... even though supposedly predicted in ancient times... come true specifically in our current time. I was very young just out of high school when I started college in Washington D.C. We young people in the Girl's Apartment house were terrified. It was the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. There was a famous movie called "On the Beach" that portrayed a rather small group of people who had not been blown up like the rest of our world but were gathering together on the open sand areas while waiting in horror that the clouds of radiation would soon come their way and kill them. There was also the grim song that "we will all go together when we go... as there would be no living humans anywhere else on our blasted and poisoned planet. With all the far more powerful nuclear weapons that are horded by several nations, once the first attacks begin, all the other leaders who have their own nukes will join in the launches. THE END OF US ALL. Well, I started reading about history, religion, what happened in earlier centuries and why can't we figure out how to prevent this heartbreaking end of various men, women, and children who were at least sometimes capable of love, kindness, helping others, and at least trying to understand about the other races, religions, and numerous political fanaticisms. I still have hundreds of books that I was reading from around age 15 and trying to figure out if there was any purpose to our lives at all. This week in my Senior Residence, I am seriously trying to get rid of piles of old documents and letters, but I keep on finding and wanting to hold on to the ones that gave me some concepts of faith and caring about people of all backgrounds. Today I got an email that is offering new additions to one type of books that I studied in a Edgar Cayce group where I lived some decades ago. For now I am only pasting in here what the email said just before I was on my way to a safe room to hide from the tornado that of course tends to stir up fears of an abrupt end of our lives while we still want more time with our children and grandchildren. Are you looking for a deeper understanding of your spiritual nature and your place in the universe? Decades ago, a group of ordinary individuals were seeking the same answers to life’s questions that are still sought by many of us today. What the Edgar Cayce readings had to offer was a broader view as seen from the perspective of our higher selves—where there is no division, no separation by religion, only oneness. This view incorporates the philosophies of the world into a practical daily application for living that brings hope and profound change into the lives of those who apply it. Hi Suzanne, What I wanted to ask is: have we talked about Carl Rodgers. Maybe Rodgers is one of the many interested in whatever we seem to be getting more deeply involved in. I got fascinated with the Urantia material today that I had heard of before but never taken the time to try and understand its origin or purpose and today why Wieman's ideas would be incorporated in it. If as they say it was written or compiled for a time after the present crises through which civilization is passing then this would suggest that his ideas which were probably too far ahead the more popular 20th C theologians (for instance Tillich and Barth) his Process concepts are right for the universal perspective of the future. Hi Ann, I think we are on to something with Wieman and Carl Rodgers for instance that is at least very important to our own spiritual progress but will probably be helpful to others too. Also at some point, maybe it would be the time to add the Wink material, as the disciples' feeling of Jesus' continuing presence possibly can be tied into the notion of the "communion of saints" in which love and inspiration can still be shared between those of like mind and heart whether still alive or deceased. Offhand, I think Wieman, Russell, and others probably are aware of our efforts. In my last E-mail to you I gave an example about the others who may be helping Lee and Bob in their communications with us. Quote: Who are these many? He (Lee) said that my learning to understand about the often symbolic and synchronistic nature of our communications, which can lead to misunderstandings at times, is an ongoing process, and we will get better at it as we go along. I asked again, who are the many, who are some of them? He replied, do you remember who was always talking about how we are all in an ongoing process in our development? I thought about it... Dana Roblee (the professor who was Lee's best friend) used to say, we are in a process of becoming, the outcome of which we cannot know and which is probably infinite. Yes, Lee replied, Dana is one of the many with me. But, who else I asked? He said, listen carefully now, you will hear who else. I thought I heard a faint tune, but it seemed to me a song without words. I could not think of any words. Since I was alone in the room where I was, I began to imitate the tune softly out loud, lalalala-lala-lalala-lala... well, at that I suddenly burst into tears... and I said, Jack! (my half brother from my father's first marriage who was born in 1919 - 24 years older than I was). He used to whistle that tune when he came over to see our father when I was little. It was "Lili Marlene", the song that German and American soldiers both loved. Jack had been in World War II and accepted German surrenders because he knew German fluently, and later he was a noted professor who had written about the rise of Hitler. In late 1979, I had a dream that I should send a birthday card to my brother Jack, his and my birthdays were one day apart, but he had lived far away all my adult life and I had rarely ever seen him. I sent the card. He wrote back and for the first time mentioned our father's funeral and some other personal things we had never talked about. The next July 4th, Jack died suddenly at age 60, in 1980. So, Lee, said, yes, your brother is another one of the many who are with me. Last edited by Suzanne on Sun Jun 10, 2018 8:44 pm, edited 1 time in total. I was searching info on the transcendent function and saw this as I was scrolling. This is something I should have read long ago considering that I post about it here. Hello Everybody, As usual I have been busy with practical matters in my everyday life. Now since I am well settled into my new residence, it is much easier for me to be organizing the esoteric material from my old hand-written notebooks going back to from the 1960s to the late 1990s. My Blog mate Ann Elliott, when she was still alive and posting here for several years, used to exchange private emails with me about personal and family topics, or if either of us was sick or traveling, but we usually did not plan specific topics because that would ruin the "meaningful coincidence" of the Blog and some other topic threads on the rest of the forum. She knew from my telling her by email who Lee was and, as mentioned here before a few times, she received dictation communication from her deceased husband Bob Elliott who had studied to be a Shaman with Michael Harner. At first her husband reported that he knew of Lee's work with others in the Beyond but that he did not know Lee because they were on a different level. This below is a copy of her post from 2008. First for any forum newcomers, I should mention that Ann and Bob had met Lao Russell, widow of Walter Russell, in person when Lao was visiting and lecturing in California near to where Ann and her husband lived. Lao and Ann wrote many letters to one another for quite a number of years. Many of the vibrational sound combined with color healers of today derived part of their inspiration from Dr. Russell who was a classical organist himself and from his scientific charts and psychedelic cosmic paintings -- well before the hippies and other young interdimensional travelers were reporting such experiences widely in our American culture. I live in Virginia only several hours away from the beautiful Swannaoa Palace in Waynesboro Virginia where the Russells lived for several decades. I have been there many times over the years and had talks and walks with Lao Russell in person without being in a group visit. Since Lao passed on, there are some but not many of us older people aged 60 to 90 years old who knew her. Later this year, I am planning to meet up with some of those oldsters and the middle aged and much younger folks who know of and admire the teachings of Lao and Walter. With all the present fears about the possibility of worldwide nuclear war in our time, the Russell 1950s book Atomic Suicide is being read by newer generations. Finally below is the complete post that Ann wrote here in 2008. She is of course now wherever Bob is on the other side or in what ever higher realm they have moved to since then. Quotes from Bob by dictation through Ann who had also been Bob's secretary during his years as a lawyer. START: I have had no direct contact with Suzanne's friend Lee but I am aware of his presence here and the importance of his work and contribution. So much more can be accomplished when there is a conscious and deep love--such as we have—connection . She can and is assisting him and the larger work he is part of. I can tell you very little, both because I know little, understand less, and would not in any event be permitted to. However, she has the ability for direct communication with him and it should be through writing down what he instructs her as to how she can help him. Tell her about your work in Scotland in establishing the triangle. It is such a small piece of the puzzle we were given to work on/with. . . . There are a number of things I'd like to write about but I was searching some stuff in my computer just now and realized that I had a copy of Holy Wedding. -what is the deeper significance of synchronicity? Remo says it is BCI. Ok, well, I have a lot of them. Ridiculously meaningful ones. I want to know what to do with them, if that makes any sense. Follow them, yes, but mine are related to things that I do not fully understand. Perhaps I have gained some understanding of the qm subject along the way that I did not have before, but it's not like I'll make a career out of it. Anyway, synchronicity is incarnation in the mind, and bci incarnation in matter.. This might be for future reference. Edit: I guess there are times that I’d like to thank them as well.

2019-04-23T10:51:46Z

http://unus-mundus.fr/viewtopic.php?f=19&p=16394

Recent developments in several industrial economies, particularly in the three largest ones, raise important issues about how to judge the stance of monetary policy. In the United States, recovery from the recent recession has been exceptionally sluggish, whereas inflation has fallen to its lowest level in two decades. In Japan, growth has slowed considerably during the past eighteen months. In Germany, by contrast, inflationary pressures surged in 1991–92 following unification, although more recently growth has stagnated. At the same time, the evolution of broad monetary aggregates—which the monetary authorities have preferred to target or monitor—suggests that monetary conditions have been tight in the United States and Japan but easy in Germany. But other indicators—including nominal and real short-term interest rates, the slope of yield curves, and narrow monetary aggregates—suggest that monetary policy has eased in the United States and in Japan, whereas it has tightened significantly in Germany. This annex examines the experiences of these three countries and, more briefly, those of selected other industrial economies in order to assess the reliability of indicators of the stance of monetary policy. The analysis shows that contradictions among the various indicators, as is now the case, often occur over the course of the business cycle. Moreover, the growth of the broad monetary aggregates now appears to be giving misleading indications of the true stance of monetary policy and of its probable effect on future growth and inflation. Appropriately assessing the stance of monetary policy and the need for policy adjustments therefore requires examination of a range of indicators. In the United States, the recovery from the recession that began in the third quarter of 1990 has been unusually sluggish by historical standards: growth in the first four quarters following the trough has been only about half that in the weakest previous postwar recovery (Chart 20). Although several factors have contributed to this disappointing performance, there has been concern that the slow growth of M2, which has fallen below the bottom of the Federal Reserve’s target band, indicates that monetary policy has not eased enough to sustain a robust recovery (Chart 21). This behavior apparently contrasts with earlier experience, when a fall in velocity, typically due to a surge in M2, has usually preceded a pickup in output growth by about four quarters. 1As identified by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The recent behavior of M2 has been sufficiently unusual to suggest that this aggregate may no longer be very useful for assessing the stance of monetary policy.1 During the 1970s, a positively sloped yield curve was associated with rapid growth of M2 relative to M1. After financial deregulation in the 1980s, however, this relationship apparently broke down; since the mid-1980s, an inverted yield curve has been associated with rapid growth of M2 relative to M1. The recent pattern reflects the fact that low short-term interest rates and high long-term rates reduce the attractiveness of short-term assets in M2 relative to both demand deposits and longer-term assets, thereby reducing the growth of M2. Other factors have also contributed to the recent slowdown in the growth of M2. On the demand side, households and businesses may have been liquidating short-term assets in order to reduce their debt burden by paying down loans. On the supply side, depository institutions have been increasing the spread between the return on assets (loans) and the cost of liabilities (deposits, including time deposits) in response to low profitability, regulatory pressure to boost capital-asset ratios, slack loan demand during the recession and subsequent period of slow growth, and the perception that some loans are now riskier than before. As banks have consolidated the asset side of their balance sheets, they have had less need to raise funds and therefore have offered relatively low returns on instruments such as time deposits. Finally, asset shifts associated with closures of insolvent savings and loan institutions have reportedly slowed the growth of monetary aggregates. Indicators other than M2 suggest that the stance of monetary policy in the United States has eased substantially. In particular, the narrow aggregate M1 has been growing robustly, and the dollar has weakened as short-term nominal interest rates have fallen to their lowest levels in three decades. Short-term real interest rates are now close to zero, the lowest level since real interest rates were negative in the early 1980s. Long-term interest rates, however, have fallen only modestly, resulting in a very steep yield curve. In contrast to the often confusing signals provided by monetary aggregates, the yield curve has proved to be a reliable indicator of economic activity, with a lag of about four quarters.2 In the 1974–75 recession, the yield curve became steeply inverted about four quarters before output growth turned negative; it then became positive as output recovered. A similar pattern occurred in the 1981–82 recession. The recent steepness of the yield curve has been signaling an upturn in economic activity for some time and is consistent with a recovery in output growth in 1993, although the process of resolving private sector balance sheet difficulties may continue to restrain the pace of expansion. In Japan, as in the United States, the monetary aggregate monitored by the central bank (M2 + CD) has barely grown over the past eighteen months, suggesting very tight monetary conditions (Chart 22).3 This slow growth was preceded by unusually rapid growth in 1990, however, and to that extent may reflect a return of the aggregate to its underlying trend. The evolution of the monetary aggregates was also influenced by the sharp rise in market interest rates in 1990 and their subsequent decline through 1991. As interest rates rose in 1990, funds were shifted out of postal deposits, which are not included in M2 + CD, because returns did not rise as quickly as interest rates paid on other assets. Prime lending rates also rose more slowly than market rates in late 1990 and early 1991; in response, firms borrowed at prime and reinvested in CDs. As interest rates fell during 1991, funds were shifted back into postal deposits, and firms unwound their positions in CDs, with the result that growth of M2 + CD was unusually slow. 1 CD, certificate of deposit. Indicators other than M2 + CD suggest that the stance of monetary policy has loosened somewhat. The growth of the narrow aggregate M1 increased during 1990–91 and, although it declined somewhat in 1992, it was at about the same level as average growth in the 1980s. In addition, short-term rates have fallen by over 300 basis points in the past eighteen months in Japan, and real short-term interest rates are at their lowest level in more than a decade (except for a brief period in 1989). Short-term rates have also fallen about a percentage point below long-term rates. As in other countries, a positively sloped yield curve is associated with high growth of the narrow aggregate compared with the broad one. However, the factors underlying the recent behavior of monetary aggregates and other indicators in Japan are not completely understood, and it is therefore unusually difficult to judge whether current monetary conditions can sustain adequate growth in 1993. In particular, as in several other industrial countries, the collapse of equity and real estate prices has eroded the capital base of the banking sector, has resulted in a rise in nonperforming loans, and may also be depressing household consumption. The prospect that these effects may prove as pervasive and long-lasting as in other industrial countries suggests that the current stance of monetary policy in Japan is not overly expansionary. In Germany, the twelve-month growth rates of the broad monetary aggregate M3 during the first nine months of 1992 were running well above the target range of 3.5 to 5.5 percent established by the Bundesbank (Chart 23).4 The rapid growth of M3 has been cited as an indication that monetary policy has been too loose. By contrast, following an upward surge during 1991 because of German monetary unification, M1 grew relatively moderately, despite a probable increase in the use of the deutsche mark in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Although moderate M1 growth suggests tight monetary policy, the divergence between the growth rates of the aggregates has complicated the assessment of the stance of policy. Historically, M3 has tended to grow more rapidly than M1 in response to a flattening or inversion of the yield curve—as has occurred during the past two years—because relatively high short-term rates increase the attractiveness of the short-term interest-bearing assets in M3. In addition, the prospect of the introduction of a withholding tax on interest income in mid-1992 may have induced movement out of longer-term assets and into the relatively liquid interest-bearing assets contained in M3. Monetary unification has made movements in both the narrow and broad monetary aggregates misleading as indicators of monetary stance.5 In addition to a substantial once-and-for-all increase in money stocks of perhaps 15 percent, unification increased the demand for money from the eastern Länder. It will be difficult to evaluate how the behavior of asset holders and borrowers in east Germany will evolve; hence, the growth rates of the monetary aggregates may prove to be misleading guides to underlying economic conditions. Whereas M3 and M1 have been providing mixed signals, other indicators suggest that monetary policy in Germany is now quite tight. Short-term nominal and, more important, real interest rates are very high by postwar standards. This has put considerable upward pressure on the deutsche mark and contributed to the recent turmoil in the ERM. Short-term interest rates are also now well above long-term rates, resulting in a yield curve that is as steeply inverted as at any time in recent history. As in the United States, an inverted yield curve has been a reliable indicator that monetary policy is exerting significant downward pressure on output growth. Two previous episodes of inflationary pressure followed by monetary tightening are helpful in assessing the indicators of monetary stance. Germany experienced a surge of inflationary pressure in the early 1970s, as did other countries. In response, the Bundesbank raised nominal and real short-term interest rates, and the yield curve became steeply inverted. The downturn of economic activity in Germany during 1974–75 and the subsequent reduction of inflation testify to the success of the tight stance of monetary policy. Nonetheless, M3 continued to grow rapidly from early 1973 through late 1974, even as M1 growth collapsed. In 1979, the second oil shock triggered another inflationary upsurge, which was again accompanied by a tightening of monetary conditions. As in 1973–74, the growth of M1 fell sharply, even turning negative in 1981, whereas the growth rate of M3 remained relatively stable. The yield curve became inverted as short rates rose sharply, and, as in the previous episode, this was followed by a fall in output, although the disinflationary impact may have been blunted by the fall in the value of the deutsche mark relative to the dollar, which reflected in part very tight monetary policy in the United States. In light of both of these episodes, the current monetary indicators suggest a slowing of the German economy and receding inflationary pressures. Recent difficulties in interpreting the behavior of monetary aggregates have not been limited to the three largest economies. In the United Kingdom, rising inflation became a key policy concern by late 1988, particularly in view of the prospect of entry into the ERM (which occurred in 1990). Monetary policy, which has used MO as the only targeted aggregate since 1987, was tightened considerably beginning in 1988 and over the course of 1989, remained tight through most of 1990, and then eased modestly beginning in late 1990. Short-term rates were pushed well above long-term rates from mid-1988 through late 1990 and then eased gradually to only about a percentage point above long-term rates during 1991, although they remained very high in real terms. In response, economic growth slackened somewhat during 1989, and a prolonged recession began in the third quarter of 1990. Meanwhile, inflation (measured by the “headline” twelve-month change in the retail price index) has fallen below 4 percent. The growth of the broad monetary aggregate M4 remained high relative to that of the narrow aggregate throughout 1989 and into 1990. As economic activity began to weaken, the growth of M4 fell to levels not seen since the 1960s, suggesting an economy declining into a deepening recession. In contrast, the growth of the narrower aggregate began to fall in mid-1988, providing a more reliable indication of the earlier tightening of monetary stance in 1988 and 1989. The recent behavior of narrow money suggests an economy that is only barely growing. The situation in the United Kingdom in 1989 and early 1990 was thus similar to the current situation in Germany: a tight monetary stance accompanied by rapid growth of broad monetary aggregates. Monetary conditions were eased following the pound sterling’s entry into the ERM in late 1990, with short-term interest rates falling from 15 percent to 9½ percent in September 1992. Since sterling left the ERM, short-term rates fell further to 7¼ percent in early December—about 1 percentage point below long-term rates—and the pound has depreciated in effective terms by about 16 percent. These changes amount to a substantial easing of monetary conditions and should stimulate economic activity in 1993. In Canada, where no monetary aggregate is targeted, inflation became the key policy concern during 1988–90, and monetary policy tightened considerably. Short-term interest rates were pushed up from mid-1988 until mid-1990 and stood more than 2½ percentage points above long-term rates from early 1989 until late 1990. As the economy slowed and inflation eased, short-term rates fell more than 700 basis points and were about 3 percentage points below long-term rates in August 1992. From already low levels in 1988, growth of the narrow monetary aggregate M1 declined further during 1989 and turned negative during 1990. In contrast, growth of the broad monetary aggregate picked up over the course of 1988–89, reached a peak for the decade at the end of 1989, and remained high through 1990. Since early 1991, growth of the broad aggregate has declined somewhat, whereas the growth of the narrow aggregate has picked up. The evolution of real output growth, which began to slow in late 1989 and turned negative in mid-1990, confirms the assessment of monetary policy indicated by the behavior of interest rates and the narrow aggregate. The behavior of the broad aggregate, in contrast, has been less useful as a guide to the impact of policy. In Australia, determined efforts to combat inflation were clearly under way during 1989 as interest rates on short-term treasury bills were pushed to nearly 18 percent, 4 percentage points above long-term rates. The twelve-month growth of the narrow monetary aggregate M1 declined sharply from 36 percent at the beginning of 1989 to slightly below zero in early 1990. In contrast, the twelve-month growth of the broad monetary aggregate M3 rose to a peak of over 30 percent in mid-1989, ran above 20 percent by year-end, and was above 10 percent throughout 1990. Growth began to slow late in 1989; by mid-1990 a recession had begun, and inflation was falling. Again, the narrow aggregate appears to have reflected the stance of monetary policy more accurately than has the broad aggregate. The recovery that began in late 1991 is consistent with the sharp pickup in growth of the narrow aggregate, the persistent declines in short-term interest rates, and the increasingly positive slope of the yield curve since early 1991. At the same time, the broad aggregate has grown only slowly. September 1990 Staff Studies for the World Economic Outlook, by the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund. October 1990 World Economic Outlook: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. November 1990 Multilateral Official Debt Rescheduling: Recent Experience, by Michael G. Kuhn with Jorge P. Guzman. May 1991 International Capital Markets: Developments and Prospects, by a Staff Team from the Exchange and Trade Relations and Research Departments. May 1991 World Economic Outlook: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. October 1991 World Economic Outlook: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. December 1991 Private Market Financing for Developing Countries, by a Staff Team from the Exchange and Trade Relations Department. May 1992 World Economic Outlook: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. May 1992 Developments in International Exchange and Payments Systems, by a Staff Team from the Exchange and Trade Relations Department. August 1992 Issues and Developments in International Trade Policy, by a Staff Team led by Margaret Kelly and Anne Kenny McGuirk. September 1992 International Capital Markets: Developments, Prospects, and Policy Issues, by Morris Goldstein, David Folkerts-Landau, Mohamed El-Erian, Steven Fries, and Liliana Rojas-Suarez. October 1992 World Economic Outlook: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. December 1992 Private Market Financing for Developing Countries, by a Staff Team from the Policy Development and Review Department led by Charles Collyns. January 1993 World Economic Outlook—Interim Assessment: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. This annex was prepared by Robert P. Ford. M1 comprises demand deposits at commercial banks and currency. M2 comprises M1, savings deposits, overnight repurchases and Eurodollars, small time deposits, and money market mutual shares. The recent slowdown in M2 growth has been concentrated in small time deposits, which are interest-bearing, nonliquid instruments issued in denominations of less than $100,000. See the analysis in John Wenninger and John Partlan, “Small Time Deposits and the Recent Weakness of M2,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Quarterly Review, Vol. 17 (Spring 1992), pp. 21–35. For econometric evidence, see Arturo Estrella and Gikas A. Hardouvelis, “The Term Structure as a Predictor of Real Economic Activity,” Journal of Finance, Vol. 46 (June 1991), pp. 555–76. They find that the term structure is a better predictor of real output than the short-term real interest rate and the index of leading indicators. M1 comprises currency and demand deposits. M2 + CD comprises M1, all other deposits with financial institutions, and certificates of deposit (CDs). M1 comprises “sight” deposits and currency. M3 comprises M1, time deposits, funds borrowed for a period of less than four years, and savings deposits. The Bundesbank’s target range is based on an estimate of potential output growth and on the medium-term target of price stability. One sign of potential instability in money demand is the clear break in the relationship between monetary aggregates and nominal income. The steady decline in M3 velocity has been reversed since sometime in 1989, even after adjusting money stocks for the once-and-for-all change associated with unification. On the first point, see Jeroen J.M. Kremers and Timothy D. Lane, “Economic and Monetary Integration and the Aggregate Demand for Money in the EMS,” Staff Papers (IMF), Vol. 27 (December 1990), pp. 777–805, and the references contained therein. On the second point, see Tamim A. Bayoumi and Peter B. Kenen, “Using an EC-Wide Monetary Aggregate in Stage Two of EMU, “IMF Working Paper 92/56 (July 1992). The issue of an EC monetary aggregate is far from settled, however, as is indicated by the comment on Kremers and Lane by David Barr, “The Demand for Money in Europe,” Staff Papers (IMF), Vol. 39 (September 1992), pp. 718–29.

2019-04-19T11:05:21Z

https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/IMF081/14007-9781451939149/14007-9781451939149/back.xml

I’m trying to get back into Revised to get ready for an upcoming tournament but I’m pretty rusty. What’s the meta on German Openings looking like these days? I haven’t played Revised in a while (moved on to G40 like most people), but when I did everyone seemed to love dropping a Carrier in the Baltic G1 (to delay the UK Fleet for a bit). Is this still the norm, or have their been major developments in the last 6 or so years? hi! noone has answerd, so I would reccomend reading MarineIguanas posts in the thread. I have played a lot of games on BGO and can with confidence say that it is a very good answer. Hi. Thanks for the reply! Anyway, I’m going to quote MarineIguana here and ask a few questions with the hopes that either he or you can answer. This is almost certainly more advice than you are looking for. I’m going to give you the secret for playing near perfectly as Germany. This is tried and tested against the best Revised Axis and Allies players in the world across more than 500 games. Well that’s different right off the bat. From what I’m read in terms of tournament reports for this other tournament they’ve been giving the Allies a +3 bid for the last two or so years. I think the difference is that online Revised games are played under LHTR, while this tournament is on a stricter time limit (4 hours, 30 minutes which roughly translates to about 5-6 turns depending on how fast people are playing). That being said if the meta at this tournament is just outright flawed I can probably take advantage of that. The opening is what I’ve used as my standard for years now, so I’m assuming that any intelligent opponent I face will be using it (it’s the only way to not end up with Germany stacking Ukr. and winning with relative ease iirc). One rough thing about all of this is that the tournament I’m prepping for is 100% luck (So someone can play perfectly and still lose because RNG). No tech though so that part is fine. I’m assuming your goal is to maximize your probability of winning against an opponent. More like holding on to at some group of Egypt/W. Europe/E. Europe/Ukr/Norway for 5 turns while Japan captures an equal or greater amount of Sink/India/Novo/Australia/Hawaii but same difference really. The most common mistake I see with Germany players is that they think they’re on the offensive. In reality, Germany is a very defensive country that receives allied pressure, while Japan pressures Russia. I remember when I was a noob and bought 8 tanks/turn as Germany. 2004 was a simpler time for sure. 1. buy almost all infantry. I usually spend 90+% of my germany IPC buying only infantry for the first 15-30 rounds. Eventually, Germany gets to a point where it can stack 3 territories with over 80 units each. This makes it difficult for UK to land and support Russia past round 30. 2. Prefer to attack and stack territories. This means moving a large force of units in an attack, so that the opponent can’t counter. Axis and Allies is inherently a zero-sum game, so you win by accumulating profit through income or battles. Generally, the most profitable battles are: attacking & stacking > trading efficiently > attack & retreat > doing nothing > trading inefficiently. 3. Try to keep Germany strong. It’s okay to make large trades against Russia, but avoid large trades with UK or USA unless it’s for a large profit. The most common way I win against top allies is to accumulate stacks of 100+ infantry as Germany. Japan accumulates as well around Persia. By round 30-40, Japan has 300+ units and eventually forces Allies off Russia. While all of these points are valid that all aspiring A&A players should memorize, the rules of this tournament don’t give enough time to play out 100+ round slugfests, although the idea sounds pretty fun/masochistic. Reminds me of the Classic games I’d spend weeks playing after I read those papers on Inf stacking back in the day. Standard buy for germany is 10 inf, 2 tanks. This was already my build so that makes me happy. Can you pull this off reliably with just 1 SUB, 2 FTR in a 100% luck scenario? EDIT: I JUST MADE A HUUUUUGE MISTAKE!!! The other fighter (from Balkans, as the Ukr one usually dies in the R1 Ukr attack) that can reach is needed for sz15. If you attack sz15, there’s a 15% chance the battle goes badly where the battleship transport needs to retreat or battleship gets traded against uk destroyer. If either scenario happens, the game is effectively over against a top player. I prefer not to auto-lose 15% of my games as axis. Am I to assume everything else is being sent to Karelia? How much am I leaving in E. Europe to Deadzone Ukr? What’s the practical advantage of stacking Karelia over trying to hold Ukr reliably? Is it the potential to deadzone Norway (slowing Allied progress in a KGF)? All fine, aside from my gripes over Karelia. What do you do if the USSR stacks Ukr R2? Germany can’t really attack W. Rus. (Since the stack in Ukr and the spawned units in Caucasus and Moscow can all dive on it.), and if you try to charge Archangel Russia has enough time to shift enough forces to Moscow to force the Germans back to Karelia. So at that point you’re just handing the Soviets Ukr for free, unless I’m missing something. I’m not trying to come off as an elitist of A&A pro by any means, I’m just rusty and don’t know how to dynamic of the Eastern front as evolved over time. By the way, what is BGO? I’ve only ever played A&A using TripleA. I’ll give it a shot then! Maybe this tournament will be super easy after all!! I agree with you in not stacking Karelia with Germany. It seems absurd to me. Was I reading MarineIguana’s advice wrong? He seemed to be advocating stacking Karelia on G1. hi! Yeah, I think Marine is right. There are two russian openers. 1. Only do W russia and stack it. Buy 3 inf and 3 Tanks. 2. Do W Russia and Ukraine. If USSR does 1, you can’t stack Kareila, if he does 2, then you can stack karelia. I think 2 is better for russia, but 1 is not uncommon, because it prevents stacking karelia. I have my doubt about taking Ukrain in R1. So far I’ve not been lucky with this move! It cost me much more than i get for it! I wonder whether it is worth the risk! Why trading 2 tanks for this tank and fighter? The value of a russian tank seem much highter to me than a german one or even a fighter early game. I seem to be much better with Russia if i take WR and Belo Russia! Russia in my game is very well able to hold off Germany and Japan in the early game, until the Allies arrive! I usually buy 2 INF/2 ART/2 TANK to make up for the tanks I’m losing by going into Ukr. I switch to more INF-focused builds after R1, of course. To me, any German FTR that I can take out is one less FTR that can go after UK’s navy. The less Germany has to throw at the UK Navy, the faster the UK can start landing (or threatening to land) troops in Norway/E Europe/Karelia/W Europe. And once UK starts forcing Germany to pull troops to guard those territories, the USSR will see a good chunk of weight lifted from its shoulders (meaning it can afford to send troops to India/Sink/kill Germany/whatever). R1 I get 3 inf 3 tank. That 3rd ftr is needed to schirmish on a 3 area front. USSR should in general have more tanks and less inf. The tanks are good because they can stand in w russia, and threathen any japanese stack apporaching. that will buy you a couple of extra turns at least. The thing is: i have no problem putting any pressure on Germany when i don’t do Ukrain R1. For a couple of rounds Russia can keep agressive. I would buy 2 tanks R1. 1 FGT R2 and 1 tank in later rounds. With my 4 starting tanks i have a very potent force. In UK2 or 3 i start landing in Norway to support Russia. I don’t see how 6 fighters can stop me there. The ships in the mediteranean Sea are lost to me! The uk home fleet is quite save in the first turn. I use it as a base for my future fleet. Uk1 I build a carrier to expand the fleet. If all german units position to strike my fleet i buy more defence, or i combine with the US first! I position myself to strike the Baltic fleet at some point. After that it is not worth loosing the fighters at a sea battle that will cost the UK a few transports at most. In the mid game Germany is focused mainly on landings from the Allies. Then Russia is starting to fight off the Japanese with his tanks. Russia has an income of around 26 IPC with which it can survive the mid game easily. End game he will be under great pressure from Japan! But if the Allies have normal luck and do nothing stupid, Germany is dead or close to it! So my conclusion so far is that you sacrifice russian tanks for a chance on a german fighter, that would harm the UK a little bit. But the UK can counter this with a buy of an extra ship. In my philosophy that trade off is not so optimal. The thing is: i have no problem putting any pressure on Germany when i don’t do Ukrain R1. How do you keep the initiative if you’re letting the Germans escape Ukr G1? On G1 Germany can just withdraw the bulk of its forces to a E. Europe stack and start trading Ukr. while easily overwhelming the Allies in North Africa and ferrying a decent stream of units through the Middle East to ensure that India is securely in Japanese hands by J3. If you’re just sitting in Caucasus/W. Rus trading Ukr you’re giving Germany a free hand to do whatever they want elsewhere. For a couple of rounds Russia can keep aggressive. I would buy 2 tanks R1. 1 FGT R2 and 1 tank in later rounds. I agree with the 1 TANK/turn philosophy (to keep a mobile and offensive-capable army on the board at all times), but I don’t agree with the FTR on R2. I understand that you can feasibly snipe the Mediterranean Fleet with 3 FTR (or at least sink the transport) but if a competent Germany scouts a lack of land units what’s stopping them from pouncing on Ukr, Arch or W. Rus with everything (which in turn forces Russia to bring everything to the German front, giving the Japanese a free hand to take Sink/India/Persia). With my 4 starting tanks i have a very potent force. In UK2 or 3 i start landing in Norway to support Russia. I don’t see how 6 fighters can stop me there. Germany can either subsist without Norway or simply deadzone it by stacking Ukr. It’s going to take a decently large stack of Transports to pull together a large enough force to actively hold Norway. The point of the FTR cloud isn’t to actually kill the UK Fleet (It can’t do that cost-efficiently), but to force the Fleet to remain in one place at a time (if any transports split off from the main fleet to land in far away places the FTRs and Bomber can easily wipe them out with a pretty minimal chance of a loss). UK amphibs into Norway, taking 2 INF/2 ART. They kill a lone INF defender without losses. Germany sends 3 INF + 6 FTR + 1 Bomber to attack Norway (a bit of a reach, but it’s for the sake of the example so bear with me here). Under low luck, UK gets 1 hit and a 1/3 chance at a second (INF and ART defend on a 2, 24=8, 8/6 = 1 + 1/3). Germany will get 4 hits under low luck (31 + 63 + 14 = 25, 25/6 = 4 + 1/6). So Germany will one-shot 14 IPCs worth of material while losing 9 overall (I’m assuming that the 1-2 INF that survive will die on the following British turn when they commit another landing party). That’s pretty good value if you ask me, especially if UK is committing 100% to Europe (and losing 7+ IPCs between India/Persia/Trans-Jordan/Egypt). The ships in the mediteranean Sea are lost to me! The uk home fleet is quite save in the first turn. I use it as a base for my future fleet. Uk1 I build a carrier to expand the fleet. If all german units position to strike my fleet i buy more defence, or i combine with the US first! I position myself to strike the Baltic fleet at some point. What’s your timetable for killing the Baltic, out of curiosity? I usually try to have it dead by B2 (you can do it with a B1 FTR+Destroyer+Trans build). Sometimes you have to delay until B3 if Germany goes with a naval opening, but in those kinds of games an aggressive USSR can usually win on its own. After that it is not worth loosing the fighters at a sea battle that will cost the UK a few transports at most. I agree, but remember the whole point of the pressure is to force the UK player to spend turns investing in a navy. This buys Germany much needed time to stack aggressively in the USSR’s direction, forcing them to keep their men focused on the Germans and giving Japan time to get its IPC levels up to snuff with the Allies/put a drain on the Soviet and British Economies. But you’ve never inflicted a serious loss on German hardware in this scenario. All Germany has to do is build heavy INF stacks all day (with the occasional Tank thrown in to harass the Soviets), and the Allies are going to take an awfully long time to start hurting Germany. Additionally, if Russia is sending 5-10 IPCs of Tanks East every turn what’s stopping Germany from moving the E Europe stack into Ukr and putting the Russians in a desperate situation (guarding Caucasus and W. Rus simultaneously). TripleA gives the Soviets an 85% chance to win with, on average, both FTRs and a lone tank surviving. So value-wise USSR loses 23 IPC (everything but the FTR) while the Germans lose 28. A USSR win no matter how you split it. It seems like a narrow advantage but remember the USSR gets 3 of those IPCs back by virtue of taking Ukr. I think you might be too defensive as the allies. I have quite a few games as the allies and rarely lose. The reason for doing ukraine is simple. You save british fleet and can lock down the med fast. That German fighter is very important in the med and africa on G1. Depending on the result of G1, should should have some very good options on UK1. I will assume germany did place 2 units in libya, sent the med fleet with 1 ftr to 15, while sending 1 inf + 1 art from italy and 1 bomber to egypt. Germany will most likely have taken egypt and have about 4 landunits left. he will have 5 ftrs and 1 bomber (instead of 6 fighters and 1 bomber). Where germany has placed these 5 fighters is very important. Usually, germany will not be able to place all of the fighters in france/Libya. I reccomend uk build in this situation of 1 ftr, 5 inf and 1 tank. You can hit egypt with 2 inf from india, 1 from TJ, 1 ftr from india and 1 bomber from uk. This attack will usually kill every german unit there, and you will quite often have an inf left to take the terr. You can at the same time send your entire UK fleet to morocco. If US sends its fleet to help you, you will have a situation where germany only have 1 inf and 1 art in africa. while you will have 2 UK inf and 2 tank in morocco and 2 us inf, 1 us art and 1 us tank. Your fleet of morocco will be: 1 UK BB, 2 UK TT, 1 US DD, 2 US TT and 1 ussr sub. At this point The german fighterposition is vitally important. If he can reach with 4 ftrs and 1 bomber, you are safe, if he has 5 ftrs and 1 bomber, this move does not work. At this point, the german position in africa is misrable. he has 2 landunits, you have 8, you will continue to shufle landunits down there until you have enough UK fleet to switch to the north. Those landunits will run as fast as they can to caucasuss, (you can ususally get between 10 and 30 landunits through before japan holds persia). So, If you kill that ukrainian fitr, you will get one more round of reinforcements to caucasus and lock down africa on UK1. I have done this soo many times, and this is standard play among top players. The one wrench here is the german baltic fleet. A lot of germans will send it out on G1 to prevent this move. You have to be aware of it and calculate your fleet. I think you have me backwards. I’m an advocate of striking Ukr. on R1. I do not like Russian Openings where you let Ukr. go. I agree with you for the exact reasons you’ve stated. Germany can easily place 4 FTRs in France and 1 FTR/1 BOMBER in Libya. I’m more for a Navy build (1 DD/1 TT/1 FTR) on B1. I don’t build land units because I ferry the tank from Canada to UK and simply land 1 INF in Norway, supported by the air units UK starts with (1 INF/1 ART if the Germans left more than 1 INF there to defend). That way I have the spawn units to fill my transport fleet next turn for a harder landing somewhere. time send your entire UK fleet to morocco. If US sends its fleet to help you, you will have a situation where germany only have 1 inf and 1 art in africa. while you will have 2 UK inf and 2 tank in morocco and 2 us inf, 1 us art and 1 us tank. Your fleet of morocco will be: 1 UK BB, 2 UK TT, 1 US DD, 2 US TT and 1 ussr sub. At this point The german fighterposition is vitally important. If he can reach with 4 ftrs and 1 bomber, you are safe, if he has 5 ftrs and 1 bomber, this move does not work. You don’t even have to do that if you buy the fleet I suggest and move the Russian Sub to SZ6 (the one right next to the Baltic) on R2. UK would lose the fleet to that attack but Germany only comes out with an average of 2 FTR. This means that Germany is effectively losing a large share of its air force to kill a fleet that the UK will happily rebuild on the very next turn. In most games I’ve played Germany just uses the Medi fleet to snipe Ukr. Are you sure the shuttle of troops from UK -> N. Africa -> Caucasus is the best option? Every turn you’re not threatening Europe is another turn Germany has to setup giant stacks and/or stack Ukraine. I agree with these yes. Although if Germany sails its fleet out you can easily intercept and destroy it with the SZ2 Fleet (The BB and the TT) + the 2 FTRs. Yes this delays your fleet uniting with the Americans but if you build navy B1 and move the Soviet sub to link up with the British R2 the combined fleet can easily repulse the 4 FTR/ 1 BOMBER Germany can send your way. Wait, you’re really happy to trade Britain’s 1 BB / 1 DD / 3 TT for Germany’s 2 SS / 2 FTR? Aside from the fact that you are trading 60 British TUV for 36 German TUV, if Germany positions the rest of its air force properly, then it can hit Britain’s next fleet with a minimum of 3 FTR / 1 BMR, or more if Germany built a new plane (not unreasonable when you know you’re ordering an immediate attack on the Royal Navy). What can Britain put in the water with one round of income that can stand up to that kind of follow-up attack? Very rarely will I see a good player build a destroyer. Hi all. Sorry for not replying in a while I’ve been busy with work and University. On second thought that’s a horrible idea! Should probably have thought that through a little more before posting. What would you say the optimal B1 buy/fleet move is, then? I know it’s a bit off-topic but I’ve only just started playing Revised again and haven’t had the most time to practice. What do you propose UK buy instead of turn 1, then? A CV (landing the spawn FTRs on it for a decently rock-solid defense)? I only ask because, while I understand that transport balls are the best option for naval combat, the initial UK Fleet is pretty lacking in terms of punching power (1 BB + 2 TT). Even if you buy 3 TT (for a total of 1 BB + 5 TT), it’s still going to take another turn or two before that fleet will be able to get anywhere near the European coast. no, Germany has 5 ftr and 1 bomber after you hit Ukraine. He has a good chance of loosing at least 1 ftr either against the UK BB, or the or against the uk DD in the med. You are wasting an entire turn of the allies by not attacking on UK1. I misremembered. The sub should block the german fleet if there is anything left of it after UK1, however, if germany have put their entire fleet outside france on G1, you will not be able to stop germany from adding the vital subs as fodder for the Gibraltar attack. This is why you need to look at the german position before you decide if you want to put your fleet at gibraltar. Buying DDs is always bad. TTs are amazing combatunits in this game. Try running a combatsim with fighters against 1 BB and TTs, find out how many you need. It is alot. The DDs are really not worth the extra factor. Yes :), but not through the entire game. Round 1-5ish is when you ship to africa. Then, at some point, you swich uk to Norway. You will have saved up some cash and might buy the needed carrier when you do. At some point, you will no longer have a landrout to cauc. At this point, you should have at least 80 americans between morocco and cauc, and about 10 TTs. Then you move all of your TTs to the med, and start landing 20 units/ round in the weakest spot you can find on the mainland. At the same time, uk will round 10 units per round, germany will collapse like a house of cards. I have done this countless times against good players (this is what happens when you win against them). This is why you look at the map. most germans are not set up for it. To be set up for it, they need to not land in egypt on G1, or they need to move their baltic fleet out on G1, and have it survive against your UK airforce. Otherwise, you can block the baltic fleet with a uk subbuild, and the medfleet will be out of range. On, US2, you will send in the DD and the 3 extra TTs you built (if germany build navy on G1, you might build an american carrier on US1 to seal the deal), and after that, the game is up. Germany will never be strong enough to kill your fleet. If you bring 3 FTR + 1 SUB (the one from SZ8) against the 1 UK BB, the chances of you getting hit twice in that battle are absurdly low. The BB would need to hit you twice in a row (4/9 chance), while you would have to fail to get two hits in the first round of combat. The chances are better for this. -There a 6^4 (1296) possible combos of dice you can roll for 4 attackers. -Of those, there are 18 * 36 = 648 combos where you get two hits. 648/1296 = 1/2 chance to get two hits. 4/9 * 1/2 = a 2/9 (~22%) chance of losing two units to the battleship. (< 5%) chance of losing the FTR. So there’s a believable chance you’ll lose one FTR in all of that, and wind up with a 3 FTR stack in W. Europe instead of a 4 FTR stack, but the odds of losing 2 FTRs in the opening sorties are laughable. I figured the attack on Egypt was implied. Not retaking Egypt turn 1 is tantamount to suicide. I fail to see the point in dumping an entire army in Europe, which would leave the fleet vulnerable to a counterattack and force the allies to waste 2-3 turns rebuilding both a fleet AND a land army. A good Germany will use those breather turns to win the game. That’s two of you know that have pointed out that DDs are a bad buy. I’ve looked into it a bit and I’m starting to think that a CV buy B1 might be the best bet for not dying to the German Fleet (it helps to be able to land two FTRs on it to basically give yourself 36 IPCs worth of defense for a 16 IPC investment). Thanks for the advice. Correct me if I’m wrong on the CV though. Ahh, I see. I think my problem here is that this is a face-to-face tournament played under time controls (that’s how I’ve been practicing, too), so I won’t be able to employ the safer strategies in the strict (5 hour) time limit I’ll have to get into a good position. That would probably explain why I haven’t considered the slower strategies that both you and MarineIguana suggested. I played a practice game with this strategy earlier today (and had the Soviets focus on turtling) and the Allies won handily, although it took an exceedingly long time to do so. As always, thanks for the advice. I usually land in africa until my pacific fleet makes it to the atlantic. then I split and send uk into norway and start landing in the americans in europe the round after that. I understand that TTs are the best ship economy-wise, but I believe that a CV may be an extremely cost-efficient buy for the first turn only (because you have the two FTRs in UK that can land on the carrier no problem). Later in the game the CV would become extremely cost-inefficient, of course (you’re paying 16 for a 1 HP 3 DEF when you could be spending that same 16 IPC for 2 HP of 1 DEF that can also transport units). Do you advocate sending the Indian Fleet south? What do you do about the TT in SZ59? When I used to play Revised/42/42SE I always remember going out of my way to eliminate it (as forcing Japan to buy more TTs is a good way to buy the allies precious time). Uh! And why not equip them with a pre-emptive shot and the capabilities to carry a fighter? I like Transports also!!! TRN is the more important unit after the infantry (that is the more important unit overall in the game) because they are able to transport the more important unit of the game, the infantry! But… my TRN do not difend as Jen TRN do, they insist in scoring between 2 and 4! I do agree that beginners should stick to the London factory. It does require skill pulling off the india IC. But It just depends on how you and your allies play the game. If each of you are gonna do your own thing, the game will certainly be over quicker than usual. Thats the key…… Teamwork and persistance. Control the game by limiting the enemy of options. Do this and you’ll win no matter who you are. Under item #2 allied fighters cannot be allocated as a hit allocation because they are not rolling on the attack so they are ignored. Also, Under item #1 if your carrier is defending and has fighters from allied players they can be allocated as hits on defence and roll out as well. of course some of this is totally bogus and is totally unrealistic.but oh well. If i build an IC in a captured territory, and I lose that territory, and another ally takes it over, its now their IC. Thats not even a question, I just feel its the answer to one of the next ones to be asked.

2019-04-24T13:09:21Z

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/28972/g1-builds-opening

Initiated by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Nathan Twining and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke, and then presided over by General Thomas Power, Director of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff (1960-1964), SIOP-62 mapped out a synchronized nuclear attack by the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Army combining strategic bombers, Polaris submarine-launched missiles and Atlas ICBMs in an ‘alert’ force of over 1,706 nuclear weapons and a ‘full’ force of over 3,240 nuclear weapons delivered to 1,060 targets in the Soviet Union, China and allied states. In this Plan there was little or no distinction made between Communist states that were at war with the United States and those that were not. Some sites (Designated Ground Zeroes – DGZs) would be struck by two or more weapons, and included both military installations and urban-industrial areas. The alert force would target 199 cities and the full force would target 295.2 The planners estimated that the total human deaths from such an attack would be 108 million in the Soviet Union and 104 million in the PRC as well as several million in satellite states,3 while Kaplan estimated that 175 million Russians and Chinese would be killed by the ‘alert’ force and 285 million would be killed by a ‘full’ force, and an additional 40 million more injured.4 To make such threats credible, the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Energy (DoE) and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) conducted visible tests of new nuclear weapons in various atmospheric conditions in a twenty test series between 1946 and 1963. Even after the limited test ban treaty was adopted, they continued with underground tests. General Thomas Power presided over the creation of SIOP-62 as Commander in Chief, Strategic Air Command (1957–1964) and Director, Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff (1960–1964). As nuclear intimidation continued, and as other nations sought to gain ‘parity’, the global nuclear industry grew. It was clearly understood in these early decades that the dual-use of nuclear materials in nuclear energy generation and nuclear weapons served to establish and maintain national influence in the international arena. Since 1945, the supply and procurement of uranium together with coal (for steel production) has been a good indicator of a nation’s capacity to both rapidly increase its energy production with the potential to produce munitions and, for those states already with the capacity, to produce and enhance a nuclear weapons arsenal. High-energy power generation was an index of a nation’s war-making potential underlining the link between mining and militarisation. In the following I seek to explain why and how the Australian government in 2014 has concluded a uranium trade deal with India that is in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by tracing the development of a nuclear nexus between India, Australia, Japan and the United States. Just as it was in the early cold war, this trade in nuclear materials is informed by interlocking and mutually reinforcing economic and geostrategic interests that have long undermined international disarmament initiatives. I argue that changing climatic conditions caused by emissions intensive energy production, however, demand a fundamental re-thinking of this paradigm. Of the 67 reactors under construction globally as of July 2014, at least 49 were experiencing delays and eight had been under construction for 20 or more years. China too, having planned before 2011 to replace heavy carbon emitting coal-fired power stations with nuclear power stations, stalled and re-assessed its position after 3.11.8 For the most part, China (along with the US, India and Germany) has boosted its renewable electricity generating capacity so that by 2013, it produced through wind, solar and hydro power over 1000 terawatt hours – the equivalent of the total power generation of France and Germany.9 In Japan, nearly four years after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns, 46 other nuclear reactors remain shut down. The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) approved the restart of two reactors in Sendai, Kyushu on 10 September 2014 and Mayoral consent was secured in October. Until 2014, along with China, Japan has also seen a boom in mostly solar and wind electricity generation. But this has been stalled by utilities who have refused to take an influx of renewable power into the grid or to reduce electricity prices.10 With fewer nuclear plants scheduled for construction around the world than for shutdown, however, the nuclear industry faces the likely prospect of contraction11 and replacement by rapidly advancing renewable energy options, including solar, wind, tidal, hydro and possibly geothermal power over the longer term. New mining leases were approved in Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, and Queensland Premier Campbell Newman broke his electoral commitment not to permit uranium mining by inviting uranium mining companies to commence exploration operations. The new (Queensland) Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Bill 2014, for example, passed on 9 September 2014 authorizes a Coordinator General to overrule community objection rights to ‘State significant projects’ including coal, bauxite and uranium mines, or to limit them to concerns unrelated to environmental protection.13 This Act gives virtual immunity to large companies exploring for uranium deposits in the Mitchell and Alice River basins in Cape York and the Gulf country. Encouraged by these positive signs, along with other Japanese, Chinese and Indian investors in uranium projects in Australia, the major French energy corporation Areva recently bought a 51 percent share in a joint venture with Australian uranium miner Toro Energy for exploration in the Wiso Basin in Northern Territory.14 In other words, federal and state governments in Australia have been approving exploration licenses and the opening of uranium mines at a time when the global nuclear and uranium industry was marked by decline and exit. While some of the larger corporations chose to wait for uranium demand to rise, many in the Australian uranium mining industry scrambled to reprioritise, turning to the newly emerging market of nation-states tipped for rapid economic expansion. India attracted attention due to its high-growth economic potential, geostrategic positioning and nuclear ambitions. As then Prime Minister Howard had done in 2007, ‘energy starved’ India’s ‘power crisis’ is again being widely portrayed in desperate terms,15 while the solutions are presented as economic expansion and greater energy consumption by a growing middle class.16 In addition to coal exports, Australian politicians, in consultation with business representatives in the uranium and minerals sector, have framed the push for uranium trade with India as a ‘moral duty’ and ‘humanitarian responsibility’ to improve living standards of India’s impoverished people. Over the nearly four years since the Fukushima disaster, the Japanese government and corporations have actively courted more than 20 countries for the purchase of Japan’s nuclear technologies. Agreements had been reached with Jordan, Vietnam, South Korea and Russia under the Kan and Noda Democratic Party Japan (DPJ) governments, and the export of nuclear technology remained central to the Abe government’s economic plans. Two more nuclear technology agreements with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have since been reached,19 and six more are under consideration – with India, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. Despite the continuing negative effects of ongoing radioactive contamination dispersal from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Abe government remains intent both on nuclear startups in Japan and on promoting its exports of nuclear technology to other countries. A similar initiative followed on 5 September 2014, when Abbott and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed the Australia-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in New Delhi. It was the culmination of the efforts initiated by the Howard government in 2006,22 carried forward by the Gillard government in 2011–2012. After India’s ‘Smiling Buddha’ Pokhran-I nuclear tests in May 1974, when the Indian government declared that it intended to harness nuclear energy to manufacture nuclear weapons, the Australian government (and many other countries including the US) placed a ban on exporting uranium to it (France and Russia continued to sporadically export uranium under a safety clause). India had built its clandestine nuclear weapons program using imported Canadian reactors. Since Nehru, India has justified its indigenous development of civil and military nuclear capacity and fuel and its refusal to ratify the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by pointing to the nuclear weapons held by existing nuclear weapons states. It has argued that the NPT is a flawed agreement that reflects the hypocrisy of the nuclear weapons states in refusing to seriously engage in disarmament while expecting non-nuclear weapons states to abstain from possession. In 1975, partially in response to the Indian tests of the previous year, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) initially comprising seven nations (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Japan, France, Canada, West Germany) was formed to prevent the diversion of nuclear materials used for commercial and peaceful purposes for the production of nuclear weapons. NSG members were obliged to cease trade with governments that did not submit to international inspection. India and Pakistan were included. Despite the bans, India went ahead to conduct its Pokhran II nuclear tests in May 1998. These were followed by Pakistan’s tests two weeks later. UN Security Council Resolution 1172 of June 199823 expressed grave concern and demanded that both countries foreswear further tests and abandon their nuclear weapon ambitions. expressed grave concern and demanded that both countries foreswear further tests and abandon their nuclear weapon ambitions. Despite the resolution’s unanimous adoption and threat of sanctions, the turning point was when the George W. Bush administration (2001-2009) chose to prioritize U.S. bilateral relations with India over any unified front to counter nuclear proliferation. The US–India energy agreement of July 2005 opened the way for other states, such as Australia, to engage bilaterally with India. Meanwhile in October 2008, the Singh government overcame stiff opposition in parliament to secure national and international backing for the signing of the US–India ‘1-2-3’ Nuclear Cooperation Agreement.This Agreement stipulated that India would open its civilian nuclear facilities to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and delineate its civil and military facilities so as to ensure US-origin fuel would not be used for military purposes. In return the US would supply nuclear fuel and nuclear technologies (six reactors) and gain greater access to the Indian nuclear market. As unanimous approval from the 48 states of the NSG was also required, the US and India lobbied hard and secured an unprecedented waiver of NSG export guidelines so as to permit nuclear commerce with India despite its non-NPT signatory status. Having granted the exception, several NSG members then negotiated bilateral nuclear accords with India (including France, United Kingdom, South Korea, Canada and Kazakhstan). In 2008 the Singh government purchased 300 MT of uranium ore concentrate from Areva of France, in 2009 2000 MT of uranium oxide pellets and 58 MT of enriched uranium dioxide from JSC Tvel/Russia, also in 2009 2100 MT of uranium dioxide concentrate from NAC/Kazakhstan and in 2013 2000 MT of uranium ore concentrate from NMMC Uzbekistan.27 While details are yet to be finalised, the deal with Australia in 2014 would secure for India a steady, reliable, high-grade uranium supply from the world’s largest known uranium deposits (its uranium resources are about 28 percent of the world total). While details are yet to be finalised, the deal with Australia in 2014 would secure for India a steady, reliable, high-grade uranium supply from the world’s largest known uranium deposits (its uranium resources are about 28 percent of the world total). In November 2010, in a joint statement signed by US President Obama and Indian PM Singh, it was agreed that negotiations would begin between Nuclear Power Corporation India Ltd (NPCIL) and US nuclear energy companies in return for implementing India’s full membership of the NSG in a ‘phased manner’. India agreed to accommodate the demands of General Electric and Westinghouse, which sought strict adherence to the CSC31 by diluting the CLNDA to reduce both suppliers’ liability and the time period for exercising right of recourse in the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Rules 2011.32 The US-India Business Council, PM Modi and industry executives from the Nuclear Power Company of India Ltd. (NPCIL) also devised an insurance package to indemnify the American suppliers in the event of a nuclear accident for the maximum liability amount stipulated in the CLNDA (INR 1500 Crore/$250 million).33 This was to encourage US/Japan companies (among others) to collaborate in building new nuclear reactors to allow India to ‘achieve its full blown potential’.34 In short, India would take as close to full liability for nuclear accidents as possible in return for receiving the benefits of NPT and NSG membership without the full obligations expected of its members. In doing so, the integrity of the NPT was further compromised. Given that Australia’s uranium mining and export accounts for less than 1 percent of its hundred billion dollar mineral export business (iron ore, bauxite, coal, copper, nickel etc),36 however, these decisions by Australian leaders risked significant political capital over what has been a highly contentious issue in Australia’s recent political history. the NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons in exchange for which the NPT nuclear-weapon states agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology and to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals. Nuclear weapons states have had the primary responsibility to ensure disarmament of their own arsenals so as to prevent nuclear non-proliferation among other states. The export controls regime of the NSG and enhanced verification measures of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association) Additional Protocols are ostensibly to end every possible means to acquire nuclear weapons. While Article Four of the NPT provides ‘inalienable rights to every non-nuclear weapon state’ to pursue nuclear energy for power generation, India is neither a member of the NPT nor a Non-Nuclear Weapon State and there is no provision in the NPT which permits for signatories to form nuclear cooperation agreements with Non-NPT states. India quite rightly has pointed out the hypocritical approach of the nuclear weapons states in approaching the NPT regime. As the Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee stated in 2007, India was not an NPT signatory because it considers the regime to be not one of ‘universal, non-discriminatory verification and treatment’.37 In the same statement, Minister Mukherjee also claimed that India had an ‘impeccable record on non-proliferation… [was] a leading advocate of the elimination of all nuclear weapons… [and was an adherent] to the values of peace and non-violence’. India’s ‘impeccable track-record on non-proliferation’ was a catch phrase coined by President Bush in 2005,38 and reiterated by both PM Modi and PM Abbott in 2014. Treating India as an exceptional case and a de facto nuclear weapons state makes even more conspicuous the selective imposition of sanctions or favour upon other non-NPT signatory nuclear weapons states such as Pakistan and Israel, or NPT signatory non-nuclear weapons states such as Iran.39 But the self-interested and strategically motivated application of the NPT was not new, nor was it limited to the US and its allies. The Soviet Union supplied China with the necessary technologies and skills to develop its own nuclear weapons capabilities, as China then supplied Pakistan. In turn, Pakistan also supplied other states that aspire to obtain nuclear capabilities. All were in a chain reaction, however, to U.S. threats to China and ultimately to the Soviet Union, in the early decades of the Cold War. While it is debatable that uranium and nuclear technology supply to India by others might serve to deter contemporary Chinese or Pakistani nuclear aggression, it has not served to prevent Indian conflicts with either of those two nations in the past. In any case, the use of nuclear trade as a strategic instrument does not ensure greater security or stability of the international community broadly defined, and this sort of leverage is not a valid use of the NPT. So despite PM Abbott’s assurances that ‘suitable safeguards’ were in place to guarantee that Australian uranium would be used for ‘peaceful purposes’ and for ‘civilian use only’, as the former Director General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office John Carlson points out, the Agreement departs from two principles of Australia’s 1987 Safeguards Act (section 51):40 the acquirement of ‘consent to reprocessing’ from the Australian government prior to the separation of plutonium from spent fuel; and the ‘right of return’ of nuclear materials supplied in the event of a breach of the agreement.41 Instead, the Agreement defers to the US-India nuclear cooperation agreement in which India would reprocess in facilities built with the assistance of US companies, and leaves open the question of how separated plutonium would be used or how arbitration would apply to settle disputes. Ten of India’s twenty nuclear facilities are beyond the regulatory authority of the IAEA and India only selectively recognises IAEA safeguards for specific foreign supplied reactors and facilities. India also refuses to submit to suppliers inventory reports and accounting processes for nuclear material flowing through the nuclear cycle. As the IAEA is not able to fully inspect India’s dual-purpose (civilian and military) indigenous reactors and facilities for reprocessing, enrichment, retransfers to third countries, research and development or the production of tritium (used as a trigger for weapons), India is not fully accountable to either the IAEA or the supplier nation with which it has a bilateral agreement with in-built IAEA norms. So even if India adheres to Australia’s requirements that its uranium be used solely to supply civil nuclear reactors for electricity generation that may be inspected by IAEA as per the nuclear safeguards agreement, Australia’s (or any other NPT members’) uranium export to India effectively supplements or liberates limited supplies of Indian uranium for military uses.42 Nor could, in the unlikely discovery of the ‘misallocation’ of some Australian origin uranium toward military use, the IAEA force compliance. In fact, whether or not India accounts for the flows of Australian material in its nuclear fuel cycle, it is impossible to verify whether it has actually adhered to the safeguards. Australian Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson, Adani group founder Gautam Adani, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman in India in 2012. As has been recommended by the United Nations (UN), World Health Organisation (WHO), International Energy Agency (IEA), Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), and recognised by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, the rapid phase out of coal-fired power stations is essential if the world is to meet the now seemingly optimistic carbon emissions reductions necessary to keep planetary warming below 2 percent of pre-industrialisation levels.46 While two hundred licenses for coal-fired power stations have been revoked by the Supreme Court of India recently, many Indian overseas coal projects are still underway. There are a number of flaws underpinning the logic of this activity between political leaders and nuclear industry executives. PM Abbott insisted at the time of signing the nuclear deal with India that the Agreement would be safe. In fact, the Abbott government has committed to selling uranium to an ambitious nation that barely conceals its intentions to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal and has refused to become a full signatory to the NPT and, along with the US, China and Pakistan, has not ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Prime Minister Modi is a pro-business politician and hardliner on Pakistan and Muslim populations in India and favours a security policy based on nuclear deterrence. The BJP holds a commanding majority in the lower house of Parliament. There is little reason to assume that Indian relations with Pakistan – or indeed with China – will soften by furnishing India with greater means to project its military power in the region. The surge of fundamentalist and jingoist forces in South Asia and rising military budgets and tensions between India and Pakistan on the one hand and China and the US, Japan and its allies on the other, aggravate the security situation in the region. Further, India has been waging an on-going long-term campaign against an insurgency within its borders, and it cannot guarantee against theft of nuclear-related materials. Fourth, the option of nuclear power as the ‘clean’ alternative is nothing of the sort. Although the fission operation of nuclear power stations may be ‘cleaner’ than coal-fired power stations in terms of carbon emissions, and although the heat from fission may produce more energy and less waste per volume of uranium than coal, many problems remain unresolved. These include the safe storage of long-lived nuclear waste, long build time of reactors in proportion to rapidly accelerating effects of climate change, enormous financial costs, use and contamination of vital resources required across the nuclear cycle from mining to waste production (including water and fossil fuels),55centralised monopolisation of power management necessitated by nuclear power generation, excess heating of the atmosphere through the discharge of excess heat through water and air, danger to ecologies downwind or downstream from venting while refueling reactors, and increased potential for large-scale and long-term damage from accidents. Given the advances of wind, solar, tidal and geothermal energy production which have become cheaper and more productive, as field-tested in China, Germany,56 Spain and other countries, and the abundance of these sources of energy in countries like Australia, the myth of base-load power is less sustainable than it was in the heady renaissance days. India’s pitch to rapidly increase economic growth has been embraced by the transnational nuclear industry as it represents an opportunity to expand the nuclear industry, and an opportunity to diversify from reliance on the Chinese market. But when typical cost-benefit analyses are extended to include the actual costs of the above-mentioned scenarios (nuclear weapons exchange, public health effects from industrial pollution from uranium mining and nuclear reactors, nuclear reactor disasters, nuclear waste storage, renewable energy alternatives), in an already fragile ecology in India, India’s nuclear energy plan reflects neither deep commitment to climate change mitigation nor serious concern for India’s impoverished populations. Why does the Australian, Indian, the United States and Japanese governments (among others) and their affiliated transnational corporations, continue to accelerate nuclear related operations despite these significant obstacles? It is unlikely that the Japan-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement went unsigned because of any putative scruple Japan may have about selling nuclear technologies to India as a non-NPT nuclear weapons state. As the Modi and NPCIL accommodation of American supplier demands demonstrates, the liability clause can be flexible. It remains unlikely, however, that India will consent to opening all of its reactors for inspection.60 Rather, it is likely that Japan is awaiting an American executive decision on the liability issue and the possible inclusion of India into the NPT as a nuclear weapons state, since prior agreement would appear to abrogate Japan’s NPT obligations. That PM Modi reasserted India’s customary ‘no first use’ policy does not mean that he does not intend to stockpile and bolster India’s nuclear arsenal. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that India possesses 90 to 110 nuclear weapons.61 In June 2014, the IHS (Information Handling Service) Jane’s military research group identified what they believe to be a new uranium hexafluoride (enrichment) facility at the Indian Rare Metals Plant near Mysore. As with its other military plants, this plant is not within IAEA safeguards. Estimated to be operational by mid-2015, it would produce roughly double the amount of enriched fuel (160 kilos a year enriched to 90 percent purity) required for India’s ballistic missile nuclear submarine fleet.62 The IHS analysts surmise that the surplus could be used for thermonuclear weapons (mixing enriched uranium and plutonium stockpiles).63 It could also be used to fuel nuclear submarines, space satellites, tactical and intermediate ballistic missiles, and multiple warhead Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (Agni V ICBM MIRVs) with the ability to reach cities in China and Pakistan. India joins the US, Russia, UK, France and China in possessing the ICBM with MIRV, leaving Pakistan further behind in terms of weapons parity, particularly in navy, air and ground forces, and missile capabilities.64 As India seeks to rival China, it could further destabilize relations with Pakistan by intensifying the ongoing arms race between the two. Regional tensions could be further exacerbated by Pakistan’s border skirmishes with Afghanistan and Iran over its support of the Taliban in Afghanistan.65 Along with increasing tensions involving US-Japan-India and China, this is precisely the scenario that NPT members have tried to avoid by subscribing to IAEA safeguards. Since the late 1950s, there have been elements in the Japanese government (led by Abe’s grandfather and former Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke) who have advocated the procurement of tactical nuclear weapons as an entitlement under the nation’s right to self-defence as stipulated in the UN Charter. Although the US has long discouraged Japan’s nuclear weaponisation with assurances of extended nuclear deterrence, in 2003 US Vice-President Cheney stated that Japan’s possession of nuclear weapons could be tenable if it were aligned to US strategic deterrence policy.68 As an NPT signatory, Japan has accumulated the fourth largest stockpile of ‘civilian’ plutonium, the largest stockpile of any non-nuclear weapons state.69 Despite reprocessing programs having been closed down by many other countries, Japan claims that its significant nuclear reprocessing and fuel fabrication program is for ‘energy autonomy’ by which it means ‘closing the nuclear fuel cycle’. This relies upon the ability to separate plutonium from spent fuel and reprocess and fabricate it ‘upwards’ so as to produce more plutonium than is consumed, thereby facilitating an endless loop of fuel production and consumption. In this scenario, the Japanese government regards spent nuclear fuel and stockpiled plutonium as an ‘asset’ rather than a ‘debt’. This ability should not be understood as solely for the reduction of reliance on foreign fuel imports or even of nuclear waste. In 2009, Ernest J. Moniz, an MIT professor and United States Secretary of Energy in 2014, admitted that uranium, once thought to be scarce, was now so abundant as to raise doubt over the necessity for nuclear fuel reprocessing.70 As of March 2011, despite the recommendations by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission and the Science Council of Japan of both direct disposal and limited surface storage of spent nuclear fuel in dry casks over fuel pool storage and reprocessing, the Japanese government would not rule out the reprocessing option. If the closed fuel cycle ever did eventuate, it would negate Japan’s dependence on the import of vital energy resources (uranium, oil, natural gas) so as to achieve ‘energy autonomy’. This would drastically reduce fuel costs and would also reduce vulnerability to sanctions should Japan breach the NPT (or other international agreements) in its decision to ‘go nuclear’. Japan’s long-term investment in co-developing this high-level technical capability has made it the second most powerful missile power in the world, and the only nation outside the US with both low and upper-tier defences reputedly capable of intercepting missiles beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.72 Given this long-term commitment, it was not surprising that the Abe government in 2013 decided to declare the constitutional right to participate in ‘collective security’ operations with the US and other allies. This technology, and Japan’s ambiguous intentions concerning nuclear and space weaponisation, means that the US and Japan, in collaboration with partners such as Australia and India (in sea-going operations in particular), could potentially integrate not only their BMD systems but also their nuclearized capabilities. As South Korea and Taiwan have also expressed interest in reprocessing their spent nuclear fuel (as have other states such as Saudi Arabia), these developments carry strong potential for proliferation. One of the major implications of this distributed form of ‘self-defence’ is that US Pacific Command would further extend the pre-emptive strike capacity of its global nuclear strike force. With Japan’s recent release of space assets for military use (reconnaissance, communications, navigation, early warning) in collaboration with the US, this further augments the current period of US ‘nuclear primacy’ and a return to the conditions prior to 1963 when the Soviets had developed long-range bombers to deliver their nuclear payloads over US territory. Nuclear primacy transcends the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction in its ability to win a nuclear war, which the US is proposing to do by eliminating retaliatory capability with a single massive attack called ‘Prompt Global Strike’. Under the Australia–India uranium trade agreement, India will use Australian yellow cake to diversify its nuclear program. If and when the Japan–India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement is concluded, it will supply the nuclear technology India requires to build its industrial capacity and indirectly enhance its nuclear arsenal. Negotiated almost simultaneously and in coordination, both of these Agreements, together with and following the US–India nuclear agreement, tacitly legitimise India’s nuclear status and assist in its ambitions for greater international influence. Australia and Japan, both NPT and NSG members, have become complicit in India’s nuclear weapons program and partially responsible for increasing the risk of nuclear accident in India, and for potentially aggravating nuclear rivalry in Asia. India claims to need more electricity for domestic and industrial growth as well as to lift a significant population out of poverty. Yet there are many factors which create the conditions for the advance of India’s poor, just as there are many forms of alternative energy generation beyond nuclear and coal which would be safer, more reliable and powerful if given comparable investment and with smart power grid distribution networks.76 To the extent that governments and corporations continue to invest in nuclear power construction and reprocessing as a source of ‘renewable energy’, they diminish the potential to stem the destructive and exponentially increasing effects of climate change.77 China, Germany, the United States, India and even Japan are presently leading the world in investing in renewable energy technology. Yet, with the exception of Germany, this is being done in parallel with plans to expand nuclear power production. The ongoing contamination from radiation dispersed from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant came, in part, from Australian uranium.78 When the benefits of uranium trade are weighed against the potential and actual costs and damages from uranium mining, the actual risks of nuclear reactor accidents and mismanagement, the decline in costs and advances in renewable technologies, potential nuclear weapons use (broadly defined) and proliferation, and the steady production of nuclear waste, it becomes clear that state-corporate policies to expand the industry are ill-conceived. In 2014, as in 1945 and throughout the intervening decades, uranium mining, nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons remain ineluctably tied to the formation of a global power structure of nation-states and transnational corporations and instrumental in their overarching ambitions. Adam Broinowski is an ARC postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Pacific and Asian History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University. His recent work includes a chapter, ‘Sovereign Power Ambition and the Realities of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster’ in Nadesan/Boys/McKillop/Wilcox (eds.), Fukushima: Dispossession or Denuclearization?, The Dispossesion Publishing Group, 2014, and a forthcoming article, ‘Conflicting Immunities: Priorities of Life and Sovereignty amid the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster’, European Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies, December 2014. His book, Cultural Responses to Occupation in Japan: The Performing Body during and after the Cold War is forthcoming in 2015. Recommended citation: Adam Broinowski, “Undermining Nuclear Non-Proliferation: Energy and Security Politics in the Australia–India–Japan–U.S. Nuclear Nexus,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 12, Issue 46, No. 2, November 1, 2014. 1 R. A. Paulsen, The Role of Nuclear Weapons in the Post-Cold War Era, Maxwell Airforce Base: Alabama Air University Press, 1994, pp. 1–11. 2 William Burr (ed.), ‘The Creation of SioP-62: More Evidence of the Origins of Overkill’, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing book No. 130, 13 July 2004. 3 Government of United States of America, Joint Chiefs of Staff, ‘Berlin Contingency Planning’, June 1961, National Security Archives. 4 F. Kaplan, The Wizards of Armageddon, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983, p. 269. To what extent they calculated the ‘bonus kills’, as General LeMay put it, from radiation exposure is unclear, but it was likely a very conservative estimate. 5 For example, Uranerz Energy Corporation announced a net loss in the second quarter of 2013. See, ‘Uranerz Records Q2 Net Loss of $4.45 million’, 11 August 2014. 6 See Suzuki Tatsujiro in Mycle Schnyder and Anthony Froggat (eds.), World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2014, 18 August 2014, pp. 4, 76, 155; Aaron Sheldrick, ‘Global nuclear power contribution falls to lowest since 1980s’,Reuters, 29 July 2014; Jim Green, ‘Uranium – how low can it go’, Business Spectator, 29 May 2014. 7 Schneider and Froggatt, ‘Executive summary and conclusions’, World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2013, July. 8 David von Hippel, James H. Williams, ‘Nuclear safety concers with China’s growing reactor fleet’, NAPSNet Policy Forum, 28 October 2014. 9 John Mathews and Hao Tan, ‘China shows there is more to renewable energy than fighting climate change’, The Conversation, 11 September 2014. 10 Daniel Cusick, ‘Power companies in Japan move to restrict solar’, Scientific American, 2 October 2014. 11 Aaron Sheldrick, ‘Global nuclear power contribution falls to lowest since 1980s’, Reuters, 29 July 2014. 12 Paddy Manning, ‘Producers bullish on Japanese demand’, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 December 2012. 13 Andrew Picone, ‘Mining companies now have more rights than the community in Newman’s Queensland’, SBS News, 1 October 14. Between 2013–14 and 2017–18 Australia’s uranium production is projected to increase by 32 per cent to total 9590 tonnes, as supported by the Alliance Resources’ Four Mile mine in South Australia, ore extraction at Ranger uranium mine and Toro Energy’s Wiluna mine in Western Australia. Other additional mining operations such as Cameco’s Kintyre and Yeelirrie projects as well as potential projects in Queensland are not projected to begin until 2017–18. Government of Australia, BREE, Resources and Energy Quarterly, October 2013, p. 26. 14 ‘Toro signs NT deal with AREVA’, The West Australian, 29 September 2014. 15 The World Bank estimates that nearly 400 million Indians have no access to electricity. World Bank, ‘Energy’. 16 At the recent opening of a coal mine, Prime Minister Abbott was quoted as declaring ‘Coal is good for humanity, coal is good for prosperity, coal is an essential part of our economic future, here in Australia, and right around the world.’ Editors, ‘Coal is good for humanity’, The Australian, 15 October 2014. 17 ‘Nuclear power in the USA’, World Nuclear Report, 23 October 2014. 18 Mitsubishi CEO Kojima Yorihiko quoted by Rick Wallace, ‘ Billions to flow from Shinzo Abe visit, says Mitsubishi chairman’, The Australian , 7 July 2014. 19 Editor, ‘Exports that defy reason’, Japan Times, 20 April 2014. 20 The Defense Ministry of the Abe government has sought a 3.5 percent increase to ¥5.05 trillion for the fiscal year of 2015, an unprecedented military budget for the nation. Takenaka Kiyoshi, Reuters, 29 August 2014. 21 P. Kallender-Umezu, ‘Japan Quietly Builds Limited Counter-A2/AD Capabilities’, 17 September 2013, Defense News. 22 The Howard government proposed the expansion of uranium mining and uranium exports, establishment of a uranium enrichment industry, and construction of 25 power reactors. Others in Australia propose 20 nuclear by 2050. See Government of Australia, Prime Minister and Cabinet, 29 December 2006, ‘Uranium mining, processing and nuclear energy – opportunities for Australia’. 23 United Nations, UN Security Council Resolution 1172. 24 For more discussion on this, see C. Rovere and K. Robertson, ‘Australia’s Uranium and India: Linking Exports to CTBT Ratification’, Security Challenges, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2013), pp. 51–61. 25 ‘China wants Australia’s uranium’, ABC, 17 October 2005. 26 ‘Reliance Arm paid $3.45 million to UXA for uranium exploration’, The Hindu Business Line, 28 May 2008. 27 Later, it was admitted that Indian projections are overly ambitious, and they would scale down from 20,000 MWe of new nuclear capacity to 11,080 MWe by the year 2020. 29 IAEA, Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, International Atomic Energy Agency. 30 Government of India, ‘The Civil Liability For Nuclear Damage Act’, 2010. 31 Editors, ‘U.S.-India Business Council Statement on Nuclear Liability Law’, Reuters, 30 August 2010. 32 Government of India, ‘Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Rules 2011’. 33 Indrani Bagchi, ‘India gives US insurance plan for nuclear plants’, The Times of India, 13 March 2014; Kapil Patil, ‘Untying the Civil Nuclear Liability Knot in the Indo-US Nuclear Deal’, Nautilus Institute, 30 September 2014. 34 Kapil Patil, ‘Untying the civil nuclear liability knot in the Indo-US nuclear deal’, NAPSnet policy forum, 30 September 2014. 35 Paul Meyer, ‘India and the meltdown of Canada’s nuclear non-proliferation policy: Ottawa abandons principled position for greater access to India’s economy’, Reuters. 36 Editors, ‘Yellow cake fever: Exposing the Uranium industry’s economic myths’, Australian Conservation Foundation, April 2013, p. 27. 37 Editors, ‘India dismisses NPT as ‘flawed’ treaty’, The Times of India, 23 March 2007. 38 Demetri Sevastopulo, Caroline Daniel, Jo Johnson, ‘India nuclear deal takes Congress by surprise’, Financial Times, 19 July 2005. 39 Yusra Mushtaq, ‘A Blatant Violation Of NPT’, 26 September 2014, Eurasia Review. See also, IAEA, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, ‘IAEA Topic 2: The Implementation of the NPT for the Non-Supporters of this Treaty’. 40 Government of Australia, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ‘Australia’s uranium export policy’. 41 John Carlson, ‘Is the Abbott Government abandoning Australia’s nuclear safeguards standards for India?’, The Interpreter, 1 October 2014 (part 1) and (part 2). 42 K. Subrahmanyam, ‘India and the nuclear deal’, The Times of India, 12 December 2005. 43 Crispin Rovere, ‘Australia–India nuclear treaty: a non-proliferation disaster’, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 14 October 2014. 44 Comprising six open-cut pits and five underground mines, the Carmichael mine will cover an area seven times that of Sydney Harbour. Despite warnings from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and UNESCO that this will place it ‘in danger’, plans to dredge and dump about 3 million cubic metres of the Reef into a wetlands sanctuary to make way for port expansions for 480 additional ships to access 330 million tonnes of coal per year from this mega-mine will use 12 billion litres of fresh water per year and will affect the habitat of humpback whales, sea turtles and dugongs. With 130 million tonnes of carbon dioxide produced every year for ninety years, this will cancel out the Queensland Direct Action target of 131 million tonnes of carbon dioxide reduction. Adani Enterprises has a dubious track record including illegal large-scale exports of iron ore at its port and numerous cases of environmental pollution. It has also been a significant supporter of the Bharatiya Janta Party. Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Citi, Morgan Stanley and possible JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have refused to fund the project while the ‘big four’ Australian banks seem to be giving their approval. India is the third largest producer, consumer and importer of coal in the world and the fourth largest energy consumer in the world. See, Mary McCarthy, ‘Darwin and Adelaide likely export hubs for Queensland uranium’, ABC Rural; Ben Pearson, ‘ Carmichael coal mine impacts will be felt for generations,’ ABC Environment , 28Jul2014, William Rollo, ‘Carmichael Coal and Rail Project: Queensland mine gets Federal Government approval’, ABC News, 29 July 2014; Candace Dunn, ‘India falls back on imported fossil fuels’, Business Spectator, 15 August 2014. 45 ‘Indian activists take on Adani coal mine’, Geelong Advertiser, 9 October 2014; ‘Ramping up against coal’, Beyond Zero Emissions, September – August 2012. 46 In support of the claim for the rapid shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy and energy savings, the United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated ‘We need to limit global temperature rise within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is what the international community has recognised as the upper limit of safety. Beyond 2 degrees, the consequences will be unpredictable, highly dangerous and perhaps irreversible’. See, United Nations, ‘Secretary-General’s remarks at Climate Leaders Summit’, 11 April 2014. It is estimated that at least two thirds of proven fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground and that carbon utilities and infrastructure must be developed beyond 2017 as 80 percent of cumulative emissions allowable between 2010 and 2035 are already locked into existing power plants, factories, buildings and services. In addition this will result in significant positive in health effects, job production, biodiversity conservation, energy independence and stronger sovereignty and resilience. Although several countries have moved to end public finance for coal and other fossil fuels, Australia has yet to do so in a significant manner. See WHO – 7 million premature deaths linked to air pollution and Climate Change – IPCC Response Strategies. 47 Editors, ‘A new engagement: The Indo-Australian nuclear deal signals a paradigm shift in the quality of the relationship between the two nations’, The Hindu Business Line, 8 September 2014. 48 Neeta Lal, ‘India’s Nuclear Energy Imperative’, The Diplomat, 8 October 2014. 50 Joby Warrick, ‘Obama and Modi announce agreement on U.S.-India efforts to fight global warming’, Washington Post, 30 September 2014. 51 Government of the United States, The White House, ‘U.S.-India Joint Statement’, 30 September 2014. 52 M. V. Ramana, ‘Indian activists detained for protesting against India-Australia uranium agreement,’ Dianuke, 5 September 2014. 53 While there are conflicting reports, in contrast to studies based on dose estimates in accordance with institutional levels (such as the ICRP), an Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) epidemiological study found in 2007 that living within 2.5kms of the mining operations increased rates of illness (2118 households) and was upheld by the Jharkhand High Court in 2007. This was supported by a study in 2004 by Koide Hiroaki who found the level to be 10mSv/y around the mine and over 1 mSv/y in the villages. The UCIL managers have used the As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) principle to set permissible radiation exposure limits and precautionary measures and have shown disregard for the conditions of indigenous peoples living in the area. See, Shakeel ur Rahman, ‘Study on Health status of Indigenous people around Jadugoda uranium mines in India’, IDPD. UCIL Chairman Diwakar Acharya denied any correlation and blamed ordinary socio-economic factors (malnutrition). Stephanie March, ‘Australia to sell uranium to India but at what cost to its people?’, ABC 7:30 Report, 3 September 2014; Uranium Corporation of India hopes to get renewal of Jaduguda mine lease soon PTI, 6 October 2014; Rakteem Katakey, Tom Lasseter, ‘India’s Uranium Boss Says Deformed Children May Be ‘Imported’,’Bloomberg, 24 July 2014. 54 Mari Yamaguchi, ‘Sendai reactors vulnerable to eruptions, state-picked volcanologist says’, The Japan Times, 18 October 2014. 55 France, which until recently has drawn roughly three quarters of its energy supply from nuclear power stations, uses 40-50 percent of the nation’s mostly fresh water supply to cool its plants. 56 Germany, for example, prior to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 was heavily reliant on nuclear and fossil fuels. Over the past decade, however, its use of renewable energy mainly from solar and wind, has tripled. In 2013, however, renewable energy accounted for 24 percent of the nation’s total electricity supply. Despite government subsidies of roughly EU 16 billion, the Government claims to have created new businesses worth 40 billion euros per year and created additional employment to 400,000 people. Emily Steward, ABC, 29 October 2014. 57 See for example, Jeremy Rifkin, ‘No nukes!’, Los Angeles Times, 29 September 2006. 58 Nagao Shigeru, ‘Why Japan needs India as a Strategic Power’, Defence and Security Alert, 26 October 2014. 59 Vince Scappatura, ‘The U.S. “Pivot to Asia”, the China Specter and the Australian-American Alliance’, Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 12, Issue 36, No. 3, September 9, 2014. 60 Bhattacharjee, S., A. Sasi, ‘Japan wants slice of the nuclear pie, warms up to liability law’, Indian Express, 12 June 2014. 61 Editors, SIPRI Yearbook 2014. 62 Along with the P-5 states, India and Pakistan also continue to develop new systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons and are expanding their capacities to produce fissile material for military purposes. India conducted successful tests of the 5,000-km Agni-V, India’s first ICBM. Along with its shorter-range Prithvi missiles, India’s 2,000-km K-4 SLBM and its Agni-I (700-km), Agni-II (2,000-km) and Agni-III (3,000-km) missiles were tested under Strategic Forces Command in March 2014. It is still to test the 750-km K-15 SLBM in India’s first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine the INS Arihant in sea trials in late 2014. Rajat Pandit, ‘Pakistan surges ahead of India in nuclear stockpile: Report’, The Times of India, 17 June 2014. 64 Pakistan possesses roughly the equivalent nuclear weapons as India, which serves as a cheap deterrent in the face of India’s overwhelming conventional superiority. Nevertheless, Pakistan is developing shorter-range cruise missiles to evade ballistic missile defence and is planning a long-term build-up of its nuclear arsenal and delivery systems, including tactical short-range missiles, as a ‘full spectrum deterrent’. See for example, Tim Craig and Karen DeYoung, ‘Pakistan is eyeing sea-based and short-range nuclear missiles, analysts say’, Washington Post, 21 September 2014; Kyle Mizokami, ‘If Pakistan and India clash: 5 Pakistani weapons of war India should fear’, The National Interest, 24 August 2014; Kyle Mizokami, ‘If Pakistan and India went to war: 5 Indian weapons of war Pakistan should fear’, The National Interest, 16 August 2014; Amin Saikal, ‘Pakistan must de-escalate conflicts with three of its neighbours’, Canberra Times, 4 November 2014. 65 Amin Saikal, ‘Pakistan must de-escalate conflicts with three of its neighbours’, Canberra Times, 4 November 2014. 66 Kageyama Yuri, ‘Japan pro-bomb voices grow louder amid nuke debate’, Associated Press, 31 July 2012. 67 Adam Westlake, ‘Surprisingly Japan declines 16 UN outlawing nuclear weapons’, Japan Daily Press, 23 October 2012. 68 M. Mochizuki, ‘Japan tests the nuclear taboo’, Non-Proliferation Review, vol. 14, no. 2, July 2007. 69 M. Pomper and M. Toki, ‘Time to stop reprocessing in Japan’, Arms Control Today, January/February 2013. 70 Matthew Wald, ‘U.S. Panel shifts focus to reusing nuclear fuel’, New York Times, 23 September 2009. 71 Missile shield deployments are currently in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, Greenland, Britain, Norway, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Poland, the Czech republic, Turkey, Georgia and potentially in Ukraine. 72 Chester Dawson, ‘Japan shows-off its missile defense system’, Wall Street Journal, 9 November 2012. 73 While Japan may have a powerful missile system integrated with the US, one should not overlook the US-initiated NATO interceptor missile system that incorporated the U.S.–Germany-Italy Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) and NATO’s Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) program and is being deployed in the ongoing military build-up in Eastern Europe. See for example, ‘SM-3 BMD, in from the sea: EPAA & Aegis Ashore’, Defense Industry Daily, 13 October 2014. 74 Government of the United States, Department of Defense, ‘Nuclear Posture Review Report’, April 2010. 75 K. Lieber and D. Press (2006), ‘US Primacy in Foreign Policy’, Foreign Affairs, March/April, pp. 42–54. 76 Andrew Picone,‘Queenslanders have more reason than ever to be concerned about uranium mining in the sunshine stateMining companies now have more rights than the community in Newman’s Queensland’, SBS News, 1 October 2014. 77 Yusra Mushtaq, ‘A Blatant Violation Of NPT’, Eurasia Review, 26 September 2014. 78 Dave Sweeney, ‘Fukushima: Australia’s Radioactive Rocks And Responsibility’, New Matilda, 29 August 2014.

2019-04-23T12:36:28Z

https://www.globalresearch.ca/nuclear-proliferation-in-the-australia-india-japan-u-s-nuclear-nexus/5415955

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2019-04-23T06:12:50Z

http://www.b365.ro/primaria-capitalei-vrea-in-administrare-podul-constanta-pentru-reabilitare_258534.html

"Our SAN infrastructure is an open book - easy to read, but next to impossible to duplicate," says Jason Silverglate, CEO and chief architect of the company's storage solution. Silverglate says that his SAN was designed to deliver industry-leading performance with a high-level of reliability. The SAN's design includes redundant head nodes with redundant 10Gbps cards and redundant SAS 6Gbps wide internal SAS paths. The end result is two highly capable volumes that can achieve extremely high read and write speeds. Jason remarks, "on Volume 1 we are able to achieve 1600MB/s read and 1300MB/s write. Mind you, Volume1 is our low performance Volume... Volume 2, which is our SSD volume can achieve 250,000 IOPS and can easily max out a few 10Gbps circuits." That speed makes all the difference when it comes to cloud purposed storage and that is what Jason and his team are counting on. Earlier this year, DedicatedNOW partnered with OnApp to launch a managed private cloud solution. The DedicatedNOW private cloud solution allows customers to configure and deploy scalable, redundant hypervisors onto the SAN, connected through a redundant switch stack via multiple gigabit connections both to the Internet and The Company's own internal SAN network. DedicatedNOW, provides managed dedicated servers and complex hosting solutions to customers in nearly 100 countries. More information about DedicatedNOW's private cloud and SAN technology is available on their website at http://cloud.dedicatednow.com. For the past seven years, Jason and his team have been building and maintaining complex dedicated server environments for ecommerce companies. "We've learned allot about supporting and maintaining clusters and load balanced setups during that time," says Silverglate. "For starters, scalability is a problem with physical clusters. You can't expand resources at a moment's notice. Servers need to be brought down for upgrades, planning needs to go into making these kinds of changes." With the expansion of cloud technology, many of the constraints within the physical world are done away with. Jason and his team have been developing their cloud technology for the past two years from the Company's New Jersey based datacenter. A cornerstone of that development has been improving on some of the downfalls of complex hosting. Jason commented on the benefits of the shift to virtualization, "when we move a complex setup to a virtual environment, we lose those physical constraints. We can scale horizontally and vertically and for less money". Ditlev Bredahl, CEO of OnApp, has worked with FortressITX throughout the development of their cloud. Bredahl remarks, "I'm impressed by the significant investments Fortress has made into their SAN infrastructure. When speaking with our own clients, I often recommend that they take a look at the storage technology that Jason and FortressITX have designed, before investing in their own." Silverglate claims that the Company's SAN storage is capable of performance that most never thought possible in a virtualized environment, due to its unique architecture. Jason will be presenting his ideas on virtualization at the OnApp booth (#313) on Tuesday, Aug. 9th at 11:45AM and again on Wednesday, Aug. 10th at 12:45PM. "This merger brings together a unique combination of talents between DedicatedNOW and Solar VPS. Our new company has vast experience with Windows hosting, virtualization, dedicated and managed hosting," said Ross Brouse, former CEO of SolarVPS, who will now serve as COO of the combined company. "We've brought together so many talented individuals whose knowledge we are blending to develop truly unique hosted partner and customer offerings. We have also recruited other top talent from the industry to expand our offerings and reach more customers around the world." Although there is no change in management or existing server locations, the merger will provide benefits to new and existing customers of both companies. DedicatedNOW customers now have access to world-class Windows web hosting support and virtualization expertise. Additionally, with access to SolarVPS's locations, DedicatedNOW will be offering hosting for new servers in Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami. SolarVPS can now access DedicatedNOW's resources to sustain and stimulate growth in addition having a place to call home - DedicatedNOW's Clifton, N.J. datacenter. The new company's datacenter has a multi Gigabit bandwidth network accessing all key tier 1 providers, while hosting routers, load balancers, firewalls, Internet servers and switches and accommodating large and small clients. "I'm excited about the new opportunities that will open up as a result of this move. Both DedicatedNOW and SolarVPS customers will have access to more staff, better resources and a wider product selection. The merger makes both brands stronger, more marketable and sets the foundation for the growth of our cloud hosting division," says Jason Silverglate, CEO. SolarVPS started in 2005 as a managed Windows Virtual Private Server provider before quickly expanding services to Parallels and linux VPS hosting and spreading to 5 cities around the globe. DedicatedNOW was founded in 1998 and has earned awards for its customer service and managed hosting expertise. Financial considerations were not disclosed. DedicatedNOW, provides managed dedicated servers to customers in nearly 100 countries. Customers rely on DedicatedNOW for reliable, secure and value-rich services such as dedicated servers, managed hosting, complex hosting, CDN, private clouds and colocation. DedicatedNOW's servers are located in a state-of-the-art data center in Clifton, New Jersey. The Clifton facility houses nearly 5,000 servers in a secured environment, right next door to the Company's corporate headquarters and network operations center. To learn more about DedicatedNOW, please visit http://www.dedicatednow.com. Founded in 2005, SolarVPS was established to provide next-generation windows and linux vps web hosting services on virtualized infrastructure. With the help of automation and virtualization software, it has quickly become a global hosted application service provider. Through the operation of virtual business infrastructure and strong partnerships with industry leaders, SolarVPS provides a fully automated service platform that enables a focus on personal customer relationships and superior customer support. To learn more about SolarVPS, please visit http://www.solarvps.com. "I've met the brightest people in the (hosting) industry, here at DedicatedNOW," says Salvatore Poliandro, Director of Information Technology. In recent years, DedicatedNOW has carved out a niche for itself within the managed and complex hosting space. Leaning on its proficiency with Linux clustering, load balancing and managed security, the Company has earned many awards over the years for best in class service. Current client Chris Azzari says "DedicatedNOW sets the bar high... Just knowing that your site that you have spend countless hours creating and promoting is in good hands is worth its weight in gold." Mr. Azzari's sentiment mirrors that of many DedicatedNOW customers - the support and customer service available with DedicatedNOW are unparalleled in the industry. That level of service has helped DedicatedNOW to earn the business of headliners like AirTran, COMODO, NYU and SpiritAir. "We love what we do and we do it well," says CEO Jason Silverglate. DedicatedNOW, provides managed dedicated servers to customers in nearly 100 countries. Customers rely on DedicatedNOW for reliable, secure and value-rich services such as dedicated servers, managed hosting, complex hosting, CDN, reseller and colocation. DedicatedNOW's servers are located in a state-of-the-art data center in Clifton, New Jersey. The Clifton, NJ facility houses nearly 5,000 servers in a secured environment, right next door to the Company's corporate headquarters and network operations center. These will be the companies to look at in 2011. The awards are based on the mantra: 'Ahead of the rest.' This mantra is well reflected in the award winning plans provided by these companies. DedicatedNow's high performance managed dedicated servers are setting new standards of reliability and efficiency in the industry. "This award not only highlights DedicatedNow's growth and commitment to excellence, but also continued emergence as a leader in the Managed Hosting and Managed Service industry," said Mr. Shelton Walker, Managing Director, Top10DedicatedHosting.com. DedicatedNOW's primary datacenter, located in the NY Metro area, has undergone significant improvements over the past year. In addition to improved security, the building recently added a new power sub-station, which provides true redundant power feeds and improved power stability to all of DedicatedNOW's managed hosting and colocation clients. While DedicatedNOW's commitment to excellence within the managed dedicated server niche has brought them notoriety and awards in recent years, the company will be breaking ground on its cloud hosting offering later this year. "If the company's current success is any indication, the new cloud product should be a real game changer," says Walker. "This award highlights Online Tech's commitment to proactive professional support and delivering a turnkey colocation experience," said Mike Klein, President and COO of Online Tech. Online Tech's investment in SAS-70 certification over the last 2 years and its reputation of proactive customer support has propelled Online Tech into a leadership position for enterprise managed colocation and servers. Online Tech's data centers provide sophisticated power backup systems, high tech security, multiple Tier 1 ISP feeds and redundant Cisco core networks. Other offerings include locked racks, rack and stack services, backup, VPN services and network firewall protection. Online Tech is a premier Managed Data Center Operator in the Midwestern United States with 15 years of expertise delivering outstanding products and service levels. Online Tech, offers a full range of managed colocation, dedicated server hosting and managed servers for clients from around the world. Online Tech has won dozens of awards and has SAS-70 certified data centers which have been specifically noted by Top10DedicatedHosting. This is the reason why industry people trust Online Tech to insure their servers are always on, always online, and always safe. Top 10 Dedicated Hosting is a team of highly skilled professionals focused on providing Dedicated Web Server Reviews to Clients, Cloud Computing Consultancy and Training to End Users. We provide Expertise and Experience to: help the business grow, reduce the overall costs, and simplify the Web environment. Dedicated Web Hosting is committed to delivering results that endure. In his new role, Brandon will be responsible for leading the company's Sales efforts and continuing the Company's growth. Brandon chimes in on his latest challenge, "I'm very familiar with DedicatedNOW's success and am excited to be a part of the Company's future. DedicatedNOW is well positioned within the industry and it's my intention to grow the business to new heights. Combined with our top of the line technology, superior infrastructure and committed team, DedicatedNOW is going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2011." DedicatedNOW, founded in 1997, provides managed dedicated servers to customers in nearly 100 countries. Customers rely on DedicatedNOW for reliable, secure and value-rich services such as dedicated servers, managed hosting, complex hosting, CDN, reseller and colocation. DedicatedNOW's servers are located in a state-of-the-art data center in Clifton, New Jersey. The Clifton, NJ facility houses nearly 5,000 servers in a secured environment, right next door to the Company's corporate headquarters and network operations center. The site's content went viral and Chris learned how traffic can crash a server. "It was at that point that I knew I needed something more substantial behind my website," says Chris. "PopThatZit.com was going to be featured on the Tyra Banks show and I knew that would bring in the traffic, big time. I needed a dedicated server and after sifting through available providers, decided to move my sites over to DedicatedNOW, a managed dedicated server provider." Azzari continues, "the biggest thing about having your own dedicated server is that you can do a lot of tweaks that you could never do on a shared hosting plan. I run Wordpress on the site and decided to run w3 supercache after high recommendations from some friends. Getting it to work right was beyond my scope of expertise. I needed to install memcached and I wasn't about to mess that up. A simple email to the server support team and they had me up and running. The site was lighting fast and ready for traffic." "Just knowing that the site that you have spent countless hours creating and promoting is in good hands is worth its wait in gold. Remember, your website is your business, so you need to protect that business, and it starts with where it is hosted." PopThatZit.com is the original website by zit poppers, for zit poppers. The site's outrageous material gained a cult following on day 1. With nearly 2000 videos of every kind of pimple, boil and pustule imaginable, Chris Azzari's creation was featured on the Tyra Banks show in 2009. For more information, visit PopThatZit.com. DedicatedNOW, founded in 1997, provides managed and unmanaged dedicated servers to customers in nearly 100 countries. Customers rely on DedicatedNOW for reliable, secure and value-rich services such as dedicated servers, managed hosting, complex hosting, CDN, reseller and colocation. DedicatedNOW's servers are located in a state-of-the-art data center in Clifton, New Jersey. The Clifton, NJ facility houses nearly 5,000 servers in a secured environment, right next door to the Company's corporate headquarters and network operations center. For more information about DedicatedNOW, visit www.dedicatednow.com. In an effort to provide the best possible support to its growing dedicated hosting customer base, DedicatedNOW has released new support phone numbers for five countries, including Great Britain, Israel, New Zealand, Australia and The Netherlands. "While our on-site dedicated support team has always been available 24/7, every day of the year, we wanted to provide the best possible immediate support for our international client base," says CEO Jason Silverglate. Silverglate continues, "With our expansion into the European market, we felt having immediate phone support for Europe and Australia was particularly important". The company plans on adding additional support numbers as its growth and international expansion continues. DedicatedNOW, Inc. is a privately owned, multi-million dollar corporation located in Clifton, New Jersey and founded in 1997. DedicatedNOW provides managed and unmanaged dedicated web hosting services to thousands of satisfied customers. The Company delivers cutting-edge hosting solutions to meet the requirements of small and medium sized businesses as well as large corporations. Customers rely on DedicatedNOW for reliable, secure and value-rich services such as dedicated servers, managed hosting, complex hosting, CDN, reseller and colocation hosting. DedicatedNOW's servers are located in a state-of-the-art data center in Clifton, New Jersey. The Clifton, NJ facility houses nearly 5,000 servers in a secured environment, right next door to the Company's corporate headquarters and network operations center. "There is allot of confusion about what a cloud is and even more confusion over how to build a truly efficient and sustainable cloud," says Silverglate, owner of DedicatedNOW, a managed dedicated hosting company. The CEO's presentation will cover all facets of cloud design, including hardware, network configuration, storage considerations, selection of hypervisor and cloud management software. With 12 years in the business, Silverglate has developed an innate knowledge of hardware available on the market. Options including 1U rackmount, 2U blade and 8U blade chassis will be discussed, as well as specific metrics like cost per GB of RAM, cost per kw and price per U; all of which factor into the viability of a host's cloud. Jason will also cover network options, such as 1Gbps, 10Gbps, Infiniband and Fiber Channel. Cloud storage and IOP (I/O Operations per second), which is a key metric for cloud performance will be discussed and Jason will enlighten the audience on various storage solutions available on the market. With more than a year of internal testing under the Company's belt, Jason will share his own experience on Hypervisor selection and discuss options such as XenServer, XenSource, Vmware ESX, KVM, HyperV and VMware ESXi. Cloud management systems including Cloud.com, ONapp, Abiqiuo and Enomaly will also be reviewed and discussed during the presentation. DedicatedNOW is also exhibiting at HostingCon 2010. The Company's senior management will be on-site throughout the exhibition at booth #106. Jason will be available during the conference to cover questions about cloud infrastructure and dedicated hosting. Attendees are urged to visit the DedicatedNOW booth to meet with DedicatedNOW's staff and enter for a chance to win a Sony Dash. The Dash is Sony's latest innovation - a personal internet viewer capable of running more that 1,000 free apps over Wi-Fi. For more information about DedicatedNOW, visit the Company's website at dedicatednow.com, call 888.734.9320 or visit booth #106. "This award not only highlights DedicatedNow's well-earned reputation for quality and stellar growth, but also continued emergence as a leader in the Managed Hosting and Managed Service industry," said Mr. Shelton Walker, Managing Director, Top10DedicatedHosting. Since 2003, DedicatedNOW has led the dedicated hosting industry by providing comprehensive management of Dedicated Servers. With an emphasis on customized solutions and adaptive customer support. DedicatedNOW leverages its partnerships and redundant network to provide unparalleled performance for its customers. He added that by offering cutting edge technologies, industry-leading customer service and comprehensive dedicated web server solutions, DedicatedNow has become a front-runner in the global managed hosting market. "The success of DedicatedNOW's 100% uptime in 2009 is due to our investment in data center infrastructure, engineering support, and backbone providers," said Josh Ewin, Director of Sales and Marketing at DedicatedNOW. "Our multi-homed network is fueled by premium tier 1 carriers such as Sprint, Saavis, Telia, NLayer, Global Crossing, and Level3." Additionally, DedicatedNOW uses redundant power systems including an inline power backup, using industry standard Liebert UPS systems and onsite Caterpillar generators. "Our facility is safeguarded by redundant Libert CRAC units that are kept at an optimal temperature to ensure hardware and network components are consistently running properly," said Jason Silverglate, CEO. "And our cooling systems offer an accurate and reliable control of humidity, airflow, and room temperature that improves the working conditions for delicate electronic equipment." "DedicatedNOW's network runs on our own dark fiber ring connecting our two redundant pops in 111 8th NYC and 165 Halsey (Equinix) NJ," said Silverglate. "Our core consists of Dual Cisco 6509 SUP720-3BXL routers, fully meshed to multiple aggregation switches for maximum uptime." DedicatedNOW encourages current and prospective customers to view the data center. Visitors can also test DedicatedNOW's fast network connection by using visiting http://speed.fortressitx.com/ or using IP address 65.98.0.42 to ping the network. "With enterprise class reliability and performance DedicatedNOW's Managed Hosting division has provided cost effective solutions since 2003. The Company has exceeded industry level standards of management and support," said Mr. Shelton Walker, Managing Director, Top10DedicatedHosting.com. The veteran hosting company is no stranger to the managed hosting market. With the launch of its all-Intel managed server line in 2008, DedicatedNOW gained notoriety for its managed services. Over the course of the past two years, the Company has earned many awards, including FindMyHost.com's "Editor's Choice" Award for Managed Hosting. According to CEO Jason Silverglate, "when we created our managed server line, we canvassed our client base and industry professionals to get a real sense of what our clients and prospective clients would need for a complete managed dedicated server package. By leveraging vendor relationships, we were able to offer better service, more features and a better overall value proposition to our hosting customers". The relationships Silverglate is referring to include R1Soft and Applicure Technologies among others. "Bundling in services like R1's backup and Applicure's dotDefender WAF product made our offering much more enticing to prospective clients," boasts Silveglate. The Company includes 50Gb of backup using R1Soft's CDP (continuous data protection) which, as Jason points out, includes the MySQL hot restore feature - very useful if you have a database driven website. Also included (on servers with the cPanel control panel) with each managed server, is a fully licensed version of the dotDefender Web Application Firewall. Other freebies include KVM over IP, round the clock monitoring and the Company's 100% Uptime guarantee. The Company's new managed server line provides a wide-range of servers and includes many options and available features. "With our new server line, we wanted to make DedicatedNOW's server management accessible to smaller companies and startups while still being a viable option for performance-focused enterprises", noted Silverglate. With the launch of the new product line, DedicatedNOW reduced the price of its entry-level servers, while adding in the Xeon 5620 and X5650 CPU options, which include eight and twelve CPU cores, respectively. DedicatedNOW's new managed server lineup is available for purchase from the company's website. For more information, please visit www.dedicatednow.com. "We have a broad range of specials that DedicatedDollars.com affiliates can use to attract new customers to DedicatedNOW," says Josh Ewin, Director of Sales and Marketing. "Thousands of businesses, organizations, and resellers use dedicated server hosting so we make sure we have very attractive offers available for affiliates to use that result in higher conversions." Since registration for DedicatedDollars.com began last November, DedicatedNOW has experienced a 30% larger response from affiliate marketers than originally estimated. One reason for the increase in response is due to the extensive support DedicatedDollars.com affiliates receive in their efforts to attract visitors and make conversions. "DedicatedDollars.com is a full service affiliate program, with keyword tools, custom landing pages and ads, and resources for beginner through advanced affiliate marketers," says Ewin. "Our marketers are not left stranded on their own - another big problem with some affiliate programs is identifying which affiliate marketer sent a visitor to the site and initiated that sale. DedicatedDollars.com uses 120-day cookies as well as IP-based tracking to make sure every marketer gets properly credited and paid." Another reason for the high registration and satisfaction of DedicatedDollars.com affiliates is the unrestricted payment structure. There is no limit on earnings, like there is with some other programs in the dedicated hosting industry. Affiliates can also choose from a variety of available payment options, including Paypal. "Our affiliates are important to us, and we want to make the relationship as beneficial to both sides as possible," says Ewin. "Affiliates can earn up to 125% of a sale, and receive an instant commission alerts right to their desktop. We have put a lot of time, resources, and well-planned development into this program to make it the best affiliate program in the industry ." DedicatedNOW offers affiliates ten specials ranging from one month of free dedicated server hosting to super competitive deals on high-end managed servers. Additional specials include feature-packed dedicated server hosting plans, complete with Managed support and backup options at low monthly rates. DedicatedNOW, Inc. is a privately owned, multi-million dollar corporation located in Clifton, New Jersey and founded in 1997. DedicatedNOW provides managed and unmanaged dedicated web hosting services to thousands of satisfied customers. DedicatedNOW delivers cutting-edge hosting solutions to meet the requirements of small and medium sized businesses, large scale corporations, and individuals. Customers rely on DedicatedNOW for reliable, secure and value-rich services such as dedicated servers, managed hosting, complex hosting, cloud hosting, reseller and colocation hosting. DedicatedNOW's servers are located in a state-of-the-art data center in Clifton, New Jersey. At present, the data center incorporates more than 7,500 sq. ft. of raised floor space. In addition, DedicatedNOW boasts over 5,000 sq. ft. of corporate office space including conference rooms, a reception area, and staff facilities. "This will be our second major revision in the past eight months for the website. As a player within a space as competitive as managed hosting, we do everything possible to provide best of breed services, so we need a website that lives up to that expectation," says Jason Silverglate, CEO of DedicatedNOW. The previous DedicatedNOW.com website was launched back in July of 2008, along with the Company's new Managed hosting products and services. With a focus on their new product launch, the July facelift was heavily geared towards promoting the Company's new servers and services. In addition to the new look and products, DedicatedNOW also launched out their proprietary billing system with the July release. "We released the last website on the opening day of HostingCon '08. The new website was massively instrumental in pushing the Managed product line," mentions Josh Ewin, VP of Sales & Marketing. Ewin continues, "The new DedicatedNOW look didn't include just the website. We wanted a total facelift for the brand. All of our creative was updated to the new look and feel of the DedicatedNOW brand." While the release of the latest version of the DedicatedNOW website does not treat visitors to a new look and feel, it provides superior functionality and performance. "The new DedicatedNOW website is focused on usability and accessibility across all major operating systems and browsers, as well as meeting the Web Accessibility Initiative and Section 508 of the Federal Government's guidelines for creating accessible websites" says SEO analyst and consultant to DedicatedNOW, Franki Nguyen of TN3 Productions in Australia. "Since the release of the new website, we've seen increased conversions, better search rankings and have had some terrific feedback from customers and visitors alike," Nguyen continues. With the removal of functionally superfluous items like flash and some scripting, the DedicatedNOW team has seen substantial gains in productivity from the website. As dedicatednow.com is constantly in flux, much like the Internet itself, the Company is constantly updating instructional content, photos and products on the website. DedicatedNOW plans the release of several new hosting products and services during the second quarter this year and will use the dedicatednow.com web presence as a platform to introduce them to the market. Since 2003, DedicatedNOW has led the dedicated hosting industry by providing comprehensive management of dedicated servers. With an emphasis on customized solutions and adaptive customer support, DedicatedNOW leverages its partnerships and redundant network to provide unparallelled performance for its customers. DedicatedNOW has carved out a niche for itself within the web hosting industry as a leading provider of managed dedicated servers, providing comprehensive solutions to todays complex IT challenges. "Our relationship with Applicure and offering dotDefender with each of our servers, by default, is a natural fit. Now, through DedicatedNOW, reseller hosting companies not only have 24/7 access to our Dynamic Support, server class hardware and redundant network - but they also have a valuable tool (dotDefender) which they can use to differentiate themselves in this widely undifferentiated market," says Jason Silverglate, CEO of DedicatedNOW. Yaacov Sherban, CEO of Applicure, commented,"DedicatedNOW and Applicure have each attained leadership positions in our respective markets by providing great products and services at affordable prices. Our partnership further validates Applicure's technology and market strategy for the hosting marketplace. We look forward to working with DedicatedNOW to ensure that hosting providers can offer their customers a compelling reason to acheive enterprise-class security and improved compliance." Applicure Technologies develops the leading multi-platform web application security software solution for hosting companies that protect web servers and internal applications from external and internal attacks. Built upon years of research into hacker behavior, Applicure solutions feature a comprehensive knowledge base to identify attacks accurately, and stop them before they reach the website or application. Since 2003, DedicatedNOW has led the dedicated hosting industry by providing comprehensive management of dedicated servers. With an emphasis on customized solutions and adaptive customer support, DedicatedNOW leverages its partnerships and redundant network to provide unparalleled performance for its customers. The DedicatedNOW network runs on its own dark fiber ring, connecting two redundant pops in NYC and (Equinix) NJ. Each fiber leg is capable of handling the entire network's traffic in case of a failure. In addition, each leg can upgraded to provide transport capacities up to 320Gbps, totaling 640Gbps of available transport capacity. The core consists of Dual Cisco 6509 SUP720 Routers, fully meshed to multiple aggregation switches for maximum uptime. DedicatedNOW is the premier provider of managed dedicated hosting and collocation. Backed and managed by industry experts, the company leverages its industry expertise and proprietary applications to drive consistency, availability, performance and security. Located in Clifton, New Jersey, DedicatedNOW leverages a modular, flexible, building block approach to deliver customized support and management. The company's services include dedicated hosting, collocation, customized hosting support, monitoring, high availability infrastructure planning, load balancing and clustering solutions. For more information visit the DedicatedNOW web site at www.dedicatednow.com.

2019-04-25T18:10:21Z

http://dedicatednow.com/?about-news=

About three years ago we launched a new website with a new logo. At The/Studio we are never satisfied and always striving to become better, so we decided to improve our logo more than a year ago. Although our websites is definitely one of the better sites for custom products, we don’t judge ourselves based on other companies within the industry, but rather we judge ourselves against amazing brands that we aspire to one day be compared to such as Nike, or Starbucks. In early January we decided to redo our website and we decided to work with a designer that we had worked with in the past. However, the project was a complete disaster. The designer just couldn’t get a design together that would make it worth the effort of redoing the entire website again. We have been through website redesigns before, and it is an extremely involved process that requires an enormous amount of resources. We decided to start looking for another design firm. My assistant and me literally emailed and spoke to over one hundred different design firms. What we realized was that not only did we need to redo our website, but we really needed to redo our entire branding. If we wanted our customers, other companies and the media to truly respect who we were and the ambitions of our company, we felt that it was important to refresh our entire branding. We went through the same process of pouring over hundreds of branding and design firms, and we had another epiphany. It was also necessary that we actually work with all of the managers in the company and decide who we were, who we have become and what we want to be. We felt that without this document it would be very difficult for us to effectively work with a design company. This is what we came up with. Our brand is our promise to our customers and also defines the expectations that we have for our staff and vendors. Our brand will not be strong unless the entire organization understands and embraces these principles. In addition we see this initial document as an opportunity to remake ourselves and insist on perfection throughout the organization. We are focused on creating a complete platform that allows customers to produce fashion quality custom apparel and accessories. We put all of our resources into building a community of people with ideas, designers to design, factories to bring to life those ideas, our staff to ensure a frictionless process and the support of consumers that believe the world is made more interesting when ideas are turned into products. The/Studio is revolutionizing how people design, manufacture, and sell custom apparel and accessories. Fashion will no longer be dictated by large corporations in distant board rooms. We believe that fashion should represent the pure expression of the communities that you belong to. The/Studio will continuously build tools to empower communities to make custom apparel and accessories that inspire them. We won‘t rest until individuals can create an entire line of apparel, fire departments can reinvent their uniforms, sports teams can create custom gifts for their fans, companies and organizations can communicate their image. All achievable through The/Studio’s ever-growing infrastructure of world-class designers, cutting edge production machines, and game-changing community sales platforms. Currently if someone wants to make a truly custom product there are numerous barriers to doing this. One option is to go to a site such as CafePress or Zazzle. But they don’t offer true customization, and the quality is inferior. They only offer printing on already manufactured products. Another option is to use Alibaba, but Alibaba is notorious for having a very poor user interface, and even if you can get an answer from the factory its almost impossible to produce small quantities, and good communication is lacking at best. Also when dealing with factories from abroad there are true risks of poor quality and sometimes outright fraud. The other option is to find smaller US companies that produce particular products such as custom caps. They also tend to have higher minimum order requirements, their user experience is not good, and they only offer one or a few products instead of an entire platform to produce apparel and accessories. If the customer is not a designer or doesn’t have access to a designer, then they can’t even participate in the ability to make a product. Our solution is to gain a loyal and expanding group of customers that want to make custom products and provide them with a user friendly platform to create these products. The manufacturers we work with generally won’t agree to do small orders, but because our platform is efficient and we can provide them with consistent business, they are able to profitably build out production lines to produce highly customized orders. Because of technology the trends in both China and the US point towards factories becoming smaller and more nimble which benefits our model. There is a trend towards consumers moving away from mass manufactured products made by large brands. We will create a community that helps individuals and businesses easily make products, while at the same time creating an online space for consumers interested in these products. Our dream is for anyone in the world to be able to produce and design fashion quality custom apparel and accessories and eventually other products using their computer, or phone. If someone has an idea and the desire to be successful we will have the resources in place to make their project successful. Currently we are only able to manufacture products that are simple, but we will expand our offerings to be able to support complex products. We want to also build out online and offline communities that will give our customers the ability to sell their products as soon as they are produced, and to also open channels to larger retailers and boutiques where our customers can also sell their products. An extensive custom product line that covers virtually all apparel and accessory products. A group of high quality 3rd party designers that can make a living on our site. Pop up stores or perhaps even permanent stores in the US or Asia that showcase products made within our community. A household name amongst fashion designers. Our shopping site will become a destination for people to find unique products. World class ERP and CRM system that handles every aspect of the production process. -We have a dedicated technical team updating our T/S system on a weekly basis. Our ultimate goal is to make a seamless process for custom manufacturing. -The goal is to make custom manufacturing as easy as an Amazon transaction. However, when we fall short of that expectation we have a knowledgeable and helpful sales and customer service team which our customers can rely on when there are issues. We realize that no matter how optimized our systems are, sometimes there are problems with manufacturing and we are always there to help. -One of the pillars of our community is creating a market for our customer’s products whether it be through crowd sourcing tools to help them better distribute their products, or through online shopping portals, pop up stores and permanent stores that we will use to help them promote their products. -We stand behind our products. We will do unlimited design and sample revisions free of charge until the customer is satisfied. Furthermore, if the product does not match the quality of the original sample that was approved we will redo the order free of charge or offer a full refund. -We truly care about small businesses, entrepreneurs and small organizations. We go out of our way to think of ways to benefit our customers, even if we don’t make money on the project or even lose money on the project. At our heart we are also a small business, and come form very humble roots and we will never forget that. Partner: To all people with great ideas, we are here to help you create your own identity. We solve every barrier to making a successful custom product, from helping our customer with the design, manufacturing and distribution of the product. If there are ever any issues we have a dedicated team to solve any issue during the process. In fact every customer will receive an email from the CEO, President, Senior Project Manager and Operations Director ensuring that their order is going smoothly. Efficient: The/Studio system can make your purchasing experience easy and efficient. Trustworthy: We promise that all our products meet the “fashion quality” standards. If customers are not 100% satisfied, we redo it for free and offer a full refund if needed. Revolutionary: We want to change the world of custom manufacturing. We want to take the power away from large corporations and completely change how individuals and organizations design, produce and sell apparel and accessories. Fashionable: Everything that we do whether it be the design of our website, our email signature or the quality of our product, we try to maintain an awareness of design and fashion. We are that weird person sitting at a restaurant, that captivates everyone through their expressions and dress. Entrepreneurial: we encourage individuals to establish their own brand by offering them necessary resources in custom manufacturing. Make the impossible possible: This is the spirit that we admire and we hope everyone in our organization develop this trait. American: Most people associate manufacturing with Asia. Although we do a lot of our manufacturing in Asia, we also do some in the United States. Furthermore, we infuse our systems, processes and partners with American values of transparency, reliability, honesty, good quality, at an affordable price. We want the conversation with our customer to create the feeling that we are having a conversation with a long term partner. Always extremely helpful and supportive, professional but not too formal. Our target market is anyone that believes they have an idea for a product that other people would enjoy receiving or buying. Based on this we made a decision that we would subtly focus on Indie fashion brands. First we believe that if our branding is good enough for a fashion designer, and our product good enough for a fashion brand, then it will be good enough for everyone. Secondly we believe that whether they are a fashion brand or not, they are still making a fashion item. A police officer ordering a patch for her police department is not ordering a patch, she is ordering something for her entire unit to wear with pride; this is fashion. Another market that we target are small businesses and entrepreneurs. We hope that our platform inspires them to create and enables their success. A full 61% of our current customers are between the age of 18 to 34, which is the most connected and tech savvy group of consumers. The next largest segment is 35 to 44 which makes up another 15.5% of our customer base. Totally 76.5% of our customers are from highly technically savvy generations. We believe that our emphasis on simplicity and efficiency will play well with this demographic. 45% of our customers are women and 55% are men. Therefore we believe its in our best interests to remain gender neutral in our voice. We are an American owned and registered S Corporation. Although we have offices in Asia, and Europe we derive most of our corporate culture from our American roots. This includes a balance between design and efficiency. A focus on hard work and measuring staff based on performance. Having an extremely customer focused culture to a fault. A celebration of the entrepreneur and the person that wants to be individualistic and do something different. American values of transparency, trust, and commitment. The/Studio operates in the United States, Philippines, China and Romania. We truly believe that all people and cultures can contribute amazing things to our company and to the world. Anyone in the company can become an executive manager regardless of nationality, gender or religion. Their ability to work with others, perform and execute the companies vision will define their success in our organization. Over 80% of our staff members are of Asian descent. We don’t look at Asia as a place for cheap labor. We look at Asia as the most vibrant and dynamic economy in the world today, and we are honored to be a part of this transformation. Our goal is to develop leaders of all nationalities to unify around the goal of democratizing custom manufacturing. We also have not forgotten our American roots. The US is still our largest market and in terms of dollars spent we spend the most amount of money with American suppliers. We will also be strengthening our Made in America product offerings. The/Studio is a global company. We will go anywhere where there is a market, or production infrastructure, and we will set up offices anywhere where we think we can hire talent that will help us pursue our mission statement. At The/Studio we truly want to change the way fashion is manufactured. We believe in the doctrine of 1% better everyday. We are constantly having discussions about how we can improve. We try to do everything with perfection. We truly believe in a true meritocracy. All managers including the CEO , Operations Director, President and CTO sit with the entire team in an open space. This may seem superficial but the idea is that everyone in the organization is equal, just with different roles and levels of responsibility. Literally 50% of our managers are women and our management team is mixed amongst people from different countries, and religions. We don’t do this deliberately. We just try to hire the best people, and let them succeed and that just means we naturally have a very diverse office. Most of our staff has the opportunity to earn bonuses which incentivizes them to make the correct and quick decisions for our clients. We are working on a pilot program in our Shenzhen office to share some of the profit with the production manager. We feel that eventually this pilot program will help us to rapidly scale our company by giving more control to managers. We have discussed launching a program to allow staff that has been with the company for 5 or more years to present a business plan to upper management, work with them on improving their business plan, and even offering funding if the business model is solid. We are also having discussions amongst upper managers to at least think about moving outside of big city centers to provide a more relaxed environment for our team and lower real estate prices will allow home ownership to be easier. All staff in the company is encouraged to question its leaders. The only thing that is sacred is trying to make custom design and manufacturing simple. Anything that gets in the way of this should be challenged. We have flexible working environments. Around 10% of our workforce works remotely from home, and the emphasis is less on punctuality rather than on accomplishing goals. In the future we would also like to be more active in planning team building events. https://www.harrys.com – We appreciate how Harry’s has turned a very mundane product (shaving) into a lifestyle brand. https://www.airbnb.com – We admire how AirBnB has curated a diverse group of listings into a global community. https://www.uber.com – We respect the ease in which Uber can be used. -I think we are doing similar things as Ikea does, they offer “affordable designer furniture”, we offer “Affordable stylish custom apparel and accessories. -Ikea concept: Doing it a different way. The/Studio was founded in 2006 by Joseph Heller in his loft apartment, in Shenzhen, China. He would work at night to interface with customers in the United States, and sleep upstairs during the day, while his secretary would work downstairs during the day to deal with factories. Joseph graduated from UC Berkeley and came to China in 2005 to teach English. He stumbled across the opportunity to sell embroidered patches and started The/Studio. The/Studio’s competitors treated the embroidered patch market as a commodity and their bland websites reflected this approach. Joseph saw each embroidered patch as an expression, and a tapestry of modern day history. The/Studio became a rebel in this sleepy industry by taking an approach of making demands on the factory based on customer requirements rather than accepting the rigid industry standards that were put in place for decades. Previously minimum orders were as high as 1,000 pieces, and there were a lot of other rules in place for how a patch had to be produced and the materials used to produce a patch. Joseph only had 20 orders per month in the beginning, and he demanded that any factory that wanted to work with The/Studio had to accept orders as low as 1 piece, and had to produce the patch exactly the way the customer wanted it, with the material the customer wanted. Joseph was even kicked out of one factory for his audacious demands. Dozens of factories told Joseph that they wouldn’t produce one patch, but Joseph was convinced that if the customer wanted it the factories should produce it. The factories said they could only offer a few different options for patches. The/Studio launched dozens of new special options to decorate our patches, and promised our customers, that if they imagined something, The/Studio would figure out a way to create it.Everyone was managing orders through emails, spreadsheets and other rudimentary and outdated technology. The/Studio was the first company in our industry to create a CRM/ERP system that would manage the entire process. When we entered the industry the standard turnaround time for a patch was 6 to 8 weeks. We have now reduced that turnaround time to 4 to 21 days. The/Studio eventually became the largest supplier of custom embroidered patches, and finally we decided that we wanted to take our methodology of low minimums, quick turnaround time, unlimited special options and an optimized ordering process to other custom products.We first built a new and improved CRM/ERP system that we affectionately call The/Studio Factory Cloud. This would allow us to scale the business and maintain the same level of consistency and speed across all of our product categories. Even after we launched The/Studio Factory Cloud, which is superior to what any of our competitors have, we continued to get customer and employee feedback on how to improve the system, and we make weekly updates. In 2014 we launched our second product which was custom woven labels, and we later launched custom challenge coins. Starting in 2015 The/Studio will launch a total of 18 new products, and we will launch a total of 72 different custom products in 2016. The first and only product that we produced for the first 8 years of our existence was custom embroidered patches. It is significant that The/Studio’s first product was not printed promotional products or custom printed t-shirts, because these products are not truly manufactured products. Embroidered patches are products that are manufactured from scratch. Our roots are in manufacturing, which means that instead of looking at limitations, we only see an opportunity to create something truly unique and beautiful.

2019-04-22T06:43:06Z

https://www.thestudio.com/blog/rebranding-of-thestudio/

Extractions: Spider Venom All spiders, with the exception of two very small families, have poison glands. The spider’s venom is used to kill their pray. All spiders are exclusively carnivorous and generally prey only on live animals. Spiders chiefly dine on insects. Preying on mosquitoes, for example, makes the spider beneficial in the control of mosquito-borne disease such as encephalitis. Some spider species are used to help control insects from destroying grain crops such as wheat. Spiders use their venom as a means to gain food and for defense. The vast majority of spiders do not produce venom virulent enough to harm humans. Too, spiders are timid creatures and bite and inject venom only in self-defense. Most spiders will run away as fast as they can, however, if felt cornered or in the protection of their young, they will bit humans. Includes color photos, scientific names, common names, a description, and information about the behavior, Category Kids and Teens School Time Invertebrates SpidersAll about black widow spiders, includes color photos, scientific names,common names, description, behavior, range, habitats and life cycle. HABITAT black widow spiders are common around wood piles, and are frequentlyencountered when homeowners carry firewood into the house. Extractions: Contact: Eric Day, Manager, Insect Identification Laboratory August 1996 Araneae: Theridiidae, Latrodectus mactans SIZE: About 1 1/2 inches (38mm) long, 1/4 inch (6.4mm) in diameter COLOR: Usually shiny black DESCRIPTION: The female is usually black with a red spot or hourglass- shaped mark on its round abdomen. The male usually has light streaks on its abdomen. HABITAT: Black widow spiders are common around wood piles, and are frequently encountered when homeowners carry firewood into the house. Also found under eaves, in boxes, outdoor toilets, meter boxes, and other unbothered places. TYPE OF DAMAGE: The black widow is not aggressive. It will, however, bite instinctively when touched or pressed. CONTROL: Be very careful when working around areas where black widow spiders may be established. Take proper precautions-wear gloves and pay attention to where you are working. Black widow bites are sharp and painful, and the victim should go to the doctor immediately for treatment. To control the black widow, carefully remove all materials where they might hide. They can be cleaned out of an area simply by knocking down the webs, spiders, and round tan egg sacs with a stick and crushing them underfoot. INTERESTING FACTS: The female eats the male after mating. She hangs belly upward and rarely leaves the web. Extractions: Eggs of widow spiders are laid in an egg sack, attached to the web of the mother. The sack is pear shaped, and creamy yellow, light gray, or light brown in color. About 200 eggs may be laid in an egg sack and females may produce several egg sacks if conditions are favorable. Where do you find black widows? Widow spiders prefer to nest near the ground, in dark, undisturbed areas. Nest sites often are near holes produced by small animals, or around construction openings and wood piles. Low shrubs also are common sites for widows to occur. Indoors, widows similarly occur in dark, undisturbed sites such as behind furniture or under desks. Undisturbed basement areas and crawl spaces of homes are also used by nesting widow spiders. What are the symptoms of poisoning by widow spiders? Extractions: Items ... www.kill-fireants.com Black Widow Spider BIOLOGY OF SPIDERS SPIDER ELIMINATION Araneae: Theridiidae, Latrodectus mactans The female black widow spider rarely leaves her web. The web she constructs is an irregular, tangled, cris Egg sacs are pear shaped (or oval), brown, papery and about ½ inch long. They hold from 25 to 900 or more eggs, which have an incubation period of 20 days. The spiderlings disperse shortly after emerging, tearing an opening in the egg sac and stay near the sac. After several hours, these second instar spiderlings balloon to the ground and scatter. Growth requires two to three months, with older females dying in autumn after egg laying. Of all spiders, the Black Widow is the most feared. The female’s venom is especially poisonous to people. Despite its reputation, this spider often attempts to escape rather than bite, unless it is guarding an egg mass or if it is cornered and pressed. The male black widow will not bite you. After mating, the female sometimes eats the male (remember, she only has to mate once in her life), earning the name "widow." During the period shortly following mating and laying of eggs, the female black widow can be a little cranky and hungry. After this period (if he lives through it!) the male lives quite comfortably, eating prey captured by the female. The development of his venom sacs stop and become inactive as the male matures, thus making him less of a potential problem than his female counterpart. Black Widow Spiders -- General Exterminating, Inc. Extractions: INTRODUCTION: These spiders get their common name from the popular belief that the female eats the male after mating, a phenomenon which rarely happens in nature. The genus Latrodectus is worldwide in distribution, with 5 species occurring in the United States. Recognition of the genus is sufficient for PCO purposes. RECOGNITION: Young spiders primarily orange and white but acquire more and more black as they mature, with markings very similar to those of males. With 1 or 2 reddish markings on underneath side of abdomen. REPRESENTATIVE SPECIES: Identification to species is left to experts since several species are involved and species separation is based primarily on differences in the male gentalia. Although a very brief description based on female coloration is given below, it must be realized that color and markings are not always reliable characteristics for separation of these species and that males are usually colored and marked quite differently. 1. Latrodectus bishopi Kaston, the red widow. Cephalothorax reddish, abdomen black with reddish to organish spots outlined by white, red marks on venter, and legs reddish; occurs only in central and southern Florida. 2. Latrodectus geometicus (Fabricius), the brown widow. Color brownish with white and black brown markings, abdomen with red hourglass mark, legs banded/ringed; occurs only in southern Florida. Extractions: William F. Lyon Common Name Scientific Name Black Widow Spider Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius) Northern Widow Spider Latrodectus variolus (Walckenaer) Both the black widow spider and northern widow spider are present in Ohio. The black widow spider is found primarily in the southern Ohio counties whereas the northern widow spider is found in the northern Ohio counties. Most occur outdoors and are not aggressive unless confined or disturbed. Females are more likely to bite when guarding an egg sac. Reports indicate that mortality from bites is the result of one percent or less of the cases, usually occurring in very young or very old individuals. With healthy people, recovery is usually complete in 2 to 5 days. However, this spider is considered the most venomous spider in North America. Adult black widow spiders have shiny, jet black, rounded, globular abdomens with two reddish or yellowish triangles on the underside which form a characteristic hourglass marking. Adult female northern widow spiders are shiny black or brown-black with two reddish triangles on the underside, resembling a split hourglass. These spiders are about 1/2-inch long, not including the legs (about 1-1/2 inches when legs are spread). Adult males are harmless, about half the female's size, with smaller bodies, longer legs and usually have yellow and red bands and spots over the back as do the immature stages. Newly hatched spiderlings are predominately white or yellowish-white, gradually acquiring more black and varying amounts of red and white with each molt. Juveniles of both sexes resemble the male and are harmless. Imported car shifter knobs with genuine Australian black widow spiders encased inside in a life like stance. Extractions: Newly hatched black widows are white with black spots on their abdomens with a cream colored hourglass. Later as they mature they become cream and brown-striped. The black widow requires about 4 months from egg to maturity with the females going through six to nine molts. Over their one to two year life span the females produce several egg sacs, each containing several hundred eggs. Female black widows guard the sac, which resembles a silken cocoon, until the eggs hatch. During this time she is most likely to bite when threatened. Eggs are most frequently encountered from May to October. Urban Integrated Pest Management. Black Widow Spiders. From RL Smith,1982. Venomous Animals of Arizona. The University of Arizona. Extractions: From: R.L. Smith, 1982. Venomous Animals of Arizona. The University of Arizona. Warning: The bite of a "black widow" spider can be life-threatening. If you or someone in your care has been bitten by a "black widow" spider, obtain professional medical assistance as soon as possible. No emergency first aid procedures are recommended for "black widow" spider bites (see first aid instructions Description: The common name black widow spider specifically belongs to the eastern species Latrodectus mactans , which does not occur in Arizona. Latrodectus hesperus , our species, is very similar to the true black widow. The adult female has a shiny black (occasionally dark brown) body approximately 1.5 cm long and slim black legs with a span of about 4 cm. The most famous and easily distinguishable characteristic of this species is the bright red hourglass-shaped marking on the underside of the bulbous female abdomen (Figure 11). Immature females have red, brown, and cream-colored markings on the dorsal surface of the abdomen (Figure 12), and a cream-colored hourglass. Males are much smaller than adult females (about 1/20 the size) and, like immature females, are patterned with red, brown, and cream (Figure 13). Extractions: Black Widow Spiders are extremely poisonous arachnids (not insects). Their venom is 15 times as poisonous as the venom of the prairie rattlesnake . These venomous spiders are found in warm and temperate climates all around the world. They live in dark places, in drain pipes, under logs and rocks, etc. in North America from Florida and California to southern Canada. Their bite rarely kills humans. The female will sometimes eat the smaller male after mating. She will lay 300-400 eggs. The spiderlings (baby spiders) are not poisonous but they are cannibals, eating each other. Diet : Black Widows eat flies, moths, crickets, small reptiles and other small animals. Their fangs inject venom and digestive juices into the prey. This kills the prey and also liquifies its flesh, letting the spider eat it easily. Anatomy : Females (about 1 1/2 inches across) have a black body with a distinctive red hourglass shape on the underside of the abdomen. Males are smaller (about 3/4 inch across) with longer legs and red and yellow markings. The females are much more poisonous than the males. Black Widows have a two-part body, strong jaws, poisonous fangs, and a hard exoskeleton. Webs : Black Widow Spiders use silk to make tangled-looking webs, usually near the ground in dark places. The tips of the spider's legs are oily; this oil keeps them from getting trapped in their own webs. black widow spiders are very numerous. 1994. The Black Widow Spider, PB1193, Universityof Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service. Lacy, M. 1997. Spiders. Extractions: glossy black. The underside of the abdomen has a distinct red or orange hourglass shape in the southern black widow. Males and immatures have similar markings. Immature individuals are orange and white and will become more black with each molt (Lacy 1997). The markings on the underside of the immature's abdomen may be red and are variable in shape and often not joined (Lacy 1997). Males have whitish markings (streaks, bars or dots) on the top side of the abdomen and red triangular markings on the underside. In the northern black widow, the hourglass appears split in the middle. The northern widow has a row of red spots along the central, top of the abdomen (Hedges and Lacy 1995). The southern black widow prefers dark, sheltered areas. In nature, they construct their webs in hollow logs and under loose bark or stones, in small trees and under bushes. Man has provided additional suitable habitat in the form of crawl spaces under houses, firewood piles, under boards, under furniture, inside boxes, seldom worn shoes, behind and under debris, drainage pipes, false ceiling areas, out-houses, sheds, barns, well houses and root cellars. Northern black widows tend to make their webs in the branches of trees. Spiders. Spiders, spider control, brown recluse, black widow, spider webs. Click onthe picture Black widow spider For more information on black widow spiders. Extractions: Feel free to call 1-800-476-3368 if you have any questions! Spiders are considered a beneficial insect because of their prey to other insects. However their are two North American species that are dangerous to humans: Black Widow and Brown Recluse. Most spiders are harmless, but we do include recommended treatment and products at the end of the section. BLACK WIDOW The female has a shiny black, globular abdomen with two yellow or red markings in a triangle shape. It looks like a hourglass. Males are smaller, lighter in color, with light streaks on the abdomen. The web is irregular, many times found along exterior foundations on slabs, under stones and rocks, behind shrubs .They usually don't into structures .They will bite if provoked. The bite feels like a sharp pain ,like a needle puncture. After 15 minutes to an hour there will be muscular cramps. Bites are rarely fatal, but you should seek medical attention. Click on the picture: For more information on black widow spiders. Spider News and Research. AUSTRAILIAN SPIDERS ARE HEADING TO SPACE. Unlikesilk worms, spiders are too antisocial to farm successfully. Extractions: SPIDER DNA TO ASSIST IN PRODUCTION OF CARBON FIBER A goat that produces spider's web protein is about to revolutionise the materials industry. Stronger and more flexible than steel, spider silk offers a lightweight alternative to carbon fibre. Up to now it has been impossible to produce "spider fibre" on a commercial scale. Unlike silk worms, spiders are too anti-social to farm successfully. Now a Canadian company claims to be on the verge of producing unlimited quantities of spider silk - in goat's milk. Using techniques similar to those used to produce Dolly the sheep, scientists at Nexia Biotechnologies in Quebec have bred goats with spider genes. 0 Lesson Plans, 0 Books, 0 Software. 0 Maps, 0 Videos, Find 'black widow spiders'books. Home/Environment/Animals/Zoology/Insects/Arachnids black widow spiders (3). Extractions: TelCom Services Teachers - Receive a second year of Lesson Planet for FREE! ... by choosing our Smart Saver Long Distance Program Top Sites this Week Science: Middle School Physical Science Resource Center Math: Project Interactive Social Science: America at War - Time for Kids Language Arts: International Children's Digital Library Project: Stay Safe Online Lesson Plan: Ready.gov from the Department of Homeland Security Top Sites Archives Educational News Schools Seek to Reassure in Wartime Special Education May Get Overhaul Make-A-Wish Foundation Helps Sick Student Go to College privacy Found websites and other resources for ' black widow spiders. Lesson Plans Books Software Maps ... Videos Find 'black widow spiders' books Supplies Online Courses Category matches for: ' black widow spiders Home/Environment/Animals/Zoology/Insects/Arachnids Black Widow Spiders (3) Home Environment Animals ... 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2019-04-22T02:01:04Z

http://www.geometry.net/basic_b/black_widow_spiders.php

"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). As these precious words of Christ are pondered by the mind and treasured in the heart, they cannot but produce joy. A rejoicing heart comes from an increasing knowledge of and love for the truth as it is in Jesus. "Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart" (Jer. 15:16). Yes, it is by feeding and feasting upon the words of the Lord that the soul is made fat, and we are made to sing and make melody in our hearts unto Him. "Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy" (Ps. 43:4). As Spurgeon well said, "With what exultation should believers draw near unto Christ, who is the antitype of the altar! Clearer light should give greater intensity of desire. It was not the altar as such that the Psalmist cared for, for he was no believer in the heathenism of ritualism: his soul desired spiritual fellowship, fellowship with God Himself in very deed. What are all the rites of worship unless the Lord be in them; what, indeed, but empty shells and dry husks? Note the holy rapture with which David regards his Lord! He is not his joy alone, but his exceeding joy; not the fountain of joy, the giver of joy, or the maintainer of joy, but that joy itself. The margin has it, "The gladness of my joy"; that is, the soul, the essence, the very affections of my joy." "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no food; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 3:17,18). That is something of which the worldling knows nothing; alas, that it is an experience to which so many professing Christians are strangers! It is in God that the fount of spiritual and everlasting joy originates; from Him it all flows forth. This was acknowledged of old by the Church when she said, "All my springs are in you" (Ps. 87:7). Happy the soul who has been truly taught this secret! 3. We profit from the Word when we are taught the great value of joy. Joy is to the soul what wings are to the bird, enabling us to soar above the things of earth. This is brought out plainly in Nehemiah 8:10: "The joy of the Lord is your strength." The days of Nehemiah marked a turning-point in the history of Israel. A remnant had been freed from Babylon and returned to Palestine. The Law, long ignored by the captives, was now to be established again as the rule of the newly-formed commonwealth. There had come a remembrance of the many sins of the past, and tears not unnaturally mingled with the thankfulness that they were again a nation, having a Divine worship and a Divine Law in their midst. Their leader, knowing full well that if the spirit of the people began to flag they could not face and conquer the difficulties of their position, said to them: "This day is holy unto the Lord: (this feast we are keeping is a day of devout worship; therefore, mourn not), neither be you sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Confession of sin and mourning over the same have their place, and communion with God cannot be maintained without them. Nevertheless, when true repentance has been exercised, and things put right with God, we must forget "those things which are behind" and reach forth unto "those things which are before" (Phil. 3:13). And we can only press forward with alacrity as our hearts are joyful. How heavy the steps of him who approaches the place where a loved one lies cold in death! How energetic his movements as he goes forth to meet his bride! Lamentation unfits for the battles of life. Where there is despair there is no longer power for obedience. If there be no joy, there can be no worship. My dear readers, there are tasks needing to be performed, service to others requiring to be rendered, temptations to be overcome, battles to be fought; and we are only experimentally fitted for them as our hearts are rejoicing in the Lord. If our souls are resting in Christ, if our hearts are filled with a tranquil gladness, work will be easy, duties pleasant, sorrow bearable, endurance possible. Neither contrite remembrance of past failures nor vehement resolutions will carry us through. If the arm is to smite with vigor, it must smite at the bidding of a light heart. Of the Savior Himself it is recorded, "Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame" (Heb. 12:2). 4. We profit from the Word when we attend to the root of joy. The spring of joy is faith: "Now the God of hope fill you with all peace and joy in believing" (Rom. 15:13). There is a wondrous provision in the Gospel, both by what it takes from us and what it brings to us, to give a calm and settled glow to the Christian’s heart. It takes away the load of guilt by speaking peace to the stricken conscience. It removes the dread of God and the terror of death which weighs on the soul while it is under condemnation. It gives us God Himself as the portion of our hearts, as the object of our communion. The Gospel works joy, because the soul is at rest in God. But these blessings become our own only by personal appropriation. Faith must receive them, and when it does so the heart is filled with peace and joy. And the secret of sustained joy is to keep the channel open, to continue as we began. It is unbelief which clogs the channel. If there be but little heat around the bulb of the thermometer, no wonder that the mercury marks so low a degree. If there is a weak faith, joy cannot be strong. Daily do we need to pray for a fresh realization of the preciousness of the Gospel, a fresh appropriation of its blessed contents; and then there will be a renewing of our joy. 5. We profit from the Word when we are careful to maintain our joy. "Joy in the Holy Spirit" is altogether different from a natural buoyancy of Spirit. It is the product of the Comforter dwelling in our hearts and bodies, revealing Christ to us, answering all our need for pardon and cleansing, and so Setting us at peace with God; and forming Christ in us, so that He reigns in our souls, subduing us to His control. There are no circumstances of trial and temptation in which we may refrain from it, for the command is, "Rejoice in the Lord aways." He who gave this command knows all about the dark side of our lives, the sins and sorrows which beset us, the "much tribulation" through which we must enter the kingdom of God. Natural hilarity leaves the woes of our earthly lot out of its reckoning. It soon relaxes in the presence of life’s hard-ships: it cannot survive the loss of friends or health. But the joy to which we are exhorted is not limited to any set of circumstances or type of temperament; nor does it fluctuate with our varying moods and fortunes. The ungodly are ever seeking after joy, but they do not find it: they busy and weary themselves in the pursuit of it, yet all in vain. Their hearts being turned from the Lord, they look downward for joy, where it is not; rejecting the substance, they diligently run after the shadow, only to be mocked by it. It is the sovereign decree of heaven that nothing can make sinners truly happy but God in Christ; but this they will not believe, and therefore they go from creature to creature, from one broken cistern to another, inquiring where the best joy is to be found. Each worldly thing which attracts them says, It is found in me; but soon it disappoints. Nevertheless, they go on seeking it afresh today in the very thing which deceived them yesterday. If after many trials they discover the emptiness of one creature comfort, then they turn to another, only to verify our Lord’s word, "Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again" (John 4:13). Going now to the other extreme: there are some Christians who suppose it to be sinful to rejoice. No doubt many of our readers will be surprised to hear this but let them be thankful they have been brought up in sunnier surroundings, and bear with us while we labor with those less favored. Some have been taught—largely by implication and example, rather than by plain inculcation—that it is their duty to be gloomy. They imagine that feelings of joy are produced by the Devil appearing as an angel of light. They conclude that it is well-near a species of wickedness to be happy in such a world of sin as we are in. They think it presumptuous to rejoice in the knowledge of sins forgiven, and if they see young Christians so doing they tell them it will not be long before they are floundering in the Slough of Despond. To all such we tenderly urge the prayerful pondering of the remainder of this chapter. 1. We profit from the Word when we perceive that joy is a duty. "Rejoice in the Lord aways: and again I say, Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4). The Holy Spirit here speaks of rejoicing as a personal, present and permanent duty for the people of God to carry out. The Lord has not left it to our option whether we should be glad or sad, but has made happiness an obligation. Not to rejoice is a sin of omission. Next time you meet with a radiant Christian, do not chide him, you dwellers in Doubting Castle, but chide yourselves; instead of being ready to call into question the Divine spring of his mirth, judge yourself for your doleful state. It is not a carnal joy which we are here urging, by which we mean a joy which comes from carnal sources. It is useless to seek joy in earthly riches, for frequently they take to themselves wings and fly away. Some seek their joy in the family circle, but that remains entire for only a few years at most. No, if we are to "rejoice evermore" it must be in an object that lasts for evermore. Nor is it a fanatical joy we have reference to. There are some with an excitable nature who are happy only when they are half out of their minds; but terrible is the reaction. No, it is an intelligent, steady, heart delight in God Himself. Every attribute of God, when contemplated by faith, will make the heart sing. Every doctrine of the Gospel, when truly apprehended, will call forth gladness and praise. Joy is a matter of Christian duty. Perhaps the reader is ready to exclaim, My emotions of joy and sorrow are not under my control; I cannot help being glad or sad as circumstances dictate. But we repeat, "Rejoice in the Lord" is a Divine command, and to a large extent obedience to it lies in one’s own power. I am responsible to control my emotions. True I cannot help being sorrowful in the presence of sorrowful thoughts, but I can refuse to let my mind dwell upon them. I can pour out my heart for relief unto the Lord, and cast my burden upon Him. I can seek grace to meditate upon His goodness, His promises, the glorious future awaiting me. I have to decide whether I will go and stand in the light or hide among the shadows. Not to rejoice in the Lord is more than a misfortune, it is a fault which needs to be confessed and forsaken. 2. We profit from the Word when we learn the secret of true joy. That secret is revealed in I John 1 :3,4: Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." When we consider the littleness of our fellowship with God, the shallowness of it, it is not to be wondered at that so many Christians are comparatively joyless. We sometimes sing, "Oh happy day that fixed my choice on You, my Savior and my God! Well may this glowing heart rejoice and tell its raptures all abroad." Yes, but if that happiness is to be maintained there must be a continued steadfast occupation of the heart and mind with Christ. It is only where there is much faith and consequent love that there is much joy. "Rejoice in the Lord aways." There is no other object in which we can rejoice "aways." Everything else varies and is inconstant. What pleases us today may pall on us tomorrow. But the Lord is always the same, to be enjoyed in seasons of adversity as much as in seasons of prosperity. As an aid to this, the very next verse says, "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand" (Phil. 4:5). Be temperate in connection with all external things; do not be taken with them when they seem most pleasing, nor troubled when displeasing. Do not be exalted when the world smiles upon you, nor dejected when it scowls. Maintain a stoical indifference to outward comforts: why be so occupied with them when the Lord Himself "is at hand"? If persecution be violent, if temporal losses be heavy, the Lord is "a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1)—ready to support and support those who cast themselves upon Him. He will care for you, so "be anxious for nothing" (Phil. 4:6). Worldlings are haunted with carking cares, but the Christian should not be. "Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thes. 1:1). In 2 Thessalonians 1:1, it's interesting to note that unlike other letters of Paul, he adds nothing to his name. He doesn’t say, "Paul, called to be an apostle"; "Paul, an apostle...by the will of God"; "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ." Those familiar things by which he designates himself are omitted here. "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office." Paul is the apostle of the nations, the Gentiles. Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, magnifies his office. We are to do the same. Paul was called by the will of God for this dispensation of grace. He was called to be an apostle for Christ to reveal to him the revelation of the mystery, the body of truth for this age, and for God to reveal His Son in him according to Christ's heavenly ministry today. Paul is the one apostle of this dispensation. He is our apostle. Christ has revealed His will through Paul's thirteen letters for us to know what is Christ's mind, will, and heart for His Church, the Body of Christ, under grace. Is there confusion about Paul's role in your church? Perhaps your church knows Paul is our apostle, but makes no mention of it? If Paul wrote a letter to your church, how would he address it? Though there is but one way to come into the world--yet there are thousands of ways to be sent out of the world! We carry about in our bodies the material for a thousand deaths--and may die a thousand different ways in several hours. As many senses, as many members, nay, as many pores as there are in the body--so many windows there are for death to enter in at! Death needs not spend all his arrows upon us. A worm, a gnat, a fly, a hair, a raisin, a skin of a grape, the stumbling of a horse, the trip of a foot, the pick of a pin, the cutting of a fingernail, the cutting out of a corn; all these have been to others, and any of them may be to us--the means of our death within the space of a few days; nay, of a few hours; nay, of a few moments! from mixed and mutable enjoyments--to the pure and everlasting enjoyments of God! Daily Features: More Analysis2, Columnists3, Headlines4, Opinion in Brief5, Short Cuts6, Memes7, and Cartoons8. Attorney General William Barr held a press conference this morning to discuss the release of a slightly redacted version of Robert Mueller’s 400-page report on his two-year investigation into “Russian collusion.” In a Friday afternoon news dump on March 22, Mueller sent his report to the Justice Department. Two days later, Barr issued his four-page executive summary10 of it, showing that Mueller concluded two things: First, Donald Trump did not collude with Russia as Democrats have alleged for more than two years, and, second, it was inconclusive whether Trump had obstructed justice in the process of the investigation. The latter provided Democrats all the opening they needed to move into Phase Two — obstructing the MAGA agenda11. Naturally, Democrats and their Leftmedia outlets also spent the intervening time insisting that Barr is hiding something and that Mueller’s report is actually incriminating against the president. Heads they win, tails Trump loses. Their goal is painfully obvious: Keep Trump on the political ropes with churned fake news through the 2020 election. After all, this collusion narrative propelled Democrats to victory in the 2018 election — ensuring that Vladimir Putin did interfere with American elections. Even before Barr’s press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it “pre-damage control” from Barr, who “is acting more like a Trump campaign spokesman than an independent agent of the law.” In a joint statement with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chuck and Nancy complained about Barr’s “regrettably partisan handling of the Mueller report.” And they’re just objective bystanders. Let’s emphasize one line: “The White House fully cooperated with the special counsel’s investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims.” That utterly undercuts the Left’s obstruction claims. Finally, addressing the question of what was redacted and by whom, Barr asserted that only DOJ attorneys working with the Special Counsel’s Office determined all redactions under four categories — grand-jury information, classified information, information related to ongoing investigations, and information that would violate privacy of individuals. President Trump and his lawyers did not request redactions or claim executive privilege in seeking to block the release of any part of the report. That release, by the way, is not the norm. These reports are not created for release. Barr emphasized, “We will make available to a bipartisan group of leaders from several Congressional committees a version of the report with all redactions removed except those relating to grand-jury information.” The more redacted version has been released to the public12. Now, stay tuned for the foreseeable future as pundits and armchair lawyers comb through Mueller’s report looking for something — anything — to support their presuppositions. Indeed, the questions Barr fielded were largely demanding that he answer for Democrat talking points designed to cast doubt upon Barr or Trump. What else would anyone expect from the real collusion partners13 — Democrats and their propagandists in the Leftmedia? Barr: No Bail for Asylum Seekers14 — AG orders DHS to enforce the law as written, which means no bond for illegals crossing the border. Google’s Blatant Bias15 — From search results to advanced technology, Silicon Valley is bent hard left. Trump Veto — The Best Choice for America and Yemen16 — Foreign policy rarely consists of easy choices, and aiding Saudi Arabia is complicated. Speech and Trademarks on Trial17 — Justices consider constitutionality of a law prohibiting “scandalous” and “immoral” trademarks. American Spirit: Teens Go Above and Beyond With Elderly Man Who Fell18 — Unbeknownst to them, the teens’ act of kindness was witnessed and posted online. Video: Mainstream Media Really, Really Like Mayor Pete19 — A hilarious — or sickening — montage of the love affair sweeping the media. Video: 3D-Printed Guns20 — John Stossel says the media often scare us about 3D-printed guns without reason. 6. We profit from the Word when we patiently await the fulfillment of God’s promises. God promised Abraham a son, but he waited many years for the performance of it. Simeon had a promise that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ (Luke 2:26), yet it was not made good until he had one foot in the grave. There is often a long and hard winter between the sowing-time of prayer and the reaping of the answer. The Lord Jesus Himself has not yet received a full answer to the prayer He made in John chapter Seventeen, nineteen hundred years ago. Many of the best of God’s promises to His people will not receive their richest accomplishment until they are in glory. He who has all eternity at His disposal needs not to hurry. God often makes us tarry so that patience may have "her perfect work," yet let us not distrust Him. "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come" (Hab. 2:3). "These all died in faith, not having received the [fulfillment of the] promises but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them" (Heb. 11:13). Here is comprehended the whole work of faith: knowledge, trust, loving adherence. The "afar off" refers to the things promised; those they "saw" with the mind, discerning the substance behind the shadow, discovering in them the wisdom and goodness of God. They were "persuaded": they doubted not, but were assured of their participation in them and knew they would not disappoint them. "Embraced them" expresses their delight and veneration, the heart cleaving to them with love and cordially welcoming and entertaining them. The promises were the comfort and the stay of their souls in all their wanderings, temptations and sufferings. Various ends are accomplished by God in delaying His execution of the promises. Not only is faith put to the proof, so that its genuineness may the more clearly appear; not only is patience developed, and hope given opportunity for exercise; but submission to the Divine will is fostered. "The weaning process is not accomplished: we are still hankering after the comforts which the Lord intends us forever to outgrow. Abraham made a great feast when his son Isaac was weaned; and, peradventure, our heavenly Father will do the same with us. Lie down, proud heart. Quit your idols; forsake your fond doings; and the promised peace will come unto you" (Christian. H. Spurgeon). 7. We profit from the Word when we make a right use of the promises. First, in our dealings with God Himself. When we approach unto His throne, it should be to plead one of His promises. They are to form not only the foundation for our faith to rest upon, but also the substance of our requests. We must ask according to God’s will if we are to be heard, and His will is revealed in those good things which He has declared He will bestow upon us. Thus we are to lay hold of His pledged assurances, spread them before Him, and say, "Do as you have said" (2 Samuel 7:25). Observe how Jacob pleaded the promise in Genesis 32:12; Moses in Exodus 32:13; David in Psalm 119:58; Solomon in 1 Kings 8:25; and do you, my Christian reader, like-wise. Second, in the life we live in the world. In Hebrews 11:13, we not only read of the patriarchs discerning, trusting, and embracing the Divine promises, but we are also informed of the effects which they produced upon them: "and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth," which means they made a public avowal of their faith. They acknowledged (and by their conduct demonstrated) that their interests were not in the things of this world; they had a satisfying portion in the promises they had appropriated. Their hearts were set upon things above; for where a man’s heart is, there will his treasure be also. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1); that is the effect they should produce in us, and will if faith really lays hold of them. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Pet. 1:4). Now the Gospel and the precious promises, being graciously bestowed and powerfully applied, have an influence on purity of heart and behavior, and teach men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Such are the powerful effects of gospel promises under the Divine influence as to make men inwardly partakers of the Divine nature and outwardly to abstain from and avoid the prevailing corruptions and vices of the times. 3. We profit from the Word when we recognize the blessed scope of God’s promises. "A sort of affectation prevents some Christians from seeking religion, as if its sphere lay among the commonplaces of daily life. It is to them transcendental and dreamy; rather a creation of pious fiction than a matter of fact. They believe in God, after a fashion, for things spiritual, and for the life which is to be; but they totally forget that true godliness has the promise of the life which now is, as well as that which is to come. To them it would seem almost profanation to pray about the small matters of which daily life is made up. Perhaps they will be startled if I venture to suggest that this should make them question the reality of their faith. If it cannot bring them help in the little troubles of life, will it support them in the greater trials of death?" (C. H. Spurgeon). "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1 Tim. 4:8). Reader, do you really believe this, that the promises of God cover every aspect and particular of your daily life? Or have the "Dispensationalists" deluded you into supposing that the Old Testament belongs only to fleshly Jews, and that "our promises" respect spiritual and not material blessings? How many a Christian has derived comfort from "I will never leave you, nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5); well, that is a quotation from Joshua 1:5! So, too, 2 Corinthians 7:1 speaks of "having these promises," yet one of them, referred to in 6:18, is taken from the book of Leviticus! Perhaps someone asks, "But where am I to draw the line? Which of the Old Testament promises rightfully belong to me?" We answer that Psalm 84:11 declares, "The Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly". If you are really walking "uprightly" you are entitled to appropriate that blessed promise and count upon the Lord giving you whatever "good thing" is truly required by you. "My God shall supply all your need" (Phil. 4:19). If then there is a promise anywhere in His Word which just fits your present case and situation, make it your own as suited to your need." Steadfastly resist every attempt of Satan to rob you of any portion of your Father’s Word. 4. We profit from the Word when we make a proper discrimination between the promises of God. Many of the Lord’s people are frequently guilty of spiritual theft, by which we mean that they appropriate to themselves something to which they are not entitled, but which belongs to another. "Certain covenant engagements, made with the Lord Jesus Christ, as to His elect and redeemed ones, are altogether without condition so far as we are concerned; but many other wealthy words of the Lord contain stipulations which must be carefully regarded, or we shall not obtain the blessing. One part of my reader’s diligent search must be directed toward this most important point. God will keep His promise to you; only see you to it that the way in which He conditions His engagement is carefully observed by you. Only when we fulfill the requirements of a conditional promise can we expect that promise to be fulfilled to us" (Christian. H. Spurgeon). Many of the Divine promises are addressed to particular characters, or, more correctly speaking, to particular graces. For example, in Psalm 25:9, the Lord declares that He will "guide in judgment" the meek; but if I am out of communion with Him, if I am following a course of self-will, if my heart is haughty, then I am not justified in taking to myself the comfort of this verse. Again, in John 15:7, the Lord tells us, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." But if I am not in experimental communion with Him, if His commands are not regulating my conduct, then my prayers will remain unanswered. While God’s promises proceed from pure grace, yet it ever needs to be remembered that grace reigns "through righteousness" (Rom. 5:21) and never sets aside human responsibility. If I ignore the laws of health I must not be surprised that sickness prevents me enjoying many of God’s temporal mercies: in like manner, if I neglect His precepts I have myself to blame if I fail to receive the fulfillment of many of His promises. Let none suppose that by His promises God has obligated Himself to ignore the requirements of His holiness: He never exercises any one of His perfections at the expense of another. And let none imagine that God would be magnifying the sacrificial work of Christ were He to bestow its fruits upon impenitent and careless souls. There is a balance of truth to be preserved here; alas, that it is now so frequently lost, and that under the pretense of exalting Divine grace men are really "turning it into lasciviousness." How often one hears quoted, "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you" (Ps. 50:15). But that verse begins with "And," and the preceding clause is "Pay your vows unto the most High!" Again, how frequently is "I will guide you with mine eye" (Ps. 32:8) seized by people who pay no attention to the context! But that is God’s promise to one who has confessed his "transgression" unto the Lord (verse 5). If, then, I have unconfessed sin on my conscience, and have leaned on an arm of flesh or sought help from my fellows, instead of waiting only on God (Ps. 62:5), then I have no right to count upon the Lord’s guiding me with His eye—which necessarily presupposes that I am walking in close communion with Him, for I cannot see the eye of another while at a distance from him. 5. We profit from the Word when we are enabled to make God’s promises our support and stay. This is one reason why God has given them to us; not only to manifest His love by making known His benevolent designs, but also to comfort our hearts and develop our faith. Had God so pleased He could have bestowed His blessings without giving us notice of His purpose. The Lord might have given us all the mercies we need without pledging Himself to do so. But in that case we could not have been believers; faith without a promise would be a foot without ground to stand upon. Our tender Father planned that we should enjoy His gifts twice over: first by faith, and then by fruition. By this means He wisely weans our hearts away from things seen and perishing and draws them onward and upward to those things which are spiritual and eternal. If there were no promises there would not only be no faith, but no hope either. For what is hope but the expectation of the things which God has declared He will give us? Faith looks to the Word promising, hope looks to the performance thereof. Thus it was with Abraham; "Who against hope believed in hope. . .and being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb; he staggered not. . .through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Rom. 4:18, 20). Thus it was with Moses: "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward" (Heb. 11:26). Thus it was with Paul; "I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me" (Acts 27:25). Is it so with you, dear reader? Are the promises of Him who cannot lie the resting-place of your poor heart? The Divine promises make known the good pleasure of God’s will to His people, to bestow upon them the riches of His grace. They are the outward testimonies of His heart, who from all eternity loves them and fore-appointed all things for them and concerning them. In the person and work of His Son, God has made an all-sufficient provision for their complete salvation, both for time and for eternity. To the intent that they might have a true, clear and spiritual knowledge of the same, it has pleased the Lord to set it before them in the exceeding great and precious promises which are scattered up and down in the Scriptures as so many stars in the glorious firmament of grace; by which they may be assured of the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning them, and take sanctuary in Him accordingly, and through this medium have real communion with Him in His grace and mercy at all times, no matter what their case or circumstances may be. The Divine promises are so many declarations to bestow some good or remove some ill. As such they are a most blessed making known and manifesting of God’s love to His people. There are three steps in connection with God’s love: first, His inward purpose to exercise it; the last, the real execution of that purpose; but in between there is the gracious making known of that purpose to the beneficiaries not only show His love fully to them in due time, but in the interim He will have us informed of His benevolent designs, that we may sweetly rest in His love, and stretch ourselves comfortably upon His sure promises. There we are able to say, "How precious also are your thoughts unto me, 0 God! how great is the sum of them" (Ps. 139:17). In 2 Peter 1:4, the Divine promises are spoken of as "exceeding great and precious." As Spurgeon pointed out, "greatness and preciousness seldom go together, but in this instance they are united in an exceeding degree". When Jehovah is pleased to open His mouth and reveal His heart He does so in a manner worthy of Himself, in words of superlative power and richness. To quote again the beloved London pastor: "They come from a great God, they come to great sinners, they work for us great results, and deal with great matters." While the natural intellect is capable of perceiving much of their greatness, only the renewed heart can taste their ineffable preciousness, and say with David, "How sweet are your words unto my taste! yes, sweeter then honey to my mouth" (Ps. 119:103). 1. We profit from the Word when we perceive to whom the promises belong. They are available Only to those who are in Christ. "For all the promises of God in him [the Lord Jesus] are yes, and in him Amen" (2 Cor. I :20). There can be no communion between the thrice holy God and sinful creatures except through a Mediator who has satisfied Him on their behalf. Therefore must that Mediator receive from God all good for His people, and they must have it at second hand through Him. A sinner might just as well petition a tree as call upon God for mercy while he despises and rejects Christ. Both the promises and the things promised are made over to the Lord Jesus and conveyed unto the saints from Him. "This is the [chief and grandest] promise that he has promised us, even eternal life" (1 John 2:25), and as the same epistle tells us, "This life is in his Son" (5:11). This being so, what good can they who are not yet in Christ have by the promises? None at all. A man out of Christ is out of the favor of God, yes, he is under His wrath; the Divine threatenings and not the promises are his portion. Solemn, solemn consideration is it that those who are "without Christ" are "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12). Only "the children of God" are "the children of the promise" (Rom. 9:8). Make sure, my reader, that you are one of them. How terrible, then, is the blindness and how great is the sin of those preachers who indiscriminately apply the Divine promises to the saved and unsaved alike! They are not only taking "the children’s bread" and casting it to the "dogs," but they are "handling the word of God deceitfully" (2 Cor. 4:2), and beguiling immortal souls. And they who listen to and heed them are little less guilty, for God holds all responsible to search the Scriptures for themselves, and test whatever they read or hear by that unerring standard. If they are too lazy to do so, and prefer blindly to follow their blind guides, then their blood is on their own heads. Truth has to be "bought" (Prov. 23:23), and those who are unwilling to pay the price must go without it. 2. We profit from the Word when we labor to make the promises of God our own. To do this we must first take the trouble to become really acquainted with them. It is surprising how many promises there are in Scripture which the saints know nothing about, the more so seeing that they are the peculiar treasure of believers, the substance of faith’s heritage lying in them. True, Christians are already the recipients of wondrous blessings, yet the capital of their wealth, the bulk of their estate, is only prospective. They have already received an "earnest," but the better part of what Christ has purchased for them lies yet in the promise of God. How diligent, then, should they be in studying His testamentary will, familiarizing themselves with the good things which the Spirit "has revealed" (1 Cor. 2:10), and seeking to take an inventory of their spiritual treasures! Not only must I search the Scriptures to find out what has been made over to me by the everlasting covenant, but I need also to meditate upon the promises, to turn them over and over in my mind, and cry unto the Lord for spiritual understanding of them. The bee would not extract honey from the flowers as long as he only gazed upon them. Nor will the Christian derive any real comfort and strength from the Divine promises until his faith lays hold of and penetrates to the heart of them. God has given no assurance that the dilatory shall be fed, but He has declared, "the soul of the diligent shall be made fat" (Prov. 13:4). Therefore did Christ say, "Labor not for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures unto everlasting life" (John 6:27). It is only as the promises are stored up in our minds that the Spirit brings them to remembrance at those seasons of fainting when we most need them.

2019-04-21T20:06:06Z

http://forums.christiansunite.com/index.php?action=recent;start=10

Why is the Coptic Pope based in Cairo and not Alexandria? Shouldn't the Coptic Pope be based in Alexandria, seeing as we call the His Holiness the Pope of "Alexandria"? And the Coptic Church is called the Church of "Alexandria"? I know there exists the Historical Cathedral of St. Mark in Alexandria but why is the Pope based in the Cathedral in Cairo? Why and when did this change occur? The change as made when Cairo became the capital of Egypt. As for when was it done, i'll leave that to someone else to find. Cairo was built in second half of the 10th century, by the Fatimite Khalif El-Muez LeDin Allah (later baptized in the monastery of Abu Seifen after the Mukatam miracle). It was built in place of existing "cities" like El-Fustat and El-Kata'3, which were more of camping sites of the islamic armies and the residence place of the arab rulers, and had been the center of political power since the arab invasion. Cairo became the capital of the Fatimite State in North Africa and the Levant and as such of increasing political importance, which led the 70th Pope Gabriel II (known as Ibn Turek) to officially annex Cairo to Alexandria under his jurisdiction in his papacy (1131 -1145 a.d.). Pope Gabriel II annexed Cairo after the death of her Bishop, Youaness Ibn Senhout. There are indications that Pope Gabriel II was not the first Pope to try to move to Cairo, but he was the first successful Pope in his attempt. The residence of all subsequent Popes has been a church in Cairo. Interestingly enough, the famous theologian and Bishop Boulous El-Boushy in the 13th century, is sometimes referred to as Bishop of Cairo (Egypt) or Babylon (the ancient fortress near Cairo). It is not known whether Babylon was considered outside the geographic limits of diocese of Cairo, but is not likely. It is equally unlikely that Pope Kyrillos III would give up any territory to another bishop, even if it his close friend. The same is with patriarch of Serbia. In middle ages his see was town of Pec but when the Turks invaded Serbia after several centuries the see was moved. And that happend two times. Now Serbian patriarch in his title has that he is archbishop of Pec, but he resides 500km north, in Belgrade. Several dioceses of Serbian church also in their name has one see, but bishop resides in another. I believe the Pope is stretched too thin. Covering Cairo, Alexandria, all the areas in the States without a diocesan Bishop seems to be too much. It would seem very difficult if not impossible to provide effective oversight with such a wide span of control. But the pope is not alone. In the US, he has a patriarchal exarch for North America through Bishop David, a patriarchal exarch for the Eritreans in the US through Bishop Macarius, a suffragan diocese of Virgina through Bishop Michael, and 2 diocese with their respective bishops. He also has general bishops doing work in the US. In Cairo, there are 12 general bishops who are either suffragan bishops or assistants to the patriarchal throne in Cairo. He also has a patriarchal vicar in Cairo through Hegumen Sergios Sergios. "Stretched too thin" is a very subjective quality. What exactly is too thin? Are 5 bishops in the US not enough that Pope Tawadros is doing the work himself? Praise God who sent us a shepherd with such vigor and enthusiasm and heart. May God give our pope the strength to do His will always, regardless of where the pope resides. Complex issues and decisions have still required the involvement of the Pope in some of the areas that you mention that are technically in the Pope's diocese but overseen by bishops. Sometimes the bishops may even defer the issue entirely to the Pope and ask the church in question to take the issue up with the Pope directly. In the meantime the bishops may avoid visiting or contacting the church in question to avoid getting involved in a situation they feel should only be addressed by the Pope. Here is where situations can deteriorate. By the time a church is able to actually contact and communicate with the Pope, months if not years usually pass and situations can spiral out of control. A simple issue that could have been resolved with early intervention can be disastrous if left to fester. And this has happened more than once. HG Bishop Youssef and I believe HG Bishop Serapion visit each church in their diocese at least twice a year if not more and are in constant contact with priests and congregation. They are able to keep tabs on the churches in their diocese. They also have the authority to address issues and make decisions complex or otherwise. I am not so sure the churches in the areas you mention benefit from the same type of regular oversight and ability to sucessfully resolve problems swiftly. HH Pope Tawadros has shown wisdom in his managerial style and I am confident he will structure church leadership in a way that is most effective - not necessarily the way it was in the past. Just as HH Pope Shenouda showed wisdom in assigning diocesan bishops such as Bishop Serapion and Bishop Youssef, I am sure HH Pope Tawadros will continue to structure leadership effectively. I think people's issue is that these bishops are all general bishops, and so the Pope is the ultimate diocesan bishop. Since these general bishops cannot ordain their own priests and thus have their authority derived from the Pope, this effectively gives the Pope control over them, giving him control of the Holy Synod (he can count on the votes of the general bishops under his control), and thus moving towards a Roman Catholic monarchal model of the papacy. In ancient times, the bishop of Alexandria was first among equals in Egypt, and still only had one vote in the Synod. Now he effectively has the votes of 30 general bishops plus himself. Note: this is not personal, I am not saying that Pope Tawadros, or any other previous popes were wrong, I'm just saying that the principle is wrong. You are right, but it is clear that this will be the hierarchy model for the foreseen future of the Coptic Church. i have to ask...what would those 'votes' of the general bishops count towards?! ya3ny isn't each of them STILL have their own voice and authority as a bishop in the holy synod. if each diocese only have one bishop vote int he Holy Synod....what about the dioceses that are being broken up more and more through the years as the congregation increases.....is that 'vote' broken up into little parts to?! Theoretically the general bishops have their own vote of course, but realistically and practically they are not going to go against the Pope, as he is their boss (you do what your boss tells you). It is unheard of until now for a bishop to have a boss. I don't get the second part of your statement. If dioceses are being broken up, it means that more diocesan bishops are being ordained, and I can see no reason why a full diocesan bishop shouldn't have a vote. so it's not that a bishop has a vote, it's a diocese bishop.....kool!!! Actually, in regards to the magisterial model of the Catholic church, I actually heard Metropolitan Pachomious actually say that our church legislation was governed by the magesterium! I was extremely upset that because of the model of leadership which we have experienced, even the teaching of the church fathers has changed to a western ideology. I see exactly what you are saying but I think it will be different with HH Pope Tawadros. You see, Pope Shenouda ordained myriads of bishops, in some cases general bishops and in some cases he split up other dioceses. He typically ordained people who he knew that their line of thinking was more similar to the "Sunday School movement." This is the first thing. Secondly, most Bishops whom he ordained were his children, or became his children, and felt a deep sense of duty/fidelity to him, not wanting to upset/diagree with him. So yes, Pope Shenouda's synod was clearly a magesterium, and as the head of the magesterium, he had control over the synod. And I also agree that general bishops should not be given a vote in the synod. Who are they representing? Themselves? Scripture and tradition in the Orthodox church have always grown out of community. But where is the community in Anba Labomba who takes care of the Pope's limousine having a vote in the synod? He represents no-one. If he does represent a group of people, why not just give him the diocese? This is of course, my opinion. Qawe, I think your statement is your opinion. But if you think it is fact then the burden of proof is on you to verify its veracity. Do you have any actual evidence that no general bishop would ever or has ever disagreed and voted against the Pope? Do you have any actual evidence that no diocese bishops has ever consistently voted with the pope simply because they did not want to disagree with the pope? You might be correct about general bishops. But we should avoid generalization without actual evidence. I agree with you that realistically, no one will publicly disagree and fight against the Pope. However, the Synod is neither setup as a pure democracy, nor a a tyrannical monarchal aristocracy. In a democracy, theoretically each person has equal weight in a vote and they are always free to express their views. A monarchal aristocracy, on the other hand, cares nothing for individual freedom. There is no voting in a monarchy. If it was, what's the point of voting at all? The same is true for the Synod. What is the point of voting, if all the bishops were not encouraged to express their views and opinions in ecclesiastical matters through their vote? (you do what your boss tells you). I own a business. I am the boss in my office. I can tell you for sure, I would fire an employee who is just a "yes man" and hire someone who has the confidence and courage to keep me inline for the wellness of the business. Any boss will tell you, unless you work in a crappy job that requires no thinking, no good business just wants to mindless employees. They want people who can increase production. They want a person who takes initiative, thinks for themselves and finds solutions (even if it is not what the boss normally expects). It is unheard of until now for a bishop to have a boss. Is it unheard of that a bishop is part of a hierarchal system where he is equal among brothers yet all are servants to Christ? Has not Christ been the boss (called Master in liturgical and scriptural language) of all the bishops all along? Effective leadership brings many moving parts inline to one direction. The moving parts choose not to challenge their leader in every decision if there is positive results. The only ones who question a leader or a leader's system, are (1) those outside the system and (2) those who see negative results or failure. Are we outside the Synod's system or jurisdiction? Is the Synod failing in their job to shepherd Christ's people? Then why do we really care how general bishops vote? Thank you Remnkemi for your non-polemical reply (not that I expected a polemical reply from you. However, the Synod is neither setup as a pure democracy, nor a a tyrannical monarchal aristocracy. In a democracy, theoretically each person has equal weight in a vote and they are always free to express their views. Why should every bishop not have equal weight in a vote? Are they not equal? What is the point of voting, if all the bishops were not encouraged to express their views and opinions in ecclesiastical matters through their vote? As a vestige of the past, when bishops were encouraged to express their views and opinions. There is no point in voting if there is a monarchal papacy. Of course Christ is the head of the church including the bishops. That is what I am arguing for, against what has happened in that we have moved towards the Roman Catholic model where the Pope is the Head of the Church, being Christ's representative on Earth. You mention 'equal among brothers'. How are they equal if a general bishop cannot ordain priests? While the Pope is the leader, insofar as he is the chair of the Synod, he is not the decision maker, as is suggested in the bolded part of your post. As first among equals, his position is analogous to that of the See of Rome in the early Church. Thus, he is not their leader in the context of making decisions, such that an opposing opinion should be deemed a 'challenge'. You are a lot more thoughtful and philosophical than me, so it is possible that I may have misunderstood some of your points. If so, please forgive me. Qawe, sorry for the late response. Let's discuss this more. Theoretically, every bishop or every citizen of a governing body should have an equal vote. But no actual democratic system is setup this way. Why? Problems arise. Look at the US presidential process. Every American citizen over 18 is allowed to vote. But the President is not elected by popular votes. He is elected by the electoral college - who legally can vote against their respective popular vote. It has happened about 150 times in the past for many reasons. If the President was elected by popular vote only, a large state with many territories but few people will be counted as a small state with many people. So the founding fathers choose to construct a system whereby each state is represented by an electoral college, regardless of territory. This system makes some states more influential than others. Are not all states equal to the federal government? Yes, in honor but not in particular situations where blind equality would cause problems. I think the Synod has established a similar hierarchical system. All bishops are equal in honor but not in duties. The general bishop system was assumingly setup to avoid certain problems. Regardless of how fair or untraditional this general bishop system is, it is the system in place. It is still a "democratic" theocratic system (better than a lot of other systems out there). I understand many feel the system will inevitably transform into a theocratic electoral college like the Roman Catholic Church. Probably not. But even if it were to become reality, what is the harm if the system works? What is the harm if changing our system brings better results? If the Synod allows these changes, it must be for a good reason. I would go so far and say unless these changes result in heresy (which by definition is a failed system) it is the Holy Spirit who wants the changes. This is assuming there is a monarchical system in place. During the nomination process, Bishop Paula interviewed then Bishop Tawadros and specifically wanted him to comment on this misconception. Pope Tawadros' response was along the lines of "There is no competition. There is no 'my way or the highway.' The Pope is servant before he is master." (I'm paraphrasing a few interviews). Sometimes bishops who discuss their dissatisfaction on certain matters will address it privately with the patriarch. If an amicable solution is not achieved in private, I think any bishop would vote against the majority if this said bishop had valid concerns (ie, pertaining to the specific issue of the vote). I think any bishop is encouraged to express his concerns. I think the majority of issues are resolved privately and when a vote is required in the synod, there is usually no disagreement. I may be naive, but I think this is what has routinely happened in the past. When Christ chose His disciples, he gave them all equal authority to loose and bind people's sin. There's the equality. However, Christ didn't let all 12 disciples lean on His chest. He gave all His disciples the power to see signs and wonders along with all the people, yet He chose three to see Him transfigured into light. There are so many examples of "preceived favoritism" which isn't favoritism at all. It's a foreshadowing of a hierarchical system of duties and glories. In 1 Corinthians 15, St Paul further stresses this "unity with distinction" in glory and duties. "All flesh is not the same flesh [distinction], but there is one kind of flesh of men [unity], another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies [unity]; but the glory of the celestial is one [distinction], and the glory of the terrestrial is another [distinction]." There is unity and distinction. Both celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies are both created bodies. But there is distinct glory for each. There is distinction because the role of each is needed in God's divine providence. This is what St Paul meant when he said, "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual." Again, a hierarchical system (in this case, a chronological hierarchy) is setup with a purpose. What is that purpose in this case? "As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man." The prior duty of earthly life is to lead to death which leads to spiritual eternal life. There is a distinction in duties. Does this mean we are moving to a system where the Pope is the head of the Church? No. It will never happen in the Orthodox Church. But we should not discourage a system of solidarity with distinction because it is biblical and traditional. I didn't use the proper words to express my thoughts. My comments were not meant to imply the leader has exclusive decision making authority. Actually, the opposite is implied. Let me put it this way. Leadership by definition is a process where decisions are catalyzed into positive change and improvements. The leader brings about change. His authority as a leader, depending on the hierarchical system again, may or may not involve exclusive or absolute decision making. Most leaders, at least for corporations, simply propose an idea and the board of directors has the final authority for the decision. This leader may not even be part of the board but he is the catalyst that brings about the change. What I meant to focus on was effective leadership. If that leader is really, really effective the board will choose not to challenge the requested change. That doesn't mean the board relinquished decision making authority. It doesn't mean that a challenge to the proposed plan is seen as a challenge to authority. It doesn't mean that any opposing opinion is a challenge to the leader. It simply means the board of directors is so attuned with the leader that they always agree. The bolded section excluded the first part of the sentence that confirms this line of thought: "The moving parts choose not to challenge". It doesn't mean the moving parts have lost their authority or that any opposition challenges the validity of the leader. The leader will always be the leader if he is effective in bringing positive improvements. I am the least of all of you. I come here to learn from all of you. There is no need to apologize for constructive criticism and open discussion. My prayers are for our church and leadership that it continues in peace delivering us to Christ through the Holy Spirit.

2019-04-25T05:57:36Z

http://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/14196/why-is-the-coptic-pope-based-in-cairo-and-not-alexandria

Below, the exciting lineup for TEDWomen 2018! Simona Abdallah plays Arabic percussion, primarily the Darbuka, a goblet-shaped drum. She has broken through traditional expectations to enjoy international success. Simona Abdallah is lauded as the first female percussionist from an Arabic background. She plays the Darbouka, an instrument that is traditionally played by men. Her passion and talent drive her forwards to break barriers and escape oppressive surroundings. Her music combines traditional sounds with modern beats. Abdallah identifies herself as Palestinian Danish. Her parents fled from to Lebanon to Germany, where she was born in 1979. The family subsequently moved to Denmark, where Abdallah spent her childhood in Denmark's second largest city, the windy port town of Aarhus. Former Georgia House Democratic Leader Stacey Abrams made history in 2018 when she earned the Democratic nomination for governor of Georgia. Stacey Abrams's 2018 campaign for governor of Georgia turned more voters than any Democrat in Georgia history, including former President Barack Obama, and invested in critical infrastructure to build progress in the state. After witnessing the gross mismanagement of the election by the Secretary of State's office, Abrams launched Fair Fight to ensure every Georgian has a voice in our election system. Abrams received degrees from Spelman College, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas and Yale Law School. Dedicated to civic engagement, she founded the New Georgia Project, which submitted more than 200,000 registrations from voters of color between 2014 and 2016. Under the pen name Selena Montgomery, Abrams is the award-winning author of eight romantic suspense novels, which have sold more than 100,000 copies. As co-founder of NOW Account, a financial services firm that helps small businesses grow, Abrams has helped create and retain jobs in Georgia. And through her various business ventures, she has helped employ even more Georgians, including hundreds of young people starting out. As House Minority Leader, she has worked strategically to recruit, train, elect and defend Democrats to prevent a Republican supermajority in the House, and she has worked across the aisle on behalf of all Georgians. During her tenure, she has stopped legislation to raise taxes on the poor and middle class and to roll back reproductive healthcare. She has brokered compromises that led to progress on transportation, infrastructure, and education. In the legislature, she passed legislation to improve the welfare of grandparents and other kin raising children and secured increased funding to support these families. Abrams and her five siblings grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi with three tenets: go to school, go to church, and take care of each other. Despite struggling to make ends meet for their family, her parents made service a way of life for their children -- if someone was less fortunate, it was their job to serve that person. This ethic led the family to Georgia. Abrams's parents attended Emory University to pursue graduate studies in divinity and become United Methodist ministers. Abrams and her younger siblings attended DeKalb County Schools, and she graduated from Avondale High School. Galit Ariel explores how technology and humans interact with and influence each other, focusing on how mixing the digital and the physical creates a new/hybrid experiential space. Galit Ariel is a transdisciplinary creative and strategic thinker. She defines herself as a "digital hippie" since she's passionate about a future that will integrate technology into our everyday lives but not control it. Her book Augmenting Alice: The Future of Identity, Experience and Reality explores the manner in which augmented reality's application will shift cultural and functional paradigms and redefine core concepts related to culture, space, experience and ethics. Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is president of Repairers of the Breach, national co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and the leader of Moral Monday, an alliance of more than 200 progressive organizations. As the architect of the Moral Monday, the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II stands for a multi-racial, multi-faith movement fighting for voting rights, public education, universal health care, environmental protection as well as the rights of women, labor, immigrants and members of the LGBTQ community. In 2013, thousands joined weekly protests at the North Carolina state legislature; more than a thousand were arrested in civil disobedience. Monday coalition continues to draw tens of thousands each year. For the past two years, Dr. Barber has led a national organizing tour called The Revival: Time for a Moral Revolution of Values, working alongside Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Rev. Dr. Traci Blackmon and Sister Simone Campbell to redefine public morality and support state coalitions to address poverty, injustice and inequality. Rev. Dr. Barber headed the state NAACP from 2006 to 2017 and serves on the NAACP National Board of Directors. With Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Theoharis, he co-chairs the Poor People's Campaign, A National Call For A Moral Revival, which focuses on systemic racism, poverty and inequality, ecological devastation, the war economy and militarism, and national morality. Rev. Dr. Barber is visiting professor of public theology and activism at Union Theological Seminary and the author of Forward Together: A Moral Vision for the Nation and The Third Reconstruction. He is a member of the College of Affirming Bishops and lives in Goldsboro, NC, where he has pastored Greenleaf Christian Church for 25 years. Deeply influenced by the social inequalities around her and inspired by her father's social work in her early years, Shad Begum has become a nationally and internationally known figure because of her determined struggle to improve the conditions of the marginalized segments, especially women, of her community in the northwest of Pakistan -- a deeply religious and conservative area where Taliban publicly execute men and women for nonconformity to their version of Islam. Begum is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Association for Behaviour & Knowledge Transformation (ABKT), an organization working toward the economic and political empowerment of communities in underserved areas of Pakistan. Her organization was uprooted during the Taliban takeover in Swat due to massive displacement of people in 2009-2010. Against enormous odds, her resilience kept ABKT alive. Begum previously worked with the UN Human Settlements Program as a consultant for the Building Gender Ladder Project as well as with UNDP's Women Political Participation Program. To encourage women at the grassroots level, she contested local elections in 2001 as an independent candidate and served as councilor for five years in Dir Lower. Begum is an Ashoka fellow, a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at National Endowment for Democracy and an Acumen Fellow. She won the US Department of State's International Woman of Courage Award in 2012. Kate Brandt leads sustainability across Google's worldwide operations, products and supply chain. At Google, Kate Brandt coordinates with data centers, real estate, supply chain and product teams to ensure the company is capitalizing on opportunities to advance sustainability and the circular economy. Previously, Brandt served as the nation's first Federal Chief Sustainability Officer. In this capacity, she was responsible for promoting sustainability across federal government operations including 360,000 buildings, 650,000 vehicles and $445 billion annually in purchased goods and services. Prior to the White House, she held several senior roles in the US government including senior advisor at the Department of Energy, director for energy and environment in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and energy advisor to the Secretary of the Navy. With her liquid-silver voice, Ane Brun is famed for soulful covers and intimate original songs. Singer and songwriter Ane Brun possesses one of Scandinavia's most distinctive voices, which she's employed on a dozen albums since her debut, 2003’s Spending Time with Morgan. Since then, she's been awarded three Norwegian Grammy prizes, with her albums topping the charts and going platinum in Scandinavia while picking up widespread acclaim internationally. She's toured the world repeatedly and is also famed for her interpretations -- her latest album, Leave Me Breathless, is entirely comprised of covers. In 2010, she joined Peter Gabriel on his "New Blood" tour, taking Kate Bush's role for "Don't Give Up," and she also featured on Dr. Kucho! & Gregor Salto’s "Can't Stop Playing (Makes Me High)," which topped the UK charts in 2015. In addition, she runs her own label, Balloon Ranger Recordings. For more than 25 years, activist and advocate Tarana J. Burke has worked at the intersection of racial justice and sexual violence. Tarana Burke's passion for community organizing began in the late 1980s, when she joined a youth development organization called 21st Century and led campaigns around issues like racial discrimination, housing inequality and economic justice. Her career took a turn toward supporting survivors of sexual violence upon moving to Selma, Alabama, to work for 21st Century. She encountered dozens of black girls who were sharing stories of sexual violence and abuse, stories she identified with very well. She realized too many girls were suffering through abuse without access to resources, safe spaces and support, so in 2007 she created Justbe Inc., an organization committed to the empowerment and wellness of black girls. The impacts of Justbe Inc. are widespread, as the program, which was adopted by every public school in Selma, has hundreds of alumni who have gone on to thrive and succeed in various ways. Burke's role as the senior director at Girls for Gender Equity in Brooklyn, NY, an intergenerational nonprofit dedicated to strengthening local communities by creating opportunities for young women and girls to live self-determined lives, is a continuation of what she considers her life's work. Since #MeToo, the movement she created more than ten years ago, became a viral hashtag, she has emerged as a global leader in the evolving conversation around sexual violence and the need for survivor-centered solutions. Her theory of using empathy to empower survivors is changing the way the nation and the world think about and engage with survivors. Her belief that healing isn't a destination but a journey has touched and inspired millions of survivors who previously lived with the pain, shame and trauma of their assaults in isolation. Climbing PoeTree harnesses creativity as the antidote to destruction through their spoken word, hip-hop and world music. Co-creators Alixa Garcia and Naima Penniman have organized more than 30 national and international tours as Climbing PoeTree, taking their work from South Africa to Cuba, the UK to Mexico, Scotland to India, and throughout the US -- including 11,000 miles toured on a bus converted to run on recycled vegetable oil. Climbing PoeTree has stirred crowds at diverse venues from the United Nations to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, featured alongside powerhouses such as Alicia Keys, Janelle Monáe, Erykah Badu, Little Dragon, Talib Kweli, Maxwell, Madonna, Rising Appalachia, T.I., Nahko and Angela Davis, who writes: "Each time I have the pleasure of attending a performance by Climbing PoeTree, I feel enriched, renewed, and inspired. Alixa and Naima insist that poetry can change the world -- and it is true that the urgency, power and beauty of their words impel us to keep striving for the radical futures toward which they gesture." shares unexpected truths about animals. Lucy Cooke is a New York Times best-selling author, award-winning documentary producer, presenter and National Geographic explorer with a master's in zoology from Oxford University. She is a passionate conservationist and champion of animal species that are often misunderstood. Her style is immersive, journalistic and unashamedly populist, mixing expert storytelling with a dash of humor to reach the widest possible audience. She began her presenting career hosting Freaks and Creeps for National Geographic, a show about strange species that get overlooked in favor of charismatic megafauna, and has hosted numerous shows for the BBC. Cooke has a particular soft spot for sloths and founded the Sloth Appreciation Society to promote a greater understanding of their lazy lifestyle. She has produced a number of iconic viral sloth videos, Meet the Sloths, an award-winning international series for Animal Planet, two best-selling books -- A Little Book of Sloth and Life in the Sloth Lane -- and an annual calendar featuring her sloth photographs. Cooke's latest book, The Truth About Animals, was shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Society prize and the AAAS young adult science prize. Nature calls it a "deeply researched, sassily written history of the biggest misconceptions, mistakes and myths we've concocted about the animal kingdom, spread by figures from Aristotle to Walt Disney." Ariana A. Curtis gets to research, collect, interpret and display objects and stories that help tell the history of all of us and our connections to each other. An African American educator and a Black Panamanian engineering research technician raised Dr. Ariana Curtis, the youngest of their four kids, in an Afro-Latinx affirming household. Government forms and ill-informed publics have wanted her to be either African American or Latina, but Curtis has always advocated for full and accurate representation of self above all. The yearning to see lives represented whole led Curtis to travel and study the complex overlap of Blackness, identity, gender, diaspora and belonging. After earning a doctorate in anthropology, Curtis, a Fulbright scholar, joined the curatorial staff of the Smithsonian Institution. She currently serves as the first curator for Latinx Studies at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In this role, she researches, collects, exhibits and promotes Latinx- and Black-centered narratives to more accurately represent the history and culture of the Americas. She also serves on multiple committees for the Smithsonian's American Women History Initiative. She's the author of the paper "Afro-Latinidad in the Smithsonian’s African American Museum Spaces" and the chapter "Identity as Profession: on Becoming an African American Panamanian Afro-Latina Anthropologist Curator" in Pan African Spaces: Essays on Black Transnationalism. She's is passionate about Afro-Latinidad, her Omega Phi Beta sisterhood, social justice, radical love, the Duke Blue Devils and hoop earrings. Like the legendary love potion that the Toloache flower is used for in Mexico, the ladies of Flor de Toloache cast a spell over their audiences with soaring vocals and physical elegance. Latin Grammy-winning, New York-based all-female ensemble Flor de Toloache win the hearts of both progressive and traditional mariachi music fans alike through their distinct artistic vision and sophisticated, enlightened interpretation of traditional mariachi instruments. The female quartet’s diverse ethnicities and musical backgrounds transcend culture and gender by forging new paths. The group is led by co-band directors Mireya I. Ramos on violin and Shae Fiol on vihuela. Together, they have graced international stages from Chenai, India, to Paris and have extensively toured the US as a supporting act for The Arcs, a new project from Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, as well as Cafe Tacvba, La Santa Cecilia and Natalia Lafourcade. Shohini Ghose explores the strange quantum world of atoms and photons to understand the fundamental laws of the universe and harness them for quantum computing and communication -- and works to make science accessible and inclusive for people of all genders and backgrounds. At Morgan Stanley, Carla Harris is responsible for improving the access to capital for female and multicultural founders, as well as increasing client connectivity to enhance revenue generation. In her 30-year career, Carla Harris has had extensive industry experiences in the technology, media, retail, telecommunications, transportation, industrial and healthcare sectors. In August 2013, she was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women's Business Council. Harris was named to Fortune Magazine's list of "The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America," US Banker's "Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance" (2009, 2010, 2011), Black Enterprise's "Top 75 Most Powerful Women in Business" (2017) and "Top 75 African Americans on Wall Street," Essence Magazine's list of "The 50 Women Who Are Shaping the World" and Ebony's list of the "Power 100" and "15 Corporate Women at the Top." She is the past chair of the board of the Morgan Stanley Foundation and of The Executive Leadership Council, and she is a member of the board of overseers of Harvard University and the board of directors of the Walmart Corporation. She's the author of the books Strategize to Win and Expect to Win. In her other life, Harris is a singer and has released three gospel CDs, including Unceasing Praise, Joy Is Waiting, and Carla's First Christmas, which was featured on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. She has performed five sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall. Katharine Hayhoe studies what climate change means to us in the places where we live. As Katharine Hayhoe writes: "I'm a climate scientist: I crunch the data, I analyze the models, and I help people like engineers and city managers and water planners prepare for the ways climate change affects all of us. I'm a professor in political science at Texas Tech University, where I direct the Climate Science Center. I'm also a lead author for the US National Climate Assessment; I host the PBS Digital Series Global Weirding; and I spend a lot of time talking to people about climate science, impacts, solutions and how they connect to our values. I've been named one of TIME's "100 Most Influential People," Fortune's "50 Greatest Leaders" and Foreign Policy's "100 Leading Global Thinkers." "These are all tremendous honors, for which I'm enormously grateful. What means the most, though, is when just one person tells me sincerely that they had never cared about climate change before, or even thought it was real: but now, because of something they heard me say, they've changed their mind. That's what makes it all worthwhile." Maeve Higgins started off as a standup comedian, but eventually started to write things down to help her make sense of the world. Maeve Higgins is the host of the hit podcast Maeve in America: Immigration IRL. She has performed all over the world and is now based in New York, where she co-hosts Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk on National Geographic and has appeared in Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer. Her new book is Maeve in America: Essays by a Girl from Somewhere Else. As Higgins writes: "I am extremely curious and am constantly finding out things I didn't even know I didn't know. I get a kick out of making people laugh, but I also worry a lot, so my head is an odd place to be, but I like it. These days I follow my curiosity, so if I suddenly wonder why most of the nannies in my neighborhood are women of color, and most of the children they take care of are white, I make it my job to figure out how it got to be that way. I research and ask questions and write about that. People are surprised to hear that I ended up here after starting out as a comedian, but I know that for me, comedy was always a way to figure things out, and as I grew up, my questions just got a little more expansive. I moved to the US five years ago and being an immigrant has also opened my eyes to a lot." Ayanna Howard designs and builds robots that learn from and interact with people, in order to help improve quality of life. As an educator, researcher and innovator, Dr. Ayana Howard focuses on designing intelligent robots to enhance our daily lives. She is professor and chair of the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. Her published works, currently numbering more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, have been widely disseminated in international journals and conference proceedings. She continues to produce novel research and ideas focused on applications that span from assistive robots in the home to AI-powered STEM apps for children with diverse learning needs. Howard began her career working as a roboticist at NASA in the early '90s and then transitioned into academia in the early 2000s. In 2013, she also founded Zyrobotics, which is focused on developing STEM educational products to engage children of all abilities. Her accomplishments have received numerous recognitions, including highlights in USA Today, Upscale and TIME Magazine. She was named a top young innovator by MIT Technology Review and was recognized as one of the 23 most powerful women engineers in the world by Business Insider. Dolores Huerta is inspired by a passion to spend most of her time pursuing social justice and civil rights. Dolores Huerta is a civil rights activist and community organizer. She has worked for labor rights and social justice for more than 50 years. In 1962, she and Cesar Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union. She served as vice president and played a critical role in many of the union's accomplishments for four decades. In 2002, she received the Puffin/Nation $100,000 prize for Creative Citizenship, which she used to establish the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF). DHF is connecting groundbreaking community-based organizing to state and national movements to register and educate voters, advocate for education reform, bring about infrastructure improvements in low-income communities, advocate for greater equality for the LGBT community and create strong leadership development. She has received numerous awards including The Eleanor Roosevelt Humans Rights Award from President Clinton in 1998. In 2012, President Obama bestowed Huerta with The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Lindy Lou Isonhood served as Juror No. 2 on a capital murder trial in 1994 -- an experience that changed her life. As Lindy Lou Isonhood writes: "I was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, in December 1951 and was raised by my grandmother, a widow with nine children. She was my salvation. From her nurturing I acquired my integrity, independence and strength. She impacted the lives of all around her. I was employed for over half my life: as a federal police officer in the 1970s, then I went on to be the first female letter carrier with the US Postal Service in Jackson for seven years, followed by 18 years in the MS Army National Guard. I ended my working career as an office manager after 13 years with an architectural firm. "A strong Christian, I am married to a retired colonel who is a very staunch conservative, like me. I'm the mother of two children, a son and a daughter, and three grandchildren -- all girls! The hearts of my life! There is nothing extraordinary about me. I have never achieved fame or any outstanding records or recognition. Never received a college degree although I have many accumulated hours. But my life reached a turning point when I served as a juror in the sentencing phase of a capital murder trial in 1994. This experience changed me from the inside out." Eldra Jackson III works daily to connect to his most authentic self -- and his calling is to support others in doing the same. Eldra Jackson III is a spiritual warrior who lives a passion of "saving lives one circle at a time." After living most of his life devoid of emotions and coming face-to-face with the reality of dying behind bars, he came to a point of self-inquiry, seeking answers as to how his life had spiraled into a mass of destruction set upon self and others. From this point, the space was made to save his life. Today, Jackson works to bring his spiritual medicine into the world while simultaneously guiding others to tap into their own internal salve and help identify wounds. Through his intensive awareness work, he is on a mission to show the world what's possible as each person does their own internal examination to begin the path towards emotional and psychic health. Learn more about him in the documentary The Work. Award-winning journalist Neha Madhira fights for press freedom for high school students. Neha Madhira is 17 years old and a senior at Prosper High School in Texas. She was accidentally moved into journalism two years ago, and started competing in UIL Academic competitions because of the passion her former adviser, Lori Oglesbee, showed for writing. She won 19 journalism awards over two years, achieving All-State journalism both years and a National Quill and Scroll Gold Key last year. Currently, she is Editor-in-Chief of her high school’s paper, Eagle Nation Online. After her principal prior-reviewed and censored the paper, banned editorials and fired Ms. Oglesbee last year, Madhira spoke out, along with fellow journalist Haley Stack. For their advocacy, the two were nominated for the National Courage in Journalism award and honored by the Women's Media Center. Madhira is a student leader of the New Voices movement in Texas and speaks about the importance of students’ and teachers’ rights across the country. Helen Marriage cofounded a company that specializes in creating disruptive, whole-city arts events that surprise and delight everyone who comes across them. Helen Marriage writes: "I am a producer of large-scale disruptive moments that place an artist's ideas in the heart of a city. I started life unsure of how to find a job and began helping a street theater company perform at the Edinburgh Festival. Only then did I realize that this could be a career. That was forty years ago. Since then, I've gone on to shut down central London and other cities with ephemeral events that transform people’s understanding of what a city is for and who controls it. "I don't believe that cities are exclusively about shopping and traffic. Over the years I've developed a real sense of how artists can change the world, if only we make space for their vision. I guess that's my job -- to create a context in which the normal routines of daily life are disrupted for a moment to allow the public, especially those who know they’re not interested in anything the arts might have to say, to discover a new world we’d all like to live in." Majd Mashharawi leads a startup that makes bricks from recycled local materials -- and employs women in the Gaza Strip. Nora McInerny makes a living talking to people about life's hardest moments. Nora McInerny speaks from experience and empathy, having lost her second baby, her father and her husband over the course of six weeks at age 31. She is the best-selling author of the memoir It’s Okay To Laugh, Crying Is Cool Too, the host of the award-winning podcast "Terrible, Thanks for Asking" and the founder of the nonprofit Still Kickin. She contributes words to Elle, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, Time, Slate and Vox, where she's often tapped for her essays highlighting the emotional landscape and humor in complex topics, like the financial impacts of healthcare and grief in a digital age. McInerny is a master storyteller known for her dedication to bringing heart and levity to the difficult and uncomfortable conversations most of us try to avoid, and also for being very tall. She was voted "Most Humorous" by the Annunciation Catholic School Class of 1998. Aja Monet is a Caribbean American poet, performer and educator born in Brooklyn, New York. Aja Monet started actively reading and reciting poetry in the New York City youth poetry/slam community in high school with an organization called Urban Word NYC. Her poems are lyrical, wise and courageous. She received her BA in liberal arts from Sarah Lawrence College in 2009 and her MFA in creative writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011. While at Sarah Lawrence College, Monet was awarded the legendary Nuyorican Poet's Café Grand Slam title in 2007. She has been internationally recognized for combining her spellbound voice and vivid poetic imagery on stage. While in college, she used music and poetry to help organize urgent responses to natural disasters in New Orleans and later on in Haiti as well as local community issues. In 2015, she was invited by the Dream Defenders to be a part of a movement delegation to Palestine, and she has continued to work in collaboration with cultural workers and organizers to demonstrate radical solidarity. In 2018, Monet’s first full collection of poetry, my mother was a freedom fighter, was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. She read the title poem of her collection at the national Women’s March on Washington DC in 2017 to commemorate women of the Diaspora. In 2012, she collaborated with poet/musician Saul Williams on the book Chorus, an anthem of a new generation of poets. Monet currently lives in Little Haiti, Miami, where she is cofounder of Smoke Signals Studio, a collective dedicated to music, art, culture and organizing. In collaboration with Community Justice Project and inspired by poet June Jordan's revolutionary blueprint, Monet facilitates "Voices: Poetry for the People," a grassroots workshop for organizers and community leaders. In 2018, the workshop created the first annual Maroon Poetry Festival in Liberty City, Miami, to honor artists and cultural workers for their commitment to radical truth-telling. A lover of art, music, and poetry, Monet has continued to collaborate with artists across all genres including musicians Vijay Iyer, Samora Pinderhughes, Gerald Clayton and visual artists Carrie Mae Weems, Mike Schreiber and countless more. She volunteers at Dade Correctional Facility teaching "Poetry for the People" with an organization called Exchange for Change. As Monique W. Morris writes: "I believe in a justice not associated with any form of oppression. I work for it and I write about it." Monique W. Morris, EdD, founded and leads the National Black Women's Justice Institute, an organization that works to transform public discourses on the criminalization of Black women, girls and their families. For three decades, she has been involved in social justice advocacy and scholarship, working with research and academic institutions, civil rights organizations, nonprofits, public agencies and activists to advance policies and practices that promote racial and gender equity. She's the author of Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools and other books, publications and articles. As Morris writes: "My work is ultimately about using research and narratives to challenge actions and structures of oppression. I do this using the tools I have available to me as a researcher, educator, public intellectual, visual artist, writer -- and most recently, filmmaker. I am the author of several academic publications and four books, each of them very different. From a street novel about prostitution to a statistical narrative about African Americans in the 21st century to a book about the criminalization of Black girls in schools, I try to meet people where they are on this journey toward freedom. My latest project, a dive into the pedagogical practices that make education freedom work, explores how schools might become locations of healing for Black and Brown girls. And I love Prince. Always have, always will." Beth Mortimer is a scientific researcher interested in how animals use vibrations along surfaces and through materials for information. As Beth Mortimer writes: "I believe that through studying nature we can gain useful insights for new technologies. I am pioneering this approach for an overlooked form of information transfer: vibrations that travel along surfaces and through materials. I study how animals use this information source, which is widespread from spiders and worms to humans and elephants. My research enables me to gain insights for potential new technologies, for example monitoring elephant behavior in remote locations or developing vibration sensors for robots to monitor dangerous machinery. "I am a biologist by training and have collaborated across scientific disciplines throughout my research career. I have worked with engineers, material scientists, seismologists and computer scientists to learn cutting-edge techniques that I can use to study information transfer with animals. My goal for the next five to seven years is to develop usable technologies for remote monitoring, learning from the biological systems I study." Danielle R. Moss is chief executive officer of Oliver Scholars, helping it prepare high-potential Black and Latinx students from underserved New York City communities for success. Dr. Danielle R. Moss is Chief Executive Officer of Oliver Scholars, an organization committed to preparing high-potential Black and Latinx students from underserved New York City communities for success at top independent schools, prestigious colleges and careers. She is also a member of The New York Women's Foundation board of directors and serves as an NYC Commissioner of Gender Equity. She began her career as a middle school teacher in the Bronx and Brooklyn, building a distinguished career as an academic and a leader in the education and the social sector. Dr. Moss's contributions to education and the social sector have been recognized by the New York State Education Department, The New York Women's Foundation, The New York Coalition for 100 Black Women, The College Board, The Network Journal's 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business and The Council of Urban Professionals. Moss has been featured in the New York Times "Corner Office" and in Crain's New York for her leadership in the movement toward intersectional gender equity. Her writing has been featured by The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, Edutopia, The Amsterdam News, City Limits Magazine, Ms. Magazine online and the Feminist Wire. She's appeared on WABC-TV's Here and Now and New York Viewpoint, on WNBC's Positively Black, Fox 5's Street Talk, Bronx Net's Perspectives and NY1's Inside City Hall. Stanley Crouch, formerly of the New York Daily News, once dubbed her one of the most important players in public education for her ability to respectfully meet young people and families where they are and to give them the tools and agency to transform their own lives. Farida Nabourema is a key voice in Togo’s pro-democracy movement. A political activist and writer, Farida Nabourema has been a fearless advocate for democracy and human rights in Togo since she was a teenager. Through more than 400 articles on her blog and other sites, she denounces corruption and dictatorship and promotes a form of progressive pan-Africanism. In 2014, she published La Pression de l'Oppression (The Pressure of Oppression), in which she discussed the different forms of oppression that people face throughout Africa and highlighted the need for oppressed people to fight back. Nabourema is also the engagement and collaboration coordinator of Africans Rising, a pan-African movement that fights for justice, peace and dignity through grassroots organizing, civic education and advocacy. She cofounded and is the executive director of the Togolese Civil League, an NGO that promotes democracy through civil resistance. In 2001, at age 20, Nabourema founded the "Faure Must Go" movement, where she supported and organized with Togolese youths to stand against the dictatorial regime of Faure Gnassingbé. "Faure Must Go" has become the slogan for the civil resistance movement in Togo, of which Nabourema is one of the most well-known leaders. Nabourema was awarded the "Young Advocate of the Year" and the "Female African Youth of the Year" in 2018 by Africa Youth Award for her contribution to raising awareness on the oldest military regime in Africa. Driven by curiosity and appreciation for the complex, beautiful, diverse and dynamic world around us, Tarje Nissen-Meyer is trying to decipher this vibrating planet by analyzing data from human and biological interaction with our precious environment and modern technology. As Tarje Nissen-Meyer writes: "Much like gazing at the sky, I wonder how our pristine planet functions. Where does hot magma come from, why can't we predict earthquakes, what is the link between climate and Earth, where does life come from and how does it end, and can we find extraterrestrial life? Society depends on the environment: how can we provide clean energy for ten billion people, deal with water scarcity, sea level rise, natural hazards? These are research themes in geophysics, and they require quantitative reasoning. "In my own research, I develop methods for earthquake waves for free use, work on mapping Earth's interior, earthquake hazard, cyclones and elephant communication. I believe education and science play an ever larger role in extracting useful information from the ever-increasing amount of data to deliver critical decision-making skills and evaluating uncertainties, especially in times of fake news." Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya is the founder and president of Kakenya's Dream, an international nonprofit organization leveraging education to empower girls, end harmful traditional practices and transform communities in rural Kenya. Engaged at age five, Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya experienced female genital mutilation (FGM) as a young teenager in preparation for marriage. Her life was set to follow the traditional Maasai path of ending school to become a wife and mother, but Ntaiya had a different dream. She negotiated with her father to return to school after surviving FGM. When she was accepted to college in the United States, she promised to use her education to help the village in exchange for their support. She went on to earn her PhD in education at the University of Pittsburgh, and returned to her community to fulfill her promise. In 2009, the Kakenya Center for Excellence (KCE) boarding school opened its doors, serving 30 vulnerable Maasai girls in rural Kenya. Today, Kakenya's Dream reaches thousands of girls, boys and community members each year through three visionary, girl-centered programs. Ntaiya is a CNN Hero and National Geographic Emerging Explorer. She received the Feminist Majority Global Women's Rights Award and the Vital Voices Global Leadership Award. Ntaiya was also named one of Newsweek's "150 Women Who Shake the World." Ai-jen Poo is the director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the co-director of Caring Across Generations. Under her leadership, domestic workers won eight state Domestic Workers Bill of Rights and federal overtime and minimum wage protections for more than two million home care workers. She is also an influential voice in the Me Too and women's movements, including participating in the Times Up action at the 2018 Golden Globes. She is a 2014 MacArthur "genius" Fellow and a TIME 100 alumna and has been a featured speaker at the United State of Women Summits, Aspen Ideas Festivals, the Obama Foundation Summit and the 2018 Women’s Convention. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, TIME and CNN.com. She is the author of The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America. Emily Quinn describes herself as "a ballsy intersex activist who uses humor and storytelling to create a more welcoming world for people who don’t fit in a box." At age 10, Emily Quinn learned she was intersex. As she writes: "Doctors said not to tell anyone, poking and prodding at me like I was a science experiment. It was lonely, shameful, and I had nowhere to turn. I needed someone to tell me that it would be OK, but no one was there. "Fourteen years later, I discovered an intersex support group, meeting hundreds of intersex people who endured trauma like mine. I knew it had to stop. I was working at Cartoon Network and decided to help create the first intersex main character on television: Lauren on MTV's 'Faking It.' I publicly came out as intersex alongside her debut, and suddenly I was bombarded with interviews, appearing in content across the web. The impact was so great that I quit my job, created a YouTube channel, began speaking globally about intersex experiences, and am now writing a YA novel. In ways I could have never imagined, I became the person I needed as a kid -- showing myself that one day it would be OK." Jan Rader is a firefighter and a nurse. Jan Rader joined the Huntington, West Virginia, Fire Department in August 1994. Rader is the first woman to reach the rank of chief for a career department in the State of West Virginia. She holds a Regents bachelor of arts degree from Marshall University and an associate's degree of science in nursing from Ohio University. She holds many fire service certifications and is also a fire and EMS instructor in the State of West Virginia. Since November 2014, Rader has been serving as a member of the Mayor's Office of Drug Control Policy. The purpose of this task force is to address drug addiction in Huntington and the surrounding communities and create a holistic approach involving prevention, treatment and law enforcement. Rader recently came to national prominence after the release of the short documentary Heroin(e) by Netflix in September 2017. In April 2018, she was chosen as one of TIME Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World." Nivruti Rai is vice president in the data center group and country head for India at Intel Corporation. At Intel, Nivruti Rai provides engineering and business unit leadership, driving innovation, cross-group efficiencies and execution for engineering teams delivering global products and roadmaps. She also leads engagements with national and local governments and policymakers as well as collaboration with ecosystem players to enable innovation and entrepreneurship. Rai joined Intel in 1995 and subsequently worked in the CPU development organization in Oregon. She led the effort to conserve chip power in microprocessors by selectively using high-performance devices and pioneered the use of error-correcting codes to reduce operating voltages and memories, becoming a principal engineer in 2003. She moved to India in 2005 to manage R&D of mobile platform technologies used for handheld and laptop computers. In 2013, her team was awarded an Intel Achievement Award for contributing to the development of the Minute Intel architecture core. In her most recent role as vice president in Intel's platform engineering group, Rai led teams across the United States, Costa Rica, Israel, Malaysia and India charged with developing innovative analog and mixed-signal intellectual property (IP) blocks and IP subsystems for Intel's system-on-chip products. She also managed the emerging technologies group in India, developing machine learning and computer vision soft IP. As the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund for 12 years, Cecile Richards worked to increase affordable access to reproductive health care and to build a healthier and safer world for women and young people. In 2018, she stepped down from leadership and published the book Make Trouble. After starting her career as a labor organizer working with women earning the minimum wage, Richards went on to start her own grassroots organizations and later served as deputy chief of staff to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. In 2011 and 2012, she was named one of TIME Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World." Richards is a frequent speaker and commentator on politics and progressive issues. Karissa Sanbonmatsu investigates how DNA allows cells in our body to remember events that take place. Dr. Karissa Sanbonmatsu is a principal investigator at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the New Mexico Consortium, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. As a principal investigator, Sanbonmatsu has advanced our understanding of the mechanism of the ribosome, antibiotics and riboswitches. She published some of the first structural studies of epigenetic long non-coding RNAs and is currently studying the mechanism of epigenetic effects involving chromatin architecture. She uses a combination of wetlab biochemistry, supercomputers and cryogenic electron microscopy to investigate mechanism in atomistic detail. She is on the board of Equality New Mexico and the Gender Identity Center and is an advocate for LGBT people in the sciences. Through her nonprofit, Bodhi Tree Foundation, Ashweetha Shetty supports first-generation college students in rural India to explore their potential through education, life skills and opportunities. As a girl in a poor orthodox community in a south Indian village, Ashweetha Shetty was constantly told that her birth was not celebrated and that she would be a liability to her family. The social norms prescribed for her identity silenced her dreams, thoughts and aspirations. But through the power of education, she became a first-generation college graduate and had a chance to rewrite the possibilities for her life. As she says: "I always wanted to add my bit to their inspiring journey." As a high school student, Haley Stack fights for freedom of the press. Haley Stack is 16 years old and a junior at Prosper High School in Texas. She is Assistant Editor of the school’s newspaper, Eagle Nation Online. She started journalism her freshman year and has been on staff since. She's on the UIL Academic Journalism team and has won numerous awards, including an award for Excellence in Commentary Writing at the Journalism Educators Association. She was honored at the Women's Media Center gala in November 2018, where she won the Young Journalist award. In February 2018, Stack wrote an editorial over the removal of A Separate Peace by John Knowles from the 10th grade curriculum. The article was censored by her principal because he claimed Stack’s story was negative, used the word ‘banned’ instead of ‘removed’, and contained grammatical errors. (The errors were an extra period and a missing apostrophe.) This was one out of three articles that were censored at the paper leading to Stack, fellow student journalist Neha Madhira, and her staff speaking out with the help of the Student Press Law Center. Several news outlets covered their story, including NBC 5, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times. Stack continues to fight for student press rights through New Voices, a student-led legislative movement attempting to protect students from censorship and protect advisers from being pushed out. Stack hopes to continue her fight and further her journalistic education in college. In her work, the Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis makes a theological case for ending poverty. The Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis is an ordained minister with the Presbyterian Church, the director of the Kairos Center for Rights, Religions, and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary and the co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. She has spent the past two decades organizing amongst the poor and dispossessed in the United States. She has led hundreds of trainings and bible studies and recently published Always with Us?: What Jesus Really Said about the Poor. In 2018, alongside the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, Theoharis helped to launch the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Over the coming years, the campaign will organize poor people across race, religion, geography, political party and other so-called lines of division to fuel a moral revolution of values in the country. Amanda Williams blurs the distinction between art and architecture through works that employ color as a way to draw attention to the political complexities of race, place and value in cities. The landscapes in which Amanda Williams operates are the visual residue of the invisible policies and forces that have misshapen most inner cities. Her installations, paintings, video and works on paper seek to inspire new ways of looking at the familiar -- and raise questions about the state of urban space in America in the process. Williams has exhibited widely, including the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, a solo exhibition at the MCA Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis. She is a 2018 United States Artists Fellow, a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors grantee, an Efroymson Family Arts Fellow, a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and a member of the multidisciplinary Museum Design team for the Obama Presidential Center. She is this year's Bill and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of the Art Institute Chicago and has previously served as a visiting assistant professor of architecture at Cornell University and Washington University in St. Louis. She lives and works on Chicago's south side. Paula Stone Williams is a pastor, counselor, speaker, LGBTQ ambassador and gender equity advocate. The Reverend Dr. Paula Stone Williams knows the truth will set you free, but only after it upends your carefully constructed narrative. Her devotion to authenticity caused her to leave her comfort zone as a nationally known religious leader and follow her heart to transition from Paul to Paula. She lost all of her jobs and most of her friends. Williams also discovered the massive differences between life as a male and as a female in America. Williams is the pastor of preaching and worship at Left Hand Church in Longmont, Colorado, a pastoral counselor with RLT Pathways and a sought-after speaker to corporations, government agencies, universities and religious institutions on issues of gender equity and LGBTQ advocacy. She has been featured in the New York Times, the Denver Post, New Scientist, Radio New Zealand, Colorado Public Radio and The Huffington Post. Her TEDxMileHigh talk on gender equity has had more than one million views. Jonathan Williams likes to tell stories and throw parties, so he started a church that allowed him to do both. After teaching fifth grade in West Philadelphia for seven years, Jonathan Williams decided to join the family business and become a pastor like his father. He started a church in Brooklyn, NY, and just three months later faced a religious and personal reckoning when his father announced her transition from male to female. Williams decided that his church would become an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, forever shifting the landscape in his personal and professional life. Williams continues to lead Forefront Church in Brooklyn. In January 2019, he released his book, She's My Dad: A Father’s Transition and a Son's Redemption, published by Westminster John Knox Press. Williams has told his story to the New York Times, Huffington Post, Christian Standard Magazine, Faithfully Magazine and Rebel Storytellers. Marian Wright Edelman fights for a level playing field for all children, so their chances to succeed don't have to depend on the lottery of birth. Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president emerita of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans for her entire professional life. Under her leadership, CDF has become the nation's strongest voice for children and families. The CDF's "Leave No Child Behind" mission is "to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities." Edelman, a graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School, began her career in the mid-'60s when, as the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, she directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1968, she moved to Washington, DC as counsel for the Poor People's Campaign that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began organizing before his death. She founded the Washington Research Project, a public interest law firm and the parent body of the CDF. For two years she served as the director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University and in 1973 began CDF. Edelman served on the Board of Trustees of Spelman College, which she chaired from 1976 to 1987, and was the first woman elected by alumni as a member of the Yale University Corporation, on which she served from 1971 to 1977. She has received more than 100 honorary degrees and many awards, including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize, the Heinz Award, a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship, the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the nation's highest civilian award -- and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings. The cofounder of Smoke Signals Studio, phillip agnew is a nationally recognized educator, strategist, trainer, speaker and cultural critic. phillip agnew cofounded the Dream Defenders in 2012 after the murder of Trayvon Martin and has been dubbed "one of this generation’s leading voices" and recognized by both EBONY magazine and The Root as one of the 100 most influential African Americans in the nation. He emerged as a national activist when he helped to organize students from FAMU, Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College in the creation of the Student Coalition for Justice, which was formed in response to the Martin Lee Anderson case. agnew is the cofounder of Miami's Smoke Signals Studio -- a community based radical artistic space -- with his partner, poet Aja Monet. Smoke Signals Studio is a space where those invested in using art, sound and music as a meeting place for transformation and liberation can come to create together. In 2018, agnew transitioned from his role as codirector of the Dream Defenders and now travels the country teaching and organizing outside of the movement bubble. He has spoken at colleges and conferences around the country and was a featured speaker at TEDWomen 2018 and SXSW in 2019. agnew is member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and a Board Member for Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Yvonne van Amerongen is an occupational therapist and a social worker. Before 1983, when Yvonne van Amerongen started working for the nursing home Hogewey, she worked in a hospital for psychiatric diseases and in a rehabilitation center. In 1992 she was the care manager of the traditional nursing home Hogewey when the management team started thinking about the vision of care for people living with severe dementia. In 1993, this vision was the basis for the development of what now is the neighborhood The Hogeweyk, with 27 houses for more than 170 seniors with severe dementia. Van Amerongen was the project leader and one of the founders of the vision for excellent care, living and well-being for people with severe dementia and of neighborhood The Hogeweyk. Van Amerongen now works as a consultant for Be, supporting and advising healthcare organizations, governments, architects and project starters around the world to improve the quality of life of people living with dementia. Be is part of the Vivium Care group (non-profit), also the owner of The Hogeweyk.

2019-04-20T01:35:15Z

https://tedwomen2018.ted.com/speakers

Respect your body and please it – it will remember and respond with even better results. Massage is one of the best ways to do this. In addition to face care, it is important to cultivate the body, provide it with necessary nourishment and solve the problem of tired legs and sore points with quality treatments. Feel the smoothness of your skin upon a mere touch and enjoy a range of aromatic scents within each treatment. Visit our salon and feel for yourself the relaxing and nourishing powers of our top-quality products. Relaxation massage is a gentle, soothing massage using manual techniques, which brings body relaxation. Experience a wonderful feeling offered by this type of massage, which feeds, regenerates and awakens the vital force and restores harmony of the whole body. Through gentle stimulation of the energy points, the treatmant reduces tension, restores the flow of energy into balance, while fragrance oils give a pleasant feeling of relaxation and improve mood. In combination with the relaxation music, a complete relaxation is achieved through the sense of hearing and all sensory fields are gratified. Connective massage is a form of intense massage that aims at releasing myofascial restrictions in the body, and effects the disruption of the restrictive skin tissue. It is also known to help in the treatment of chronic tension, to increase the level of physical movement improve posture and enhance the natural harmony of the entire body and mind. Connective massage is a combination of techniques borrowed from the Swedish massage. The pressure applied by the therapist during the massage is more intense, and even massage oil or lotion is not used in the usual way. Connective massage strokes are slower and stronger, tending to warm the muscles and penetrate into their deeper layers. During the treatment, by applying deep intense movements the therapist will focus on the release of tension from the deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue structures. This massage influences an improved posture, balance, movement, and leads to muscle relaxation. Classic manual body massage appears exotic and more pleasant with the addition of aromatic oils. Essential oils have been used for 5000 years and represent an elixir of youth, life, health and beauty. The word "aroma" means fragrance and is of Greek origin; therapy means treatment; thus, an aroma therapy stands for a treatment using aromatic oils combined with massage movements. Besides the effect of relaxation and reduction of muscle tension, this massage has a great effect on the complete physical and psychological health, as various aromas and friendly environment with appropriate music are known to positively affect mood and reduce stress. Sports massage speeds up recovery after a workout, warms up and softens the tissues, aligns the muscle fibers, improves circulation, speeds up the discharge of waste matter and lactic acid from the body. Sports massage keeps muscles healthy, flexible, less susceptible to injury, increases range of motion, strength of injured muscles, speeds up the process of strengthening, improves blood circulation and makes us more willing to make better performance in sports and life's challenges. Royal massage is a specific direction in creativity, placed in front of two therapists with similar sensibilities and four arms. This is a specific way of dancing hands where one creates a movement and the other simultaneously follows. By listening to the vibrations of the body and recognizing the client's blockades, the therapists simultaneously and in a balanced way create the relaxing effect on the left and right sides of the body. In this way, the stimulation of blood circulation and lymph flow is balanced on both sides of the body, the load on the heart is reduced to a minimal extent, a sense of unity and indivisibility of the body is fully revealed. In our ambience, with appropriate music, you will experience an absolute delight! Lymph is a colorless circulatory liquid in the vertebrate which accounts for nearly 25% of the human body weight. It fills all the intercellular spaces and acts as an intermediary between the blood and the tissues in a way that it transports nutrients and oxygen to the cells of the tissue capillaries and collects the harmful products of metabolism and carbon dioxide. The lymph is a fluid with a composition similar to the blood plasma and lymphocytes from the group of leukocytes, i.e. white blood cells. It results from the separation of blood plasma and one portion of leukocytes from the blood. The lymph’s flow to the heart is very slow and varies from 2 to 4 liters in an hour. The lymphatic system consists of lymph nodes and lymph vessels that branch throughout the body, similar to the blood vessels. The lymphatic system plays a major role in the immune system and the production of antibodies because it circulates the lymph back into the blood, where the lymph is filtered from damaged cells and bacteria, and produces immune cells. Lymphatic drainage therapy is intended to stimulate the free flow of lymph in the lymph system. It is performed by manual massage that primarily focuses on specific lymph nodes and points on the body, following its natural flow. The main goal of this treatment is to remove the blockage and retention of fluids, generally along the upper and lower extremities. It is used for inflammation and swelling of muscles and joints, after placing implants and liposuction. It is an indispensable therapy for the malfunction of digestive tract such as constipation, lazy bowels and flatulence. Lymphatic drainage is preventive detoxification, excellent in maintaining existing healthy state of the body, and it is strongly recommended to pregnant women. Today, this massage is widely used for facial cosmetic purposes, mostly in reducing bags under the eyes, double chin and after various cosmetic procedures. About 85% of women get cellulite at some point in life, most often accompanying major hormonal fluctuations, such as pregnancy and puberty, regardless of the activity or sport weight. In addition to genetics, the modern way of life is one of the major causes of cellulite. This phenomenon occurs in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (hypodermis) and extends into the medial layer of skin (dermis). Fat cells are grouped into globules and connected by the connective tissue made of collagen and elastin. Blood and lymphatic vessels pass between them. The process starts by increasing of cellulite fat cells, which creates pressure on capillaries and the surrounding tissue, and thus interferes with the circulation, which manifests itself as "orange peel" i.e. cellulite. Anti-cellulite massage acts to induce lymph circulation and remove excess liquid. Essential oils used in the massage dissolve fat deposits that have accumulated unevenly. Massage influences the breaking of fat cells. Hot stone massage is actually not a new method. It was used back in the ancient history of men, in rituals, healing ... and massages. The Egyptians and Indians were known to have used volcanic rocks because the stone is a very good accumulator of the thermal energies and its carrier. Volcanic rocks (i.e. stones from the heart of the earth) have geomagnetic properties which, in contact with the body, have a very positive effect and cure it both at the site of contact and the whole body. Special light and deep rhythmic massage movements combined with appropriate oils and heated stones create a feeling of harmony and balance in the body, reduce stress and relax muscles. This massage is a special type of massage, which is performed with warm oils and rhythmic movements. With its properties, massage with warm oils stimulates the body thus preventing many diseases. At the same time, it relaxes and therefore represents a massage for regeneration and pain relief. During massage, the therapist uses long, deep and intense movement pressures, in order to achieve the level of relaxation of tense muscles. Massage with warm oils relieves the body of stress and helps restore balance in the body and the free flow of energy. The oils used have intense aroma securing improved blood circulation, relaxation of body and mind - the overall vitality. This treatment includes complete relaxation and it will rebalance your energy, refresh you, strengthen and return the energy to your body and mind. Massage with herb compress or hot cotton bolus' is one of the special techniques which is an integral part of modern anti-stress programs. Bolus bags are filled with herbs and their specific aromas have a calming and relaxing effect. This technique is "PINDA SWEDA" and is one of the earliest techniques in Ayuverda. Massage is done by warmed bolus bags in order to heat the whole body, resulting in easing your energy blockades and pain relieving. Hot chocolate massage nourishes and regenerates the skin, provides a vital force and brings you back into perfect harmony. Wonderful sense of highest quality chocolate on your skin has relaxing effect on mind and senses through scent as aromatherapy. Gentle relaxation massage relieves tension and stress, and the smell of chocolate will totally relax you and certainly lift your spirits. Cocoa, the main ingredient of the preparation, contains polyphenols that bind free radicals and neutralize them and thus protect the skin from premature aging. It contains magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and amino acids which lead to the formation of serotonin also known as a happiness hormone, and endorphins which alleviate pain. An anti-stress massage is a combination of relaxing and therapeutic massage, in which are used specially selected essential oils and bolus bags filled with aromatic herbs, thanks to which this massage has the characteristic of aroma therapy. This massage achieves a positive and stimulating effect on the central nervous system, and thus has a positive effect on mental processes, i.e. significantly reduces nervous tension and stress. Foot reflexology is a holistic therapeutic treatment by which is balancing of vital energy achieved through foot massage (specific reflex points). There are 10 channels in reflexology, known as zones, extending from head to fingertips and toes, and vice versa. Each zone is associated with a particular zone of the body and organs of that zone. Reflex points of all organs and body parts are located on feet. By pressing on precise reflex points, the therapist obtain the information about the state of an appropriate body organ – if the place is pressure-sensitive, what the texture of the skin is, small lumps that can be detected, or if a reflex point is “weakened". Soft and shiny skin is every woman’s wish. It is important to dedicate sufficient time and afford the care it deserves, because it is the most exposed organ of our body. To achieve the desired effect, it is necessary to regularly remove impurities from it, primarily from its upper layer. Exfoliation is a very good solution to thoroughly clean the skin, which is the basis of skin care in general. With the removal of excess dead tissue, the natural regeneration of the skin's surface is stimulated gradually achieving the effect of softness and shine. The number and frequency of treatments depend on skin type and the type of peel. Body treatment package, accorded to the needs of the skin, consists of various mixtures of algae, clay and essential oils. This is one of the oldest methods of skin care and dates back to the time of Cleopatra. Packages usually have a thermal effect so that active ingredients and heat can accelerate blood circulation, widen pores, speed up metabolism, particularly the secretion of harmful substances from the body. The extremely efficient effect on the skin and subcutaneous tissue is manifested by restored elasticity and tone, and thus the youthful appearance of the skin, giving the skin a long-lasting feeling of smoothness and tightness. Active ingredients penetrate the surface layers of the skin and affect the stimulation of cell processes important for overall health. Body mesotherapy is a method where adequate products are applied to the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Depending on your needs, body mesotherapy is applied to remove localized fat, cellulite reduction, straining i.e. rejuvenating the skin and muscle stimulation. At the same time, it is an amazing body antioxidant. The process is simple and the results are very good. It is the local application of selected cocktails which are determined by the doctor after the examination. Series of about 10 treatments are recommended. To make the results more effective, the treatment is combined with anti-cellulite massage. Skin tightening is carried out according to the same principle as the reduction of cellulite, except that the different mesotherapy cocktail is applied. The first effects are visible after 3 treatments, where the skin is tighter and has a beautiful, rejuvenated look. It is recommended for the women who just had delivery, after the body weight reduction, in order to correct the extra, loose skin, as well as tightening the upper arms, thighs, gluteus and inner side of the knee. Each and every day we witness increase in the number of obese people. There are some people who are successful in adoption of proper hygiene-dietetic habits and whose desire to be healthy, lean and attractive is strong enough so they manage to stick to the desired goal, i.e. they succeed in bringing their weight to an ideal one. However, we have seen too often that although someone achieved weight loss and desired weight, the critical lipid regions which still remained the same destroyed the ideal of a harmonious and attractive figure. The most common problem among women are hips, thighs, stomach and arms, while in most cases in men the critical region is stomach. Large abdominal girth (not just an aesthetic problem but a health issue as it is directly associated with high risk health) is in direct proportion to the risk of cardiovascular disease. WHAT DOES A LIPOLYSIS TREATMENT LOOK LIKE? A lipolysis treatment consists of lipolytic application with microinjections directly into the fatty tissue, and in the next month it melts and removes unwanted fat. After application a sense of itching and redness of the treated region appears in the next day or two. Some bruises may occur too, but disappear in just a few days. During the next month, after the injection of lipolytic cocktail, it is necessary that the patient adheres to a healthy diet and does not consume alcohol. HOW LIPOLYSIS TREATMENT WORKS AND WHAT RESULTS CAN BE EXPECTED? Lipolysis treatment can be called "non-surgical liposuction" because it acts locally in a similar manner as surgery – removes the local problem, i.e. removes local fat deposits. Thus, a series of 2-6 treatments remove fat from desired locations, thanks to substances that lead to the destruction of fat cells. This means that lipolysis treatment reduces the number of fat cells, which is extremely important because there is no yo-yo effect. It should be emphasized that common diet without lipolysis treatment does not decrease the number of fat cells. In that case, the cells are only getting smaller while we are losing weight, i.e. they "pump out", and we know very well how easily they could again "pump up". During one month, the girth may be reduced to 5-10 cm. Lipolysis treatment should be repeated every 2-6 weeks from 2-6 times. WHAT IS INJECTED INTO THE FATTY TISSUE, ARE THERE ANY NEGATIVE EFFECTS? Fatty acids which are out of the fat cells are signal that macrophages (scavengers of our body) rapidly come to the place of action and carry fatty acids to the liver, where they continue to metabolize. Contraindications for the application of lipolyses treatment are pregnancy, breast-feeding, active malignant and autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases. Before the treatment, a detailed physical examination and discussion with the patient must be done in order to make individually customized treatment regimen and achieve the best effect.

2019-04-25T02:40:13Z

https://medejacosmetic.com/en/services/body-treatments/

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The latest addition to the explosioncarouselof creative sandbox games is Scrap Mechanic; an EarlyAccess titlethat’s mercari essentially Minecraft for anyone withambitions ofbeing an engineer.Scrap Mechanic turns complicated engineering scrap mechanicfreeideas into simple scrap mécanique , making it very easy toplay.However scrap mechanic download it’s worth knowing a few handytipsbefore you go in mechanic games, Scrap Mechanic just so yourfirsthour goes smoothly. Keep this scrap mechanic game beginner’sScrapMechanic guide open in a spare tab scrap mechanic game andyouwon’t go wrong!Scrap Mechanic turns complicated engineering ideas into simplescrapmécanique , making it very easy to play. However it’scarousel worthknowing a few handy tips before you go in, ScrapMechanic just soyour mercari first hour goes smoothly. 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2019-04-22T15:06:55Z

https://apk-dl.com/guide-for-scrap-mechanic/inn.talay.guideforscrapmechanic

Tickets are now on sale for this year's CCS Dance Academy End of Year Concert. CCS Dance Academy presents a night of dance set to your favourite artists, rock stars, pop stars and famous composers. 2. Select "Continue Shopping: This event" and order a DVD if required. Parents and Staff join us to enjoy a scrumptious morning tea as we give thanks to God for 2017. It’s a day to remember, to connect, to catch up, to be loved and to know you are appreciated. No RSVP needed. Parents and Staff join us to enjoy a scrumptious morning tea, prepared by Michelle Rogers and her senior Hospitality students, as we give thanks to God for 2017. It’s a day to remember, to connect, to catch up, to be loved and to know you are appreciated. No RSVP needed. Come and go as you need to. Together we want to say thank you for your partnership with the community at Covenant. We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. In collaboration with the Greener Communities and Waste Teams we are hosting a Beach Clean Up, an Outdoor viewing of A Plastic Ocean and a subsidised Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary Tour on Saturday 25 November starting at 5:00pm at Manly Cove Beach. Our Creeks, Lagoons and Beaches are what making living on the Northern Beaches so special. However, plastic is threatening the place we hold so dear. Join us for this fun filled night to show your love for the sea and see how we can solve this plastic problem together. Outdoor Screening of A Plastic Ocean Starts at 7pm – BYO Picnic Blanket. Learn about Urban Art from Industry Professionals in this free hands on course. Sessions are held every Wednesday 4-6 pm for 6 weeks, starting November 1, ending December 6 at YoYo’s Youth Centre in Frenchs Forest. Things are sure busy at Covenant Christian School this term. You will no doubt have noticed by now that we are in the busyness of a building development, something we are very grateful to God for. The new C Block will be a wonderful addition to the resources of our school, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead. Besides the obvious, it is now week three of the HSC examinations, and a number of our students are now finished their final examinations, and many getting close to the end. We would appreciate your ongoing prayers for our students as they seek to communicate their understanding in their exams at this time, as they approach the last day of testing on November 7. But much more than that, our prayer is that the students, who complete Year 12 and move onto other things, will remember the things they were taught at school, and find their identity in Christ Jesus. On Monday, I was one of the parents picking up children after the Musical rehearsals, feeling thankful for the time our staff and students are putting into their preparations for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which is only a few short weeks away. As you continue to pray, please remember our staff in particular, who on top of their enormous marking and reporting load, are giving up many hours to ensure that the show is a great success! Don’t forget to buy your tickets, and I look forward to seeing you there! As we come to the end of another year, it provides an opportunity to reflect on the things God has taught us, and the privilege it is to serve Him here at Covenant. For me, this year has been a year when I have learned much about trust. Trust in God and His sovereignty in all things. A reminder that He is in control and I am not. That His ways are higher than our ways, and that He is worthy of our trust. To God be the glory. ​This year, Covenant again hosted the annual Pushing the Boundaries Extension and Enrichment Day for Year 9 students. The day was a buzz of energy, creativity and academic fervour as 225 students from schools all around the state came together for a day of exciting workshops. This year, Covenant again hosted the annual Pushing the Boundaries Extension and Enrichment Day for Year 9 students. The day was a buzz of energy, creativity and academic fervour as 225 students from schools all around the state came together for a day of exciting workshops. There were nine morning workshops and nine afternoon workshops for students to consider. Topics were many and varied, from UNSW Engineering, to Philosophy to Digital Music and Psychology. The Australian Theatre for Young People hosted a Physical Theatre and Stage Fighting workshop for those who were dramatically inclined and the University of New South Wales hosted a coding workshop for those eager to develop their computing skills. It was fantastic to see students pushed creatively and academically with like-minded peers. Many were excited to experience subjects, which aren’t normally addressed in the regular curriculum. One highlight was seeing so many students from so many different schools come together and form new friendships. All in all, an exciting day! Year 9 IST visited Telstra and Apple in the city. At Telstra they spent time looking at the technology that Telstra use to both communicate and support their customer requirements. They looked at how technology is now being used in the home and also in the store. They saw how sensors are used to track popular products in store by looking at the location of people in the store and how prices on products are now updated digitally rather than printing new prices for stock. Students then went to Apple and looked into the history of Apple products up to the future. They focused on Augmented Reality and spent time learning to code using the new Swift application. At the beginning of the last holidays, I was lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship to attend SCIVIS which is Space Camp for visually impaired students held in the US Space and Rocket Center in Alabama USA. I was just old enough to participate in the Advanced Space Academy which was pretty awesome. At the beginning of the last holidays, I was lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship to attend SCIVIS which is Space Camp for visually impaired students held at the US Space and Rocket Center in Alabama USA. I was just old enough to participate in the Advanced Space Academy which was pretty awesome. I flew over with two students and two chaperones from the RIDBC (the people who support me at school). We were even allowed to sit in the cockpit once we had landed (which is really unusual nowadays with all the security stuff). We went a few days early so that we could get over the jetlag because you do not want to be tired at space camp as every day was from 7am-11pm. The camp facilities themselves are really cool. The dorms are replicas of shuttles and rockets and are designed to look like a futuristic space station. There are also various shuttles, rockets and military vehicles all around the camp. We were all put into teams of about 12 people and we stayed with our team for all 6 days of camp. As part of a team you do a lot of things together: eat meals, hang out, do missions and lots of physical and team building exercises to build up trust and believe me, you definitely want to trust your team at space camp, especially when you are relying on your team to not crash your shuttle when you are entering Earth’s atmosphere. We also completed many different space simulated missions. I was appointed shuttle commander on our final mission to Mars. Throughout the mission I had to fill out a checklist of things to do like pressing buttons, flicking switches and doing a lot of calculations so that you don’t aim your shuttle in the wrong direction. We had to fix malfunctions of the shuttle when a light from a panel of lights would turn on saying there was an “Oxygen deficiency” or “Rocket thrusters go offline” and things like that. These missions and situations really help you to think on your feet and handle stress quite well. We also had people from NASA come in and talk to us about their jobs, some of whom were visually impaired and they were doing really high-level jobs at NASA like engineering. Their stories were really encouraging for us because it showed us that nothing can stop us from pursuing our passion. The Physical Challenges are really full on, with the hardest one probably being the one where we have to climb to the top of a 35ft telegraph pole, stand on the top for a few seconds, and then jump off. At space camp, we were given a lot of different simulations to give the feeling of lack of gravity. We even went scuba diving (in a tank so no sharks!) which was really fun. We also went on a device called the 1:6 chair which holds 5/6 of your weight and gives you the experience of being super light. We also went on something called the multi-access trainer which spins you around and gives you the feeling of what it would be like if your shuttle was hit in space. Luckily, nobody threw up! We also took part in engineering challenges where we were given a small amount of time and fake money to design things like rockets (which we launched at the end of camp) and Mars land rovers. We also attended a lot of different seminars based on astronomy and history. Space Camp is open all year but once a year it is open to visually impaired students only. All the instruction and information is in Braille or large print so that everyone can participate. It was great to meet so many different people from around the world and see what their lives were like, and how they face their own challenges in life (I also had people believing 'drop bears' are real and Australia doesn’t have SpongeBob). I am so thankful for the opportunity to have attended Space Camp. I was sponsored by Northrup Grumman (which is a company who creates parts for the Shuttles and Rockets for NASA) and the RIDBC who sent over chaperones to take photos of our course. Space Camp was an unforgettable experience and something that I would recommend to anyone. Last week at Extend After School Care we were very creative. We made origami crabs and chatter boxes. On Tuesday we had a picnic and did running races from one side of the high school oval to the other. I think it was a very active week! Term 4 Working Bee will be held on Saturday 11 November, from 8:00am to 12:00pm. Working Bees are a great way to meet other members of our community while assisting the school in a practical way. Morning tea will be provided. Please bring a pair of gloves. Praise God for Jesus, who gave up His life for us, so that through faith in Him we can have life eternal, and are blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing. Pray for HSC students as they continue their exams till next Tuesday. Pray for Duke of Ed Information night on Thursday. Give thanks and pray for teachers and students in Secondary School. Pray for safety around school during construction and for minimal disruption to staff and students. Pray for those grieving and suffering in our community, that God will give them comfort in this time. Pray for our students to know the hope and grace that is in Christ, to know that He gave His life for them, and to know that they are never alone in their struggles. Please join us in prayer from 9.00 - 9.30am on Thursdays in T9 (classroom between Preschool & K Block) during term time. If you are unable to come but would like to pray from home, please email us to receive a copy of the prayer notes. If you would like the Prayer Group to pray for you, please also email us at: prayergroup@covenant.nsw.edu.au. Many young people want to work with animals, but don’t know where to start looking. They also often feel like veterinary science is out of their reach. Here are a few websites and ideas to start researching jobs with animals. (Even though this an American website it has some good ideas and a good place to start thinking about potential jobs with animals. Note the pay scale would be different in Australia). Find out about mechatronic engineering. It is documented that around forty-four per cent of jobs are under threat from automation, according to CSIRO. And it’s not just manufacturing, even jobs like accounting and law are at risk. But the news is not all bad. Just as fast as robots are replacing jobs, new careers are being created and many of them are in robotics. Free ACE the HSC seminars for parents and students at Macquarie University & UTS. It is a series of seminars for Year 11/12 students and/or parents (10am-12:30pm) on Sunday 12th November. Topics include: Stress-Free HSC, HSC English presentation, exam/study strategies and parent information. Due to limited places, registration is essential. RSVPhttps://hscintheholidays.com.au or call 1300 677 336. Sat 4 November 10am-12pm, 2/40 Oxley St, St Leonards. Love interiors? The Open Day is an opportunity to explore a creative career in interior design and decoration. You'll get hands on building your own interiors mood board and find out everything you need to know about their accredited careers courses and flexible learning options. Becoming a commercial pilot is easier than you think according to the Sydney Flight College. If you have a Passion for Flying there is an opportunity to explore this further at the Sydney Flight College Open Day. Some free air experience flights to the first ten Y12 students to register for the open day on Sunday 19th November 2017 at Bankstown are available. To register for a free flight visithttp://bit.ly/2xI2Weo or call us on 9709 8488 for more information. Scholarships are available for study in 2018 across a range of areas including business, design, education, health, and hospitality. Throughout January, Whitehouse Institute are hosting short workshops that will give you introductory skills in fashion, interior design or photography. Time has flown by, and we are racing towards opening night of the Secondary School Musical ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ - the magical adventures of a flying car. Ninety people successfully auditioned as cast and chorus members. Time has flown by, and we are racing towards opening night of the Secondary School Musical ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ - the magical adventures of a flying car. Ninety people successfully auditioned as cast and chorus members. These fabulously DRIVEN performers have been working TIRE LESSLY for many Terms. Learning dances, memorising lines, TUNING their voices and rehearsing to the point of EXHAUST-ion. There have been extraordinary mothers behind the scenes sewing costumes. With 90 people in the cast, most have two or three costumes… that’s a lot of skirts and hats. The art department have been painting, the maintenance team have been building the most exciting props. So people - START YOUR ENGINES - REV YOUR MOTORS - this is going to be a the most FANTASMAGORICAL MUSICAL. There are four performances for you to enjoy. Opening night on the Wednesday, Thursday afternoon, stay after school with your friends to see the 4pm show. Then of course Friday night- bring your youth group along. And you can’t miss the excitement of closing night when Chitty flies away for ever! Also, we have a fabulous opportunity for you and your family and friends to have your photo taken in our magical car. Drama Teacher, Mrs Pitt, would like to leave you with a joke - what has four wheels and flies? Scroll down. Almost 40 years ago in 1978 on Saturday the 20th May, Dr Joel Nederhood, a radio Minister on the ‘Back to God Hour’, addressed the fundamental reason for why a group of parents set out to start Covenant Christian School. Our society has, basically, two answers to this question. There is the Marxist idea: children belong to the Government, they are part of the State. And so the State is in control of education. Children have to be taught that they grow up into the kind of persons the State wants them to become. Parents have no responsibility regarding education and should not do what the State has to do. Then we have the individualistic approach: these children are MY children, they are my possession and I can do with them as I please. This approach can have terrible consequences. Let us think for an instance of abortion. The basic thing here is that when you have a child, even an unborn child, then it is up to you what to do with that child. It is said: "It is the right of then mother to make a choice whether her child will live or die". The future of the child is dependent exclusively on what the mother decides will happen to the child. As Christians, we reject the notion that our children belong to the State. We also reject the notion that our children are the possession of the parents. As Christians we joyfully believe that our children are GOD's children. In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul is speaking about women who married unbelievers and husbands who married unbelieving wives. He then says that the unbelieving husband is sanctified by his wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by her believing husband. Otherwise - he says - your children would be unclean, but no they are holy. Paul makes here an important point. Even though the marriage is not an idea one - one of a believer and an unbeliever - yet the child of a believing parent is a holy child. That does not mean that these children are perfect, but it means that these children have been set aside (the word "holy" often means that), they have a special position: they belong to God, they belong to the Covenant. What does the "Covenant" mean? It means that when God works His grace in this world He does not say: I include this man, that woman, that child; but when He comes in His grace He says: I will be your God and the god of your children. This does not mean our children are automatically saved because they are Covenant children. It means that before they know their right hand from their left, God comes into their lives with His message of Salvation. He sets His mark upon them and says: "this child belongs to Me!" That is the dynamic of the Covenant. What a blessing it is to be brought up in the fear of the Lord. What kind of children are they? The children of believers! What a wonderful and glorious privilege. We received our children from the hand of the Lord and we know that. Now it is our responsibility to bring up our children in the fear of the Lord. I like to approach this matter of Christian education first from the negative side; the alternative. Christian education is not just the icing on the cake - it is absolutely necessary, for the alternative is to bring them into a pagan temple! Let me show you what I mean by that. I don't want to day awful things about people. I know that there are wonderful people in the State schools and we thank God for teachers, principals and administrators in those schools who love the name of Jesus Christ. But I am talking about the State school as a system. Because education in the State school is pagan, the school itself is a pagan temple! A nation confesses its faith when it educates the children. It is a totally religious affair. Decisions have to be made which are fully religious. A decision has to be made whether there is a God who made everything. When education deals with all the things around us a choice is to be made: did God create it all or it is all the result of evolution? The answer is most important, and one way or another it is a religious answer! To mention another example: what exactly are the children, what is man? The State school says: man is part of the animal kingdom. That is a decision, a religious one! Or: what is the ultimate authority? Is it man's rationality or is it the Bible? Education is religious and the school is a temple. It is a pagan temple dedicated to naturalistic evolution, or a temple of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every day of every school period is a confession of faith When we talk about the world we say: "this is my Father's world." And we can't send our children to a place where the idols of this world are being worshiped all the time. A Christian school is not a school where we teach church doctrine. That is the church's responsibility. But it is the task of the school to witness to the children about the saving love of Jesus Christ. We teach them to think in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a tragedy of our time that so many children of Christian parents are sent to State schools. They may attend Sunday school, they may go to church and learn there to worship the LORD. And then they are sent to a school where they are taught to worship a secular idol.... State schools are fine schools for people who do not believe in Jesus. But there is no place in it for children who belong to God! To faithfully serve in God’s plan to restore all things under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. To assist parents in the nurture of their children, by providing a Christ-centred, biblically grounded, culturally engaging and academically rigorous education to equip the children to live for God’s glory. Recently, Rachael Lin (Year 9), Emily Stewart (Year 10) and Daniel Cooke, represented Covenant Christian School for the first time in the NSW Philosothon, hosted by St Andrew’s Cathedral School. Recently, Rachael Lin (Year 9), Emily Stewart (Year 10) and I, represented Covenant Christian School for the first time in the NSW Philosothon, hosted by St Andrew’s Cathedral School. Is it moral to create a donor baby? Is the mind a physical thing? The evening involved students from a range of schools such as Ascham School, North Sydney Girls High School, Meriden School and Cranbrook School (among others). Students ventured avenues such as utilitarianism, Kant’s Categorical Imperative, the transcendental qualities of mind and art, the planes of interaction between the brain and the mind, the sacrificial nature of safety, totalitarianism, and the true nature of Being, in an attempt to answer these perplexing questions. Overall, the night’s discussion was both fascinating and enriching for all students and spectators and it has hopefully encouraged students to consider with greater depth, issues or notions which may often be erroneously pawned off as being superfluous or pointless. Year 8 went to Orchard Hills Water Recycling Plant and St Mary's Water Recycling Plant to see how water is managed in the greater Sydney area. Orchard Hills provides Sydney with all its drinking water and the students learnt how this process is managed. St Mary's treats all the waste water that is generated by removing all the dirty items imaginable that are flushed away and once the water is treated it is returned to the river system. The students completed some scientific water testing to ensure our water meets drinking standard and learnt what we has humans can do to help manage this valuable resource. ​On Thursday 26 October, a team of 25 Secondary School students and seven Junior School students ventured to the International Regatta Centre, Penrith, to participate in triathlons and biathlons. For the majority of students, this was their first experience in participating in such an event. Thank you to the awesome support crew of Mrs McDonald, Mr Cochrane and the many parents who helped on the day with transporting students and bikes. The triathlon team are very grateful to be given this opportunity to compete in these events. Early one morning, 45 students loaded their instruments onto a coach ready for a day of music. Timpanis, Trumpets and Tenor Saxs were transported all the way to Newcastle where the Senior Band linked up with Music students from Belmont Christian College for a day of performances and workshops. Belmont Christian College's Principal, Miss Sopher, was at Covenant for over 10 years before taking up her new role in 2016. The College have just started a new band program in their Junior School, so our students were able to provide them with some workshops and section tutoring, as well as presenting a concert that will hopefully inspire them in their desire to pursue their instrument further. A fun day was had by all! Thanks Belmont for hosting us, and thanks to our teachers for letting us out of class for the day to make the most of this great opportunity.

2019-04-22T17:56:40Z

http://www.ourcovenant.com.au/newsletter/2017-term-4-week-4

Arena goes with experience -- and a few question marks in Gold Cup knockout phase. If a team’s play can be as memorable as it is forgettable, the U.S. did just that in winning -- barely -- Group B of the 2017 Gold Cup. Panama’s improved quality has been evident for most of this decade and both Martinique and Nicaragua deployed three or four players quite capable of matching their American counterparts. Those teams also were not composed mostly of second-choice players with little or no experience playing together in a competitive match. The Americans were supposed to better and they were in the second and third games though certainly not dominant. It is a source of disappointment that the U.S. didn’t do enough to blot out those foes’ strengths and overpower their weaknesses, yet head coach Bruce Arena chose his first-round squad to test players individually and observe their collective effectiveness. The first round was about observation and evaluation. Like the extensive weeding necessary to clean up an overgrown backyard, the process is not pretty even if the end product looks nice. The attack may not have oozed flow and beauty, but in three games it did generate 21 shots on goal, and stick seven goals in the net even while squandering a pair of penalty kicks. Doing the math can be deceptive. It took only eight shots against Martinique, but all three on goal wound up in the net. And the two goals by Jordan Morris that followed a scrapper from Omar Gonzalezwere among the best of the U.S. seven. The Americans didn’t react well to Martinique attacks that wiped out a two-goal lead but they did strike back right away to get the 3-2 victory. Arena’s six changes raised a lot of questions, but the intriguing case is that of Morris. Dom Dwyer and Kelyn Rowe obviously did well enough to rate consideration when Hexagonal play resumes in September, but Morris has been struggling for Seattle this season. He had apparently slid down the depth chart before tucking home an Eric Lichaj near-post cross from a tight angle and racing onto a return pass from Gyasi Zardes and booming it high into the net two minutes after Martinique had equalized. Juan Agudelo didn’t play in the warm-up game against Ghana but played in all three group matches, including a start against Martinique. He brings something different to the squad than does Dwyer, playing the target role unlike either Altidore or Dwyer. Similarly, Arena has kept on Corona, who played well against Ghana, struggled in the Panama game, and on Saturday notched his first U.S. goal in more than four years before failing to convert a penalty kick. Good and bad, memorable and forgettable. This is what perhaps a dozen players gave Arena and his coaching staff in the first round. Still think coaching a national team is no big deal? Dwyer’s emergence shortly after obtaining U.S. citizenship has ratcheted up the competition at forward. It’s impossible to gauge how much Arena considers a player’s club situation when he makes his roster decisions; he’s taken Clint Dempsey away from the Sounders, who play two games this week. Dwyer and Rowe didn’t disappoint but Arena has options he considers superior and it’s hard to argue with Dempsey, who is within one of Landon Donovan’s U.S. record 57 goals, or Altidore, third on the all-time list with 37. They have been rising to the occasion for about a decade. This is must-win time. Sentiment and romanticism can wait. Arena cannot call his European-based players and wants to win the competition, and for whatever reason he didn’t consider Benny Feilhaber and Sacha Kljestan as essential options. If the Americans stumble short of the title those exclusions, as well as the departures of Dwyer and Rowe, will trigger the most reaction. Obviously, he regards Dempsey and Seattle teammate Morris essential to winning the Gold Cup and not midfielder Cristian Roldan, who showed signs of nerves in his debut against Martinique before settling into the environment. Roldan is 22 and the U.S. is well-equipped in central midfield. More opportunities will come his way. Retaining Kellyn Acosta and Dax McCarty while also summoning Michael Bradley and Darlington Nagbe opens up many possible midfield combinations. Nagbe adds dribbling skills and speed, both essential elements as competition toughens. Decisions would have been different if Alejandro Bedoya didn’t leave the team to attend the birth of his second child; he unhinged Martinique, and against Nicaragua assisted on the first two goals and played a significant role in the third. Those botched PKs by Dwyer and Corona necessitated the late heroics of centerback Matt Miazga, who punctuated a very solid showing against Nicaragua by heading home Graham Zusi’s free kick -- awarded for a foul on Agudelo -- with the crucial goal in the 88th minute. Said goal earned top spot in the group and a match against Group C wild-card El Salvador rather than Costa Rica, which instead plays Panama Wednesday in Philadelphia right before the USA match. With all eight defenders retained, Arena has given himself the most extensive range of options in case of injuries and/or suspensions, and he’s also building depth for the last four games of the Hexagonal. The Hex resumes Sept. 1 against Costa Rica, which the Americans could meet in the semis. Lichaj looks like a contender to back up DeAndre Yedlin at right back and he has also played on the left. A rough outing for Matt Hedges against Martinique has not prompted his departure; Arena may not give him any minutes in the remaining games but closely observe how he handles himself in training. Same, too, for Zardes, whose maddening propensity for heavy touches and bull-headed decisions is offset by flank speed and quality balls such as the one he measured and weighted perfectly for Morris. The departure of Brad Guzan, starting a new phase of his career with Atlanta United, is significant. He has far more experience than Bill Hamid, who got his third cap against Nicaragua, and Jesse Gonzalez, whose switch of allegiance from Mexico was approved just two weeks ago. They'll back up Tim Howard in a pre-planned shuttle of keepers, a bit of a gamble for Arena. He'll go into a knockout round banking on Howard and two backups with a grand total of three caps. At every position, Arena is looking for competition. There are a few openings in the first XI, and slots 12-20 are very much in play. In the past year, players such as Nagbe and Jorge Villafana have solidified spots high on the depth chart. For the next 11 months, Arena wants the same dynamic across the board. 33 comments about "Arena goes with experience -- and a few question marks in Gold Cup knockout phase.". Right Winger, July 17, 2017 at 7:34 a.m. Altidore? Tell me the last time he rose to the occasion. His time has passed. Period. Ric Fonseca replied, July 17, 2017 at 3:10 p.m. I couldn't agree more! To soften his departure from the NT, give him a developmental team. Joe Linzner, July 17, 2017 at 9:52 a.m. I simply cannot understand Leadlegs Altidore getting the nod. What is it that coaches see in that guy? His scores are gimmes. Once in a blue moon, he earns a goal. Sickening! Fire Paul Gardner Now, July 17, 2017 at 10:20 a.m. Bashing Altidore appears to be a tradition among USMNT fans. Too bad. He's not perfect but we can do a lot worse. Other than maybe Bobby Wood, which US striker is better? Wooden Ships replied, July 17, 2017 at 12:44 p.m. Give me Wood, his work rate alone is a difference maker in keeping the ball in the middle third. Ric Fonseca replied, July 17, 2017 at 3:13 p.m. Come now guys, Jazzy has reached and way past his prime! All he does is charges into the box like a bull in a china shop. Like I said above, retire him and give him an MLS Developmental team!!! Fire Paul Gardner Now replied, July 19, 2017 at 9:47 a.m. More irrational hatred of Altidore. Yes, Wood is better but Bruce is not calling in European based players at this stage. That's why guys like Pulisic, Cameron, Yedling, Johnson etc. are not here either. ROBERT BOND, July 17, 2017 at 10:44 a.m. John Lander, July 17, 2017 at 11:33 a.m. Too all the Altidore haters.. He is the best center forward option for the US. He finishes and also assist. Check out the beautiful well weighted assist to Pulisic against Trinidad. He does the job better that any other option the US has. I too think Altidore gets bad and undeserved criticism. He is often left alone with few, if any good balls coming his way. In order to be successful lone scorer you need a much better supporting crew than what is "usually" gets. Ben Myers, July 17, 2017 at 12:37 p.m. There is a stark contrast here between the USMNT 2nd team in the Gold Cup and the German 2nd team in the Confederations Cup. Also, count me in among those who are not fans of Altidore. Wow, such insight - Germany has better players and more depth? Who knew?!?! Wooden Ships, July 17, 2017 at 12:41 p.m. I've always wanted to pull for Jozy, but his lack of professionalism has bothered me. Had Bradley been a stronger Captain perhaps Jozy's laziness and whining wouldn't have risen to the level it has. He would piss me off as a teammate. He has scored goals and made assists, some of them real quality. But, who has had the predominant minutes up top the last 5 years. As a coach I would have a hard time counting on him. And now, where we will have players that will provide great service will he know how to make those runs and show timely. Another thing that I hope Jozy will recognize as his remaining years loom, hustle to win the ball back, if not for your own pride, how about for your mates. You have players nipping at your heals now, turn it up a notch. One other thing, keeping Zardes and releasing Rowe is befuddling to say the least. Smart, technical, work rate, no thanks. Ric Fonseca replied, July 17, 2017 at 3:15 p.m. Bob Ashpole, July 17, 2017 at 12:59 p.m. Ridge makes a lot of good points. My thought is that, while earlier who Arena wanted to evaluate drove the selections, now Arena's choices focused more on the team than the individuals. Right Winger, July 17, 2017 at 1:16 p.m. I am not an Altidore hater. I am one who thinks his time is over and has been for some time. Talking about a pass to being outstanding. That's his job. The problem is he doesn't do it often enough and his complaining gets in the way. Move on. Thomas Brannan, July 17, 2017 at 2:05 p.m. If with two strikers: Dwyer and Wood. After that falls off. With Jozy it's not personal it's just an opinion. Dwyer missed a PK. PK s are different. When Dwyer pulls away a bit and pushes away and then goes to the far corner on the ground that shows something. Dwyer's overall play and playing knowledge appear to be better than Altidore. Not a derogatory comment on Jozy. Everyone is just trying to earn a living. Just an opinion. Ric Fonseca, July 17, 2017 at 3:17 p.m. I'd take Dwyer over Jazzy and Zardes. So even Pele and other greats have missed on a PK, so what, this is the nature of our jogo bonito. But for keeping Jazzy.... wow!!! R2 Dad, July 17, 2017 at 5:33 p.m. Y'all seem to be focusing on Altidore the player, rather than the system we use that requires a target man up front.There are two notable countries that play a target up front, USA and France. The difference is Giroud has his back to the goal so he can play in speedy wingers with real quality: M'bappe and Dembele--they're very dangerous and the team is explosive and powerful due to the fact that Giroud can hold up the ball to bring these other people into play. The US uses a target man the way those teams that inhabit the bottom half of the top 100 do, with long balls out of the back for JA to chase down. That is to say, we use a target man because we don't have many options up front. As far as Jozy's physiology is concerned, he is not a middle distance runner--he is a big, powerful sprinter. He cannot run all day the way a 440 runner can, but that 440 runner is also not packing the extra 40 lbs of muscle Jozy is. When you armchair quarterbacks complain about his work rate, you're not factoring in the fact that his physiology does not allow him to run all day. Go ask a 100 meter sprinter if he can run 6-10K during a soccer match, and still have gas in the tank for gut-busting runs. Having said all that, I don't like having to rely on Jozy and think if we have to play him he would suit a 4-4-2 or 3-4-3 much better than a 4-2-3-1. Bob Ashpole replied, July 17, 2017 at 6:45 p.m. R2 Dad, his size does not prevent his fitness. That is just an excuse. Match fit is match fit and the one thing that is within everyone's reach if healthy. Beside he is a skinny 6'1" and 175 lbs. The Hulk is 5' 11" and 187 lbs. When I played competitively, I was a 205 lbs wing half and ran opponents into exhaustion. You are barking up the wrong tree with fitness as an issue. Jay Wall replied, July 17, 2017 at 9:27 p.m. Recent professional game studies, using GPS and multi-camera player tracking, document a change in the types and frequency of movement in the game. For example tracking to the nearest 1,000 of a second, players even at the highest professional levels, spend 52.3% to 60.8% of their time standing, walking or jogging in games. Percents vary slightly by report but the following data shows what attributes players in various positions should possess. > Stribers Strikers sprint 5% of the time, run fast 7.2%, run at a moderate speed 17% of the time, run slow 15.2% of the time and stand, walk and jog 55.6% of the time. > Wing Midfielders sprint 4.3% of the time, run fast 7.1%, run at a moderate speed 18.3% of the time, run slow 17.3% of the time and stand, walk and jog 53.0% of the time. > Central Midfielders sprint 3.5% of the time, run fast 6.9%, run at a moderate speed 18.4% of the time, run slow 16.9% of the time and stand, walk and jog 54.2% of the time. > Wing Defenders sprint 5.3% of the time, run fast 7.3%, run at a moderate speed 18.1% of the time, run slow 16.9% of the time and stand, walk and jog 52.3% of the time. > Central Defenders sprint 3.9% of the time, run fast 6.2%, run at a moderate speed 14.8% of the time, run slow 14.3% of the time and stand, walk and jog 60.8% of the time. >> Since all athletes rely on Fast Twitch muscles for speed and Slow Twitch muscles for endurance running and each players store of energy for each muscle type differs, the challenge is to match each players physical, mental and intellectual abilities with the positions a team is playing and the capabilities of their opponents. As Cruyff observed players who observe and understand the game are often not faster, but arrive on time more often because their ability to scan the game and to understand what they see is far better developed. A slow player who acquires and processes more information faster, understands what they observe and makes instant decisions is far more likely to arrive on time than the track star who wins Olympic medals but doesn't have the mental processing speed and decision making ability of the slower player. As Cruyff said fast runners run track, those who can anticipate faster and make decisions faster play soccer. >> So running speed is only one small part of playing speed. Pep didn't have the speed of other players but he saw everything and acted, therefore he played on one of the best professional soccer teams in the world, Barcelona. Wooden Ships replied, July 17, 2017 at 10:40 p.m. Good stuff Jay. There is a place in the game for empiricism, here it is revealing. I've done fartlek training as a player and a coach. Some had the deer in headlights look when you explained what we were about to do. R2 Dad replied, July 18, 2017 at 2:39 a.m. Bob, please don't talk about "back in the day" as rationale for your position. "Playing Competitively" is not the same as playing at the highest levels of the sport, so running the opposition into the ground might have been an achievement then but impossible today. MLS today, EPL today, IS a track meet compared to 20 years ago. I don't think that's good for the sport in either country, merely an accurate observation. But keep telling yourself professional players with 10 years on the USMNT are lazy. Bob Ashpole replied, July 19, 2017 at 2:34 a.m. R2 Dad, first you say Jozy is too big to be match fit, then you say MLS players today are all at the highest level of fitness and will never be exhausted. Which is it? I played on a predominately Hispanic Army team against local colleges in the mid-80s. College was the highest level in the US at that time. NCAA rules allowed 11 subs a half. Most college players were fit for 22 minutes a half. It was like playing against an all star high school team. What do you think Arena's strategy was in the last match, starting 11 fresh players against Nicaragua? Glenn Auve, July 17, 2017 at 8:06 p.m. For a basically meaningless tournament why not just keep letting the younger players get experience? I know Arena mentioned mixing the youth with some veterans which seems sensible. Guzan hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire so seeing him go is not a huge problem. And it was pre-planned anyway so he can meet his teammates in Atlanta. Miguel Aviles, July 17, 2017 at 8:45 p.m. Bob Ashpole replied, July 19, 2017 at 2:50 a.m. Ric Fonseca, July 17, 2017 at 11:57 p.m. Mr. Lander, surely you jest!?!?! Jazzy is NOT the answer, there are many others more worthy of playing his position, some that are not on this most recent squad, or for that matter, that kid from Seattle. Then again, I suppose one can continue to "dream on!" beautiful game, July 18, 2017 at 1:40 p.m. So far the only player to have shown consistency at an international level is Pulisic; and this constant argument over second and third tier players is an exercise either false hopes or inability to judge player quality. The recognition of player subtle quality nuances seems to to bury itself when NT players show a couple of good. Jim Hougan, July 18, 2017 at 1:53 p.m. Kellyn Rowe put more and harder shots on goal than the rest of the team put together. He was consistently dangerous every time he touched the ball. Kevin Leahy, July 18, 2017 at 2:04 p.m. I already know how Howard is under pressure. Would like to see Hamid get the Wednesday game. Howard is at an age where his game could disappear fast and the team will need someone soon in that role. Forever Blue, July 18, 2017 at 8:08 p.m. I would have kept Rowe. He was of the bright lights. Would have kept Dwyer also, not as impressed as everybody raves on but feel he earned the right to stay. Would have let Corona go. Probably one of the bigger disappointments. Also don't think we needed to overload with Dempsey and Altidore. One of them would have been fine. Other players still need the experience and pressure of knockout stages. Bob Ashpole replied, July 19, 2017 at 3 a.m. I generally agree, but you are overlooking the fact that the younger players need playing experience with the regular starters--Bradley, Howard, Altidore, Dempsey, and Nagbe--who weren't with them the last few weeks.

2019-04-22T10:49:34Z

https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/74188/arena-goes-with-experience-and-a-few-question-m.html

Chinchillas are adorable, gentle animals that need attentive care in order to thrive. They make great pets but are sensitive, so they should be handled delicately and housed properly. To keep them happy and healthy, you also need to provide them with a proper diet, give them opportunities for exercise, and keep their cage clean. With planning and ongoing care, your chinchilla will be a wonderful and enjoyable pet for years to come. Provide a large, wire cage. Chinchillas should be kept in cages made of metal. Since they are extremely active animals, the larger the cage, the better. Your chinchilla's cage should be 16 by 18 by 16 inches (41 × 46 × 41 cm) at minimum. A tall and wide cage is the best, but tall is better than wide if you can't get both. Chinchillas love to jump, so multiple levels are great for them. Try to get a tall cage because they can jump up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) high. Glass cages are not good for chinchillas because the glass severely limits air flow. Make sure the cage has a solid bottom. A chinchilla can get its feet caught in wire floors, which can cause serious physical harm. A solid floor can be made of hard plastic or plywood and it is helpful if the bottom piece is removable so it can be cleaned thoroughly. Ensure that the cage bars are close together. It's important that the chinchilla can't stick its head through the bars. If its head fits through the bars, its whole body will fit through and it can escape. These animals have a lot of fur and small bodies underneath. If you choose a wire cage, ensure that there are no bits of wire poking out that your chinchilla could cut itself on if it does try to squeeze through the bars. Provide a nesting box for your chinchilla. A nesting box will give your chinchilla somewhere to take refuge if it is scared or tired. This box should measure at least 20 in (50 cm) in length and 10 in (25 cm) width and height, and can be made out of a chew-proof material. The nesting box should be placed on the floor, not on any shelves, because the chinchilla might knock it down. Proper nesting boxes can be purchased through pet supply retailers online and in some pet supply stores. Place the cage in a high, quiet area. It's important to keep their cage in an area where it is quiet during the day so their sleep cycle is not interrupted. Also, chinchillas do not like being looked down on. You should keep their cage on a counter top or somewhere relatively high up. If you look down on them, it can severely scare them. Chins have different psychology from cats and dogs, which are predators. They are prey animals, so they are always fearful of being attacked and eaten. Do not put a chinchilla's cage in a spot where a dog, cat, or anything else can harm or injure it. Keep your chinchilla cool. Chinchillas overheat easily, so it's ideal to keep them in a room that is between 60 °F (16 °C) and 70 °F (21 °C). They cannot survive temperatures over 80 °F (27 °C) or below 50 °F (10 °C). Also, keep their cage in a room with lots of air flow and make sure their cage is not in a spot where the sunlight can directly land on them. Any amount of direct sunlight can cause them to become overheated very quickly. Do not allow them to be in high humidity, either. If you have a humid home, put them near a dehumidifier. Provide healthy bedding. Try to use kiln-dried aspen on the floor of your chinchilla's cage. You can also use Carefresh or any other paper bedding, but be aware that, when ingested, the paper will expand in the animal's system, causing possible blockage in the digestive tract. Some people use fleece fabric on the bottom of their chinchilla cages. If you do this, the fabric needs to washed weekly and you need to be careful to use only fleece and not other fabrics. Also, never use cedar shavings as bedding, as the phenols in the cedar are very strong and cause serious respiratory, skin, coat and liver problems. They are also poisonous to chinchillas if they try to eat them. Remove soiled hay and bedding from the cage daily. It's important to keep the bottom of the cage clean so that the animal stays clean and disease doesn't spread. Pick up soiled bedding in areas where the chinchilla goes to the bathroom as soon as you see their waste and put new, clean bedding in its place right away. Wash the cage with hot water weekly. It is generally suggested that you use no soap or chemicals on the inside of your chinchilla's cage. Instead, simply use hot water to clean the cage. Swish some water around the cage's plastic pan, then clean it thoroughly with hot water and let it air dry. This is a good way to kill most of the bacteria that can harm your chinchilla. Don't ever use bleach or any other chemicals on the cage that could harm your chinchilla. If you are housing more than 1 chinchilla in a cage, that cage should be cleaned more than once a week. Provide a constant supply of timothy hay. Your chinchilla should have a supply of good quality timothy hay available to them at all times. Provide it in a bowl or loose on the bottom of the chinchilla's cage. You can provide timothy hay in racks and hay balls, but be aware that chinchillas are known for getting stuck in them. Providing hay gives your chinchilla necessary fiber. Chewing hay helps them avoid tooth overgrowth. Give your chinchilla pellets daily. Pellets provide your chinchilla with a variety of vitamins and nutrients. Choose a pellet that is designed for chinchilla nutrition needs and follow the instructions provided with it for portion sizing. Place the pellets in a food dish and make sure that dish is cleaned daily before the pellets are put in it. Most adult chinchillas should eat around 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of pellets every day, depending on what type of pellets they are given. Feed chinchillas treats infrequently. Feeding them other snacks too frequently can cause digestive problems. Safe treats include raisins, carrots, apple, oats, dried blackberry leaves, rose petals from plants that have not been sprayed with poisons of any kind, unsweetened cheerios, unsweetened shredded wheat, dried rose hips, and safe wood chew sticks. However, these should be given in very small servings and should only be given once or twice a week. Never give fruit, vegetables, nuts, or other treats that are not listed as safe. Replace the drinking water daily. Use either filtered water or chemical-free tap water and place it in a water bottle with a sipper tube on the end of it that is connected to the side of their cage. Make sure that they have water in that bottle at all times and put clean water in it every day, even if it still has water in it from the day before. Remember to sterilize the water bottle when changing the water. The algae that grows in their water can cause liver problems or severe diarrhea, or even kill a chinchilla. Chinchillas cannot handle some naturally occurring bacteria or parasites in water like humans, dogs, and cats can, so you need to be sure that the water you give them is clean. Begin handling a chinchilla weekly from an early age. If they are handled from birth, they will be tame and docile. If they have no positive physical contact with people until they are full-grown, they will likely not adjust well to being handled unless they are given extensive training. Read a chinchilla's cues to determine if they want to be handled. Chinchillas are usually very friendly but shouldn't be over-handled. Make sure your chinchilla does not bark as you go to pick it up. If it does, don't pick it up. This is one of their ways of telling you to back off. Chinchillas have other defenses as well, such as losing fur, biting, and spraying urine. If your chinchilla is doing any of these things, you may be handling it too much. Lift your chinchilla properly. Lift your pet like you would for a rabbit. Slide your hand under the chinchilla's belly and place your other hand on top of the chinchilla. Use the hand under the chinchilla to support its hind legs and bum so it feels secure. Don't hold the chinchilla too tightly, but do remember that they can be squirmy, so you need to hold them firmly. It is very important that you don't squeeze, especially around the upper torso. Chinchillas have what is known as a "floating ribcage" and you can cause severe internal injuries to it by squeezing that area. Make sure to be gentle with them to avoid scaring them. Give your chinchilla something to chew on for dental health. Chinchillas' teeth grow continuously and can grow up to 12 inches (30 cm) a year. To avoid overgrowth, which can impact a chinchilla's ability to eat, purchase a special block of wood or pumice stone for your chinchilla to chew on. These are typically available at most pet supply stores. Also provide your chinchilla with branches that can be climbed and gnawed on. Ensure that these branches are not cut from trees that have recently been sprayed with chemicals, or that are poisonous, such as yew, laburnum, and fresh pine. Recommended trees are sycamore and manzanita, as they provide straight wood that is quite resistant to the chinchilla's sharp teeth. Apple tree branches are another good alternative that can be found quite easily. Give your chinchilla dust to bathe in. Water can harm the chinchilla's fur, so you can't give it a bath with water. Instead, give them a dust bath. The "dust" bath is made with a mix of dusting powder made of volcanic ash or activated clay and is available from most pet supply businesses. Place the dust in a metal pan that is at least 6 inches (15 cm) by 12 inches (30 cm) and only allow the chinchilla access to it for about 10-15 minutes 2 to 3 times per week. The dust baths help the chinchilla get rid of excess grease in their fur. Do not get chinchillas wet. Their fur does not dry out like a normal animal, causing it to get damaged and moldy. Letting your chinchilla have too much time in the dust bath will cause too much dryness on the animal's coat. However, too little dust bathing will cause their coats to build up oils, which can cause a disfiguring and deadly fungus to grow on their skin. If you do let your pet out of the cage for supervised play time, it should be in a small room and the room should be chinchilla-proof, which means there are no wires, furniture, or other things for them to chew on. Keep in mind that chinchillas can jump several feet (nearly 2 meters) in the air and can squeeze through tiny spaces when you let them out of their cage. Chinchillas are nocturnal animals, so exercise time outside of the cage is best in the evening in a big area where they can run around. Be wary of using an exercise wheel or ball. Do not provide a wire exercise wheel in their cage. Using wheels like this can cause them to injure their feet. If you want to give them a wheel, make sure it has a solid surface and is large in diameter, so they don't bend their backs too far and injure them. Also, never use the giant hamster balls pet stores try to sell you. Instead, let them out in a supervised air-conditioned room, and allow your chinchillas to run freely. Watch out for signs of illness. Keep an eye on the general health of your chinchilla so that you can catch health problems early and get them treated. Assess the animal's energy level and physical health daily, looking for changes in how it moves and how much it is eating and drinking. Also look over its coat, making sure there are not areas of fur loss. If you see any of these problems, consult with your veterinarian. Look at the clarity of the chinchilla's eyes and for excess drainage from the nose, which can be signs of an infection. Also look at the state of the chinchilla's feces. If the consistency changes dramatically, it may have a digestive problem occurring. How often do I change the sand in their bath house? Dr. Elliott is a veterinarian with over thirty years of experience. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987, and worked as a veterinary surgeon for 7 years. Afterward, Dr. Elliott worked as a veterinarian at an animal clinic for over a decade. When the chinchilla bathes, the dust becomes contaminated with grease and skin debris. If the chinchilla bathes 2 or 3 times per week, change the dust at least once a week. Chinchillas are a prey species which makes them cautious around things they are unfamiliar with. They are not naturally friendly, but can be won over by regularly spending time in the company of people. I dislike terms such as 'low' or 'high' maintenance because each pet is a living creature with its own needs. Chinchillas are a commitment because their cage needs to be kept very clean, they need good quality food, and they need daily interaction with people if they are to be friendly. What is a dust bath? A dust bath is the chinchilla's way of keeping their coat clean. They have exceptionally dense fur, and shouldn't get wet. Rolling in fine volcanic ash absorbs the natural grease produced by the skin and keeps the chinchilla clean. How long does a chinchilla live in captivity? When well-cared for, a chinchilla can live in captivity for up to ten years. Do chinchilas have to live in cages, say if I have my chinchilla in my bedroom would it cause any problems? A chinchilla needs its own space where it can feel safe and secure. Putting it loose in your bedroom will not necessarily give it the space it needs, and it may destroy your room as well. This is a temporary solution only if you have no other options. However, a chinchilla needs a lot more space than a guinea pig does. If you have to use a small cage temporarily, make sure that your chinchilla gets a lot of time out of its cage. No, you should not poke a chinchilla. You should not poke or injure any animal that is in your care. My chinchilla hasn't eaten or drunk water in 4 days. What should I do? Take it to be looked at by a vet right away. It is likely very ill and it needs veterinary care as soon as possible. How many times do I need to clean the chinchilla's cage each week? Once a week should be sufficient for a deep cleaning, but you should remove any soiled hay or bedding daily. Don't try to hold or get up close with your chinchilla until you earn their trust, because they are shy animals and it can be stressful for them whenever they are cornered in an unfamiliar place. Check when you buy any item for a chinchilla from a pet store that it is made specifically for chinchillas and that it is safe. Never feed chinchillas human food. Keep flimsy plastic away from chinchilla cages. Ingesting plastic can cause sickness and/or death. Chinchillas are typically not good for children, because of their rather reserved nature and delicate bodies. To properly care for a chinchilla, keep it in a cage that’s tall enough to give it plenty of room to jump and climb. Provide bedding made from dried aspen or pine shavings, and make sure your chinchilla always has a fresh supply of clean water and timothy hay to eat. Remove soiled hay and bedding from the cage daily, and give your chinchilla a dust bath every 1-2 weeks to help prevent oils from building up on its coat. Keep reading to learn what you can give your chinchilla to chew on! Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 569,753 times. "This helped me know how to keep a chin alive and healthy and how big of a responsibility it is to have one." "Did not realize the degree of hardiness or lack thereof. E.g., heat sensitivity, need for dust bath." "I think this article was really helpful. I'm getting a chinchilla soon, and this prepared me a lot. " "Great information, as I am adopting a chinchilla next week. Much on here I didn't know. Thanks!" "It helped me by telling me what I need for my chinchilla and I think that it was helpful for me." "I love chinchillas, and I love this article. Thanks so much for the info on chinchillas. " "Thank you! Thinking very seriously about owning a chinchilla, and am doing research. " "Everything helped. Now I know how to take care of what will be my chinchilla." "Just been given a chinchilla and am pleased to find out how to care for him." "I am considering getting a chinchilla and this article helped me very much." "This helped me learn how to take care of a chinchilla and where to get one." "This made me realize that a chinchilla is more work than I need to take on." "Very helpful for me. I'm planning to get a chinchilla on Christmas 2016." "I have learned so much! I really want a chinchilla and this is great!" "I think this article was really helpful because I want a chinchilla." "This helped so much, I did not know this stuff until I read this." "Thank the author. As for me, it is really a very useful article." "Yeah, it helped. I don't think I want one. Too much work."

2019-04-22T08:52:21Z

https://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-Chinchillas

Many years ago, Sony introduced a product named the Walkman which had revolutionized the way on how the public listened to music. After this, Apple created the iPod which was the next big invention of the century since it transformed the realm of portable music machines. Due to all the inventions that were created decades ago along with the advancements made in technology contemporarily; we are now breathing the age of the best Bluetooth speakers or rather, the best Bluetooth speakers priced under 5000. For most of us, experiencing a high sound quality is mandatory in order to savor the tunes of our most favorable music. These days, tablets and smartphones are convenient to carry and play music wherever we go, although, in several scenarios, they are not proficient in delivering the sound quality we desire. Therefore, we look towards stand-alone speakers since they offer superb audio quality. But, there are certain limitations that come with it. In a nutshell, they are bulky, wired, weighty and require a power source. Because of this concern, the revolution of Bluetooth portable speakers has made it so much easier and seamless to listen to the music we desire. The Bluetooth speakers provide a reliable and effective answer to this issue since they are extremely portable and you don’t need to carry multiple cables wherever you go. Moreover, a portable Bluetooth speaker is an accessory that is certainly beneficial to own for both your laptop and smartphone but selecting one can often be challenging. With the multitude of options found in the market, it’s difficult to choose the best one. There are models that range from different sizes and shapes. The best method when it comes to selecting a speaker that’s ideal for you is not only testing the sound but to see how suitable a speaker is by just reading through the specifications. Nevertheless, in contrast to smartphones, users don’t have the liberty always to try the product out before purchasing it in grand shopping malls. The solution to this problem is to pre-plan and know what to search for in a Bluetooth speaker. This will help you figure out all your needs and requirements before you make the final choice. Fortunately for you, we’ve put together a small review buying guide which will help you checklist features, aspects and review the best Bluetooth speakers under 5000 in India before purchasing the next best Bluetooth speaker. These products are affordable for all the users and come with stunning features. Why Should I Pick A Bluetooth Speaker? Before we move ahead with the product reviews, we need to understand (briefly) on what a wireless speaker does and why you should select a Bluetooth speaker so that you have a better grasp on the fundamentals before making an informed decision. Wireless speakers have the capability to enable users to link their music players without requiring the need for many cables. In order to perform this feature, users will need to connect their devices such as a tablet, mobile, computer etc with a loudspeaker by utilizing any of the current connection technologies i.e Wi-Fi, personal wireless network, NFC (Near Field Communication) or Bluetooth. Wifi speakers (a type of wireless speakers) require the wifi internet network in order to set up a connection. This connection offers authentic sound quality than compared to Bluetooth, however, when it comes to mini portable speakers, this is not a huge concern. In contrast, they have multiple drawbacks. For instance, they require an initial configuration which can be quite complex for those users who are not knowledgeable with the technology. Or, if a user’s domestic connection is not effective or strong, he/she may need to endure frequent connectivity issues. Apart from this, the main disadvantage for a Wi-Fi speaker is to always be situated near a plug in order to use it. This can be quite cumbersome for you on a regular basis. Moreover, there are quite a few wireless speakers such as Apple and Sonos machines that resolve connectivity issues by generating their own wireless network via an external device. Nonetheless, they still have the downside of requiring a connection to the electricity network. So far, we have seen how a Wi-Fi speaker (as an example) seems to be quite complicated especially when it comes to integrating speakers with the wireless network. Therefore, if you’re a user who is searching for easement of a super-simple speaker that can be easy to configure and carry around at the same time, we recommend opting for a portable Bluetooth speaker since it is, without a doubt, the best option. Regardless of where you are i.e at the pool, beach or maybe driving with friends, watching a show on your device, making a barbecue or in the patio of your household having dinner, a portable Bluetooth speaker will bring you amazing sound quality in the most soothing way possible. As stated before, it’s not suitable to construct your buying decision solely on specifications alone but it’s the right place to begin, especially if you don’t have the opportunity to obtain an audition test in order to test out the speaker yourself. When it comes to Bluetooth technology, you can analyze the audio transmission quality by measuring the distance kept between your smartphone and the speaker. Ideally, it’s suggested to search for a Bluetooth 4 version or something more advanced since this version (minimum) includes a better battery life expectancy, assistance for Low Energy profile, and is about 60 meters. On the other hand, Bluetooth 5 is the advanced and latest standard these days. It enhances the data transmission range and rate tremendously, however, not a lot of speakers adopt this standard. Response from a frequency level is measured in hertz is usually outlined within a range of 100Hz – 20,000Hz. The typical theory for frequency response is that – the wider the range, the better the speaker’s ability to generate audio as it was expected. Although, implementing a wide range only doesn’t deliver an appropriate sound quality since it all depends on how the ear discerns sound and this can differ significantly from one user to another. There are other factors such as the listener’s age since the ability to listen to particular frequencies tend to decrease over time. For example, in an audio file, the bass is generally heard at an approximate frequency range of 20Hz to 250Hz. Vocals along with other musical instruments such as piano and guitar tend to dwell in the range of 250Hz to 4000Hz. This range is usually identified as the mid-range. Treble is formed from the remaining frequencies that range up to 20,000Hz. Apart from wireless connectivity, it’s always great to have the choice open for a wired connection as well so you should look into an auxiliary connector. Generally, this is known as ‘Aux-In’ and is found in a speaker’s specifications page. A wired connection is always beneficial for those users to aim to conserve a bit of their phone’s battery or speaker and it definitely assists in obtaining better sound quality sometimes. A majority of speakers these days integrate NFC, which provides instant pairing with multiple devices. A microphone is also a fantastic feature to experience since it allows you to answer calls through the speaker directly which is quite similar to a speakerphone. With this, you don’t have to keep searching for your phone whenever you receive a call because you can answer directly via the speaker. Using a microphone even enables you to interact with the virtual assistant embedded into your phone. Therefore, you can easily inquire about the weather update and schedule appointments without touching your phone. As CPU is the heart of a computer, the driver is the heart and soul of the best Bluetooth speakers under 5000 or any other speakers in general. This is why it’s crucial to check out a driver that’s decently sized. A majority of portable speakers will generally integrate a 40mm driver which is a recommendable size, to begin with. If you expect bigger drivers, then you should anticipate the fact that the overall speaker size will increase too. The number of drivers along with their placements creates a huge impact on how the speaker will sound. Bluetooth speakers that are small in size usually come with an independent, full-range driver and are faced either upwards or downwards so that the oust sound is better. A lot of speakers even incorporate a twin driver setup which performs on a louder basis than compared to its counterparts. Due to insufficient space inside a portable Bluetooth speaker, a woofer can’t be implemented. Therefore, many manufacturers install in passive radiators that vibrate in order to produce bass. It’s quite common to have a conventional USB charging port since it is an additional convenience for the user. This is true for those who regularly go outdoors or spend time at a relative/friends place but often forget to bring the bundled cables with them. Many speakers, currently, are interested in a Micro-USB port. This port opens the possibility to charge speakers with power banks thereby you don’t need to be near a wall socket whenever you need to charge it. 6) Where Will You Utilize A Bluetooth Speaker The Most? Apart from its charging capabilities, you need to ponder upon how and where you’ll be using the Bluetooth speaker. If the speaker is mostly for home use, then we recommend you to consider options that will combine well with your home interiors. The Bose SoundLink Revolve, for instance, is built with an aluminum body and includes a modern design. This is suitable and brilliant for any urban living room. However, if you aim to use the speaker outdoor or in the shower mostly, then we suggest you search for a sturdy, waterproof speaker. The best Bluetooth speakers under 5000 in India offer decent options within an affordable price range. As mentioned before, battery life is important to evaluate. If you go out camping or commute for long periods of time, you need a good battery source since it is highly unlikely to gain access to a power source unless you’re in a shop. A great number of Bluetooth speakers today can perform a lot more than streaming music in general. Intelligent speakers are now the latest trend in the industry and it’s quite obvious to see how some of these models are paving their path into India. For example, ALEXA – Amazon’s virtual assistant is now integrated into Echo’s line of wireless and wired speakers in India whereas Google has its own dedicated smart speakers. Other than sound, there are a plethora of features to try out and you should check to see whether or not it has companion app support. This is convenient if you desire to check the battery life of a speaker, control several speakers, or just simply update the firmware of a speaker. If you’re that user who hears high-resolution audio files most of the time, then it’s exceptionally useful to obtain high-resolution audio profile support such as LDAC or aptX HD. These profiles make a whole lot of if only you use it with a compatible device and the right audio source. Finally, one other reliable feature we like to mention is the capability to pair several speakers together in order to generate a bigger sound. Often times, a single speaker isn’t enough when it comes to loudness or rather ‘fill’ a huge room or when you’re outdoors. This is why pairing two or more speakers of the same type is a perk you need to take advantage off. Many brands include this feature in their Bluetooth models and certain brands such as JBL allow you to link up 100 speakers and more together even though it’s not necessary for you to utilize that many. Actually, users will only use the option to link two speakers in stereo mode, thus delivering them a much advanced audio experience. With a few simple guidelines like these, it should now be less-challenging to narrow down your options when it comes to selecting a Bluetooth speaker that fits your hearing interest the best. As we have seen some of the pivotal factors when it comes to deciding a worthy Bluetooth speaker, let’s take a look at some tips on how to choose the best Bluetooth speaker under 5000 in India. Checking out the sound quality is without a doubt one of the most crucial parameters. Ultimately, if you are going to purchase a loudspeaker, then you should search for a model that will allow you to listen to music on an advanced standard than compared to listening to music on mobile. But to be clear, how do I figure out which device outputs a good or decent sound quality? Technically, there are 4 parameters that’ll make you realize which Bluetooth speaker will sound best, despite not hearing it before: sound system, output power, impedance, and frequency range. The first point to evaluate is the type of sound system employed. Each of these systems comprises a particular amount of channels. Speakers can be integrated with a certain channel, therefore, allowing it to emit sounds. You might have heard about 2.1, 5.1 and many more versions. 5.1, for example, consists of a single subwoofer for bass and 5 full range speakers. Many Bluetooth speakers these days implement either 2.0 system which contains two full-range speakers or a 2.1 system (including subwoofer) which is known to behave the highest quality in terms of sound performance. The second parameter is the output power (measured in watts). This value basically relates to the watts outputted by the loudspeaker. Moreover, it will cause sound pressures in decibels which is none other than the volume. Most of the Bluetooth speakers mentioned in this article are small in size thereby cannot generate a lot of power. Typically, you can expect power to range between 15 and 20 watts which should sufficient enough to get about 80 dB. This volume is loud enough in order to hear well in environments that are either outdoors or large in size. However, it’s still recommended to not crank up the loudspeaker to its maximum power because it can lead to distortions. Usually, it’s recommended to use an optimal power of 80%. One another parameter that dictates the quality of sound is the resistance (measured in ohms). This parameter is connected to the power parameter and is linked with the passage of electric currents. The golden rule is the higher the resistance, the lesser the power of which a speaker produces. To put it in simple terms, just note that the lower the impedance level, the superior the sound quality. The last parameter to ponder about is the frequency range of which the machine is potent in emitting. The common audible spectrum, or the sounds that can be heard by the human ear, range on an estimate between 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. If a Bluetooth wireless speaker is not competent of producing within the whole range of the audible spectrum, then there will be multiple sounds that will be missed. Thereby, by having a substantial range of frequencies that are engulfed by the Bluetooth speaker, users can experience and perceive a much better sound. Imagine a scenario where you need to get away for the weekend or go camping with your friends but your bag is too tight to fit into a huge speaker. Well, with a compact and lightweight Bluetooth speaker, this will not be such a problem. A lot of manufacturers have created a line of extremely compact and lightweight Bluetooth speaker models that can be placed anywhere in your luggage. The best Bluetooth speakers under 5000 in India can be carried anywhere without you worrying about the load. If your aim is to own a portable speaker which allows you to take it wherever you commute, then pick a model that does not exceed more than 15 cm in terms of size. Many contemporary speakers in the market are packed with advanced Bluetooth versions such as Bluetooth 4.0 or 5.0. If your transmitting device of which you are going to use to connect is a ‘dinosaur’ version, then it is quite possible of you experiencing a connecting problem. That is why we should make sure whether or not the speaker is compatible with older versions of Bluetooth (up to the A2DP) in order to prevent dismay. A lot of brands integrate their speakers with either a micro USB or USB output connection so that it is capable of charging the machine when needed. In addition, there are some instances where a user would need to install in the latest updates, therefore, prevent further compatibility issues. There are few models that include batteries and enable up to 10 hours (maximum) of music playback – within a direct, single charge. Generally, a Bluetooth speaker should offer music playback for at least 6 hours. The charging period is another point to consider. There are few models that promote a quick charging feature whereas some models don’t. Have you planned out where you’re going to place the Bluetooth speaker at home? Fortunately, the best Bluetooth speakers under 5000 don’t require a royal seat for showcasing. Nevertheless, it is a compact and small device which tends to take up space as little as possible. If you wish to leave it in an area such as a table or a bookcase, then we suggest you pick a model that’s equipped with a suitable design. Although, if you like to take it outdoors such as to a party or maybe to a beach, then you need a model that’s covered with appealing colors in order to suit the mood and draw attention. Mostly all brands deliver beautiful color combinations and you should pick one that fits your taste and personality. This feature can’t be seen in all Bluetooth wireless speakers but are much popular in Wi-Fi home speakers. If you wish to generate a better surrounding sound in a room, then a single speaker cannot do the trick since the source of the emitting sounds is discharged only from a single point. To combat this, you can add in additional speakers at multiple points. In order to gain this versatility, there are a few Bluetooth units which have an app that enables you to manage the links and pairs between multiple speakers. Apart from Bluetooth connectivity, you should give NFC a try. NFC makes the job of connecting devices much easier than expected. All you need to do is to basically bring the units closer, keep them at a range for a second or so and they will pair up automatically. But of course, you would need both your units to include an NFC system (both the tablet or phone along with the speaker). In order to pair up your previous drives which don’t have Bluetooth as an option, use a 3.5 mm auxiliary input since it will enable you to link devices by utilizing a cable. Sadly, all of us live our lives in a hurry. Daily activities and tasks strive us to perform jobs instantly and we certainly don’t find time for ourselves. Thus, if your speaker is easy to use and manage, you will find your hands filled with more time which can be used for other important tasks. Having an easy-to-use speaker will not let you spend more than 5 minutes or so in reading instructions and understanding how to operate it. All you need to do is to switch it on, pair it and enjoy yourselves. Moreover, you just need to know a few controls found on the speaker because it will assist you in performing some simple functions. For instance, the volume control, the power button, a button to answer calls (if available), the play/pause button, and the Bluetooth pairing switch is all you need to know in order to obtain complete control of the device. If you are hearing music on your speaker which is linked to your smartphone but surprisingly receive a call. What happens next? Well, if this speaker incorporates a microphone that’s built-in, then you can easily speak in front of it as if it were a hands-free approach. The music is paused, and you can answer your call by tapping on the speaker’s button. Furthermore, once you’re done with the call, the music continues to play. This can come in handy for most of the users. When it comes to durability, it’s best to research and read through online reviews, forums before purchasing the product. If you are one of those users who frequently drop their belongings (phone, tablet etc), it will be beneficial to obtain a speaker that’s sturdy and strong enough to withstand potential damage. Additionally, few Bluetooth speaker models are constructed with aluminum housings which are practically more resistant than compared to the typical plastic material. If you drop it, by chance, it will still not break due to its aluminum housing construction. This is the final tip we can give you folks. You should carefully think about why you should purchase a Bluetooth speaker. Do you wish to position it in places at home, is it for parties and outdoor adventures or rather do you wish for something that’s waterproof? Fortunately, there are multiple models out there that serve different purposes so you should choose smartly. You should make it clear on where you’ll be using the speaker. If you take it with you for camping adventures or to a barbecue then you should be prepared for it. On the other hand, if you’re going to utilize it for mainly exterior purposes then pick a model that provides a high sound and emits remarkable output power. This will allow you to listen to music with clarity even though the environments are noisy. Even so, the model should not produce less than 85 decibels optimal power. Another aspect you should consider, especially in this case, is the battery capacity. We mentioned this before, but you need to have at least 6-10 hours of music playback. If suppose the speaker is massive, the unit will come with a sturdy yet comfortable handle. This is helpful since you can carry it anywhere comfortably in your hand for long periods of time. Lastly, search for a model that’s water resistant since an accident can occur when you’re in a party, at the beach or any environment that’s wet. The all-new Creative Sound portable speaker allows you to roam freely outdoors while listening to your favorite tunes. If you’re that user who is in life with adventure and spontaneity, we recommend you to opt for this sound device. You can carry this compact machine with you anywhere you go and drive freely with music. What we like about this speaker is that it features a 360 degrees sound which is equipped with deep bass. Due to this, you can start your very own party and position the speaker at a suitable place in order to appreciate the 360 degree sounds all around you. Moreover, it comes with dual radiators (passive) which are designed on both sides of the unit, therefore, giving your music adequate ‘oomph’ and making your music sound so much better than compared to playing it on a smartphone. Even so, the model adjusts the EQ automatically in order to obtain optimal results. Other than that, the machine includes a Loud mode feature. If you wish to boost up the volume then you can simply push the loud button and enjoy the music with your friends or family. Also, this model integrates a 10-hour battery life capacity. Thereby, you can expect this model to play powerful sounds – all within a portable unit for 10 hours directly without worrying about charging it in between. Lastly, the model is ‘splash proof certified (IPX4)’. This means that it is water resistant and if water spills or splashes in any given direction, it will not damage your device. You should note that the speaker needs to be charged initially and then later switched on (after purchase). Afterward, you need to push and hold the Bluetooth button till the white color turns blue and the light continuously flickers so that it can scan any Bluetooth devices nearby. With a brand new makeover in terms of design and specifications, the Echo Dot smart speaker sweeps the whole market off its feet. The Echo Dot is widely popular for its voice-controlled speaker and even comes with an enhanced design and sound system which amplifies your music playlist to a whole new level. In addition, it pairs up with Alexa (a voice service that’s cloud-based. in order to answer your questions, play music, check the weather update, view news sources, control smart home devices that are compatible, set alarms, and many more. You can even stream music from internet services such as Saavn, Amazon Prime Music, and TuneIn wherein all you need to do is to ask for an artist, a song or maybe the genre. Due to this, you can create a phenomenal music environment at your own home by connecting several Echo devices together but place them in different rooms. It features a hands-free control mechanism which means that it has the capability to listen to what you say despite being so far away due to its integrated, advanced 4 far-field microphones. This is even possible in environments that are extremely noisy or even when you play music. You have the privilege to message or even call up friends and family who already have an Alexa App or an Echo device in order to conduct Skype calls. Additionally, you can make announcements i.e one-way intercom in order to publish messages to all the Echo devices you own. By just using your voice, you can control compatible smart plugs, lights, and remotes from Syska, Philips,, and TP-Link. Apart from Bluetooth connectivity, this unit implements 15,000 and more skills such as ordering food for you, booking a cab, play games etc. It keeps getting smarter due to all the latest upcoming features. The UE Roll2 is a Bluetooth speaker which you must have since it’s engineered to pump out astounding sounds. It outputs music in every direction and certainly guarantees clarity. It does this by emitting sounds through the air with bass that’s deep enough to be heard in noisy environments. This speaker is small, compact and lightweight which makes it effortless to utilize and carry it around anywhere you go. Although, regardless of its minute size, this model has the capacity to blast out loud music anywhere (indoors and outdoors). It also features deep bass with a stunning 360-degree sound feature. You can play your favorite music list and expect it to be heard from all directions due to its 360 degree sound feature. It’s engineered to be waterproof (IPX7 rated) as the shell or housing for this speaker is life-resistant. Therefore, this model is built for outdoors/adventure purposes. However, you should note that it is only waterproof for 30 minutes max. and can only sustain its performance up to a water depth of 1 meter. Another feature that’s worth reading about is its 65 feet wireless range (Bluetooth) and offers up to 9 hours of battery life. This means that you can play continuous music up to 9 hours however this varies with use, environmental factors, and settings. In terms of battery, this model offers 3 batteries that are nonstandard. By using the UE Roll2 companion app, you can set alarms, tune it, and even enhance the sound by linking it up with another UE speaker. This unit works well both Apple and Android smartphones thus making it extremely compatible. The Zoook Rocker Torpedo speaker is an award-winning speaker unit that comes with a sturdy body construction along with a fine masculine build. You can add this unit to your collection of the popular Zoook rocker series. Apart from the regular speaker you see in every electronic shop, the Zoook rocker speaker is developed to amplify both high and low bass frequencies. This is made possible due to the powerful blend of a passive subwoofer and a magnificent stereo sound. This model brings you multi-connectivity options such as Bluetooth, AUX and even a hands-free approach that allows you to take calls without touching your phone. What we like about this model is that it integrates both durability and portability. Moreover, it features a water-resistant housing material so you can take it to the beach or to the pool without worrying about dropping it. In addition, it provides an 8-hour battery life expectancy. With this, you can listen to your tunes without having to charge it in between. By utilizing massive bass diaphragm drivers that are huge sized, you can expect loud music to be played like never before. The UE Roll 2 Bluetooth speaker represents the bold, big, and beautiful sounds that are never witnessed before. With this beast, you can say bye to mumbling, muddy noises and say hello to clarity sounds that’ll make you scream in order to be heard. This model is a compact yet ultra-portable Bluetooth speaker that can be taken anywhere since its wireless and extremely lightweight. Moreover, you can attach this unit to a kayak without worrying about water damage since it’s completely waterproof. You can take this model to a pool party or even to a beach with your family or friends. Apart from a kayak, you can even it attach it to your board, bike, backpack or anywhere else you wish to take your music. Even if you’re hiking, biking, or running trails, this speaker won’t hold you down since it’s not as heavy as compared to other Bluetooth speakers. To be precise, this model weighs a little more than half a pound i.e 330 grams. Surprisingly, this is much lighter than compared to a soda can. Additionally, the wireless range for this unit has been upgraded to 100 feet which are 50 percent more than the initial UE Roll speaker version. Lastly, the battery implemented in this speaker is rechargeable and can carry out 9 hours of nonstop music playback. The Philips BT122/94 speaker is an all-in-one wireless speaker that’s built to ensure portability and has the capability to make calls since it implements a microphone that’s in-built. It also offers a rechargeable battery of 20W and operates well with any device that’s Bluetooth enables. Since Bluetooth allows wireless communication in a short range, it makes the whole process energy-efficient and robust. As mentioned, this contemporary technology enables a flawless wireless connection between other Bluetooth units, therefore, you have the advantage to play your favorite music from devices such as tablets, smartphones, or even laptops. When we talk about RMS, it basically refers to the root mean square which is a usual calculation taken into consideration whenever measuring the electrical or audio power that’s transmitted to a loudspeaker (measured in watts) from an audio amplifier. In fact, the electrical power is transferred to the loudspeaker, therefore, its sensitivity decides the amount of sound power it should produce. Ultimately, having higher the wattage would mean better sound power that’s generated by the speaker. This model even features an effortless mp3 music playback system that enables continuous music operation. In the end, this device offers listeners with a variety of options along with information which is produced in clear, muddle-free sound quality. The Denon Enyaya speaker is an upgraded version of the popular Denon speaker model. Nevertheless, this new sharply styled Envaya provides similar sound quality but is more vibrant, compact, suave and water resistant. It’s certainly a must-have product. This model is your ideal travel buddy since it features a solid 10-hour battery life and even integrates a speakerphone that’s noise, therefore, it’s not necessary for you to pick between music and chats. Enyaya has introduced an appealing yet user-friendly design wherein you have the luxury to place the unit either horizontally or vertically and even have the option to pick between a soft blue cloth grille with a smart black finish or an orange cloth grille with a fresh white finish. hat we like about this model is its build quality. For instance, it’s produced using high-quality, sturdy materials thereby ensuring durability. When it comes to sound quality, Denon carries a 100-year hi-fi legacy. This unit incorporates Maxxaudio technology along with double drivers that are oversized. This allows the device to function above the common threshold in a discreet manner. With the all new Philips BT114, you can now appreciate listening to your tunes even more due to its size and portability features. It combines all the necessary elements within this speaker thus allows you to play your music playlist via USB, Bluetooth, and Audio-In connectivity. The Bluetooth speaker is extremely compact and even includes a rechargeable battery. Moreover, it blends well with the contemporary lifestyle and is certainly appealing to the eye. In terms of Audio-in connectivity, this model offers instant, direct audio playback in content from external devices such as portable media players i.e tablets, smartphones etc. You will love the convenience aspect for this model since all you’re required to do is to insert your smartphone or other music player device to the audio system. If you’re interested in listening to radio tunes, the machine has an FM tuner that’s in-built and lets you listen to radio broadcasts, early morning news channels or listen to popular songs every day. It’s simple to operate since you just need to basically tune into the radio station you wish to listen to. Whenever you receive a call, the device is engineered to pause immediately and grant you the advantage to communicate via the speaker. This technology enables users to wirelessly connect to Bluetooth devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. When it comes to the Oontz Angle 3 Plus, this machine is actually Oontz’s fourth-generation model and still carries on the tradition of producing great sounds for a decent price. As a matter of fact, it generates really great sounds and provides justice for its price. This model can be placed either horizontally or vertically. Even though this design is not award-winning material, it’s functionally appealing and friendly. In addition, the battery life for this unit is remarkable since it can deliver up to 30 hours of music playback at moderate volume levels. Also, the speaker is splash proof i.e water resistant therefore you can use it while you shower. This model has the capability to link up to any TV system due to its 3.5mm audio cable port and includes an in-built microphone thereby you can utilize it as a personal, hands-free speakerphone. It implements Dual 1.7 inch precision drivers that are designed with neodymium thus helps in offering premium HD sounds. Moreover, it’s equipped with a bass radiator in order to offer sharp, clear sounds which are free from distortion. The Sony XB10 speaker moves things at a fantastic pace due to its additional bass feature. Additionally, this model incorporates a passive radiator that operates with the internal speaker in order to upgrade the low-end reaction. This gives the bass a lift regardless of its compact size. With that being said, you can pair up your smartphone device within a single NFC touch. NFC helps you connect devices instantly without going through the manual process of connecting them wirelessly. This helps in getting the beats going quickly. If your device doesn’t support NFC technology, then there’s no need to worry since you can always link via Bluetooth and you’re completely ready to go. All you need to do is to connect two speakers (wireless) in order to access stereo sound. Despite listening to music indoors or outdoors, you can chill out without fretting since this wireless speaker is water-resistant. Furthermore, you have the advantage to listen to music and content up to 16 hours without having to recharge the unit in between. Due to its compact size, users can always pick up the speaker, keep it in a bag and carry it anywhere they go. For more stereo sound, you can also connect another speaker. Choosing a Bluetooth speaker can be quite challenging at first, but once you narrow down your options by confirming your purpose of using such a machine along with reading this clear-cut guide, then making the decision becomes far more easier. By picking one of the best Bluetooth speakers under 5000 listed above, you can have access to all the cool features at a very low price.

2019-04-24T10:37:50Z

https://www.nidm.net/electronics/audio/best-bluetooth-speakers-under-5000/

Focusing only on shareholders’ financial return is not consistent with the concept of sustainable corporate governance. In contrast to financial performance, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a non-financial performance index. Financial reports consist of both financial and non-financial disclosures. These disclosures help investors make decisions. This paper characterizes the interaction between the sentiment analysis of financial reports and CSR scores. The classification accuracy through SVM exceeds 86%. The empirical study shows that the financial report sentiment based on the PESTEL model, Porter’s Five Forces model, and Value Chain (Primary and Support Activities) significantly correlates to the CSR score. Lawlor (2001) warned that even if an organization is “as pure as the driven snow in its own operations, it should expect public scrutiny of the practices of suppliers and associates”. Bad news about companies such as Nike, GAP, Reebok, and Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) attracted negative media attention in the late 1990s. In 2012, Apple became a high-profile target for non-government organizations concerned about working conditions in multinational supply chains. These concerns were related to the China-based Foxconn organization, where the vast majority of its 1.2 million employees were involved in assembling Apple products (according to Reuter’s reports). At the request of 250,000 petitioners, Apple was persuaded to ask the Fair Labor Association to investigate the working conditions at the Foxconn factory in China. Walmart was heavily criticized for its workplace practices in the US. In 2012, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) published the “Chain of Greed” report (Cho et al., 2012) about Walmart’s worker exploitation in the US. Some responsibility for the conditions of the poorly paid garment makers in Bangladesh has also been placed on the western retailers who sold the garments made by these oppressed workers after the collapse of the Rana Plaza building caused international outrage. Since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and amid a lingering recession that has intensified pressure from shareholders, companies are devising new corporate social responsibility (CSR) models that are more aligned with their core business goals and services. For example, blue-chip companies, such as Visa and Unilever, are creating new markets in the developing world by closely aligning social causes with their overarching corporate strategies. CSR has a strong role to play in the provision of information for risk management purposes. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) was formed in 2000. Based in New York and London, the CDP focuses on the implications of climate change for shareholder value and commercial operations. CDP believes that carbon emissions and climate change represent significant business risks and, therefore, an organization’s policies and performance in relation to climate change should be factored into investment decisions. The decision to report information (whether it be CSR or financial information) is the concept of “accountability”. It is defined as the duty to provide a report, or an account, of the actions and decisions made about those areas of activity for which an organization is deemed to be responsible. The Commission of European Communities (CEC) states that CSR is “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. Being socially responsible means not only fulfilling legal expectations, but also going beyond compliance and investing more into human capital, the environment, and the relations with stakeholders” (CEC 2001) , p. 6. The above definition is also consistent with the definition of CSR provided by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development: “The commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community, and society at large to improve their quality of life” (Holme & Watts, 2000), p. 10. The 3 main pillars of sustainability include environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Social and environmental performance can affect an organization’s future reputation, brands, and its ability to attract talented staff and maintain consumer and public support (CPA Australia, 2015a). Based on the Stakeholder Theory, corporate governance includes both financial performance and CSR. CSR refers to a wide range of activities that an organization undertakes, from charity donations to the management of carbon emissions. Based on the Signaling Theory, a financial report (FR) is the fundamental tool investors use to make decisions. It contains financial ratios as well as textual notes. Through this textual information, investors can learn about the firm’s social responsibility. Sentiment analysis is a relatively mature technique. However, China’s capital market is growing and Chinese is a complex language. We developed a sustainable strategy for corporate governance based on the sentiment analysis of Chinese financial reports with CSR. We solved 3 main problems: (1) Identifying the subjective object description in financial reports, (2) building an object library based on strategic models, and (3) characterizing the interaction between the CSR score and financial report sentiment categories. Sustainability is widely recognized as one of the most important challenges facing the world today (Wan, Arief, & Rajagopalan, 2014). For most of the world’s largest companies, reporting on non-financial information appears to be a continuing trend. The communication of the social and environmental dimensions of a company plays a key role in the sustainable development of an organization, and therefore should be investigated in depth (Enrique & Michaela, 2015). Multinational corporations play a prominent role in shaping the environmental trajectory of the planet. The integration of environmental costs and benefits into corporate decision-making has an enormous, but as yet unfulfilled, potential to promote sustainable development. Now is the time to take advantage of an explosion of sustainability commitments from business leaders and expanding pressure for sustainable practices from shareholders, financial institutions, and consumers (Kareiva, McNally, & McCormick Steve et al., 2015). CSR initiatives are crucial for achieving part of an inclusive growth vision. Organizations that are proactive rather than reactive may help achieve a sustainable inclusive growth via various CSR initiatives (Radhakrishnan, Chitrao & Nagendra, 2014). Research on CSR disclosure points to an increasing lack of completeness and decreasing amount of credibility in the information reported, as well as concerns about overall reporting practices. The evidence supports increasing skepticism about the use of CSR reporting practices as tools used to enhance perceived accountability (Giovanna, Silvia, & Federica, 2015). Standalone CSR reporting by retail companies appears to positively influence perceptions of a company’s reputation and may lead to increased appeal for socially responsible investors (Dennis & Na, 2014). Disclose CSR could increase transparency and non-financial accountability in capital markets. The empirical study reveals that family ownership reduces the level of CSR disclosure (Safaee M & M S Gerayli, 2017). Combining stakeholder theory with CSR research is a historic accomplishment (Zhang, Liang, & Yin, 2012). Chinese empirical data showed that CSR behavior is one of the key factors influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions (Ma, 2011). Data from listed Chinese companies in Shanghai demonstrated that the previous years’ CSR positively affects the current year’s corporate financial performance (CFP), and the current year’s CFP positively affects the CSR (Zhang, Jin, & Li, 2013). An empirical analysis showed that, assuming CSR is exogenous, the current CSR plays a significant positive role in promoting the current CFP, and vice versa (Yin, Liu, & Chen, 2014). There is a vast amount of financial information on companies’ financial performance available to investors in electronic form (Salahuddin & Gow, 2016; Loughran & McDonald, 2011; Robert, Schumaker, & Hsinchun, 2009; Kloptchenko et al., 2004). While the automatic analysis of financial figures is common, it has been difficult to automatically extract information from the textual part of financial reports. The textual part contains more information than numerical part in an annual report (Chen et al., 2012; Hobson, Mayew, & Venkatachalam, 2012; Chan & Franklin, 2011; Feng, 2010; Feng, 2006; Kloptchenko et al., 2004). In recent decades, and with the advent of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), financial reports have experienced a great change in terms of the unified reporting process. Nevertheless, the unstructured part of financial reports, the footnotes, remains a barrier to accurate automatic and real-time financial analysis (Heidari & Felden, 2015). Currently, the application of data mining to auditing is at an early stage of development and researchers typically take a scatter-shot approach to it, investigating patterns in financial statement disclosures, text in annual reports and MD&As, and journal entries without the appropriate guidance, such as the lessons drawn from investigations on known fraud patterns (Gray & Debreceny, 2014). The sentiment (tone, opinion) has been assessed using several categorization schemes in order to explore the various aspects of language used in the annual reports of US companies. The results indicated that the sentiment information is an important forecasting determinant of financial performance and, thus, can be used to support the decision-making process of corporate stakeholders (Hajek, Olej, & Myskova, 2014). (Wang et al. 2016) investigated the correlation between mutual funds’ scale and return in China by text mining a large volume of online financial reports. They further employed K-means clustering for fund categorization, which enables the reliable examination of correlations between the fund’s scale and return. The findings highlighted the uniqueness of emerging markets while providing interesting guidelines for exploiting big data analytics for financial studies. Corporate social responsibility is crucial for sustainable corporate governance. Researchers have realized the potential value of the textual analysis of financial reports for detecting fraud, managing risk, and forecasting future performance. However, few researchers have performed empirical studies on the sentiment analysis of financial reports based on strategic factors and CSR. This paper will illustrate how to perform an effective sentiment analysis of financial reports. The research framework is shown in Fig. 1 and includes 4 steps: (1) data collection and preprocessing, (2) subjective sentence identification, emotional trend classification, and object description extraction, (3) the object library of the financial reports, and (4) empirical analysis. To develop the sample for the transferrable object library, we used firm-year observations from different industries, including real estate, automobile, medicine, electric, communications, and energy. The final sample contained 50 financial reports from 2008 to 2013. The data came from www.cninfo.com.cn, which is the designated disclosure website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. To distinguish our work from existing quantitative (financial ratios) research and mine the potential information contained in the textual content of the financial reports, we did not extract common words like “we” or “company” or industry-specific words and pure financial terminology such as “automobile”, “real estate”, or “asset-liability ratio”. The classification precision based on the sentence corpus was higher than that of the paragraph or document (Zheng, 2014); we extracted 32,767 sentences from the textual part of the financial reports based on the full-stop punctuation. Using the approach found in (Bao and Datta’s 2014) work, we recruited 10 graduate students to label the sample sentences. Each student labels around 4000 sentences, among which 800 sentences are repetitive. Before labeling, they are briefed on the definition and trained on a number of real labeled examples. We keep communication and discussion during the whole process. The consistency of repetitive sentences reaches 80%. We only retain the subjective sentences whose labels are agreed upon by other annotators. The final sample set contained 2001 subjective sentences with a general emotional tendency and 4181 groups of related object descriptions. The expression of the subjective emotion was very complicated, and each sentence may not only have described the situation and emotional expression of a single aspect of the company. Although the variety of sentences means that some sentences will tend to approve some aspects of the company while others tend to criticize aspects of the company, a sentence’s general emotional tendency can be identified. The emotion tendency of the internal parts of 1 sentence can be different from the whole emotional tendency of the sentence. Therefore, we labeled the whole emotional tendency, related object description of each sentence, and emotional tendency of each object description (shown in Table 1). Let us use the first sentence to illustrate this process of identification. Even though there is only one sentence (divided by full stop punctuation), the subjective expression involves 4 groups of the object description, which should be listed separately. Among them, 2 groups of emotional expression are negative descriptions about the company’s external environment, but the whole emotional tendency of this sentence is positive. Therefore, the general emotion of this sentence should be labeled as positive, while its constituent parts are labeled as having different emotional tendencies. We obtained a set of 1724 positive sentences and 277 negative sentences. Among the object description groups, there were 3482 expressing positive emotions and 699 expressing negative emotions. For both the sentence level and object description level, around 85% of this sample expressed positive emotions and only 15% expressed negative emotions. After removing the repeated items, there were 2637 objects and 1728 descriptions. The difference in these results may be explained by the fact that the describing objects in financial reports can differ in thousands of ways, while the emotional tendency is mainly expressed as either “good” or “bad”. Text consists of characters and punctuation, constituting words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, sections, chapters, and documents. Before the computer could automatically deal with textual content, we needed to find an idealized method of formal representation that reflected the potential content of the text and then help it to identify different texts. The Support Vector Machine (SVM), a supervised learning method, is a prominent method for text classification (Pang et al., 2002; Mullen & Collier, 2004; Whitelaw et al., 2005; Ni et al., 2007). The basic idea of the SVM is to use a training set to find the hyperplane in vector space and then separate the data points into as many different categories as possible. Through a trained SVM model, the emotional tendency of the testing data could be automatically predicted. We labeled the subjective sentences of financial reports from different industries. After removing the data with missing values, we obtained a matrix of 1966*1728 (sentence*description). Based on the proportion of 3:1, we divided the data into a training set and a testing set. Table 2 shows the SVM classification result. The precision ratio was 97.36% and recall ratio was 88.04% when identifying a positive emotional tendency. The precision ratio was 35.29% and recall ratio was 73.17% when identifying a negative emotional tendency. The total precision ratio reached 86.83% and the F-measure value was 51.81%. The positive precision was much higher than that for the negative identification, which can be explained by the aforementioned statistical results. When preparing financial reports, managers usually have a positive attitude or mood (instead of a negative or adverse emotional tendency) towards the company’s financial position, operation results, and cash flow. Thus, most sentences in the sample set expressed positive emotion and few were negative. This tendency was also reflected in the calculation of “the precision ratio of identifying the negative emotional tendency”. The denominator contained a large number of misjudged samples that the machine recognized as − 1 while the human label was + 1, which led to the lower precision ratio for negative expressions. SWOT strategic analysis is a common method for evaluating corporate performance, which contains an analysis of the internal environment and external environment. In the above section, we divided the financial reports into sentences based on full stop punctuation, then identified the emotional tendency of the sentences, and finally extracted the related object description. These objects were words or phrases that we wanted to classify. Our process was as follows. First, we labeled these objects as internal or external. If the text described the company’s external information, it belonged to the external strategic analysis. The strategic analysis of the external environment is usually subdivided into the macro environment analysis and industry environment analysis. The former analyzes the whole environment, which can influence all kinds of industries, so we used the PESTEL model for these data. The latter aims at the strategic factors in a specific industry outside of a company that affect the company being analyzed as well as all the other companies engaged in similar economic and operational activities in the same industry; for these data, we adopted Porter’s Five Forces model. If the sentence described the company’s internal situation, it belonged to the internal strategic analysis. Companies cannot control external environment factors. The strategic analysis of the internal environment relates to controllable factors, which can be improved by management and other control measures. The Value Chain includes the Primary and Support Activities and is used for corporate internal analysis. There were 11 (6 + 5) external object categories, shown in Table 3. After removing the repeated items, the statistical results indicated that, among the factors in the corporate external environment, companies were concerned about the economic factor, industry rivalry, and power of the buyer the most, which are issues related to company earnings. Table 4 shows that the internal objects are more related to a firm’s infrastructure, marketing and sales, and operations and technology development than human resource management and services. The factors of least importance are inbound logistics, outbound logistics, and procurement. There were 345 sentences describing the external environment and 859 related groups of the object descriptions. There were 1656 sentences describing the internal environment and 3322 related groups of object descriptions, which were 4.8 times and 3.9 times as great, respectively, as the results from the external analysis. Among the related descriptions of the external environment, 41.68% described positive emotions and 58.32% described negative emotions. In contrast, 94.04% described positive emotions regarding the internal environment and 5.96% described negative emotions regarding the internal environment. These results demonstrated that the main sentiment expressed in these financial reports was about internal information disclosure, mainly good news about corporate performance. Compared with the internal disclosure, the description of the external environment revealed much more emotion that is negative. The CSR score data was taken from www.hexun.com. Control variables included the ROE, BM ratio, and company size, which were obtained from the China Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) database. The empirical data set consisted of 16 companies (000002 Vanke, 600050 China Unicom, 600028 SINOPEC, 601857 CNPC, 600104 SAIC Motor, 000800 FAW CAR, 000927 TJ FAW, 000572 HaiMa Motor, 601607 Shanghai Pharma, 000538 Yunnan Baiyao, 000423 DEEJ, 600085 TongRenTang, 000651 GREE, 600690 Haier, 600839 Sichuan Changhong, and 000016 KONKA A) in various industries over a period of 2 years, 2012 and 2013. Based on the object library we built and emotional tendencies classified in the above sections, we calculated the financial reports’ sentiment value of each category using Models 1–6. Table 5 presents the descriptive statistics for our sample. The units of the CSR and Size are obviously different from the other variables, so we used the log value of these 2 variables for the regression. Table 6 shows the experiment results, among which Model 5 demonstrates a statistical significance between the CSR score and financial report sentiment based on the categories of the PESTEL, and Porter’s Five Forces, Primary Activities and Support Activities. It outperformed the other models. The signs of the 4 variables’ coefficients were consistent with the aforementioned statistical results. When preparing a financial report, managers express positive emotions in accordance with Porter’s Five Forces and Support Activities, which show the company’s opportunities and strengths. Managers may also complain about the threat from the macro environment and weakness of the Primary Activities. Based on Model 5, we calculated the predicted values for the CSR scores. The comparison between predicted values and true values of the CSR scores is plotted as Fig. 2, which shows a consistent trend. Milton Friedman, the noted economist, argued that the primary responsibility of managers is to maximize shareholder wealth. However, any director or senior manager who believes that acting for the exclusive benefit of its shareholders will lead to long-term success and satisfactory corporate governance is mistaken. It is often forgotten that Friedman also mentioned that this pursuit of shareholder wealth should be “within the rules”. In the real world, ignoring stakeholders’ interests will result in poor performance and could even result in corporate bankruptcy. Based on the Stakeholder Theory, an organization’s success depends on the successful management of all the relationships that the organization has with its stakeholders. These stakeholders include not just shareholders (for corporate entities), but also other parties who could be affected by the operations of an entity, such as its employees, competitors, customers, suppliers, lenders, government, community, and environment. Paying attention to a broad range of stakeholders is important from a moral or ethical perspective and the survival of a firm depends on the management of a range of relationships. This research contributes to stakeholders’ comprehensive decision-making ability in regards to corporate accountability. The attitude of a manager towards CSR interacts with the emotional tendency expressed in the financial report. Stakeholders can learn more about a company’s sustainable accountability through the sentiment analysis of its financial report. Companies can also do better by paying attention to CSR and by pursuing sustainable corporate governance. We developed an object library for financial reports that consisted of 20 categories based on strategic analysis. Regression models of the CSR score and financial report sentiment of different categories demonstrate that when financial report sentiment is classified into 4 categories based on the PESTEL model, Porter’s Five Forces model, the Primary Activities and Support Activities, it adds statistically significant explanatory power to the CSR score. The result is transferrable to different industries. In the future, we can apply the method for creating an object library of financial reports to other financial disclosures. National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71371144, 71601119, 71771177). Yuan Song collected data and wrote the main paper. Hongwei Wang gave the main idea and improvement suggestions. Maoran Zhu contributed to the experiment analysis. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript. Yuan Song is a PhD candidate at School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200,092, China. Her research interests include corporate governance, auditing and textual analysis. Hongwei Wang is currently a professor of Information Systems in the School of Economics and Management at Tongji University, China. His research interests include sentiment analysis, social media, and business intelligence. Maoran Zhu is an associate professor of Management Science in the School of Economics and Management at Tongji University, China. His research interests include E-commerce and business intelligence. Holme R, Watts P (2000), Corporate Social Responsibility: Making good business sense, World Business Council on Sustainable Development. http://www.ceads.org.ar/downloads/Making%20good%20business%20sense.pdf. Accessed Feb 2018.

2019-04-18T16:28:08Z

https://jfin-swufe.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40854-018-0086-0

There really is a difference. And right now we’re loving fougasse. So much that we have entirely rejected the idea of making focaccia. This month, I have the honour of hosting the kitchen of the month and have asked the BBBabes to bake fougasse as well and weigh in with their thoughts on the subject. When I first read about fougasse, I thought it must be virtually the same as focaccia. I dismissed making fougasse because I’d made focaccia. They were the same, after all…. But because of still being certain – what with my terrific retention skills when reading – that fougasse was simply French focaccia, I used the ingredients for our focaccia recipe along with Robertson’s shaping and baking method to make our first fougasse. Because fougasse is baked on a stone instead of on an oiled pan, there are more crispy bits. Not too crispy though… it’s juuuuust right! Surprisingly, there are few mentions and just a handful of recipes for fougasse in all the various bread baking books we have. Imagine a small, round and flat loaf, so dense that a knife point cannot penetrate and slips off its surface, and you are obliged to break it in half with your hands. […] This was the bread of poverty, the bread of the peasant, baked under an inverted iron pan over which the ashes of the fire were heaped. The English called them ashcakes, and the French fougasses. The lyrical, ladderlike bread known as fougasse is my Provençal pizza. I take my favorite bread dough, shape it into individual breads, then flavor them with whatever delicious toppings I might have on hand – black or green olives, home-cured anchovies, marinated baby artichokes, capers, bits of fresh goat cheese, a touch of hot pili pili oil, or simply a brush of olive oil and a scattering of fresh thyme and coarse sea salt. The most traditional fougasse is flavored with bits of browned pork fat (what we call cracklings), but one also finds sweet versions prepared with a butter-rich dough or briochelike butter and egg dough flavored with orange flower water. The origin of the word is a mystery, though in the rest of france a fouace can refer to any sort of flat, baked galette either sweet or savory. [T]raditional French ladder or lattice-shaped bread [… is …] crisp, deeply walnutty, dense and chewy […] This bread is moist and full-flavored eaten by itself, and it is a babulous complement to Roquefort cheesee and Sauternes or port. The Provençal flat bread known as fougasse is a crust lover’s dream: it’s flattened and scored, which maximizes the surface area that gets exposed to direct heat but still leaves plenty of room for toppings, such as olives, herbs, sea salt, and cracked pepper. A traditional southern French flatbread, fougasse can be flavored with herbs, olives, and lardons (fried bacon or pork belly), and cut to resemble a leaf or ladder just before sliding onto the hearth to bake. The dough is pressed into a rectangular shape as for focaccia, and a bench knife is used to make swift, decisive cuts in the dough on the peel before it’s cast onto the hearth to bake. Chad Robertson says for “herbs, olives, or lardons, incorporate the ingredients early in the bulk rise, after the first turn […] The just-baked fougasse can be brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and fresh or dried herbs after it’s pulled from the oven to suit your taste.” Wells suggests putting extra flavourings on top like a pizza, just before baking. Because we were planning to bake olive fougasse in the barbecue and often have to turn the fougasse over, I used Robertson’s idea. After the first couple of times making fougasse, I noticed that in their books, both Patricia Wells and Chad Robertson suggest using lean bread or baguette dough. ie: no oil in the dough itself. So. Here is what I propose. Use whatever ingredients you like in your fougasse. As Patricia Wells says, use your favourite bread dough. But please follow the shaping and baking methods set out below. Make the fougasse plain. Or fill it with things. Shape it however you like. Bake it in the barbecue or the oven. Whichever is more convenient. Have fun!!! Mix, knead and allow your favourite bread dough to rise to double. If you are adding anything like olives, sun-dried tomatoes, onions, caramelized garlic cloves and/or walnuts, mix them into the dough near the end of kneading it or on the first turn of the dough. If you are wanting herbs/spices on top, please add them just before baking. Shaping: About an hour before baking the fougasse, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and press it out into an oval (or a rectangle; or a circle). Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is about 1 cm (.5 in) thick. Baking If the weather is fine or just too hot to be turning the oven on, fougasse can be baked in the barbecue. If it’s raining or just too cold and dark, of course the fougasse can be baked in a conventional oven. Baking in the Barbecue: Put a pizza stone over the half of the barbecue you will turn on and preheat the barbecue to high. Transfer the fougasse to the pizza stone that is sitting over direct heat. Close the lid of the barbecue and bake for about 8 minutes, rotating the stone once or twice or thrice to account for uneven heat in the barbecue (Hot Spots!!!). Then move the stone over to cook with indirect heat (lid down again) until the fougasse is done (about another 8 minutes)… our gas barbecue can be turned off on one side. Watch for hotspots and move the fougasse around to keep it from burning on one side. Because of the heat from the bottom, we like to turn the fougasse over. Just make sure to wait until the top crust is relatively well-formed. Baking in the Oven: Put a pizza stone on the middle or top shelf of the oven and turn it to 400F (200C). Transfer the fougasse onto the hot stone and bake for about 15-20 minutes, turning it around at least once to account for uneven oven heat. The finished fougasse will be deep gold on the bottom and gold on the top. When the fougasse done, remove it from the heat and allow to cool on a well-ventilated rack. To serve, break it apart and dip it into good quality olive oil with herbs if you want. 1.) Corn Meal: This is to make it easy to move the shaped fougasse from the peel to the hot stone. We use a medium-grind corn meal. I’ve heard that semolina flour works as well and apparently, rice flour may be used as an alternate. Parchment paper is definitely a viable alternative with the advantage that it can be placed in the oven and slipped out once the fougasse is half baked. 2.) Pizza Stone: Pizza stones are available at most kitchen supply stores in the larger cities (and possibly the smaller ones too?) in Canada. They cost about $10 and often come with a pizza wheel inserted in the box. They may be a little lighter weight and thinner than a conventional bread stone but the advantage is that they fit easily into a barbecue and they work pretty much as well to protect bottom crusts from burning to cinders. 3.) Shaping and slashing: The traditional shaping for fougasse is in a leaf or ladder shape. But it can be shaped in any way you want. This was an attempt at a Jack-o-fougasse. I’m afraid I didn’t open the eyes enough before baking it. Robertson shapes his fougasse and allows it to rise (covered with a tea towel) for 2 to 3 hours. Wells shapes and slashes her shaped fougasse at the same time and allows the fougasse to rest for about 10 minutes before baking it. Beranbaum also shapes and slashes at the same time, allows it to rest for about 15 minutes before baking and suggests using scissors (and gentle pulling with fingers) to open up any of the slashes that have closed during that time. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, you can start this in the morning if it’s cool and in the early afternoon if it’s warm. Spoon the yeast into the bottom of a medium to large sized bowl. (I use a casserole dish). Pour the water over top and whisk until the yeast has dissolved and the mixture looks like diluted cream. Add the olive oil and dump the flours, malt and salt overtop. Using a wooden spoon, mix together until the mixture comes away from the side of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto an unfloured board. Wash and dry the mixing bowl (cleans the bowl AND washes your hands). Using a dough scraper as your friend and ally to keep the board clean, hand knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is soft and silky. Put the kneaded dough into the clean mixing bowl. Cover it and leave on the counter (out of drafts) until it doubles. Cut olives in half and remove the pits. In a decent sized mixing bowl, whisk the yeast into the water. Using a dough scraper as your friend and ally to keep the board clean, hand knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is soft and silky. About a minute before finishing, knead in the olives. I’m a little less casual about measuring for baguette dough and usually use our digital scale to weigh the ingredients. This is enough to make one medium-large sized fougasse and two baguettes. Yeasted Water: On the evening before baking the bread, spoon the yeast for the yeasted water into the bottom of a small bowl. Pour in water and whisk together until dissolved and creamy looking. Scrap Dough: put flour and salt into the bottom of a medium sized bowl (I use a smallish lidded casserole dish). Pour in 80 gm of the yeasted water (reserve the leftovers for the Poolish) and use a wooden spoon stir the ingredients together. This will create a stiffish dough. Without adding any extra flour, knead in the air and/or the bowl until the dough is smooth (about 5 minutes). If it seems like there is too much flour, add a drop or two of water. Place the kneaded scrap dough into a smallish clean bowl that is large enough for the scrap dough to double. Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it on the countertop in a draft-free area until the next morning. Poolish: put the flours into the medium sized bowl used for mixing the scrap dough. Add water (making sure to include the leftover yeasted water) to the flours. Stir with a wooden spoon until the flours are encorporated. This mixture will be quite sloppy. Cover the bowl with a plate and leave on the counter (out of drafts) overnight. Actual Dough: On the next morning (the day for baking the bread): In a largish bowl, whisk yeast into lukewarm water until the mixture looks creamy. Stir in all of the above Poolish that should be quite bubbly. Add the flour and salt and using a wooden spoon, stir until the dough pulls away from the bowl and the flour is pretty much encorporated. Cover with a plate and set aside to sit on the counter for about 10 minutes. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto an unfloured work surface. Place the scrap dough on top. Wash and dry the bowl. This prepares the rising bowl AND gets your hands clean. Without adding any extra flour, knead the doughs until silky and the scrap dough is fully encorporated into the rest of the dough (5 to 10 minutes). Once again, let your dough scraper (a spatula works) be your friend when the dough is sticking to the board. Keep scraping up any dough that is on the board and adding it back into the actual dough so the board is always clear. Put the kneaded dough into the clean mixing bowl. Cover with a plate and allow to rise in a no-draught area (warm room temperature) for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes has passed, with the back of your hand against the inside of the bowl, slip your fingers down the side of the bowl to the bottom and gently scoop the bottom of the dough up and around to the top. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat. Do this maneuvre 4 times in all (try not to disturb any bubbles too much). Cover and allow to rise in a no-draft area (warm room temperature) for 20 minutes. Repeat this step three times in all. (This step is done at 20 minutes, 40 minutes, 60 minutes after the first kneading.) After the final time, cover and allow to rise at room temperature until it has doubled. A good way to tell if the dough has doubled is to wet your finger and poke a hole in the top of the dough. If the hole fills up, it hasn’t risen enough. If there is a whoosh of air and the dough deflates a little, it has risen too much. If the hole stays in exactly the same configuration and the dough remains otherwise intact, it is ju-u-st right. When the dough has doubled, it’s ready to shape. 4.) Yeast and Water: Field calls for active dry yeast; Glezer calls for instant yeast. There’s nothing wrong with instant yeast; we just don’t happen to have any on hand. I use active dry instead. And a LOT less than either Field or Glezer suggested. N.B. Under no circumstances do I ever use water from the hot water tap. Water from the hot water tap sits festering in the hot water tank, leaching copper, lead, zinc, solder, etc. etc from the tank walls… the higher temperature causes faster corrosion. Of course, saying that it is unsafe to use water from the hot water tap might be an urban myth, but why tempt fate? I heat the water in our kettle. But I LIKE warm bread right out of the oven: If you wish to reheat leftover fougasse, put them on the top shelf of the hot barbecue for a few minutes. OR… turn the oven to 500F for 5 minutes or so. Turn the oven OFF. Put the fougasse in the hot oven for ten minutes. I haven’t yet made Rose Levy Beranbaum’s fougasse (remind us to get some walnuts!) And I really must try Susan’s Gorgonzola Fougasse With Figs and Pecans (remind me to get figs at the same time as we get the walnuts!). But I have made fougasse with poppy seeds to go with grilled salmon. If you don’t have a blog, no problem; we still want to see and hear about your bread! Please email me with the details so your fougasse can be included in the roundup. Karen, Bake My Day: Fougasse baked by the Bread Baking Babes! Katie, Thyme for Cooking: Fougasse v Focaccia: What IS the difference? Natashya, Living In The Kitchen With Puppies: The Bread Baking Babes bake Fougasse! Please note that today is also World Bread Day and World Food Day. World Bread Day is an annual event set to coincide with World Food Day, where participants are invited to bake bread and share it. World Food Day is a yearly event put together by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to raise awareness and funds to feed the world’s chronically hungry. In ancient Rome, panis focacius was a flat bread baked in the ashes of the hearth (focus in Latin). This became a diverse range of breads that include “focaccia” in Italian cuisine, “hogaza” in Spain, “fogassa” in Catalonia, “fugassa” in Ligurian, “pogača” in the Balkans, “fougasse” in Provence, “fouaisse” or “foisse” in Burgundy. The French versions are more likely to have additions in the form of olives, cheese, anchovies etc, which may be regarded as a primitive form of pizza without the tomato. There is also in Portugal the “fogaça“, a sweet bread. This entry was posted in baking, BBBabes, bread - yeasted & unyeasted, bread recipe, food & drink, posts with recipes, PPN; YeastSpotting, MLLA, Bookmarks; T&C on Sunday, 16 October 2011 by ejm. Good morning to you lovely fougasses! Looking really nice Elizabeth. I’m happy to tell you that my fougasse is eh still just a thought soon to be transferred into something real. Which is an awkward way of telling you I’m laaate! Again. Starting the dough now. No really! Elizabeth I loved that fougasse, you are totally right it’s not at all like focaccia tho it’s made of the same dough. Very interesting indeed! Beautiful challenge Elizabeth and my hat is off to you for making the baking of fougasse in a barbecue work! Lovely breads. Thank you for choosing fougasse this month…it was fun and delicious. My post is just up…off to breakfast with friends soon. I agree with Elle, so clever to bake bread on a BBQ! Fougasse is a great bread, always a winner, great choice. Gorgeous shape! I’ve had fougasse with walnuts and yes it was excellent. Now I need to try that. LOVE the olive I just made! Really good but then I LOVED the olives going into it. So glad to do fougasse again. It’ll be on our evening wine table more often again. Yes, no knife, it’s made for hands. Great choice, so many options but all a crust-lover’s delight! I love the olive oil brushed on after baking, which I hadn’t done before.

2019-04-22T20:46:57Z

http://etherwork.net/blog/fougasse-is-different-from-focaccia-bbb-october-2011/

Surgery affects people in a variety of ways, but as you begin to emerge from anesthesia, you’re likely to want to alert your nurse to any issues you may have. LASIK eye surgery is done in offices all over the country by experienced eye surgeons and you need to be in a position to discover a great surgeon to work with. It has turned into a popular technique for the intent of correcting all types of eye issues. When you’re considering LASIK eye surgery you have to make certain you have all of the info you want to create an educated decision. When you’re considering LASIK eye surgery you should receive all the facts so as to make an educated choice. LASIK surgery is merely among the most popular eye surgeries today. LASIK eye surgery has gotten an enormous amount of favorable publicity. It can be less stressful if you are familiar with the process. Lasik is an outpatient procedure, but your physician may supply you medicine that will allow you to relax. Before you choose whether or not LASIK is best for you, you want to select the opportunity to speak with an eye surgeon about all of the info involved with LASIK. LASIK is almost universally regarded as one of the most significant investments a person can make in their wellness and higher quality of life. Although LASIK is a kind of surgery, it’s done at our center with a minimally invasive technique, resulting in rapid healing, and a high degree of succeeding. LASIK is performed while the person is under local anesthesia in the kind of eye drops and usually takes about ten minutes to complete. Custom made Lasik employs a distinctive scanner to yield an extremely detailed, virtual map of your eye. Customized LASIK It is also called the customized wave front LASIK. The treatment may expose the man to numerous symptoms. You could also conclude that such treatment isn’t easy to do, not enjoyable and not pleasant. Complications While getting laser treatment seems like the best solution for vision troubles, it is necessary to know it’s not without certain risks. Definition Many people decide to have laser eye therapy, also referred to as refractive surgery, to increase their sight so that they no longer have to wear glasses or contact lenses. My surgery is now scheduled for the exact first week in September! Rather than relying on Internet reviews when you’re interested in LASIK surgery, use reliable resources to come across surgeons that are qualified to supply you with the highest degree of care. If you’ve heard a good deal about Lasik Singapore vision surgery but are already a small tentative inside taking step one, it’s vital to point out not everybody is going to be suitable to have the surgical procedure. In most instances, the process will take under a quarter hour. You have to enquire about the other laser-assisted procedures too and learn which one would suit the very best for you. One of the absolute most well-known procedures is named Laser Assisted in-situ Keratomileusis or LASIK. To assist you better understand the sorts of laser vision correction procedures readily available today, below are some brief descriptions of every one of the most frequent vision troubles. Talking with Your Surgeon Prior to the Surgery The surgeon you’re working with should make a bid to go over the whole procedure. You and your refractive surgeon will discuss the treatment options that are correct for you. Your LASIK surgeon can provide you more specific details about your specific risks during your LASIK consultation. The LASIK surgeon utilizes a computer to fix the laser for your precise prescription. The surgeon is going to have to take more time completing the LASIK surgery procedure to make sure that the optimum eyesight is accomplished. He will then reshape your cornea with the help of the laser. An excellent eye surgeon will also speak to you about possible financing choices. A great eye surgeon will give you references and all the information that you need to create an educated decision about the process and the way you believe you will recover afterward. Doctors find it impossible to pay to get listed. The physician might also have prescribed few medications and likewise some eye drops. Nonetheless in case you experience bleeding you always need to get an examination form your physician. At your consultation, your physician can tell you all about the surgery and what it is you’re ready to anticipate. Most doctors can offer you with a mild sedative that might be taken before the LASIK surgery commences. Many LASIK doctors offer you free, no-obligation consultations so you may get to understand them and decide if LASIK is best for you. Therefore, it’s crucial that you find the appropriate Los Angeles Lasik doctor. If you are thinking about Lasik at the current time then now would definitely be a very good time to pay a visit to a laser eye surgery center. LASIK with IntraLase is considerably more costly than LASIK with Microkeratome. Wavefront lasik involves the intralase which basically means the flap is made using a laser rather than a blade. Wavefront LASIK is presently one of the most well-known options as it can increase the truth of laser guided surgery. Lasik is really a surgical procedure whereby the surgeon utilizes laser beams to fix the unevenness of your cornea. LASIK has a rather substantial success rate and luckily complications are astoundingly rare. If you are searching for LASIK in Boston, there are quite a lot of clinics offering many different eye services. Make sure that you get to understand your surgeon. At exactly the same time, the surgeon ought to be highly skilled in order to use such advanced equipment. So the ideal collection of your surgeon has become the most significant factor in your eye operation. During a pre-operative evaluation, the eye surgeon will provide you with an eye exam used to determine if you’re an excellent candidate for the process. Well, eye surgeons are operating a business enterprise. Laser surgery is much more popular today and the prices have a tendency to be only a little greater. Laser eye surgery is an amazingly secure and efficient procedure that could get rid of the need to wear glasses or contact lenses. It can be quite pricey, so it pays to do your research to find an affordable and experienced surgeon you can trust with your eyes. It is one of the most advanced procedures performed today to correct vision problems. In the start of the surgery, your surgeon is going to have you lie back on a reclining chair. The Lasik surgeon will inform you that it’s forbidden to drive your vehicle shortly after the surgery. To conclude, keep in mind that you don’t necessarily wish to employ the least expensive LASIK surgeon out there. You come back home a few days following the lasik surgery. LASIK eye surgery is very good for men and women who are bored with wearing eye glasses and contacts everyday. Before you are accepted for Lasik eye surgery, your health care provider is going to have to execute several test. Prior to getting LASIK eye surgery, however, you want to understand a few things so that your LASIK experience is a good one. If you wish to try out lasik eye surgery Minneapolis, then it is preferable to look at the reviews online before you choose the surgeon. Much like any profession, some surgeons are somewhat more skilled than others which includes not just surgical expertise, but in addition diagnostic expertise also. Should your surgeon uses a laser throughout the surgery, the computer is suitably set so the laser will acquire rid of the accurate quantity of corneal tissue. Fully investigate before selecting your surgeon, because it’s also possible that the absolute most expensive surgeon would not be as skilled and professional. So it is recommended to prefer the most experience surgeons It’s also possible that the absolute most experienced surgeon demands more than the above mentioned maximum prices. A great Lasik doctor also continually tests her or his healthcare equipment to make sure they are working correctly. The Lasik eye doctors could also consist of extra costs for brand-new systems they use within the surgery. Now you must visit the lasik eye surgery doctor to see whether you’re a candidate for lasik. Try to remember, the typical price of LASIK surgery a vary based on your geographical area and the precise provider you select. LASIK eye surgery is performed to correct farsightedness, nearsightedness, in addition to other eye disorders like astigmatism and presbyopia that’s a state that describes the impaired ability to focus because of aging. It can be performed for $1500 at a reasonable eye clinic. It is a minor surgical process that is offered across the world. It is a good choice to enhance your vision. If you’re interested in having Lasik eye surgery, and are an acceptable candidate, you should be in a position to spend money on the procedure. Since LASIK surgery is a very competitive market you might even be in a position to negotiate your own discount. LASIK eye surgery is among the most popular elective procedures done today. It continues to gain popularity in the US and Canada because it is effective and affordable. Lots of people wish to go for lasik eye surgery since they are tired of wearing glasses, and don’t have enough time for contact lenses. When you choose the surgery don’t expect to get it done for many weeks. Lasik eye surgery is the most frequently suggested treatment for myopia in the USA. It is among the safest in the world. Denver LASIK Eye Surgery isn’t a new practice. With corrective vision surgery, regardless of what the results of the surgery is, is just what you are likely to live with. LASIK surgery can at times under-correct or over-correct the issue of myopia or, rarely, can help it become worse. The Lasik eye surgery was initially executed in 1991 in the usa and since that time it has come to be remarkably popular. From time to time, surgery might need to be redone in order to supply additional corrections. Laser surgery is for men and women who cannot tolerate medications. Additionally, you might have to delay having surgery if you’re pregnant or are nursing. You wouldn’t would like to find out that you cannot see after the surgery, as it would defeat its own intent. One other great thing about Lasik surgery is that it’s an outpatient procedure. Deciding whether you would like to undergo Lasik eye surgery is a really important choice. You don’t need to have LASIK surgery and consequently, you should have a very in depth discussion with your ophthalmologist before you opt to have the procedure. The very first step to carry out before selecting a LASIK surgery is to research intensively on the benefits and disadvantages of the process. It will only provide a temporarily improved vision. It has a very high success rate. If you have made the decision to undergo a LASIK surgery, the next step to take into account is choosing the correct surgery centre to ensure the operation is going to be carried out smoothly. Once you’ve had your LASIK surgery, you will possibly wish to recommence your regular activities almost instantly, but you should be cautious. You always ought to remind yourself that Lasik surgery is intended to aid in improving your vision. LASIK surgery may be used for those with mild, moderate or severe myopia. Of the different forms of refractive surgery, it is probably the most popular. It is the most well-liked method for correcting visualization difficulties caused by refractive error, in which the eyes fail to focus light appropriately. When you choose to have Lasik surgery, the following thing you need to consider is choosing the ideal Lasik surgery clinic. It’s not cheap to get Lasik eye surgery, but another part is comparatively cheap for something which may have a dramatic influence on their everyday lives. No surgery, no matter how common or simple, is absolutely free from risk. In some instances, refractive surgery may be required. Plastic surgery cares for the reconstructive aspect whereas cosmetic surgery addresses the aesthetic aspect. It has become increasingly popular not only among celebrities, but also among the average people who are either looking for treatment that can halt the signs of aging or can help you get that flat belly that you always wanted. It’s also advisable to keep in mind that surgery isn’t risk-free. Eye surgery may be an alarming prospect. LASIK eye surgery isn’t an exception. Because of the unobstructed view of the cornea, surgeons are somewhat more comfortable in achieving the degree of customization they want which results in better vision. Some surgeons might mislead you with claims that they’ve been doing such surgery for at least 15 decades. You have the ability to pick a LASIK surgeon by adopting some steps like ascertaining credentials. You need to talk to your Lasik eye surgeon to understand the length of time your recovery time will be. There are lots of lasik eye surgeons you can select from. For certain, you will regret later if you select an incompetent Denver Lasik Eye Surgeon. The expense of a strabismus surgery would vary based on many factors. You would need to understand that LASIK surgery costs is nothing like purchasing a physical item at a department shop. The price of LASIK will change from surgeon to surgeon too. Fortunately, LASIK costs in the last two years have stabilized somewhat, but the complete out-of-pocket cost still varies dependent on what treatment you’ve done. If you were told LASIK is your only option you may require another opinion. By speaking to your health care provider and making certain you’re qualified for LASIK, you’ll have a greater possibility of getting the best outcomes. Lasik, nevertheless, is generally an extremely safe procedure. Lasik is definitely the most preferred corrective eye surgery for quite a few, and so it’s critical that you decide on an eye surgeon with a good deal of expertise and who’s using the very best medical equipment available. LASIK is the simplest and safest approach to knock out your bulky spectacles. LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) is among the most popular and powerful elective medical procedures out there. Even the very best lasik md desires some simple details about the patient’s medical history so as to carry out the surgery properly. If your physician won’t tell you, find a different one. After the process is done most individuals are advised by their doctors to return to work three days later. The physician will ask the patient to lie back on the operating table and set the eye beneath the laser. Following your exam, the physician or his staff can help you choose frames. Some doctors will need you to wear an eye patch over the eye that had surgery although others will just prescribe a great deal of rest. Now if you’re not a physician or nurse or have had problems with your elbows you might not understand what your ulnar nerve is. Bear in mind, you’ll need to use a doctor in your network if you wish to be covered. Your doctor needs to order several tests to find out whether your gallstones are symptomatic (causing symptoms) ahead of making a recommendation for surgery. To completely eliminate risks, you will need to locate a dependable doctor for the operation and you want to do constant care of your eyes after the process is completed. Exactly like with any sort of medical procedure there are things to think about before undergoing any form of surgery and LASIK is just the same. Cataract surgery is a sort of corrective eye surgery, which is utilised to clear the vision of someone. Furthermore, the secondary surgery isn’t a guarantee that you will reach your preferred appearance. Non invasive surgery is performed by employing laser beams to correct the issue. Lastly, you might demand a revision surgery with a different surgeon if your initial surgery ends in a lopsided, unnatural or simply unflattering appearance. Should you do an extremely thorough pre surgery consolation with your surgeon you should have the ability to rule out any potential risk factors that would turn you into a terrible candidate for LASIK eye surgery. Also, on rare occasions special surgery may be done in order to replace the fluid within the eye. Corrective eye surgery might not be a big surgery that expects you to stay in the hospital, but you ought to plan on taking at the very least a day off of work to let your eye or eyes recover. Conclusion While it may seem to be the miracle you’re looking for, it’s important to be able to make an informed decision on both the best option and the potential temporary (or permanent) side-effects. There are various sorts of laser eye surgery and so you need to speak to your eye doctor to discuss what is appropriate for you as well as your ailment. Simply take a while and research the LASIK center you are thinking about for laser eye surgery. If you’re considering having laser eye surgery to correct your vision, you will need to likewise be conscious of all of the potential side effects and outcomes connected with the surgery. As to whether you are appropriate for LASIK surgery, leave this to your physician. There are many sorts of Lasik surgery too. It is nothing new and has been around for quite some time now. You may also learn what kind of LASIK surgery is going to be performed since there are a number of distinct techniques currently being utilized to enhance the eyes of folks wanting laser surgery. There are things that you’ll need to get before you leave for your surgery so that they are prepared for you once you come home. Be certain to research a bit before you’ve got your surgery, so you can better understand the procedure. Discount surgery is like a discount parachute. Other people aren’t wild about surgery just because of how the procedure scares them. If you are thinking about vision correction surgery, you should talk to your ophthalmologist to find out whether the surgery is best for you. Laser vision correction surgery also works best for those who fear blood as a result of an important procedure. Thus, a laser vision correction surgery stipulates the fastest approach to your eyes’ healing procedure. 1 quick trick is to go for LASIK, and you’ll be able to go without bifocals then. LASIK is different for everybody. LASIK, on the flip side, does so. A lot of people often wonder if Raleigh LASIK is perfect for them. Some people decide to have one eye operated on at one time, although other men and women prefer to find both eyes done during the identical appointment. To put it differently, if your eye is damaged in a car crash and you require the assistance of an eye doctor, it’ll be covered. A vital part of the eye is the cornea. Just one eye will be treated at a moment. The other eye needs to be treated with another Lasik after a couple of days. LASIK can be a good alternative for many athletes and non-athletes too. however, it needs to be an informed option, Dr. Everett states. Because LASIK is performed on the cornea, we will perform measurements to make sure your cornea is healthy, the corneal surface is absolutely free from irregularities, and confirm that there is sufficient corneal tissue readily available to take care of your prescription. LASIK has evolved in the past several decades, Dr. Everett states. All lasers LASIK reduces the danger of particular complications caused because of the use of microkeratome. LASIK has evolved in the past several years, Dr. Everett states. LASIK is almost universally regarded as one of the most significant investments a person can make in their wellness and higher quality of life. For quite a while, LASIK is getting more complex as it can certainly now accommodate many kinds of patients with different eye issues and requirements. LASIK demands the invention of a lamellar flap by microkeratome. LASIK One of the most frequent procedure to fix the vision is LASIK. At the end, you will want to learn how to decide on the ideal procedure for you. Nevertheless, don’t be worried if you’re not acceptable for the LASIK procedure. Deciding to have vision correction procedures like LASIK and PRK is a substantial step. Deciding to get vision correction procedures like LASIK and PRK is a huge step. Our lasik eye surgery group of doctors are the best experts to provide a thorough assessment and a tailor a treatment plan to suit your requirements. Our lasik eye surgery team are definitely the most skilled specialists to evaluate your eyesight and provide a prescribed therapy. Our lasik eye surgery group and our staff are top notch experts to rate your vision and supply a treatment protocol. Accuracy There are a few of the best doctors who provide the Lasik treatments to their patients so they can attain an excellent and far better vision. There are a few of the best doctors who provide the Lasik treatments to their patients so they can reach a good and much better vision. Your Midwest Eye Consultants doctor together with your eyewear consultant will also suggest a high definition lens that will supply you with the finest visual clarity. Today if you’re interested in vision correction surgery you can decide on a bladeless LASIK. Laser eye surgery is the most recent innovation in eye surgery therapy. It Now is dedicated to providing the best vision correction expertise and customer care in Brooklyn Park. Though Lasik treatment may sound risky, with the newest technology used at our facility, our group of professionals are ready to supply a safe surgery to ensure no harmful side effects could impact your vision. Not only does it restore your vision to the fullest, it can also prevent you from getting the constant headaches that you have been getting for which you have started to use spectacles. There are some who opt for the LASIK treatment for receiving their vision. The most critical part of LASIK surgery is a great preoperative evaluation. It is performed on approximately one million eyes every year in the world and it is no different than any other surgery, but its drawbacks may be a little different than others. It is no different than any other surgery, but its drawbacks may be a little different than others. Lasik Laser Eye Surgery has caused a good deal of hope andexcitement to a lot of men and women. Lasik surgery treatment Laser eye surgeries in Los Angeles are commonly utilised to take care of shorts and close to sightedness along with astigmatism. The entire surgery is completed in one step utilizing single laser, thereby, taking only few seconds to complete the surgery. Additional surgery or’ enhancement’ may be asked to take pleasure in the most effective possible outcome of a LASIK. For Femto-lasik surgery that is additionally a bladeless surgery, we use the exact same Visumax machine and a different type of software for producing femto lasik flap. When it has to do with corrective vision eye surgery, there are many choices to select from. As soon as you have located a surgeon you’re interested in contacting from our directory of LASIK and cataract surgeons, we welcome you to critique the surgeon’s profile and compare their qualifications with different doctors you’re contemplating. Your surgeon will work with you to help determine when you are able to go back to your sport whilst ensuring the very best possible outcome. Surgeons generally advise that the very best alternative for eye surgery is Lasik. With The Blend Zone, your surgeon can ablate the surface that is equivalent to your pupil size in dim light, reducing the chance of post-surgery vision difficulties. You want the very best surgeon you’ll be able to find, the most innovative equipment available and a team you may trust. Very best lasik surgeons have struggled to consider lasik surgery procedure which is not just bladeless but flapless. Lasik eye surgeons in Los Angeles usually elect for the procedure as it’s quick together with safe for everybody. If you’re contemplating LASIK surgery, among the most crucial points to think about is the very best approach to come across the perfect LASIK surgeon. LASIK surgery is just one of the most frequent forms for vision correction available today. Lasik Laser Eye Surgery has caused a great deal of hope andexcitement to numerous women and men. The surgery shouldn’t be painful, but there’s a little smell of burning during using the laser, which can allow it to be an unpleasant experience for the individual. All surgeries have their advantages and disadvantages, and Lasik eye surgery is the same. When you opt to have Lasik surgery, the following thing you need to consider is choosing the very best Lasik surgery clinic. Now, Lasik eye surgery is extremely common. It is a relatively new ocular procedure designed specifically for people who are nearsighted. It is a very complex operation involving the most delicate part of the eye, the cornea. Much like any profession, some surgeons are somewhat more skilled than others which includes not just surgical expertise, but in addition diagnostic expertise also. They might mislead you with claims that they have been doing such surgery for more than 15 years. Third, to discover certified and expert eye surgeon is critically vital for Lasik eye surgery. When you have chosen the eye surgeon you will work with it’s important to get a very long conversation about just what the procedure will consist of, which means you understand just what to expect prior to, during and following the procedure. You must discover an expert eye surgeon, with a superior experience and success rate in LASIK surgery. Surgery is done at Umhlanga. Furthermore, the surgery isn’t fit for every individual. Over three million cataract surgeries are finished in the US itself. Cataract surgery is just one of the most regularly done surgical procedures in the global world of health science. Cataract eye surgery isn’t an exception. When you’re considering LASIK you will want to speak to your present eye doctor to learn if you’re an excellent candidate and receive a referral to an eye surgeon. In years past the very first step in LASIK consisted of developing a flap in the cornea working with a metallic blade (microkeratome). For example, Wavefront LASIK is quite costly. LASIK has a rather large success rate and luckily complications are astoundingly rare. The term Lasik implies using laser rays underneath the corneal flap to enhance the form of the cornea in order to correct defects in eyesight. When you’re considering LASIK for your vision correction requirements, you ought to take the opportunity to find a LASIK evaluation to make certain you are a superb candidate for the process. Lasik can be a complicated procedure based on the level of your vision impairment, but always a procedure that may be accomplished. People today consider LASIK for an assortment of explanations. What Is So Fascinating About Lasik Eye Surgery Reviews? Laser surgery is the most commonly used methods among them. Laser eye surgery is an amazingly secure and efficient procedure that could get rid of the need to wear glasses or contact lenses. In case you’re contemplating undergoing laser eye surgery, here’s a rundown on the fundamental facts that you want to know prior to deciding to have one. Laser eye surgery is easily the most successful type of eye corrective surgery. It truly is one of the wonders of modern medicine. When you’re planning to undergo laser eye surgery, ensure you have selected the proper surgeon. The surgeon will ask an assortment of questions regarding the health care history of the individual. When you satisfy the eye surgeon personally, you should ask some questions in order to find a notion about his expertise in refractive surgery. You may also speak with your eye surgeon about the financing choices available so that you don’t need to be concerned about the total price tag of the process. Laser therapy and plastic surgery is able to help you remove them permanently. If you are searching for a treatment for pink eye, we’ve got a list of the greatest treatments. Natural treatment for pink eye may also be used. Plan A Visit To Your Surgeon In order to choose whether eye laser treatment is the perfect selection for you the first thing which you’ve got to do is to seek the advice of your surgeon. Immediately after surgery patients are usually provided with antibiotic eye medication and lubricating eye drops to be utilized in these days, and might also have to put on a protective eye patch. In the majority of cases, it’s much better to finance or put off the procedure until the money may be procured for greater technology and attention instead of settle for cheaper inferior technology or level of service. Additionally, there are other distinct kinds of laser-based procedures like CK, LASEK, and PRK. Nowadays, it’s not unusual to hear people are choosing surgical procedures for correcting various vision difficulties. By now it must be apparent that all LASIK procedures and surgeons aren’t equal. LASIK procedure is most appropriate for astigmatism, nearsighted, farsighted and several different difficulties. Procedure of Laser Eye Surgery Laser eye surgery, also called blade-free LASIK, is a surgery which uses excimer laser to fix the vision of someone. Remember that LASIK isn’t always the ideal procedure for everybody. You should make certain the surgeon is well qualified if you would like to get the ideal eye doctor. To provide you with a prosperous lasik surgery outcome, you must pick the best surgeon that will help you achieve better and clearer eyesight. Bear in mind you should also be searching for the very best LASIK surgeons in your region. Even in the event that you can’t appear to get any of the greatest Lasik surgeons around, there are directories accessible to aid you in your search. When you’re searching for the ideal Lasik surgeons to help improve and fix your vision, it seems sensible you don’t wish to compromise. Tell your optometrist or ophthalmologist that you wish to understand who the ideal lasik surgeons. If you’re looking for the very best LASIK surgeons in Lee County, think about the skilled physicians at Elmquist Eye Group who are qualified to offer you the highest degree of care. LASIK surgery has gotten highly popular over the previous 5-10 decades. Finding the ideal Lasik doctor is essential in deciding where and when to have the surgery. Picking A Surgeon You should select a surgeon that specializes in refractive correction if you wish to have laser eye surgery. Although it may appear simple, in addition, it requires a surgeon with amazing expertise in lasik procedure since there is no room for any minor error. If you’re thinking about LASIK surgery, among the main facts to think about is the way to come across the perfect LASIK surgeon. Lasik Surgery is among the most recent and most advance vision treatments, available in the industry today. It is just one of the most well-known procedures out there today. If it comes to LASIK eye surgery, there aren’t any right answers. Lasik surgery was designed within IBM. It is considered an elective surgery and is one of the most common eye surgery procedures performed because it is quick, simple, and affordable with amazing results. Only for instance, it might not be able to give to perfect vision but it will definitely provide you a better one. Lasik eye surgery is now a regular procedure that huge quantities of people have already undergone. If you’re looking for a capable Lasik eye surgery in Rochester. Eye surgery may be an alarming prospect. There is going to be many more fees and extras you will need if you would like the ideal eye surgery. Laser eye surgery is not appropriate for everybody and there are likewise some non laser vision correction choices available. You’ve decided you are prepared to have LASIK. Itas important to consult with your ophthalmologist in depth to learn whether LASIK or any other refractive procedure is most suitable for you. LASIK can be a good choice for many athletes and non-athletes too. Driving at night might be an issue for any number of those who get LASIK. LASIK has grown into one of the most popular elective surgery procedures in the States. LASIK, surgery to reduce or eliminate the demand for eye glasses, has become quite popular over the previous 5-10 decades. The usefulness of advertising for the role of picking a surgeon is restricted, however. Eye surgeons that are affiliated with teaching hospitals generally stay current on all the most recent procedures and breakthroughs in their field, instead of private practice eye doctors who might see a great deal of clients but don’t keep on top of the greatest new procedures. When you satisfy the eye surgeon personally, you should ask some questions in order to find a notion about his expertise in refractive surgery. If you are searching for a LASIK surgeon, the very best eye doctor is a person who has performed several thousand eye operations already. To begin with, the LASIK surgeon will produce a flap from the cornea. The best method to discover the perfect Boulder lasik surgeon for you is to visit and speak to lots of eye surgeons and after that go for the best one. There are a number of Boulder lasik surgeons which will flood you with a great deal of information during and following the operation. Our surgeons have other selections like PRK as a replacement for correcting your vision. You shouldn’t feel that if you consulted a surgeon, you’re obligated to find the expert services of that surgeon. A superb surgeon will have further understanding of the most up-to-date and advanced technology is normally the ideal choice for you to think about. In the modern Internet-centric world, locating a very good surgeon has turned into much easier. Following are a couple of aspects to consider before selecting a superior refractive surgeon. You’re fortunate to get many great surgeons in San Antonio so you’re seeking the ideal LASIK surgeon with the very best value. Unfortunately, not everybody is a candidate for Lasik. Speak to Your Ophthalmologist About LASIK You might be a candidate for LASIK if you’ve got good general health and don’t have any eye diseases. If you’re curious in the event that you will earn a fantastic LASIK candidate, there are a few considerations which should weigh into your choice. Typically, if all the following apply to you, you ought to be a very good candidate for LASIK. Suitable LASIK candidates need to have a prescription that has remained stable for more or less a year. Keep reading to see whether you’re a possible candidate for LASIK surgery. If you’re a candidate, he can coordinate with surgeons in the region to ensure your eyes are taken care of so you may have a prosperous outcome that satisfies your expectations. It is critical that you discern whether you’re a possible candidate for LASIK surgery or not. What’s more, potential candidates have to be well educated about the advantages and dangers of the procedure and have realistic expectations about the possible outcome. Ask your surgeon to check out when you’re a possible candidate for monovision. Lasik surgery isn’t as complicated as many folks think. If you aren’t qualified for LASIK surgery, our surgeons can assist you in finding an alternate procedure that’s ideal for your personal needs. LASIK surgery is accustomed to the treat refractive errors brought on by a misshapen cornea. Lasik eye surgery has been invented in many forms. It can be a very rewarding procedure, but is not an optimal solution for everyone. Now it can be performed within a span of a few minutes with help of laser. It can put a quick end to all that. The surgery is most suitable for healthy patients that are at least 18 decades old. Before it can take place, potential candidates need to undergo various tests to determine lasik surgery compatibility. There are several suitable alternative eye surgeries available for patients of all of the needs. If you’re considering LASIK, you can wonder if you’re a candidate for the process. If you’re not a candidate for LASIK, you’ve got many different choices. Don’t forget that even if you’re not a candidate for LASIK, there’s another procedure like PRK, which can help treat your refractive errors and supply you with the vision you’ve always desired. As one of the quickest and best vision correction treatments currently available, LASIK is now an extremely popular alternative for people trying to correct refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. LASIK provides an exciting chance for folks who depend on glasses or contact lenses to better their vision. LASIK has come to be the alternative of choice for more than two million eyes each year. If you’re prepared to take the next step and figure out if LASIK is best for you, first, we have to determine your candidacy. LASIK can be accomplished with monovision. LASIK has turned out to be a secure and efficient procedure. LASIK is a fine-tuned procedure which has been utilized for more than 20 decades now. LASIK can be a risky operation. LASIK is a delicate procedure and just a seasoned ophthalmologist can figure out if you’re a perfect candidate for LASIK, dependent on your general wellbeing, the status of your eyes and your distinct condition. LASIK has turned out to be a secure and efficient procedure for clearer vision. LASIK employs an instrument commonly referred to as a micokeratome. LASIK is a health procedure. Additionally, LASIK can take care of a greater array of vision errors. Before LASIK is performed you will have to undergo a string of diagnostic tests to establish the stability of your vision. Lasik can help people with bad vision. Lasik is the greatest thing in their opinion. In the same way, LASIK isn’t advised for extreme farsightedness, since the form of the eye makes it hard to correct. While LASIK is easily the most popular kind of laser eye surgery, it isn’t for everybody. Then LASIK just could be the thing for you. Although Lasik is among the simplest surgeries in medicine, patients ought to know of its expectations before undergoing the surgery. Make certain to ask your doctor all questions concerning the surgery if you’re thinking about moving toward the next step. Cataract surgery is just one of safest and most prosperous surgeries that may be done. It’s essential to be conscious that the surgery isn’t a guarantee of perfect vision, and a few patients may require extra surgery to further increase their vision. In truth, it’s the most frequently selected vision correction surgery available. Consult a TLC-affiliated eye doctor for a completely free LASIK consultation to decide on if you’re a LASIK candidate. If you’ve been told that you’re not a candidate for LASIK, we welcome you to come in for a totally free VIP exam. To schedule a complimentary consultation to decide whether you’re a suitable candidate for LASIK, please contact Laser Eye Center. Pay a visit to your eye doctor for a comprehensive consultation to find out when you’re a perfect LASIK candidate. Not everybody is a great candidate for LASIK. It is possible to learn more about whether you’re a very good LASIK candidate in a consultation at our Toronto practice. In the event you decided to have the LASIK surgery, you must learn if you’re a LASIK candidate in a visit to an ophthalmologist. LASIK surgery is accustomed to the treat refractive errors due to a misshapen cornea. LASIK eye surgery contains 3 steps. It has been performed on more than one million of people in the world. It may dramatically improve your life and the way you see it. You’re not a great candidate when you have degenerative or autoimmune diseases, if you’re pregnant or nursing, or when you own a condition that deters or slows healing. A lot of people are regarded as good LASIK candidate, but some people don’t meet the criteria. 1 thing you ought to be conscious of is only a skilled ophthalmologist can tell you when you’re even an excellent candidate for Lasik surgery. Keep reading to see whether you’re a prospective candidate for LASIK surgery. It is very important that you discern whether you’re a prospective candidate for LASIK surgery or not. Also a perfect candidate has to be a quick healer and don’t have any disease that may impact wound healing like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and HIV. Ask your surgeon to check out when you’re a possible candidate for monovision. Just like with any surgical procedure, however, it’s important to make certain that LASIK is the proper fit for your distinctive vision requirements. Lasik is the best thing in their opinion. Then LASIK just may be the thing for you. Because LASIK isn’t right for everybody, we screen potential candidates very carefully to guarantee they meet the correct qualifications. You also can’t get LASIK should you have dry eye syndrome, since the surgery can help it become worse. Over 30 million procedures are performed worldwide, and increasing numbers of people are considering LASIK everyday! Lasik Candidate – Is it a Scam? Speak to your LASIK surgeon to learn if you’re able to get LASIK at your present age. LASIK has been shown to have long lasting benefits, with a high level of safety. Before LASIK is performed you will have to undergo a string of diagnostic tests to figure out the stability of your vision. LASIK is a health procedure. LASIK is not advised for everyone that has a systemic wellness problem or an autoimmune disorder, which can impact the healing process after LASIK. While LASIK might not be a possibility for everybody, there are still plenty of means to increase your vision! Customized LASIK is intended to treat both lower order abnormalities such as far sightedness and astigmatism in addition to higher order abnormalities that can result in blurriness, halos, and other kinds of vision troubles. Experience matters in regards to performing LASIK. At present, LASIK is among the most frequently performed healthcare procedures in the nation, and it has a fantastic record of succeeding. While LASIK has become the most popular kind of laser eye surgery, it isn’t for everybody. While Custom LASIK is utilized to take care of an extensive variety of refractive errors, not everybody is going to be a perfect Custom LASIK candidate. LASIK enables people to perform the majority of their everyday tasks without corrective lenses. LASIK takes around 15 minutes to finish, with minimum discomfort, and yields incredible outcomes. For obvious reasons LASIK has many advantages over the conventional prescription glasses and contact lenses to repair your eyesight. The only means to decide if LASIK is best for you is to come in and go over your choices with our LASIK Optometrist. LASIK is the most frequent eye procedure, and is thought to be among the safest elective procedures in modern medication. In the same way, LASIK isn’t suggested for extreme farsightedness, since the form of the eye makes it hard to correct. Before Custom LASIK is performed you will have to undergo a set of diagnostic tests to ascertain the stability of your vision. Deciding on A Surgeon You ought to choose a surgeon that specializes in refractive correction if you would like to have laser eye surgery. The best surgeons will have the newest technology, a pleasant staff, and great bedside manner. Even in the event you can’t appear to find any of the ideal Lasik surgeons around, there are directories accessible to aid you in your search. If you’re searching for the best LASIK surgeons in Lee County, consider the skilled physicians at Elmquist Eye Group who are qualified to provide you with the maximum level of care. Surgeons should be prepared to analyze the facts of your procedure and answer any questions which you may have. Your surgeon and your principal care physician may need to consult with one another as a way to guarantee you’re fine for LASIK. Some surgeons might mislead you with claims which they have been doing such surgery for over 15 decades. Picking out the ideal surgeon can be done through an assortment of processes. Most surgeons acknowledge that the main security issues in laser vision correction are associated by means of the mechanical device used to create the corneal flap. Even in case you can’t seem to acquire any of the best Lasik surgeons around, there are directories accessible to assist you in your search. There are a great deal of other great LASIK surgeons in the country. You should make certain the surgeon is well qualified if you would like to locate the ideal eye doctor. You prefer to go for an eye surgeon who focuses on safety and the proper upkeep of the person. The eye surgeon will assess the form and thickness of your cornea, refractive errors, pupil dimensions and your general general health to find out if you’re candidate for LASIK. It’s very simple nowadays once you receive the best Lasik eye surgeons. If you’re looking for a LASIK surgeon, the very best eye doctor is a person who has performed several thousand eye operations already. Lasik eye surgeons in Los Angeles usually elect for the procedure as it’s quick in addition to safe for everybody. In case you have, and you still think it’s theright action to do, then the upcoming logical step is tostart searching for a LASIK surgeon. When you’re searching for a Lasik Surgeon in Beverly Hills, you’ve got a great deal of distinct options. The LASIK surgeon employs a computer to fix the laser for your particular prescription. Lasik San Diego surgeons will explain the particulars of the process on your very first visit. Surgeons should be ready to examine the facts of your procedure and answer any questions that you can have. A seasoned surgeon might be more expensive, but sure is well worth it. You shall always go for the more experienced Lasik eye surgeon as compared to a different surgeon. When you choose to have Lasik surgery, the following thing you need to consider is choosing the ideal Lasik surgery clinic. Lasik Surgery is the most frequent term employed for the process. Lasik eyes surgery shows affect inside a few minutes alone and is utilised to treat near sightedness in addition to farsightedness. Lasik is thought to be a cosmetic or elective surgery so might not be addressed by the insurance policy policy policy company. Lasik is thought to be a cosmetic or elective surgery so might not be covered by the insurance policy policy company. LASIK has been a benefit for the bulk of individuals trying to find a safe, convenient approach to make the most of their vision. The number of LASIK varies. Call to learn how much you are able to save on LASIK with one of the very best rated LASIK surgeons on earth! If you would like to find out more about our Orange County LASIK results, we are going to be delighted to provide them to you. Lasik is a relatively easy and quick procedure. LASIK is a kind of refractive eye surgery. Lasik is considered to be a cosmetic or elective surgery so might not be covered by the insurance policy policy company. Lasik is a very skilled procedure and demands an extremely skilled Lasik Surgery doctor. If you’re thinking about getting LASIK or PRK, here is what you have to know. LASIK is a surgical procedure, it’s essential to follow together with instructions from your wellbeing care provider. LASIK is almost universally regarded among the most vital investments an individual can make in their wellness and greater quality of life. Lasik is an outpatient procedure, but your doctor may supply you medicine to help you relax. If you’re contemplating getting LASIK or PRK, here’s what you need to find out.

2019-04-20T04:18:00Z

https://www.eyesr.us/2018/07/page/2/

brand MARINE CONSULTANTS GmbH | Salvage Experts, Casualty Management and more. 24/7. brand MARINE CONSULTANTS GmbH is a fast-growing, global Marine Consultancy. Since the company was founded in 2014, bMC has completed over 200 projects on behalf of shipowners, law firms, P&I clubs, offshore contractors, shipyards and insurance companies. Our services include carrying out Survey, Casualty Investigation and Expert Witness work throughout the Maritime & Offshore sectors. Our staff have a wide range of training and qualifications as well as significant experience in many sectors of the Marine industry. Our current team have backgrounds as Master Mariner, Chief Engineer, Naval Architect, Ship Broker, Ship Manager & Spill Response Specialist. As experienced marine surveyors our Consultants have performed inspections on vessels of all types including passenger vessels, tugboats, barges, dredges, ferries, cargo ships and warships for the purpose of pre-purchase evaluation, insurance eligibility, insurance claim resolution and regulation compliance. We are specialised in inspecting marine cargo, marine engines and offshore and facilities such as drydocks, loading docks and more. Thanks to our many international projects in the past, our Consultants have significant experience in ensuring compliance with international guidelines dealing with issues such as pollution, international security and safety management schemes. We are happy to examine cargo gear to ensure that all requirements, regulations and standards are met. At bMC we pride ourselves on providing clear, concise and independent reports. We base ourselves on the surveys as well as other relevant documents to present the most accurate possible document. Over the years we have developed of presenting factual written elements, strengthened with 3D drawings, calculations at the hand of our own in-house software, self-evident graphs and illustrations. Casualty Investigation is the process of establishing the root cause and extent of a damage resulting from e.g. collision, grounding, fire, engine failure, sinking etc. Our wide range of techniques for acquiring the necessary information and data includes surveys, inspections, 3D simulations, diving, ROV and side scans. We also interview the crew and analyse VDR’s in order to support the investigation process. We maintain our commitment to providing clear, independent reports which are based on our findings and on further relevant documents. Our reports aim to outline an accurate sequence of events, which we present with our own unique style and back up at the hand of 3D drawings, calculations, graphs and illustrations. As Marine Consultants we have an excellent track record, proving our qualifications and expertise in the field of Marine and Offshore. We boast a combined experience that spans over decades and have been hired as independent experts several times to provide expert evaluations and reports for a variety of cases in the past. We understand the importance of our role as educators of the court and fully comprehend our duties as Expert Witness. In terms of Casualty Management, our single objective is to prevent an incident from turning into a full-blown crisis. We understand the importance of effective planning and the need for integrated crisis and emergency response organisation. Our Consultants pay special attention to identifying and prioritising the interests of the main shareholders, organising resources accordingly and mitigating the risks and costs of the whole operation. We are familiar and have worked with most of the prominent contractors in this field and are skilled in negotiating with them, as well as keeping them focused on the project at hand. Click the flags below to see a brief description of bMC’s previous projects. In 2014 bMC was hired to carry out a root cause investigation and a damage survey on a container vessel. bMC was later sent on site to negotiate an alleged cargo claim for the same vessel in 2016. In May 2016 bMC was hired to carry out a root cause investigation and a damage survey after a multi-purpose ship suffered damage to its propeller. bMC were mandated as consultants to support the owners of a car carrier with substantial fire damage during a tender process for repairs. bMC was mandated to carry out a condition survey on a reefer ship in September 2014. When a jack-up vessel’s leg got stuck in the seabed in February 2016, the vessel grounded and eventually capsized. bMC dispatched consultants on site and were later appointed SCR. In 2015 bMC was mandated to carry out a damage survey on a bulker with significant damage to its rudder. After the grounding of a bulker off the coast of Greece in August 2015, bMC acted as SCR during the salvage operation. 36 - 38 Großer Burstah in the centre of Hamburg. In June 2015 bMC was assigned the role of SCR during the salvage operation of a container vessel which suffered a dangerously list after a severe storm. In 2014 bMC was mandated to carry out a damage survey on a reefer vessel after it had suffered an engine failure and had to be towed to the port of Busan, Korea. In September 2016 bMC opened its London office, located in The Leadenhall Building. After the grounding of a bulk carrier in March 2016, the bMC team was mobilised to Madagascar as SCR to support the salvage operations. When a bulk carrier got caught in a hurricane in October 2015 it veered off course and was stranded against a cliff. The bMC team was dispatched to manage the salvage operations. In 2014 bMC has carried out various projects for the Offshore Wind sector including an analysis of a vessel’s jacking system, Expert Witness work and a damage survey of Offshore Substations. bMC’s Consultants have excellent courtroom skills and have frequently been involved as Expert Witnesses in the resolution of claims disputes. In April 2016 bMC was contracted to investigate an offshore claim on behalf of a vessel’s owners. In May 2016 bMC opened its first overseas office in Singapore: brand MARINE CONSULTANTS (SG) Pte. Ltd. In late 2015 bMC was contracted for the investigation and handling of a flooded engine room for a general cargo ship. bMC was contracted to carry out a Casualty Investigation. This project later led to bMC providing technical services to the vessel’s owners. In December 2014, bMC’s Consultants were contracted to manage in the salvage of a barge off the coast of Qatar. The bMC team was hired to act as Towage Consultants for the tow of a fully laden bulk carrier with a damage propeller and rudder from Suez to Singapore via India. In March 2014, bMC was assigned the role of SCR during the salvage operation of a bulk carrier. In May 2014, bMC was assigned the role of SCR during the salvage operation of a RoRo carrier off the coast of Angola. Subsequently, bMC supported Owners and Underwriters in preparing the tender for the wreck removal. In June 2016, bMC was given an Expert Witness assignment. In February 2014, bMC was assigned to negotiate an alleged cargo claim. In May 2015, bMC was assigned as salvage consultant during the salvage operation of a jack-up rig. In June 2015, bMC was assigned as salvage consultants to advise on the salvage operation of a container ship on fire. In May 2016 bMC was contracted as Owner’s Representative during the salvage of a grounded bulk carrier in the Rio de la Plata. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad has been appointed as consultant for the removal of two wrecks. During the fire on board of a bulk carrier in November 2016, bMC was mobilised to Colombia as SCR to support the salvage operations. bMC associate office in Mumbai. Please contact bMC Singapore to get in touch. Our Consultants are recognised experts in their field and can lend support across projects of all shapes and size around the globe. Please do not hesitate to contact us directly for further information. bMC feel very lucky to have secured the highly regarded and experienced Mark Hoddinott on to their ever growing team. It’s difficult to give a fitting title to such an experienced and knowledgeable individual but Mark will be joining bMC as a Senior Advisor. When it comes to Salvage and Wreck removal there is little that Mark doesn’t know and few people that don’t know Mark. bMC are therefore very pleased indeed to announce that Mark is now part of the bMC team. bMC welcomed Mark Hoddinott to the bMC Group at an informal gathering in Hamburg at the start of April. We’re all excited about the latest development and looking forward to tapping in to some of the wealth of knowledge that Mark brings with him. Welcome Mark! bMC’s Captain Lars Tesmar remained in attendance of a grounded container vessel off the coast of Tripoli, Libya as P&I Club Representative. bMC’s Giacomo Pison was engaged by P&I underwriters to attend the site of the sinking of a general cargo vessel in Turkish waters. The vessel’s fuel was promptly and effectively removed under bMC’s oversight. bMC’s Heiko Foerster was engaged by insurance interests to attend and survey a bulk carrier in a north German port following loss of an anchor. Heiko was requested to report on the loss, including route cause analysis. bMC Singapore continued to work with Owners and insurance interests in respect of the salvage and subsequent disposal of a tanker in Malaysia. bMC’s Thomas Baer was engaged by Charterer’s via their insurance interests to attend and survey a tanker on German inland waterways, following an alleged cargo contamination. bMC’s Captain Ajay Prasad was appointed as Special Casualty Representative (SCR) following the grounding and partial sinking of a tanker off Johor, Malaysia. bMC’s Captain Lars Tesmar has continued to give to give professional advices to the responsible German authorities, following the appearance of several shipping containers in German waters thought to have been lost overboard from a passing vessel. bMC’s Heiko Foerster was engaged by insurance interests to attend and survey a river cruise vessel in southern Germany following damage to a propulsion unit. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand was engaged by legal representatives to give professional opinion and expert witness report relating to a collision case in German waters. bMC are very excited to announce the opening of a site office in Koblenz, Germany. Opened on the 1st January 2019, the main purpose of the office is to service our important client base with attendance to vessels and incidents on the inland waterways of the surrounding region. After careful consideration, bMC selected Koblenz as it gives ready access to the Cologne, Dusseldorf & Duisburg area to the North and Mainz area to the South. bMC have engaged an experienced former Chief Engineer to be available for the requirements of our clients, present and future. It is expected that the team in Koblenz will grow in the months to come. Please contact us for further details. We welcome any enquiries for the Koblenz office. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand was engaged by the German responsible authorities to give professional advices following the appearance of several shipping containers in German waters thought to have been lost overboard from a passing vessel. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand was engaged to attend a grounded container vessel off the coast of Tripoli, Libya as the appointed Special Casualty Representative (SCR). bMC’s Captain Lars Tesmar was appointed by the German responsible authority to give professional advices following the grounding of a tanker in German waters. The vessel was re-floated in a safe and timely manner. bMC’s Captain Lars Tesmar attended the site of a vessel collision on the River Rhine. This was an interesting job that was particularly satisfying as it was the first case for the bMC Koblenz office. Capt. Tesmar was requested to make an initial investigation and to provide expert opinion in relation to possible route cause. bMC’s Captain Ajay Prasad was engaged by insurance interests to attend a semi-submersible drilling rig off the east coast of India following a severe listing incident. Capt. Prasad was requested to survey and carry out an initial investigation in respect of the incident and subsequent attendance of a contractor to correct the list. bMC’s Alex Leonard was engaged by P&I Interests to oversee the removal of bunker fuels and other potential pollutants from a grounded vessel in south east India. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand attended an inland water cruise vessel at Cologne following a grounding incident resulting in damage to the propulsion system. BIG news for bMC in November! We look forward to serving new and existing clients in this major shipping centre. We welcome new enquiries. bMC are also pleased to announce that Captain Lars Tesmar has been formally notified that he will be appointed to the Lloyds Special Casualty Representative (SCR) panel effective as of 1st January 2019. We give our hearty congratulations to Lars and wish him every success with this added role carrying significant responsibility. bMC is confident that Lars has all the attributes and experience to make an excellent SCR. Equally the bMC team will be on hand to support Lars throughout any SCR appointments. Congratulations Lars! At the same time. bMC is happy to advise that Capt. Dennis Brand has been re-appointed following the latest round of biennial re-applications. Well done Dennis! bMC was appointed by Owners and insurance interests to survey and make an assessment of route cause following a stern tube leakage and change of stern tube parts during a vessel call to Tenerife. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad and Per Tyrsted remained present on site as representatives for P&I interests in respect of a grounded container vessel in the Northern part of the Bay of Bengal. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad was requested by P&I interests to attend the site of a grounded vessel in south east India and provide an initial assessment as well as recommendations for future actions. bMC were engaged by Owners of a Ro-Ro terminal in India to give professional advice in respect of an engineering project. bMC’s Alex Leonard attended the site to make an assessment and provide initial advices. bMC Singapore were engaged by vessel owners in the Philippines to conduct a review of office based procedures and provide an assessment of Management practices with a focus on maintenance procedures. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad and Capt. Lars Tesmar remained present on site as representatives for P&I interests in respect of a grounded container vessel in the Northern part of the Bay of Bengal. bMC were requested by Insurance interests to review pertinent information and give expert opinion in respect of a main engine damage case. bMC are also pleased to announce that on the 1st October Alex Leonard joined the bMC Team in London, UK as a Senior Consultant. Alex brings some new and different experience with him to contribute to the bMC knowledge base. As a response specialist and duty manager with Oil Spill Response Ltd Alex has spent the last eight years planning and training for, responding to and managing oil spill across the oil and gas and maritime sectors. As a technical advisor Alex has worked as a consultant embedded in the largest oil majors supporting crisis management teams in the development of emergency plans and designing and delivering response organisations from Africa to the Arctic. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand was engaged to give preliminary expert witness advice to insurance interests in respect of a cargo damage claim following damages to motor vehicles loaded on a vehicle carrier. bMC’s Capt Lars Tesmar was instructed by Charterer’s insurance interests to conduct a survey and report on the findings in respect of cargo hatch cover damages on a vessel at a Port in Northern Germany. bMC was requested by insurance interests to review pertinent information and give professional opinion following an instance of main engine breakdown as a result of failure of the piston rings from a main engine of a Bulk Carrier. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand was requested by Insurance interests via their appointed Legal representatives to give professional advice regarding salvage costs following a collision between a vessel and a berth. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad and Naval Architect Ms Yu Ling Mok have maintained a presence on site as representatives for P&I interests in respect of a grounded container vessel in the Northern part of the Bay of Bengal. bMC was engaged by insurance interests to survey an offshore vessel in Bremerhaven with bow thruster damages and to report on the likely causes of the damages found. bMC Singapore were engaged to give professional advice to insurance interests in respect of repair options and likely costs following a collision between a tanker and a barge in Indonesian waters. bMC staff were on site in the Azores over the summer months to oversee a wreck removal project on behalf of P&I interests. The project was successfully concluded and approval given by the relevant authorities in late July. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad and Capt. Lars Tesmar remained present on site as representatives for P&I interests in respect of a grounded container vessel in the Northern part of the Bay of Bengal. bMC is very happy to announce that Capt. Per Tyrsted Jorgensen has joined the bMC Team based in Singapore. We are excited by his arrival and looking forward to working with him. Per has significant experience in the marine industry, specifically in tanker management and business development which we certainly expect to be of benefit to bMC and consequently to our growing client base. Per started his career at sea in 1980 and completed his Master’s Examination at Copenhagen School of Navigation in 1989. He continued his career at sea on various type of vessels as 2nd officer to Master before commencing his shore based career in 2000. Since then Per has held several senior management positions, with the last being Vice President of Commercial Operations in a Chemical Tanker company involved with development of Company Strategy and Business Development. Per has vast experience in marine operations including Demurrage, Claims, Insurance, P&I, Bunker Procurement, Port Captaincy, Vessel inspections, Vetting as well as having been involved with Salvage and General Average. We welcome Per to our team. Per will take on the role of V.P. Operations and Strategy. At the same time, Kieran Hopkins will take on the role of V.P. Operations for our Hamburg office. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad was engaged by underwriters to survey two vessels in the Singapore area following a collision. bMC’s C/E Heiko Förster was requested by insurance interests to survey and report on damages to components following a machinery breakdown on a Platform Supply Vessel. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand and Capt. Konstantin Boroffka remain engaged on project relating to a container vessel grounded in the Northern part of the Bay of Bengal. bMC’s C/E Heiko Förster was engaged by owners to survey planned modification works to a Ro-Ro Vessel in Bremerhaven, Germany and give professional advice. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand and Capt. Ajay Prasad attended a container vessel in the Northern part of Bay of Bengal that had suffered a fire and subsequently grounded. bMC were requested to attend by the P&I Underwriters of the vessel. Captain Dennis Brand is appointed as the Special Casualty Representative. bMC’s Captain Konstantin Boroffka is currently also attending in support. bMC Singapore were requested by vessel’s P&I Underwriter to give professional advice in respect of the damages caused following a collision between a tanker and a towed barge off Indonesia. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand was engaged by insurance interests to give professional advice and opinion in respect of a vessel wreck off the coast of Norway. bMC were requested by insurance brokers to survey and give opinion on the root cause in respect of a vessel generator breakdown in a Dutch Port. bMC is very pleased to announce that Capt. Lars Tesmar has joined the bMC Team based in Germany. We are all looking forward to working with Lars and we value the high level of marine experience that he brings. We are certain that Lars’ experience will be a great addition to our growing company and that it will serve to benefit our increasing client base. After a technical apprenticeship in 1994 and experience as an engineer on offshore dredgers and barges Lars went on to study Nautical Sciences at the University of Applied Sciences Oldenburg/ Ostfriesland/ Wilhelmshaven from 2004, finishing with a degree as Dipl.-Ing and the Certificate of Competency for Watch Officer. Lars started as his bridge career as watch officer on large Anchor Handling Tugs gaining his unlimited Master Mariner license and Dynamic Positioning Operator licence. Inspired through the work with FPSOs and Oil Rigs Lars completed a Diploma in Marine Surveying, specializing in Mobile Offshore and Drilling Units (MODUs) by correspondence course as at Lancaster University. This course was followed by a job as Staff Surveyor in 2011, specialized in Towing and Salvage, at a leading claims management organisation. Following this, Lars joined Svitzer Salvage in 2014 later becoming Ardent, where he carried out several Salvage Projects as Salvage Master. We welcome Lars to our team. bMC’s Heiko Förster was dispatched by P&I Insurance interests to attend Tug in the Hamburg area which has suffered an engine malfunction leading to a crew injury. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand was engaged by P&I Insurance Interests to conduct a survey relating to damage of lock gate walls allegedly caused by a vessel collision. bMC Hamburg office & Team enjoyed a well-attended “House Warming” party at our new office on the 26th April. Many thanks to those that made it along for the evening to help us celebrate! bMC’s Heiko Förster was engaged by P&I Insurance interests to attend an oil production facility in Northern Germany where product received ashore from a tanker was found to be incorrect. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand was engaged by Owners and their Legal representatives to provide further expert witness statement & advice in respect of an earlier case involving loading of project cargo in the Far East. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster was appointed by P&I interests to attend a wreck removal in Eastern Germany on the Baltic coast. The client required a route cause analysis and report in this case. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) and bMC’s Naval Architect Giacomo Pison were engaged by P&I insurance interests to attend a capsized vessel in Guayaquil, Ecuador. bMC have been requested by the underwriters to assess the situation and arrange removal of the vessel. In addition bMC have been requested to carry out root cause analysis. This will involve the skills and expertise of brand ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS to provide computer modelling of the incident. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed by insurance interests to make a technical analysis following a machinery breakdown on a vessel in the port of Bremen, Germany. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster was instructed by P&I Underwriters to carry out a survey of damage to a jetty, allegedly caused by a bulk carrier in Nordenham, Germany. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) spoke at an event of BDO – 10. Schifffahrtsforum – about “Economies of Scale vs. Salvage”. The event took place on 27.02.2018 in Hamburg. A previously reported wreck removal project of a grounded tug and barge off Zhuhai, China has been concluded to the satisfaction of the local authorities and the client. The wreck of the tug and barge was successfully removed in February. A previously reported wreck removal project of a sunken fishing vessel off Dalian, China has been concluded to the satisfaction of the local authorities and the client. The wreck of the vessel was recovered in February. bMC’s C/E Heiko Förster was appointed by insurance interests to attend a vessel following main engine damage. bMC is engaged to provide a survey report and route cause analysis. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) was appointed as P&I Club representative to attend a ferry following a grounding in the Azores. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad was appointed to act as SCR and attend a vessel following a grounding in Israel. bMC was engaged by P&I interests to attend the site of a bunker spill, during bunkering operations on the Kiel Canal. The Client looked to bMC to provide assistance and support with appointment of clean-up contractors as well as intervention with the local authorities and report covering the event. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) was appointed to advise P&I interests with respect to a possible wreck removal case off the coast of Uruguay. bMC’s Peter Wölk, CEO, spoke at an event of the Nautischer Verein zu Bremen about Casualty Management. The event took place on 09.01.2018 in Bremen. bMC proudly announce that YuLing Mok has joined the team as Consultant in Singapore. YuLing is a qualified Naval Architect and holds a Diploma in Marine & Offshore Technology from Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore and a degree in Naval Architecture with Offshore Engineering from Newcastle (UK). She has broad experience in 3D and 2D modelling of ships and casualties. Prior joining bMC YuLing has worked as a Naval Architect and Consultant with LOC and several Shipyards and Marine companies in Singapore. YuLing has experience in ship inspections and collision investigations and is well versed with HSE requirements onboard vessels. We welcome YuLing in our team. bMC are pleased to advise that owing to expansion we have moved to a larger office. However, no need to amend your address book as we have moved just across the hall to a far larger office. In doing so we have sufficient space for the Captain Klaus Förster Unabhängige Schiffahrtsexperten team to join us in the same space as well as PANDI SERVICES J. & K. Brons and the rest of the bMC team. We also have enough space for some further planned expansion of the bMC Group as well as a separate meeting room. We look forward to a small “housewarming” party in our new premises soon! bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) and C/E Heiko Förster were simultaneously engaged by insurance interests in relation to a general cargo vessel that suffered a flooded engine room of the coast of West Africa. Whilst Capt. Brand gave the client advice in respect of the urgent salvage efforts, C/E Förster was engaged to carry out a route cause analysis in Sierra Leone. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) was appointed as Consultant to support owners and P&I Underwriters with the wreck removal of a fishing vessel off Dalian in in China. bMC’s Yuling Mok has been appointed to carry out a collision investigation between two vessels off Singapore. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) was appointed as Consultant to support owners and P&I Underwriters with the casualty management of a capsized barge off the South Indian Coast. bMC’s C/E Heiko Förster was engaged by insurance interests to review a historical claim relating to Vessel’s machinery damage. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) was appointed by legal representatives to review and offer expert opinion in relation to a claim for repair costs on an off-shore installation. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) was appointed as Consultant to support owners and P&I Underwriters with the casualty management of a grounded barge off the East Malaysian coast. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) was appointed as consultant to assist P&I Underwriters with the wreck removal operation of a crew transfer vessel, which sank in the port of Pula, Croatia. bMC’s Oliver Fowke was instructed by Charterers to carry out a survey on board of a container vessel in the port of Hamburg, which lost containers during the sea passage. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster was instructed by P&I Underwriters to carry out a survey of the side shell damages of a vessel caused by a bunker barge. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) was appointed as Consultant to support owners and P&I Underwriters with the wreck removal of a grounded tug and barge off Zhuhai in China. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) has been appointed to carry out a contact investigation between a vessel and a pier off Indonesia. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster was instructed by Owners and Underwriters to carry out a fire safety assessment on board a cruise ship dry docked in Bremerhaven. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) has been appointed to carry out a collision investigation between a vessel and a pier off Singapore. bMC is proud to announce that Kieran Hopkins has joined the team, based in Hamburg on 1st November 2017. We look forward to working with Kieran and we value the shipping experience and knowledge he brings to our growing international team. As we continue on our exciting path of expansion in to new areas of the marine industry, we are confident that he will bring further value to our clients. Kieran completed a degree in Marine Technology and Maritime Law at the University of Plymouth, UK. Thereafter, he went on to work on the Technical Maintenance team for the British America's Cup Challenge in New Zealand 2002 – 2003. Following a number of years as a professional yachtsman, Kieran joined Samuel Stewart & Co as a Towage and Salvage Broker in 2007. He recently concluded a tenure of 10 years with The Stewart Group / RS Platou / Clarksons Platou Offshore, where he was involved with a significant number of towage and salvage projects, gaining significant experience of commercial and contractual aspects. We welcome Kieran to our team. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster was instructed by P&I Underwriters to carry out a damage survey and subsequent root cause analysis relating to a collision in a German port leading to the collapse of a shore crane. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed to carry out a commercial and technical review relating to a container vessel which grounded in German waters. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) has been appointed to carry out a collision investigation between two vessels off Singapore. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster was appointed by P&I Underwriters to undertake a damage survey of a vessel in the port of Bremen following an alleged collision in the Indian Ocean. bMC’s Oliver Fowke was instructed by owners to carry out a condition survey onboard a container vessel in a German port, following a cargo discharge incident. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) has been appointed as Consultant to support owners and P&I Underwriters with the handling of a casualty off Malaysia. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) was instructed by the German Coast Guard to attend, as their representative, a bulk carrier grounded on the German coast in the North Sea. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) was appointed by the German Coast Guard to give advice relating to a grounded bulk carrier on a German Waterway. “The last few days have been extremely busy, but I am very satisfied to have assisted with the safe and controlled re-floating of two vessels within 10 hours. The bMC team has once again shown, that we are ready to mobilise on short notice. We are proud to assist our clients whenever and wherever they need us”. The first stage of a previously reported wreck removal operation of a bulk carrier sunk in Greek waters which bMC has been managing on behalf of P&I underwriters was safely and successfully concluded in October. A previously reported wreck removal operation of a submerged General Cargo vessel in Chinese waters which bMC has been monitoring on behalf of P&I Underwriters, was safely and successfully concluded in October. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) and Naval Architect Adeline Goh have been instructed to carry out an investigation of a collision involving two vessels off Singapore. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed by P&I Underwriters with regard to an alleged wash damage suffered by a megayacht (Berne, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as an expert to advise Underwriters regarding a hull damage (Democratic Republic of the Congo). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been contracted as expert on behalf of Underwriters for the evaluation of jetty damages allegedly caused by a tanker during berthing (Brake, Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed as an expert on behalf of Charterer’s P&I to survey and investigate a collision damage to a ship's crane (Bremerhaven, Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) has been instructed to provide an expert opinion on a salvage operation (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed as an expert witness regarding a collision (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s Peter Wölk, CEO, spoke at an event of the Shipping Professional Network in Hamburg (SPNH) about Mergers & Acquisitions. The event took place on 19 September in Hamburg, Germany. bMC proudly announce that in addition to brand MARINE CONSULTANTS GmbH now also brand MARINE CONSULTANTS (SG) Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and brand MARINE CONSULTANTS (UK) Ltd. in London have been successfully approved by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance to the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Standards. The Quality Management System is applicable to Specialist Services to the Marine and Offshore Industries, Surveys, Salvage and Wreck Removals, Casualty Management, Expert Witness Services. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed by P&I Underwriters to carry out a root cause analysis in regard of a collision between two container ships as well as to quantify the sustained damages (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) has been contracted as expert on behalf of P&I Underwriters for the evaluation of jetty damages allegedly caused by a bulk carrier (Bremen, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as expert to carry out a survey of the aft stern tube seal of a bulk carrier inclusive a root cause analyses (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed by P&I Underwriters to carry out an investigation of alleged personal injuries to stevedores on board of a container ship (Bremerhaven, Germany). bMC’s Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed as expert to advise P&I Underwriters regarding a collision of a bulk carrier with a ferry boat (Berne, Germany). bMC joined the 35. Peter Gast Schiffahrtsregatta and sponsored this fantastic maritime event, which took place end of August. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) has been appointed to carry out a collision investigation and damage assessment (Singapore). bMC’s Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed by German Authorities as consultant during a salvage operation of a grounded freighter (Cuxhaven, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as expert to advise P&I Underwriters regarding a collision of a vessel with a shore crane (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as expert to advise H&M Underwriters regarding an engine damage of a megayacht. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as expert to advise P&I Underwriters regarding damages of a gantry crane caused by a vessel (Emden, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been contracted as expert on behalf of P&I Underwriters to carry out an investigation of a main engine breakdown (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been contracted as expert on behalf of P&I Underwriters for the evaluation of the damage a river cruise vessel sustained during a fire on board (Linz, Austria). bMC has taken over the leading German P&I correspondent PANDI SERVICES J. & K. Brons (PANDI). Thomas Kühl, the main shareholder behind PANDI SERVICES for many years, has transferred the business to brand MARINE CONSULTANTS GmbH (bMC) with effect as of 1st July 2017. The history of PANDI goes back to the year 1865 and already 1902 the company has been appointed to act as P&I Correspondent. The transition process is being led by bMC's CEO Capt. Peter Wölk. Peter Wölk has previously worked with PANDI for almost six years. bMC is glad to announce that the PANDI team will remain on board. Rolf-Jürgen Hermes who joined the company back in 1985 will continue as Managing Director. PANDI will continue as a separate and independent entity. But the cooperation with the bMC group of companies will offer PANDI direct access to wider technical and engineering expertise as well as to experts and surveyors which will increase our service capability. In addition, this acquisition increases the footprints of both companies. On the one hand bMC will have associated offices in Bremen, Wilhelmshaven and Rostock (beside the HQ in Hamburg). And on the other hand PANDI will be put on a global scale via the bMC companies in the UK and Singapore. bMC’s clients will directly benefit from this new set-up. bMC’s Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed by P&I Underwriters as consultant to investigate a collision (Rostock, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as expert to advise H&M Underwriters regarding an engine damage of a river cruise vessel (Tolkamer, The Netherlands). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as consultant to advise H&M Underwriters regarding stern tube repairs (Antwerp, Belgium). bMC’s Oliver Fowke has been appointed as consultant attending a capsized floating dock and a chemical tanker (Gdynia, Poland). bMC’s Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed as consultant for the investigation and handling of a cargo claim (France). bMC’s Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed as consultant to advise P&I Underwriters during a salvage operation (Burullus, Egypt). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as Court Surveyor (Hamburg, Germany). bMC has been appointed as consultant to advise Owners regarding a cargo claim (Valencia, Spain). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been contracted as Consultant to carry out an investigation of a main engine damage. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been contracted as Consultant to carry out an investigation of a propeller shaft damage. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been contracted as Consultant to advise on a damage to intermediate shaft bearing and possible damages to the vessel’s stern tube. bMC’s Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed as Consultant to advise on an a major cargo damage. bMC proudly announce that Giacomo Pison joined the team as Consultant in London. Giacomo has a background in naval architecture, ship construction, propulsion, stability and subdivision, ship behaviour at sea and shipboard electrical power systems. He studied in Italy and holds a Bachelor`s and a Master`s degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. We welcome Giacomo in our team. bMC proudly announce that Adeline Goh joined the team as Consultant in Singapore. Adeline is a qualified Naval architect and has studied in Singapore Ngee Ann Polytechnic. She holds a diploma in Marine & Offshore Technology and has broad experience in 3D and 2D modelling of ships and casualties. She has been involved in numerous salvage projects while with her former employer TITAN SALVAGE / Ardent Maritime . Adeline has experience in ship inspections and is well versed with HSE requirements onboard vessels. We welcome Adeline in our team. bMC proudly announce that Capt. Jonas Alphonso joined the team as Associate Consultant in Mumbai. Jonas is a Master Mariner with years of command experience on foreign going vessels. Thereafter he has worked with ship brokering and commercial operations gaining invaluable experience in dealing with Contracts and Charter parties. He has worked with surveying firms and has extensive experience with accident and incident investigations, condition surveys, cargo surveys, project cargo operations and damage assessment surveys. He has been involved with several salvage cases off the coast of India. We welcome Jonas in our team. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR) and Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) have been appointed as Consultants to assist Owners, H&M Underwriters and P&I Underwriters with the handling of a casualty (Singapore). bMC’s Capt Ajay Prasad (SCR) has been appointed as Consultant to support Owners, H&M Underwriters as well as P&I Underwriters with the handling of a grounded tug and barge combination (Maldives). bMC’s Capt Ajay Prasad (SCR) has been appointed as Salvage Master handling a casualty (Chennai, India). On 14 March 2017 brand MARINE CONSULTANTS (UK) Ltd. has been incorporated in London. On 30 March 2017 bMC celebrated the 3rd anniversary party with approximately 150 clients, friends and guests in their office premises Hamburg. bMC proudly announce that Brit Brand joined the team as Head of Finance based in Hamburg in February 2017. Brit has a broad experience in Finance and has been with Axel Springer SE (one of the largest publishing houses in Europe) for the last 15 years, her last role was Director of Sales Controlling. She holds a degree in Finance and currently takes learning courses to become a VBA programmer. We welcome Brit Brand in our team. bMC’s Oliver Fowke has been appointed as SCR attending a salvage operation of a general cargo vessel (Lesbos, Greece). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been contracted as salvage consultant attending a fire on board of a car carrier (Southampton, UK). bMC’s Dennis Brand (SCR) has been appointed as Expert Witness (London, UK). bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad (SCR) has been appointed as consultant supporting underwriters and owners with the handling of a cargo damage (Mumbai, India). bMC has been appointed as GA surveyors (Bremerhaven, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as Court Surveyor for an engine damage (Stade, Germany). We are proud to announce that Captain Ajay Prasad of bMC Singapore, has been appointed as a member of the Lloyd’s Panel of Special Casualty Representatives. Ajay joined bMC in June 2016 after a career at sea and ashore both in commercial shipping and salvage. Since starting up our Singapore Operation, Ajay has been instructed by various parties on no less than four salvage and wreck removal projects - most recently acting as a representative for underwriters on a fuel removal and subsequent ITT process for a wreck removal in China. This appointment strengthens our ability to respond rapidly on a global scale and is a testament to our experience and in-depth knowledge of the SCOPIC clause; since 2014 bMC has had an SCR appointed on ten SCOPIC cases and numerous other high profile casualties. bMC proudly announce that Peter Wölk joined the team as CEO based in Hamburg on 1st January 2017. As a member of the company’s management, he will shape strategic, operational and commercial business activities and initiatives for bMC around the world, as we successfully continue our exciting path of international expansion and growth. Peter Wölk is a fully qualified German lawyer and member of the Hamburg bar association but also an engineer for maritime transport, who studied Nautical Sciences. Peter Wölk has gained considerable industry insight throughout his career. First nautical experiences he collected on board of the "GORCH FOCK" of the German Navy, later also on commercial vessels. Prior joining bMC, he has been for nearly five years the Claims Director of Hanseatic Underwriters, a leading fixed premium P&I and FD&D provider. Prior to this he gained deep experience in maritime law as well as large casualty handling while first working as a maritime lawyer in a law office followed by more than six years working for a leading P&I correspondent. That followed he worked as Senior Operations Manager and Legal Consultant for a major international Flag State Administration. Apart from his office duties, Peter Wölk regularly acts as lecturer e.g. at the Bucerius Education GmbH and the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen. He also acts as an arbitrator at the German Maritime Arbitration Association (GMAA) and is a member of the German Association for International Maritime Law (DVIS) and the German Society of Travel Law (DGfR). Peter Wölk’s core competences include the combination of legal and nautical expert knowledge, large casualty handling, process and organisational development, risk assessment and analysis. We welcome Peter Wölk in our team. bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad has been appointed as consultant for the removal of two wrecks (India). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand has been appointed as SCR during the salvage operation of a bulk carrier (Cartagena, Colombia). bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad has been appointed as consultant for the removal of a wreck (China). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed for the investigation of a crane damage (Brake, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been publicly appointed and sworn by the Chamber of Commerce, Hamburg as expert for hull and machinery damages and ships valuations. bMC’s Oliver Fowke has been appointed as Owner’s Rep. in order to prepare the ocean-going towage of laden LPG tanker (Buenos Aires, Argentina). bMC’s has been appointed as consultants for a fuel removal operation off Yingkou (China). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand has been appointed as SCR during the salvage operation of laden LPG tanker (Buenos Aires, Argentina). bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad has been appointed as consultant for the removal of two wrecks (Taiwan). bMC’s Capt. Ajay Prasad has been appointed as consultant for the investigation of the root cause leading to the sinking of a barge and to attend the respective salvage operation (Singapore). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster has been appointed as Port Engineer on behalf of Owners to oversee the docking and repairs of a Ro/Ro ship (Dansk, Poland). bMC has been appointed by Time Charterers as casualty consultants during a cargo fire on board of a container ship (Hamburg, Germany). bMC has been appointed by H&M Underwriters as technical consultants during the tow of a disabled tankers (Mediterranean). bMC(Sg)’s Capt. Ajay Prasad is appointed as expert by underwriters to investigate the origin of the contamination of oil products at the discharge port of a tanker (Thailand). bMC has been appointed as technical consultants to investigate the main engine break down of a reefer ship (Turkey). bMC is delighted to announce that Capt. Olaf Linnemann has joined the team and will fill in the role as Senior Consultant Marine & Offshore. Thanks to his many years’ experience in the heavy lift industry and in the salvage industry, Capt. Linnemann brings a wealth of knowledge. He has successfully carried out high-profile heavy lifts and salvage operations as project manager as well as salvage master including the wreck removal of the SMART off South Africa. He holds degrees in mechanical engineering and nautical science. bMC has been appointed as experts to review and verify the cost of a salvage claim (Hamburg). bMC has been appointed as technical consultants to review and verify the cost of engine repairs of a container ship (Hamburg). bMC has been contracted to investigate the loss of an anchor (The Netherlands). bMC has been appointed as experts to investigate the cause of a main engine break down of a container ship (Turkey). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner, is mandated as Arbitrator in a Marine claims dispute (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s Oliver Fowke, Consultant, is appointed as Owner’s Representative during the salvage operation of a grounded bulker (Rio de la Plata, Argentina). bMC is delighted to announce it has founded its first overseas office in Singapore. Capt. Ajay Prasad has joined the team and will take over the management of the Singapore branch as Managing Director & Partner. Thanks to his many years’ experience in the Salvage industry, Capt. Prasad brings a wealth of knowledge and has successfully carried out high-profile operations as Salvage Master and Project Manager. He holds and MBA from INSEAD and his keen commercial expertise and understanding of the Far Eastern Shipping market is sure to strengthen the global bMC team. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner, is contracted as a consultant to carry out an investigation on a bulker (Berneo, Spain). bMC’s Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Director, is appointed as Expert Witness to carry out an expert evaluation of a Wreck Removal operation (Fortaleza, Brazil). bMC’S C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner, is contracted is contracted to investigate the collision of a vessel with a flood barrier (Greifswald, Germany). The bMC Team is contracted as Expert Witnesses for the investigation of an offshore claim on behalf of a vessel’s owners (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner, is contracted as consultant to carry out a damage survey and to advise on repair costs for an offshore vessel (Hamburg, Germany). The bMC Team is contracted as Consultants to investigate the lost tow and sinking of barges. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Director, is appointed as SCR during the salvage operation of a bulk carrier (Faux Cap, Madagascar). bMC’s Oliver Fowke, Consultant, is appointed as Owner’s Representative to advise during the salvage operation of a bulk carrier (Faux Cap, Madagascar). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner, is contracted as consultant to run a root cause analysis for a main engine damage of a general cargo ship (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner, is contracted as consultant to carry out a damage survey and to advice on repair costs for an offshore vessel (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Director, is appointed as Salvage Consultant during a salvage operation of a jack-up barge (Hvide Sande, Denmark). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner, is contracted as consultant to carry out a root cause analysis for a main engine damage of a bulk carrier (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Partner, is appointed as SCR during a salvage operation of a jack-up barge (Hvide Sande, Denmark). The bMC Team is contracted as Consultants to investigate the capsizing of a ferry. bMC signs an agreement to provide technical management services to a ship owner. bMC’s Dennis Brand, Managing Director, is contracted as consultant to negotiate an alleged cargo claim (Chittagong, Bangladesh). bMC’s Oliver Fowke, Consultant, is appointed to advise during an emergency response operation (offshore UK). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the investigation and handling of a damage of reefer ship in (Busan, Korea). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Partner is appointed as Senior Salvage Master during a salvage operation (Manzanillo, Mexico). bMC’s Oliver Fowke, Consultant is appointed as Assistant Salvage Master during a salvage operation (Manzanillo, Mexico). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the investigation and handling of a damage of container ship (Algeciras, Spain). bMC’s team is contracted as Expert Witnesses for the investigation of a cargo claim on behalf of vessel’s owners (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s team is contracted as Towage Consultants on behalf of H&M (London, UK). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner contracted as Engineer during sea trials of an LNG powered ship in the North Sea (Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Partner is appointed as SCR during a salvage operation (Kythira Island, Greece). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Partner is appointed as SCR during a salvage operation (Hodeida, Yemen). bMC’s team is contracted to develop a mooring/anchoring plan for an offshore project (Hamburg, Germany). bMC proudly announce that Chief Eng. Else de Jong has joined its team as Associate Member. Else de Jong is domiciled near Rotterdam, the Netherlands and will work via our Hamburg office. Else de Jong holds a Degree as MBA and a BSc in Naval Sciences and Marine Engineering. He gained considerable industry insight throughout his career. Most recently he was employed as Salvage Master, Commercial Manager and Project Manager for a leading salvage organization. He has broad knowledge and experience in salvage and wreck removal, surveying and repairs as well as project and commercial management. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Partner is appointed as SCR during a salvage operation off Mumbai, India. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as a consultant for the investigation of a main engine failure of a container vessel (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Partner is contracted as a salvage consultant responding to a casualty of a jack-up rig in an oil field on behalf of H&M Underwriters (Gulf of Mexico). bMC’s Capt. Claas-Heye Diekmann, Director Operations is contracted as consultant for an ISM gap analysis for a Mega Yacht (Mediterranean). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand (SCR), Managing Partner is contracted as a salvage consultant responding to a casualty of a MPP vessel on behalf of H&M Underwriters and the P&I Club (North Sea). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as a consultant for the investigation and handling of a collision damage (Hamburg, Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as a consultant for the investigation of heavy whether damages to a MPP Vessel (Mediterranean). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as a consultant for the condition survey and valuation of an offshore construction vessel (Barth, Germany). bMC proudly announce that Capt. Claas-Heye Diekmann will join its team as Director Operations based in Hamburg on 1st April. As a member of the company’s management, he will shape strategic, operational and commercial business activities and initiatives for bMC around the world. Further he is tasked with transforming bMC from being a start-up company to a sustainable growing enterprise as we continue our exciting path of international expansion and growth. Capt. Diekmann has gained considerable industry insight throughout his career. Prior joining bMC, he has been heading the Quality Assurance & HSSE department at E.R. Schiffahrt GmbH & Cie. KG, a leading bulk and container ship owner and manager. Capt. Diekmann also has extensive sailing experience, having worked for major ship owners and managers such as NSB, Hapag-Lloyd and Peter Döhle. After having completed his apprenticeship as ship mechanic, Capt. Diekmann studied Nautical Sciences at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen, leading to his qualification as an industrial engineer and master mariner. In addition, he completed a two year’s full study master program in business psychology. Capt. Diekmann’s core competences include process and organisational development, risk assessment and analysis, auditing and quality management. We welcome Claas-Heye Diekmann to our team. After a successful start in 2014 with 22 projects, bMC is proud to announce of having hit the 10 project mark within the first two months of 2015. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand, Partner is contracted as an Expert Witness dealing with an offshore claim, Edinburgh (Scotland). bMC supported its clients in successfully refloating a 100m barge fully laden with rocks off Doha (Qatar). The scope of work included investigation, contract negotiations, supervision during the project including liaising with the relevant authorities and dealing with the aftermaths. bMC has been contracted to carry out a feasibility study for an Offshore-Supply-Ship. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the investigation of an offshore construction claim. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as Expert for the purchase survey of an Offshore-Supply-Ship. bMC proudly announced today that Capt. Jean-Gabriel Tridon has joined its team as Associate Member. The mariner is domiciled near Sant-Nazaire (France) and will work via our Hamburg office. Capt. Tridon holds a degree in Nautical Science as well as a degree in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering. He has gained considerable industry insight throughout his career. He has worked as staff expert for a leading claims handling organization as well as construction manager and dock operation coordinator for a ship yard. Capt. Tridon has broad knowledge in ship construction, repair, claims investigation as well as in surveying. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the investigation and handling of a damage of an inland water tanker in Minden (Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR is appointed as consultant for the handling of a major marine casualty. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR is appointed as Consultant during a salvage operation in Doha (Qatar). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the investigation and handling of a damage of an inland water tanker in Hamburg (Germany). bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner was contracted as Engineer during sea trials of an offshore construction ship in the North Sea (Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR provided expert advice during a cargo recovery operation in the North Sea (The Netherlands). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR was appointed as SCR during a salvage operation in The Netherlands. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the investigation and handling of a damage of an offshore construction claim (Germany). We are proud to announce that approximately 70 guest have attend our housewarming party. It was great fun meeting so many good friends, clients and partners! bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the investigation and handling of a damage of an inland water tanker in Bremerhaven (Germany). bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR is contracted as Expert for the purchase survey of an Offshore-Supply-Ship. bMC proudly announced today that Capt. Konstantin Boroffka has joined its team as Associate Member. The veteran mariner is domiciled in Kiel (Germany) and will work in our Hamburg office. Capt. Boroffka has gained considerable industry insight throughout his career. He has worked as warranty surveyor for all type of ocean going transports and heavy lift operations (on- and offshore) as well as staff expert for a leading claims handling organization. Furthermore, he was the Marine Risk Control Manager Europe for a leading insurance company. Capt. Boroffka has broad knowledge in offshore operations, cargo surveying, claims investigation as well as in salvage operations. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the investigation and handling of a marine claim in Shidao (P.R. of China). The crew at brand MARINE CONSULTANTS is pleased to announce that bMC has been allowed to sponsor the Peter Gast Schiffahrtsregatta 2014. Please visit us at our bar during this exciting event! bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the investigation and handling of a marine claim in Chittagong (Bangladesh). bMC’s Capt. Cornelius Bockermann, Associate Member has been contracted to support its clients during a salvage operation in the Baltic Sea. bMC’s C/E Heiko Förster, Partner has been contracted to carry out an investigation of a casualty in the Baltic Sea. bMC’s C/E Heiko Foerster, Partner is contracted as consultant for the handling of an offshore claim in the North Sea. bMC’s Capt. Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR is contracted as Expert Witness during a court case in Germany. bMC has proudly announced today that C/E Heiko Förster has joined its team as partner. Heiko is a leading casualty expert. He holds a degree in marine engineering as well as in mechanical engineering. Furthermore, he is an unlimited Chief Engineer with ocean going experience and has spent the last 7 years as staff consultant with a global operating claims management organization where he was involved in hundreds of surveys, claims and casualties on a global basis. In addition, he has worked as Site Manager during new building projects in South Korea. Heiko is based in Hamburg (Germany) and will travel and work globally. bMC announced today that Capt. Cornelius Bockermann has joined its team as associate member, Australia and Asia. The veteran mariner, who started his career at sea over 30 years ago, is domiciled in Cairns Australia and will oversee the company’s business and operational activities in Australia and Southeast Asia. Capt. Bockermann has gained considerable industry insight throughout his career. He has worked over 20 years in West Africa running offshore, salvage and diving companies and was involved in dealings with serious maritime disasters and vessel casualties. In addition Capt. Bockermann brings wide knowledge and experience in heavy lift operations both on- and offshore. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR was recently interviewed by MunichRe’s magazine TOPICS/SCHADENSPIEGEL (issue 01/2014) about wreck removal operations. The magazine can be found online. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner has been appointed as Owner’s Representative in order to respond to a casualty in Angola. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner has been appointed as SCR in order to respond to a casualty in Angola. bMC was contracted as technical consultant on a wreck removal, in Germany. brand MARINE CONSULTANTS GmbH is now an Associate Member of the International Salvage Union. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR, is scheduled to speak on a panel about salvage operations at the Aon Risk Solutions’ in-house seminar. The event is scheduled for May 2014, in Hamburg. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR, is scheduled to speak on a panel about salvage operations at the Reederei Thomas Schulte in-house training. The event is scheduled for May 2014, in Hamburg. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner has been appointed as Owner’s Representative in order to respond to a casualty in Newfoundland, Canada. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner has been appointed as SCR in order to respond to a casualty in Newfoundland, Canada. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR, is scheduled to speak on a panel about barge operations at the GDV Loss Prevention Conference 2014. The event is scheduled for 01 till 04 June 2014, in Hamburg. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR, is scheduled to speak on a panel about wreck removal operations at the Lion’s Club monthly meeting. The event is scheduled for May 2014, in Uelzen. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR, spoke on a panel about mega carrier salvage at the NVzB (Nautical Association Bremen) monthly meeting. The event took place on 12 March, in Bremen. bMC was contracted as technical consultant on a marine collision case in March, in Germany. bMC supported its clients in handling of a marine claim in February, in Mozambique. bMC gave technical support and advice on an offshore project in February, in Germany. bMC gave technical support to its clients during an insurance project in January/February, in The Netherlands. bMC supported its clients in handling of an offshore claim in January, in the Netherlands. bMC’s Captain Dennis Brand, Managing Partner / SCR, spoke on a panel about salvage operations at the AGRO (Association of Reserve Officers) monthly meeting 2014. The event took place on 10 January, in Lueneburg. Specialist Services to the Marine and Offshore lndustries, Surveys, Salvage and Wreck Removals, Casualty Management, Expert Witness Services. The copyright for any material created by the author Capt. Dennis Brand is reserved. Any duplication or use of objects such as graphics or texts in other electronic or printed publications is not permitted without the author´s agreement. Our website and the information provided are carefully examined and regularly updated. The author reserves the right not to be responsible for completeness, correctness or topicality of the information. This includes especially direct or indirect links to other websites. The respective authors of linked sites are exclusively responsible for their contents. The author is not responsible for the contents or reliability of any linked websites. With the court decision of September 12, 1999 (312 0 85/98, "Liability for links"), the regional court of Hamburg took the decision that when providing a link, the provider is in part responsible for the contents of the given website. According to the regional court decision, this responsibility can be averted by an explicit dissociation from the website contents. Free Country Flags by Gang of the Coconuts is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

2019-04-25T10:44:01Z

https://www.brand-marine.com/

Venues & Suppliers - Eaton Drink Co. We are Canterbury based but can cater anywhere in New Zealand. Here’s a few of our favourite venues. For further information about us catering for you at your place, any of the listed, or somewhere else special please get in touch. Papa Hou (Treasure Box) is YMCA Christchurch’s new arts venue. With 5 main spaces available to hire, these flexible spaces are ideal for all kinds of events from 10 to 300 people. Get in touch with them or us directly to discuss your corporate event, product launch, conference, wedding or private event. We are a preferred supplier to the Tait Technology Centre, conveniently located 2km from Christchurch Airport, Tait Communications offers a purpose-built conference and event facility in an award-winning architectural setting. With flexible conference and meeting rooms flooded with natural light and featuring comprehensive audio-visual equipment, the numerous spaces are perfect for conferences, meetings, presentations, cocktail events and more. The spacious ground floor Atrium flows seamlessly through to beautifully landscaped outdoor courtyards while the meeting rooms feature stunning views, wrap-around balconies and discreet integrated technology. Whether a meeting for 12 or a cocktail function for 250, the Tait Technology Centre delivers style, comfort, and convenience for your next event. Contact us or visit their website for further information. Originally farmland, today Harpers Homestead sits amongst a tree-studded three-acre property designed by landscape architect Alan Izard. It showcases all the beauty the seasons have to offer with its blossoms in spring through to the fiery leaves of autumn. Harpers Homestead overlooks acres of pristine farmland located on the northern banks of the Waimakariri River, just 15 minutes north of Christchurch city. Owned by Andrew and Marina Arps the garden is bounded by the source of Silverstream. Whether you are hosting an intimate anniversary dinner, a conference meeting, or a wedding, Harpers Homestead offers various options, from a private dining table in the homestead, to a purpose-built reception barn offering a unique guest experience. With accomodation onsite for conferences, private guests or wedding parties all offering glorious views and privacy, you really must arrange a viewing with Marina. Three Boys Brewery is available to hire for your next event. We can arrange everything for you from the beer, to wine and arrival cocktails with canapés or a seated dinner. With the option of upstairs or down, there are plenty of options for your event. Contact us for further information. Level 1 Suites is located in the old Asian Supermarket, above Supreme Coffee at 10 Welles Street. By day this is a fantastic meeting spot for board meetings, seminars and workshops. At night by arrangement you can hire this space for your product launch, board dinner or incentive dinners. It can hold up to 50 guests, and is a great blank canvas to transform into something spectacular when required. For more information see www.level1.nz/ or of course you can just call us to discuss how this venue may work for your event. An iconic building located at the heart of the city, The Gym offers a stunning interior and high-tech lighting and sound. It is available for hire for performances, workshops and private functions. The space is ideal for a variety of events, from concerts, receptions, reunions, cocktail and dining functions to corporate board meetings, AGMs and staff training sessions. Millstream Garden is a four and a half acre garden located in Ohoka, North Canterbury. The garden is very formal, with the focus on themed “room” gardens, several water features and expansive lawns, hedging and ponds. The garden is considered idyllic and has become a favourite for garden tours, weddings and wedding photographs. Millstream Garden is available for private or corporate luncheons under the trees, intimate dinners in the courtyard or house, and for wedding ceremonies with cocktails and canapes, we can recommend venues for the wedding reception in close proximity. For further information please contact us at Eaton Drink Co. This central city pent house is exclusively available to host events through Eaton Drink Co. Whether you are looking for somewhere for a private dinner party, proposal, or cocktail event or maybe even a product launch, we recommend you view this space. Riverlands House Pent House is a 280sq meter apartment with city views to Hagley Park, a large semi-covered deck and even accomodation for two. Flaxton Manor is located just a couple of minutes south of Rangiora, it is a peaceful and relaxing venue with park-like surroundings. Owner, Gay Walker can not only offer accomodation for up to 7 guests, a bridal suite to get ready in on the day of your wedding, or spend your wedding night, but a wonderful lawn to host a wedding ceremony and reception too. Gay (+64 3) 313 9599. Situated beneath the Torlesse Range of the Southern Alps and on the banks of the mighty Waimakariri river, Riverside venue boasts the most stunning views in the Christchurch and Canterbury area. The area’s native bush has been meticulously restored to make Riverside a venue of outstanding natural beauty. Riverside can seat up to 140 people and caters for functions, corporate events and weddings the whole year round. There is also room to erect a marquee if required. Mt Vernon Lodge is tucked away in a peaceful, secluded location with stunning Akaroa harbour views. It is perfect for weddings, functions and corporate events for upto 130 guests. The lodge also offers conference facilities and onsite accommodation. More information can be obtained from Angela or David on (+64 3) 304 7180. The Isaac Theatre Royal has spaces available to hire which are perfect for pre or post show cocktail and canape service. It is also available to hire for functions such as corporate events, product launches & showcases, weddings, awards ceremonies & dinners, private functions and more. Located in central city Christchurch, the theatre features versatile new function spaces with premium decor and facilities, and a unique heritage experience. The Gloucester Room suitable for upto 120 guests seated, or 180 guests cocktail style. The Stage can seat up to 220 guests, or 380 cocktail style. Dress Circle can seat 70 guests, or 150 cocktail style. Grand Circle can seat 30 guests, or 70 cocktail style. Westhaven Gardens is a unique rural wedding venue located in West Melon. Booking here you will receive exclusive use of the award winning wedding venue allowing you and your loved ones to celebrate in complete privacy whilst enjoying the idyllic rural surroundings. There are various hire options accommodating for all numbers and budgets, from ceremony only using the onsite chapel which seats up to 100 guests, or the lawn for larger numbers, to a small wedding reception in the school room (onsite) for up to 40, or you can have a wedding package tailored to include a marquee on the lawn for larger numbers. For further information view their website, or call us and we can act as your wedding planner. Ohoka Hall is located 20 minutes from the city, and offers a multi- use space, from gala dinners, to product launches or weddings, it can accommodate it all. Being a hall means you can transform the space into almost anything you wish, it is the perfect blank canvas. To view floor plans and additional information see their website. Built in 1857, the wonderful Blythcliffe House is listed as an Historic Place with Heritage New Zealand, it sits graciously within the charming and historic French settlement of Akaroa on Banks Peninsula. It offers harbour views, and B&B accommodation, as well as a marquee lawn suitable for up to 160 guests. Located in the heart of Christchurch, Chambers offers a neat gallery space for our clients to hold events for up to 60 people seated, or 80 standing. This is the perfect venue for anything from a product launch to a corporate dinner, as there are two areas which can be opened up to form one large room, or closed down to create a more intimate atmosphere. If you are interested in this venue, let us know and we can arrange to show you our vision for the space. Jonathans‘ gallery is located in Sydenham, and houses up to 80 guests, if you require more space, then we can have a marquee put up out the front, adjoining to the gallery. The high ceilings and location of this gallery create a unique contemporary industrial feel. If you would like to view this gallery with us to hear our visions for the space, let us know. PG Gallery192 is housed in a converted villa on Bealey Avenue. The villa was significantly transformed post-quake and re-opened in March, 2015. PG Gallery192 is a dealer gallery representing leading contemporary New Zealand artists of diverse practice. They open their gallery to us to use as an event space for limited days each year. This venue is suitable for up to 50 guests. Please contact us directly for more information. Angela and Barry’s 5 star boutique accomodation venue in Cashmere is a great location to stay and get ready on the day of your wedding or host small intimate dinner parties in the conservatory. Dyers House boasts 3 luxurious bedrooms, conservatory suitable for small gatherings and a beautifully manicured cottage garden, for more information please get in touch with Angela directly. Located in the Ohinetahi Valley of Governors Bay, restored by Sir Miles Warren and gifted to New Zealand. This location is truely stunning! There is a large lawn suitable for erecting a marquee, a natural amphitheatre over looking the harbour, sculpture garden, pool house, art gallery and towers to explore, not to mention the extensive gardens paths and archways. If you are interested in hosting your wedding or corporate event here, please get in touch with us directly and we an assist you with your enquiry. Waipuna Estate is a secluded wedding and event venue with accomodation located in Tai Tapu, just 30min from the airport. Great to small intimate weddings and events for up to 70 guests, private dinners and meetings with a view. Naval Point’s Wardroom offers seating for upto 120pax, with a fully stocked bar onsite. All you need is a fe decorations and your set. Contact us to find out more, or the club manager directly. The Lookout Lodge, Wanaka, with its magnificent setting, manicured gardens and fantastic facilities, make an absolutely stunning venue for weddings in the Wanaka region. The grand dining room can seat 124 guests and there is accommodation for 18 guests on site. The Lookout Lodge has a stunning back drop for the wedding ceremony and a festive wedding marquee. The Lookout is just 10 minutes drive from Wanaka. Situated just 65km south of Christchurch International Airport, the Rakaia Gardens are set on the Canterbury Plains with a backdrop of the Southern Alps. This venue is perfect for your wedding ceremony, with many halls nearby for the reception. Contact Sue for further details. This private garden is located in Motukarara and is available for weddings and marquee events. Get in touch with Rachel at Ridge Road Gardens for more information. Ti Papa Woolshed is cradled in the rolling hlls of North Canterbury, this is an oasis of privacy surrounded by its own land and park like grounds. It is approx. 1 hours drive from Christchurch, and has plenty of accomodation options onsite and nearby. Suitable for us to 130 guests. With a large lawn for your ceremony and woolshed for reception, Ti Papa has everything you need. Get in touch with John for further information. Gaiety Hall on the main street of Akaroa can host up to 160 seated or 380 standing. Qb Studio is a network of boutique curated workspaces, this one is located in the CBD, within it are seven offices and a cafe. This space can be hired for photoshoots, product launches, private dinners, cocktail events and more. Suitable for up to 40 pax standing in the central atrium. Kaituna Valley Homestead offers a beautiful dining room for events of up to 50 guests. Accomodation in The Apartment is also available, with private dining options are also on offer when staying with them. The Lincoln Event Centre can accomodate every event, from boardroom meetings, rooms for 20-50, 100-225 and a hall suitable for banquets for 500 or cocktail events for 685. The Woolshed is the social heart of Criffel Station , a 2000 hectare commercial breeding and finishing farm of predominately red deer. Located close to Lake Wanaka’s town centre, the Woolshed provides expansive views of the surrounding Criffel range creating a stunning backdrop for a memorable Central Otago experience. This stunning venue is a relatively “blank canvas”, is incredibly versatile and suitable for everything from corporate events to memorable high country Wanaka weddings. Criffel is suitable for 50 -160 guests and offers onsite accomodation too. The Elmwood Club based at the Elmwood Bowling Club, has a number of spaces for hire. Whether it be a large corporate event or community group meeting they have many options available. Their various spaces to hold up to 40, 50, 100 and 120pax, and upto 300pax on the sand for social activities. Get in touch with us or Erin directly for further information. An exciting new North Canterbury wedding and functions venue located on the edge of Cust Village. A 30minute drive from Christchurch Central City, Woodfields Paradise has vast garden areas to host weddings, special birthday milestones, high tea parties, conferences or your next corporate function. Whether you have 20 guests or 120+, this brand new venue is a great choice for your event. Located right on the beach in Sumner, the Surf Club is a fantastic venue for upto 140 guests standing or 80 seated. Boasting a large outdoor area and onsite tables and chairs, you can’t go wrong. Contact us or Murray himself to find out more. Alternately, you can give us your venue requirements and we can source something truely unique for your event. Get in touch, we can help you source a space to have a marquee or Tipi erected, or even an empty warehouse to transform into something spectacular. Simply let us know your requirements and we will do the searching for you. We can assist you with more than just catering your food and beverages, we can also recommend or source suppliers on your behalf, taking all the stress and worry away from your event. We can source anything from invitations, theming, equipment hireage, to entertainment, styling, photographers, and accomodation. Alannah is a talented florist with over 10 year experience, she will work with you to create something truely unique. Whether you need glassware for your party or a marquee for a wedding or corporate event, Party Warehouse have it all. Marquee hire is a great way to turn the grounds of a special venue or even your back garden into the perfect setting for a party, wedding or corporate event. Our team have extensive experience of setting up marquees across Canterbury, each marquee hire can be customised to complement the style of event. They are a one stop shop, with an extensive list of equipment, and even helium balloons and party supplies available in their Blenheim Road store. For more information check out their website, or contact us. Susannah has been photographing weddings full-time for over 5 years, she admits she is super awkward in front of the camera but a little bit badass behind it. So if you are a little bit apprehensive, she feels your pain – you have to feel comfortable to act natural and she will do just that. Susie shoots moments and stories in a fusion of photojournalism and creative captures, great for those who like a bit of direction as well as letting things unfold naturally. Olympia, the woman behind Mya Makeup is an award winning hair and make-up artist based in Canterbury. She specialises in wedding make-ups, but also lends her talents to photoshoots, editorials and any other special event that you want to look your best at. Create an atmosphere that is unique, inspiring and different for your next event. Nordic tipis are visually stunning and create a warm atmosphere and a place to party long after the sun goes down. Tipis can be set up on any patch of grass with enough space – a farm, park or even your back yard, you name it, Kiwi Tipi will do it. For more information visit their website, or give us a call, we are happy to help you find the perfect lawn to erect a Tipi. From cakes over flowing with deliciousness to beautifully made individual desserts. They make everything on site from scratch with love and the best ingredients they can lay their hands on. Their food is influenced by global pastry trends meeting with their love for quirky flavours! When you need to impress and you want impact, Kim can create it. Make your event a celebration to remember. Whether a corporate event or an intimate wedding, Kim can assist with theming and planning, or manage the entire event. Kim can work independently or as part of your team to create a memorable occasion. For more information contact us, or visit her website. Rebecca creates cakes and desserts in Christchurch, New Zealand with modern, artistic designs. From colourful party cakes to elegant tall wedding cakes or delicious dessert tables, she can custom design to suit you and your event. She also sells a range of cake toppers and accessories so you can top off your cake in style! Graceful Hair Art specialises in weddings, and can work around the timing and location you have chosen to make your day as stress free as possible for you and your family. They will organise a trial, so that on your special day you feel at ease with the knowledge that the style you have chosen is right for you. Contact Monique via her website. Marquee Events have marquees available for all occasions, from a small family gathering to the most stunning of weddings. Our favourite is their clear marquee – it’s truely stunning. Kaysee and the team can also provide a large range of tables, chairs, accessories and more. Happy Hire are has three locations- Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin. They have marquee and party equipment available to hire where ever your event is. From marquees, tables, chairs, lighting & portable bars, to bouncy castles – they have everything covered.

2019-04-26T00:26:33Z

http://www.eatondrink.co/christchurch-event-venues-suppliers/

Sven-Ivan Mella, who grows shiitake mushrooms in a disused office in an iron ore mine in Kiruna, Sweden, harvests fresh fungi off a log of alder wood. I visited the mine in May 2007. © 2016 text and photos, except where noted. All rights reserved. Reading “Deep Down Dark,” about the rescue of the 33 miners in the Chilean desert in 2010 (see August 29 post), got me thinking about the mines that I’ve visited on my travels, one in particular. In May 2007, I flew from Stockholm to Kiruna, Sweden, to visit the LKAB mine, the largest underground iron ore mine in the world. It’s owned by the Swedish government. Much of the Kiruna mine’s high-grade processed iron ore is used in steelmaking, and is exported to markets in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In reality, the Swedish and Chilean mines don’t have much in common other than the obvious: They both are sources of a metal. In the San José Mine in the Atacama desert, copper and some gold were extracted. The San José Mine has been closed since the 33 miners were rescued and it is unlikely to ever open again. The LKAB mine in far north Sweden has a good safety record and it’s expected to continue producing for several more decades. My trip to Sweden started with several days spent visiting friends who live in a Stockholm suburb. But when I planned my itinerary, I knew I also wanted to go north, about 90 miles above the Arctic Circle, to see the area that is part of the traditional homeland of the indigenous Sami people, to check out the mine and learn more about why the central section of Kiruna was being relocated. This two-week trip also included several days on the gorgeous island of Gotland, to walk along the medieval walls that encompass Visby, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and undertake a lengthy self-guided ramble. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where I worked at the time, ran my extensive stories and photos in the June 17, 2007, Travel section. When I arrived, spring hadn’t, as the temperature was hovering in the 30s during the day and snow was scattered on the ground in many places. The sun did eventually come out, but not for long, and I remember more overcast sky and cold than anything approaching a change of season. There is an official LKAB mine tour, which can be booked through Kiruna’s tourism office. But I sought out a more informal, three-hour one, led by a retired electrician and software writer, Sven-Ivan Mella, who had worked at the mine for decades. I’d come across his name in several guidebooks, noting that his current specialty was growing shiitake mushrooms in a disused office in the mine. He picked me up at my hotel in a minivan and provided a lot of background information about Kiruna, the Sami, and the mine’s founding before we actually drove in. At the time of my visit, the mine had 248 miles of paved road. That number has likely increased as the downward digging into the magnetite ore has continued. The company’s website says the Kiruna “ore body” is about 2.5 miles long and about 1.25 miles deep. More than 1 billion tons have been mined since the late 19th century. Twenty-first century drilling has reached a level of about 4,478 feet, and LKAB officials expect the ore body to hold out for another 20 to 30 years of excavation. Not surprisingly, the roads in the mine were pitch black. The only illumination was the reflectors on the walls, and vehicle headlights. Fresh water is brought in via pipes, air is circulated by fans, and cables run for miles allowing all interior functions to be executed from banks of computers in state-of-the-art control rooms. Mella drove me to what looked like a workshop, where an enormous three-hole borer took up a great deal of space — and dwarfed everything around it. I even had a chance to climb into the cab and have Mella snap a photo of me in a white hard hat, with my hands on the controls. He said that this machine, too, was run by remote control, though a driver positioned it before someone pushing buttons from a distance took over. So how did the idea of growing shiitake mushrooms in the mine blossom? In 1988, Mella was part of a group at a symposium in Takikawa, Japan, on the island of Hokkaido. The topic of discussion was how LKAB and Kiruna’s workers had dealt with a round of wide-ranging job loss. His hosts showed Mella their shiitake mushroom farm, and a scheme was born. Back in Kiruna, it didn’t take much to persuade mine officials that a shiitake farm could be a success. Darkness: check. Water source: check. Surplus manpower: check. Secure the necessary start-up components: check. Using alder wood from a Finnish source, spawn and technical advice, Mella was on his way. In about six months he had his first crop, and at one point was harvesting more than 220 pounds of mushrooms a week. He said one of his proudest moments was having his shiitakes served as part of the 1992 Nobel Prize banquet in Stockholm. Since my visit, Kiruna’s railway has been rerouted and a new main sewer line is now operating. New apartment construction is under way, with some families already in residence. In 2001, Kiruna’s church was voted as Sweden’s most beautiful building. The red wooden exterior is in stark contrast to the overcast sky in May 2007 . The architect was Gustav Wickman. Completed in 1912, it was donated to the people of Kiruna by LKAB Mining. Over the next 20 years, about 6,000 people in Kiruna (current population is about 23,000) will relocate as a total of 3,000 new housing units are constructed, in addition to a commercial center and new public buildings. Historic buildings, such as the church that resembles a Sami hut and which dates to 1912, will be disassembled and reconstructed. The target date for completion is 2035. Souvenir iron ore pellets from the mine in Kiruna are smaller than the average marble. I came away from Kiruna with three unusual souvenirs: 3.5 ounces of fresh shiitake mushrooms, a recipe for cream of shiitake mushroom soup and seven gray-blue pellets of iron ore. My friends and I enjoyed the soup on my last night with them in Stockholm. The pellets sit in a small porcelain dish I bought at a market in Tokyo, on the same sideboard as my amezaiku bunny (see August 22 post). If you’re going all the way to Kiruna, check out the many seasonal outdoor activities available listed on the tourism website: http://www.kirunalapland.se. I wasn’t able to find any current contact information on Mella’s mushrooms, but check with tourism officials to see if he’s still growing them and if his tour is available. The tourism site also has links to dozens of beautiful photographs. Click on “press” at the bottom of the page. I make Holiday Apple Cake in the early fall, but it’s delicious any time of year. Every year at about this time, I make a gorgeous apple cake. The apple harvest, usually beginning in September, helps to signal that the hot and humid days of summer are nearly over, and that the beautiful colors of fall are on the way. The recipe itself isn’t difficult, but there are several steps and the prep is lengthy. Read through the recipe twice to make sure you understand the assembly. Unfortunately, I don’t recall the original source of the recipe, except that I photocopied it out of a book. I always use Granny Smith apples because their tartness offsets the sweet batter, and their firm flesh doesn’t turn to mush during baking. Making the cake a day or two in advance allows time for the flavors to mingle, while the crumb stays moist. You’ll also need the advance time to let the cake cool completely. If you get impatient and accelerate this step, the glaze won’t cascade down the sides properly. For presentation, choose a wide plate, platter or platform that will support the weight of this dense cake. Use both hands to carry the plate when bringing it to the table to serve. It is also important to have a well-constructed bundt pan. This is one of those instances where spending the money for the best equipment pays off. My sister bought me a fluted bundt pan more than 25 years ago. It’s the one I still use. It’s also splendid for pound cakes. Below is the Nordic Ware link to the cast-aluminum pan that is closest to the pan that I have. This cake makes a lot of batter, so make sure the pan accommodates 10 to 15 cups. It’s sometimes referred to as a 10-inch pan. You may be able to find it cheaper on another site, but make sure what you purchase is a heavy-duty pan, not a lightweight one. The heavier weight helps the cake to bake uniformly. The Nordic Ware site also shows other bundt-pan shapes and includes recipes. This cake is guaranteed to bring compliments, and likely a request for the recipe. An assembly line is an efficient way to construct the layers. The first layer of batter and the first layer of apples are in the fluted bundt pan. Wrapped tightly, the cake will keep for four to five days. Leftovers can also be frozen. Wrap individual pieces in plastic wrap, then encase in aluminum foil. That said, the cake is best when fresh. To prep the apples: Peel and core apples. Cut apples into quarters and then slice apples into pieces about 1/2-inch thick. In a large mixing bowl, combine apple slices, cinnamon and 5 tablespoons granulated sugar. Mix well; set aside. The apples will give up some of their juice while resting. To make the batter: In a very large mixing bowl (or the large bowl of a stand mixer), combine margarine or butter and 2 cups granulated sugar. Cream at medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to batter about 1 cup at a time and mix until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add orange juice and vanilla and almond extracts. Continue mixing until batter is smooth (it will be thick). This is the third and last layer of apples. Grease and flour a 10- to 15-cup bundt or tube pan. Shake out extra flour. Place a small amount of batter in the prepared pan. Arrange a layer of apple slices in a circle on top of the batter. Repeat layers until you have 7 total (batter, apples, batter, apples, batter, apples, batter). The bundt pan will be about three-fourths full. When it bakes, cake will rise almost to the top. If you’re worried about it overflowing, place bundt pan on a rimmed baking sheet before putting it in the oven. This is the fourth and last layer of batter, and the cake is ready for the oven. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Bake 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack 15-30 minutes, then carefully invert on a large plate or serving dish. Cool completely before drizzling with White Glaze. Notes: You will have leftover apples. After making this cake for many years, I’ve cut back to 4 the number that I prep, and I still have leftovers. So enjoy eating them later. It will take some practice to get the ratio correct when layering the batter over the apples. Cover the apples completely on each batter layer, but not overly thick or you’ll run out of batter for the last layer. If this happens, don’t panic or give up. Remember that you’ll be inverting the cake and may be able to disguise the shortcoming. The most important step: Grease and flour the pan well. If not, it won’t come out in one beautiful piece. The glaze isn’t thick enough to disguise where you’ve tried to put it back together. That said, I’ve never had that happen. I repeat: Grease and flour the pan well. The fully cooled cake is ready for glazing. In a medium mixing bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar and dash of salt. Add enough liquid to form an icing of spreading consistency. Liquid choices can include water, milk, nondairy creamer, orange juice, lemon juice, brandy or liqueur. Add vanilla extract. If icing is too thin or runny, add more sugar and mix again. If icing is too thick, add liquid a little bit at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Using a spoon, drizzle a small amount at a time over cake, beginning at the crown. Icing will roll down sides and puddle on serving dish. If you’d rather not have a puddle, place wax paper pieces around the bottom of the cake stand or plate before putting the cake on it. Glaze the cake. When glaze is set, carefully remove the pieces of wax paper. An overhead view of the glazed cake. For this version, I mixed orange juice with confectioners’ sugar for a slightly off-white glaze. © 2016 text and letter. All rights reserved. It is September 2, 1945. At four minutes past 9 a.m., aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan’s Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, pen in hand, is leaning over a green cloth-covered crew mess table. On deck, surrounded by other Japanese representatives, military men, the Missouri’s crew and a bank of photographers and reporters, he formally signs the eight-paragraph Instrument of Surrender, marking the official end of World War II. His signature is followed by that of General Yoshijiro Umezu, who had wanted Japan to fight on even after the two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki the previous month. Umezu is at the ceremony under direct orders from Japanese Emperor Hirohito. The third and fourth paragraphs of the document, prepared by the U.S. War Department and approved by President Harry S. Truman, read: “We hereby command all Japanese forces wherever situated and the Japanese people to cease hostilities forthwith, to preserve and save from damage all ships, aircraft, and military and civil property and to comply with all requirements which may be imposed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by agencies of the Japanese Government at his direction. Also signing for the United States is Admiral Chester Nimitz, and eight Allied representatives. The ceremony takes about 30 minutes. President Truman (right) displays the Instrument of Surrender on September 7, 1945. From left: Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, Secretary of War Henry Stimson and General George C. Marshall. Photo courtesy of the United States Navy and the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. The crew and others on board this day also receive a souvenir, a small card with a red Japanese rising sun background, “certifying the presence of (NAME typed in) at the formal surrender of the Japanese Forces to the Allied Powers” aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945. USS Missouri Captain Stuart S. Murray, later an admiral, has the cards printed aboard ship. The cards also feature the signatures of MacArthur, Nimitz and Admiral William Halsey, commander of the Third Fleet. Another historical item of note is also present: The American flag that flew atop Commodore Matthew Perry’s ship when he sailed into Edo Bay (as it was then called) in 1853, marking the beginning of Japan’s opening to the West. That flag contained 31 stars and was flown out specially in its glass case from the Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. This is the last letter Lois Simon receives as a single woman from her Army Air Corps sweetheart, Elliot Gordon. The next one is addressed to Mrs. E. Gordon. With the war over, Elliot and Lois married on September 12, 1945. Thousands of miles away, at Aloe Army Air Field in Victoria, Texas, Corporal Elliot Gordon is writing to Lois Simon, his teenage sweetheart. They have been corresponding for about 18 months at this point, as I’ve detailed in my unpublished manuscript, “Fondly with All My Affection: A World War II Love Story,” based in part on my parents’ letters. After meeting at a party in late 1943 — before Elliot is inducted into the service and Lois is still in high school — the pair exchanges more than 1,200 letters, cards and notes during the war. And dozens of photographs, too. With the war over, he has many decisions to make, among them, whether to remain in the military. And in the back of his mind, he seems to be trying to resolve Lois’s role in his life going forward. “Good morning darling,” 20-year-old Elliot writes to 17-year-old Lois, at home in Passaic, New Jersey, on Sunday morning, September 2, 1945. “Received your very blue letter darling; that coupled with a very grave and important decision still pending has caused untold confusion in my mind. There are few things I really want darling, few objectives I hold in life and now I’m on the threshold of a rather grave decision, a choice of either of two paths that threatens permanently or temporarily the few objectives I have. One of my aims darling is to be with you as soon as possible and for the longest period of time; primary as this wish may be, we both realize that it must be relegated to a secondary position when I consider my choice of courses. How I wish I never had to choose. Just days after writing this letter, Elliot is unexpectedly in New Jersey on furlough. While there, he does settle one matter: In a judge’s chambers in New York City, Elliot and Lois marry on September 12.

2019-04-20T02:11:10Z

https://thejourneytaken.wordpress.com/2016/09/

This past weekend, we took a trip with D's parents to a distillery. In fact, it is the only whiskey distillery in the state! Sons of Liberty opened in 2011, and originally released a whiskey and they called it Uprising. D's dad had picked some up last summer for D's bachelor party, and it was such a smooth whiskey, and they really enjoyed it. So, when we first got to the distillery, we were greeted by Danny, who is the sales manager, but also does tours when he's not on the road. He showed us through the distillery, which actually isn't that big, but the key thing to it is that it is efficient. Danny explained that they make their whiskey from beer. He showed us the four types of hops that they use to brew the beer, and explained that the only difference between the four types is how long they are roasted, similar to coffee beans. Next, he had us open up the lids to the holding containers, where the beer was fermenting. The first container had such a strong smell, almost like tequila, but that's because it hadn't been distilled a second time yet. The second container was really cool, because it smelled like beer, and you could actually see the active yeast on the top fermenting the beer. Next on the tour was the roasting pot, where they roast the hops to get the flavors that they want, and then add in the water to start the distilling process. Next, we were shown the actual still where the whiskey is made. The thing is huge, and was custom designed by the owner of Sons of Liberty, Michael, and the company that he designed the still with is now selling them on the floor. As you can tell from the picture below, the still is large enough to actually get into, which they do every so often for cleaning. The four windows that you see on the pipe allow you to see the level of which the liquid is at, and there are gauges all over the different pipes so that they can read the levels of alcohol. Danny also talked with us about how they make their vodka, which is done using the same machines that they use to make the whiskey. For their flavored vodkas, they use all natural ingredients and actually do all of the work themselves. One of their flavored vodkas is Mint Cucumber, and they sat around together and zested over 500 cucumbers by hand and de-stemmed mint leaves just to create the flavor. They were actually asking if we knew of any different cucumber recipes that they could use because after their zesting parties, they have all these unused cucumber cores and don't know what to do with them! After our tour was over, we went up to the bar to do the tasting. You may know that I'm not really a drinker, so I was unsure of how much I would enjoy the process. But, I really enjoyed it. The bartender, Brian, was great, and was so helpful in giving us information about the different spirits. We tried the Uprising Whiskey, which we had all already had before, and while it was too strong for my liking, since I don't really do hard alcohols, especially whiskey, it was smoother than others I have had before. We were also told about the different seasonal spirits that they make. Last year, they made a Single Malt Whiskey, and sold all 900 bottles that they made. Another seasonal flavor that they created was the Pumpkin Spice Whiskey which was apparently also a really big hit. Danny, the salesman, told us that as of three weeks ago, there were only 4 bottles left in the state! I was really looking forward to trying that one, since I love pumpkin, but they didn't even have a bottle for themselves! After the whiskies, we moved onto the vodkas. I'm not a huge fan of vodka, but I must say that I did really enjoy these. The regular vodka was strong, but still was good. The seasonal vodkas, however, were my favorite. The first one was the Mint Cucumber Vodka, which I mentioned previously. You really get a strong cucumber flavor at the first taste, but the after taste is where the mint comes in. It's such a fresh taste, especially for me not liking cucumber! Brian told us that making a mojito with this vodka would be perfect because of the mint, but would also add a little surprise in there with the cucumber flavoring. The second vodka was my absolute favorite! It's Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Vodka. The smell of it is just so chocolatey, but the after taste is where you really get the vanilla flavor. Danny wanted us to taste it in a mixed drink, so he ended up taking some and mixing it up with Rum Chata, which is a Caribbean Rum with real Dairy Cream. When you originally smell it, it smells like carrot cake, which I just happen to love. The Rum Chata really brought out the vanilla flavor, and it was absolutely delicious! I loved it, and ended up taking D's too, since he's not a fan of carrot cake, and didn't really enjoy the combination. That was the last drink that we sampled, and our experience at Sons of Liberty was awesome. We will definitely be going back, because the staff and experience were awesome! Part of the tasting was the Sons of Liberty glass, which has already gotten great use, because I went to the liquor store the next day and stocked up. I got a bottle of the Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Vodka, and a small bottle of the Rum Chata, so I could make my own drinks. While I was at the liquor store, I also walked over to the whiskey section and as I was browsing, I found the Pumpkin Spice whiskey sitting on the top shelf! We were told that this liquor store was one of the ones that still had it, but given that those numbers were accurate three weeks ago, I was skeptical that it would still be on the shelf. We really lucked out though! We ended up trying that one out too, and it was really good! I'm looking forward to Fall so I can enjoy some seasonal drinks with it. So that was our trip to the distillery. If any of you are local or will be traveling through the area, I highly recommend that you check this place out. I doubt that you will be disappointed. I have been excited to paint rooms since before the day we started looking at houses. Painting your house just helps so much to make it more personal and feel homey. I tend to do all of my house planning on my computer or iPad, but with paint colors, you really should do that with paint chips, as monitor lighting can change the look of a color drastically. But, since I'm so technology obsessed, I did a little of both. Knowing what colors I wanted to use, I checked out the Sherwin-Williams website and started picking out colors that I knew I wanted to use. You have already seen the Family Room design plan, so you know that I picked those colors out a while back. Already having this room set, I knew that choosing the other colors for the first floor had to be done carefully, since the purple and the yellow are so bold. To make the color choices really easy to see, I decided to insert them onto the floor plan of the house. This is really helpful when choosing paint colors for your house, because you don't want all of the colors that you choose to end up clashing or looking terrible. There were some things that I already knew what color I wanted, so those were easy. I new that I wanted gray and orange in my craft room, which will be in the smaller bedroom. That was an easy choice. Next was the front door, and after seeing the picture below, I knew I had to have a deep purple door. And the plus side of having a purple door is that it will match with the new paint on the exterior of the house, the new roof, and the stone work that is currently on the outside of the house. A common color that will be used throughout the house, in both furniture and paint, is white. Unfortunately, that doesn't help narrow down many color choices for us, so I thought about things that inspired me. I found a navy blue duvet cover at Target while I was picking up the side table for the Family Room, and since it was on clearance, I bought it. This ended up becoming the inspiration piece for the navy blue, green, and white color palette in the bigger bedroom in the corner, which will end up being a guest bedroom. To match with the front door, I wanted a lighter contrasting color, so I decided to go with two different shades of green, and I have plans to do vertical stripes along both hallways above the chair molding and paneling. The full bathroom on this floor is almost entirely brown, which I think needs to change. So I chose a beautiful shade of teal that I think will complement the space and design perfectly. The last room on this floor was the Living Room. Since this space is so huge, we plan to use it as both a living area and a more formal dining area. I had originally picked out a light blue and a dark coral for this room, but after lining everything up on the floor plan, I realized that the coral color really clashed with the orange. So, after pulling some colors that I have already used in other rooms, I finally found the color palette for the entire first floor. I know there are a lot of colors there, but I'm not afraid of it being too much. I'm just so excited to start painting and decorating. I can't wait to actually be proud to show off our home! A few months back, I got a call at work from my mom, who was at home, and she said that the fire alarms had gone off three times so far that morning. Apparently when they decide to go off, they not only make that annoying and loud beeping noise, but there's also a woman's voice that starts saying "fire" over and over again. Except she doesn't say it like you and I would normally. She really emphasizes the second syllable, so it's more like "fi-YER." Kind of funny, actually. But anyways, the fire department came and checked everything out, and cleared the house, saying that there were no fire or carbon monoxide issues. The fire alarms didn't go off again... until my dad got home from work a few hours later. My dad did some investigating, and found that one of the smoke/carbon detectors seemed to be the one triggering the others, so he took it down, and that seemed to have stopped the problems. I called our electrician and he came over and took a look at the system and realized that not all of the detectors were linked into the same electrical system, which is apparently required for insurance purposes. Also, there were no detectors in any of the bedrooms, and some of them were battery operated. We ended up scheduling a time for him to rewire the fire alarms, and add in new ones where they were needed, and we hadn't had any issues since then. I was at work once again, so my mom and my sister did some investigating, and there was one that was triggering the others again. They disconnected it from the ceiling and the others haven't triggered on again, so it looks like we have another culprit. I'm going to have to buy a replacement at the hardware store this weekend to see if that solves some problems. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Are we doing the right thing by unplugging the culprit? It just makes me nervous because it doesn't seem like those things should just go off without there being an issue, you know? Help! You've heard me mention a few times before that we have a great desire to renovate our kitchen. But, that's at least two years down the line, as there are other things that we would like to get done first. In the meantime, however, we want to do something that makes it look a little better and to personalize it a bit. The thing that I hate the most about our kitchen is the backsplash. It's this really ugly peach colored ceramic tile that has a few printed tiles laid into the design. Some of them have wine bottles and grapes on them, and that is definitely not our style. I started researching cheap and easy alternatives to change this out, as we don't want something that will be too involved or expensive, as it will likely be changed again in a few years when we completely renovate the kitchen. I looked at a few different materials. The first one that I found was AirStone. AirStone is a product that is made from recycled materials, and is meant to look like actual stones. They come in a variety of sizes, and adhere to the surface that you want to place them on via an adhesive mortar. These look awesome, but for the amount that we would need, it would be just over $100, and while that is still really inexpensive, it was more than we wanted to spend. The second material that I looked at was Tin Ceiling Tiles, which are also adhesive. These come in great textures, colors, and patterns, but the price for a single tile was way more expensive than we wanted. Plus, I wasn't so sure about how good a shiny metal backsplash would look against a matte finish Corian countertop. The last material I found was vinyl floor tile. With the vinyl floor tile, you have the option of going with a solid color, or choosing one with dimension and different textures. Another benefit of the vinyl was that it was cheap, it was adhesive, like the other materials, and it didn't require additional caulking. With this in mind, we went over to Lowes this weekend and picked out a few different colors and patterns and bought sample tiles to bring home and test against the cabinets and countertops. The samples are actually real tiles, which you can purchase from as little as $.88 or as much as $2.25. We ended up coming home with 7 different tiles, and chose which one we were going to go with less than two minutes after leaning them up over the existing backsplash. The one that we ended up choosing was the most expensive one, of course. Everything that I like always ends up costing a million dollars, but in this case, we're still going to end up right where we wanted to be budget wise. Even though these tiles are $2.25 each, they are 18"x18", instead of 12"x12", Which means that we won't need to buy as many cases and there will be much less cutting involved since the height of our backsplash is 18". So, you can see that the tile has a lot of gray, so it will go with the white cabinets and the stainless steel appliances, but it also has some tans and browns in it, so it will go with the countertops, too. We have plans to paint this room this summer, so the gray that we have chosen for that will match as well. What do you think? Do you think this small change will make a drastic difference in our kitchen? I am so looking forward to doing this, and don't worry, I'll make you all a DIY!! When D and I moved back to RI from Indiana, we sold our living room furniture, and trashed the 23+ year old couch and love seat that were gifted to us from D's parents. They had seen much better days! We were going to be living with them, and didn't need living room furniture, plus, most of the stuff was hand-me-down and mismatched anyways. I recently sat down and started brainstorming how to furnish and decorate the Family Room, which will be the first priority when they move out. I am really inspired by The High Low Project, on HGTV, where the host, Sabrina Soto decorates a room with no budget, and then tries to recreate it for under the budget set by the homeowners, which is typically around $3-5K. Considering that we are starting with absolutely nothing, no couch, no chairs, and no TV, we are going to try to stay under $4K for the whole project. Here's what I've come up with so far! I fell in love with the Henry set from West Elm, but the three pieces that we wanted, the couch, oversized chair, and ottoman, would immediately be more than half the budget! After searching high and low for some modern looking gray living room furniture, I finally found a really nice looking set at a local furniture store, called Bob's Discount Furniture. What you need to know next is that I have an obsession with IKEA. It's bad, and I know it. Admitting that is the first step though, right? Anyways, this room wouldn't be complete without something from IKEA, and there will be plenty, but the first piece will be an Expedit. I know. Everyone has one. But, we're going to use it as a TV stand, and I'm going to hack it. I have plans to remove the middle divider on the top row so we have a place to put the TV receiver/DVR, and I also plan to add legs to it so that the TV is a little higher off the ground. As I was searching for rugs, I came across this absolutely gorgeous and dark purple color, and immediately knew that I wanted that in the room. It's a high pile rug, which I am kind of concerned about with having cats, but I think it will be alright. You may have seen this pin on Pinterest, and I knew that I wanted to recreate that look. But, I searched and searched, and couldn't find any metal trash cans that were pretty enough to do this, so I started looking at actual side tables and found this one from Target! Later, after some research, I found out that the table in the inspiration picture is actually a table from Target and not a trash can, so I guess it was meant to be. I have plans to spray paint it our accent color - primary yellow! Lastly, a few DIY projects. I love love love the look of poufs, but I really do not like the price tag at all. So, I'm going to DIY my own. It will also be primary yellow, although I am having a hard time finding thick enough and cheap enough yarn or something to make it from. I was recently thinking about how I could use rope, or even a bedsheet though. We'll see what I decide. We currently have a 2' wall clock in the family room, but it's a much more traditional style, and we're looking for something a bit more modern. Without getting into the hundreds of dollars, we are going to DIY our own clock, which will end up being just over 3' in diameter. We're going to base it on this design, but make some modifications to it that we think would better fit our space. There are more pieces of furniture that we have chosen, and some accessories, but this is the plan for the most part. Also, for the DIY items, I'll be sure to write up the directions and do a post for each one. I'm really excited for the project! So excited, in fact, that I put everything into Photoshop to see how it would look together. I think it's looking awesome so far! I can't wait to actually get it started! What do you think? Now that you've seen the Master Bedroom in our house, you can tell that I had a major dilemma on my hands. There are four double-windows in the bedroom, one in the closet, and one in the bathroom plus the bay window above the hot tub. If you add all of those up, that means that I would need 9 curtain rods, and 18 brackets. Curtains were a must, as we have neighbors that can see in the windows at night when the lights are on. Also, they make the room look nice! So, looking online, I quickly figured out that it was going to cost me well over $200 dollars just for curtain rods, and I was actually looking at more like $300 for the style that I wanted. Now, I'm a major DIY-er, so I immediately tried to come up with ideas as to how I could make this a cheap and fun project. So, I did some research and decided to make my own curtains AND brackets! I took a trip to Lowes with my dad, and borrowed my sister's SUV, and we bought the supplies. First, we went to the Electrical aisle, and took a look at the electrical conduit. It was going to work perfectly. Now, you have some options in size when buying conduit for your curtain rods. They come in 1/2", 3/4" and 1" diameters. I ended up choosing the 1", which is slightly more expensive, but would look better with the size of the grommets in the curtains I was eyeing. Next, we went to the pipe-fittings aisle, and I got all the parts for the brackets. All I needed were conduit hooks (make sure you get the ones that are made for the diameter of conduit you chose). Lastly, was the hardware aisle, where I picked up some wing-nuts, some metal screws, and some "L" brackets. The "L" brackets should come with their own mounting screws. Make sure you keep those, because that's what you'll attach these to the wall with. Once we got home, it was assembly time! I started with the brackets. I got all my stuff together, and then got to work. Each bracket will be made of one of each of the items listed above. So, I took one of each item from my supplies, and started putting them together. Take the conduit hook and line up the screw hole on the flat part with one of the screw holes on the end of the "L" bracket. Put your screw through to hold them together. Attach your wing-nut to the other side of the screw and start winding it up to tighten the screw around the two pieces. You may want to use a pair of pliers to tighten the wing-nut as much as possible. And that's that! One bracket down and now 17 to go! Really quick though! Now, I'll show you the curtain rods. It makes it really easy to cut the pipe if you have the ability to anchor it down, so what D and I did was bring it outside, and lay it diagonally across two chairs, and then we each sat down on an end. We had measured out how long we needed the first part of the pipe to be for one of the windows, and I marked it with permanent marker. We took the conduit cutter, placed the blade on the mark, and started twisting around the pipe. You can see how we stopped mid-cut so I could show you the indentation that the cutter was making. Depending on the brand, your cutter may tell you otherwise, but we tightened the blade after every rotation, and after less than two minutes, we had made our first clean cut. After we made all the cuts, we brought the pipes upstairs, made marks on the wall where we wanted the brackets to be, and screwed them into the wall using two screws from the "L" bracket package. I took the curtains that I bought and hemmed, looped them onto the pipes, and then clipped our electrical conduit curtain rods into place. These curtain rods will not have finials, as you may have noticed, but you can get creative and use just about anything as finials. We have plans to spray paint wooden balls and attach them to the end of ours, but you could also buy normal curtain finials and attach them, or even use grapevine balls, painted different colors (I actually plan to do this in another room in my house!). And now for the final reveal! Open curtains - with massive glare! So, the grand total for this project. Ready? Less than $80! Yes! For real! I spent less than $80 on everything I needed for this project. Totally awesome, especially considering I had 9 curtain rods and 18 brackets to make! Now, go out to your local hardware store and save yourself some money! Ok, so you've seen the first floor and the second floor of our house. Now it's time to see the last part, the basement and the yard. The basement was fully finished at one point, but as of right now, it is no longer. We purchased the house with knowledge that there were some mold issues in the basement because of a previous water issue, so we've had to do some work down there to get rid of the mold. The basement was high priority on our list when we first purchased the house, but it's kind of taken a back burner now. But, here we go! Like I did with the rest of the house, here is a floor plan of the basement. I didn't have Microsoft Visio with me at the time, so I used Microsoft Word and made a legend at the bottom that explains what each thing is. When you walk down the stairs to the basement from the hallway on the first floor, you come down into the open space in the basement. The area is really, really big, measuring at just about 700 square feet! There is an area closer to the utility room and there is also an area where there is a door that leads up a steep flight of stairs to the backyard. Behind the stairs that go up to the main floor, there is a closet, which is really oddly shaped, but has a bookshelf in it, in addition to the deeper storage space that actually runs underneath the staircase. You can see in the floor plan above that there is actually a bedroom down here too. The bedroom is a really good size, and just to give you an idea of it's placement, it is directly underneath the bigger bedroom on the first floor of the house. The bedroom even has a small walk-in closet, but the doors are currently removed for mold remediation. When the time comes, I'll paint them white to match the rest of the moulding and then hang them back up. Through the doorway next to the shower stall is the laundry room, which is actually a really good size. There is a folding table and a space for the washer and dryer. There are no appliances in the pictures below, but you can see in the floor plan above where they are currently located. Eventually, we'd like to change the water line and electrical for the washer and dryer and get them closer to each other, but that's not absolutely necessary right now, so we're living with the current layout. And that's it for the basement. So, we'll move onto the back yard. While the property is small, at just about 1/4 acre, it's the perfect size for us without being too much work. The backyard is so cute though. First, the door from the basement looks like this. Please keep in mind that the house has been completely repainted now, and that these pictures are from before we closed on the property. To the right of this picture is the small yard part of the backyard. The yard is completely fenced in, and has great arborvitaes along most of the fence for added privacy. You can tell from the last picture that I was standing on the deck, so now I'll show you what that looks like. The deck is really cute. It's not that high off the ground, which I like, and it has a built-in bench that goes around on two sides for additional seating. I think for safety's sake, we're going to build a back for the bench, and then I'll make some outdoor cushions for comfort. Now that the house is painted, we also have plans to paint the deck, as the two different shades of gray don't go together very well, and we want to brighten up the space a little bit. When standing on the deck and looking straight ahead into the yard, we have a non-fruit producing pear tree, which is absolutely gorgeous. This picture also shows two of the three additional Poplar trees growing along the fence, but we had all three of them removed because not only were they breaking the fence, but they were so tall and hanging over our back-neighbor's house, and we didn't want that liability. I can't wait to see this pear tree in bloom this Spring! I know that I have shown you some pictures of the front of the house before, but these show off a bit more of the landscaping, which will all likely be changed in the Spring. There are a lot of shrubs right along the house and not only are they not very attractive, but they also are too close to the siding and are causing problems, so we'll be taking care of that soon too. Some of these pictures were also taken before the house was painted and the roof was replaced, so please keep that in mind. This next picture is of the kitchen addition and front porch by the driveway. You can really see how overgrown the bushes and shrubs are along this part of the house. This next picture is of the corner of the original part of the house and the addition. Again, needs weeding badly, and some grooming overall. I know that the stone on the house looks very brown, but it's not actually that brown. When you look closer, there is a lot of gray, and some dark purples too, which is why we decided to go with a darker gray paint color for the wood siding. I actually really love the stone facade. And now for the front of the house. This first picture is before the painting and roof were done. During.... Painting done, roofing not. This concludes our house tour! What do you think? I am so glad that we decided to get the house painted and the roof redone. It makes it look so much better right off the bat. Now for all the other projects that we want to accomplish! The list never ends when you're a homeowner, right?!

2019-04-24T16:47:55Z

http://www.rhodylife.com/2013/03/

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2019-04-22T17:15:13Z

http://imrlab.pafkiet.edu.pk/ac-milan-white-jersey.html

Infinix Note 4 Pro X572 is a premium version of Infinix Note 4 that was launched in Nigeria, the two phones have very similar spec sheet in major aspects but it’s only the Pro version that got the Stylus pen (X-Pen). Another difference between the duo can be found in the RAM and internal storage aspect where the Note 4 uses a smaller RAM and ROM than its senior counterpart, lets quickly glance through the key specs of the Note 4 Pro. Infinix Note 4 Pro sports a 5.7-inch display, the device will reportedly feature a bezel-less display, just like what we have seen in recent Samsung phones. Both the Note 4 and Note 4 pro uses the same display resolution which is set at 1920 by 1080 pixels providing us with a full HD screen. The Note 4 Pro is powered by a MediaTek MT6753 chipset, an Octa-core processor which has a speed of 1.3GHz, 3GB RAM combined with 32GB worth of internal storage space, you would expect the Note 4 to deliver nothing but good gaming experience and a decent performance for heavy users. Android 7.0 (Nougat) is pre-installed out of the box with handful of interesting features that the XOS has to offer. You should expect nothing but a sleek and improved user interface, the Note 4 pro will certainly be getting regular OS update from its manufacturer on the long run. The device hosts a 13MP back camera with dual LED flash while on the front, you have 8MP camera. This is just the same as what was offered in the Note 3 and Note 4. Infinix Note 4 Pro is houses a slightly bigger 4300 mAh battery in the powerhouse, the device is claimed to withstand longer usage than its predecessor (Note 3 also came with 4500 mAh) and can charge up to 45% in 30 minutes, thanks to a new feature in the device called XCharge. With the help of XPower feature, the Infinix Note 4 Pro can reach a standby time of 2 days for normal usage and 1.5 days for heavy usage. The new Note is also claimed to give you two hours of phone call or six hours of offline music listening with just 5 minutes charge. Price of the Infinix Note 4 Pro device will definitely vary with country and demand, the price is expected to start from about USD170 which shakes off about N65,000 to N75,000 in the Nigerian currency and about KSH15,000 to KSH16,000 in Kenyan shillings. Infinix Note 4 Pro price in Pakistan, Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt and other countries will be confirmed when the device is subsequently available in these region. Infinix Note 4 Pro is really outstanding in both design, battery and feature aspects, talk of the sleek and brilliant body build, the X-pen and the sufficient 4,500 mAh battery. Though the processor and system on chip (SoC) is bit below what we expected to see, the device is a good value for its money. You would definitely want to consider going for the basic variant which is the Infinix Note 4 if you feel the Note 4 Pro is a bit over priced. Also considering affordable phones with large displays, Infinix Note 3 Pro is another phone to consider. It offer a good display quality, big RAM and ROM and big battery as well. InnJoo Max 4 Pro should also be consider if big battery, bigger RAM and bigger internal storage space are the major things you look out for in a smartphone. please my note4pro is having screen problem and it affecting the touch pad I need to order for a new screen will it include the touch pad and where best can I order it from thanks for your help. 1) poor widget loading times. 2) inconsistent display support for widgets. 3) Occasionally refuses to respond after taping an app icon. 3) irritating knack of disconnecting from the SD card, or denying access to it. 4) plays customized ring tones for only 4-5 seconds (my Samsung J7 pro does it longer – sometimes too long). 6) terribly unimpressive cameras & speakers. I’ve used the INFINIX NOTE 5 for exactly 1 week & 2 days now…….I bought this phone as a backup mainly because I had 2 spare SIM cards that I wished to activate to diversify my access to network. 1) As a phone for calls – no problem so far (Using airtel & 9mobile). 2) Browsing works fine (on 4G too) so far (using 9mobile data – SIM slot 2). 3) Receiving mails via my email app (Aqua mail) – no problem so far. 4) WiFi/ Hotspot? All good so far. 5) No Infinix device overheating, thank God. 6) No Infinix device freezing/ lagging/ sudden reboot…….Yet. 7) Battery – VERY GOOD. Carries me a whole day at heavy use. Charges fast – even with (good) non-native chargers. PLS NOTE: I don’t do mobile gaming so can’t comment on the phone’s performance there. 1) Bluetooth use has an occasional tendency to make your mounted SD card instantly unavailable to the phone for awhile; you have to physically remove & reinsert the SD card several times + reboot the phone after using the bluetooth till it becomes active on the phone again. Tried the SD card in other phones/devices (in case it was an SD card issue) and it worked fine with other phones/ devices. 2) Icons for apps installed inexplicably disappear from the phone’s “desktop”. Its worse, after updating apps from Google Play store. 3) SMS sending? Not a problem so far. Receiving? ONLY if the message/ SMS app is up & running in the background – you’ll only know you’ve got text if it’s on. Tried several other SMS apps from the store to see if there would be a desired change. Nope. 4) You cannot customize ringtones for the native SMS app (messages) that came with the phone OS. Wasted time in settings > notification looking for the option to. 5) Still does not maintain stability of “desktop” widgets (even after fully updating the phone). You have to remove the widget from the “desktop” & put it back on the “desktop” where it works/ shows properly for only a while (and do it again, & again, & again, & again……….). 6) Fingerprint unlock? I don’t bother with that anymore. Rarely responds. And responds slowly. I had to go back to Screen unlock and had to use Pattern unlock (faster!) because using the other options (either Passcode or PIN) you are prone to making errors if entering your secret code rapidly; you have to enter the code REAL SLOW or you get error and the phone will not grant access. NO RAPID code entering allowed. The Infinix NOTE 3 (last Infinix Phone I used) was way way more responsive at fingerprint unlock – though the phone had long term Zero performance issues in just about anything else. 7) Not impressed with the camera quality (though its not the reason why I bought it – never is for Infinix devices I buy), selfie or back-camera. The Google Lens thing? Hmm..not wowing me yet either. 8) The Gel back cover that comes with the phone is a joke. Buy a proper, THICK flip cover case (couldn’t find good ones in the market) before the phone (piece of near-glass) drops on you. I’ve been lucky after a few drops & so carefully conscious while holding the device – you should be careful but not at this over-the-top caution I’ve had to be, especially while in my pocket. The stuff I’ve detailed above may not matter in the long run to some wanting to buy the phone and that’s very OK. What should be important to you is whether you can work with the phone’s limitations or not, which in turn will help support your decision to purchase or not. My own impression FOR NOW is that the phone performs well for calls, browsing and some wireless. These issues might be related to some peculiarities of the ANDROID ONE OS, and this is my very first exposure to Android One. Good morning, am considering buying Note 5 stylus, but it does not have swag like the Note 4 pro. I am considering going for Hot S3X. Help me out please. I bought my infinix note 4 pro X571, very nice phone but can you please help me how to work my x-pen, its not working. I got a note 4 about 2 weeks ago but its keeps making a weird noise/sound like a faulty transmission or something , it is sooo irritating and loud how can i get ride of it. By screen munching, I assume you’re talking about screenshot and in that case, yes. It does. Want to buy things from julia, cant seem to get throgh.I leave in warri .can I get a number to call or an office for help? Does using the note 4 pro hope the back isn’t scratching??? I’m currently wanting to buy an Infinix note 4 Pro from your Business. I’m in Liberia, my concerns: how do I do payment to receive it? How much is the cost currently? Hello Diamond, thanks for stopping by. We currently do not sell phones through our resources. You can check some reputable online stores or offline phone vendors in your area for device. I noticed front camera of infinix note 4 pro is just wack, no matter the illumination it blurry, please do it have something to do with the settings. I just bought my Infinix Note 4 Pro but i am having some problems with it. I can clearly hear incoming calls and can talk clearly but when i make a call, the call party won’t hear me and i also will not hear the person. Pleas advise urgently. Thanks very much in advance. Pls. I just got infinix note 4 pro but I find it difficult to open where to insert my Sim card . I need ur assistance on how to open it. Pls. I just got infinix note 4 pro but I find it difficult to open where to insert my Sim card . how can I go about it? I used to use infinix note 3, but it was stolen, I tried getting another one but it is out of the market, and I have fallen in love wit the phone, please guys what do I do now? I want to sell mine if you’re interested…. See I’ve got a major, MAJOR beef with Infinix devices – after buying and using the phones for about 5-7-9 months (sometimes even less), they begin lag in performance (freeze, LAGS, occasional reboots, ignore simple executions, overheat, crash, etc) & I just want to bash HARD the life out of the phone. Grrrrr.. Currently I’m using the Infinix Note 3 but I’m about to toss that (far away from me!) & get another Infinix phone. Probably my last as I’m starting a family soon. NOW, I’ve been interested in either the Infinix Zero 5 Pro (or the Infinix Note 4 Pro). Either will be my 11th Infinix device so would really appreciate counsel on which phone to pick up – and hopefully break my run of bad luck with the Infinix brand. I’ve done my research & looked (endlessly!) at each device spec-wise but my main gripe is performance longevity of the phones. Kindly soliciting your advice to make an informed decision – which do I pick? First impressions/ surface pros & cons for each phone I already know but I’m still in the deep-dark on long term performance prospects of each. And as we know money to support this isn’t easy to come by. Cheers & thanks in advance. Hello, Infinix Zero 5 is the best phone from Infinix at the moment. The phone is built good quality but inside and outside, there haven’t been any complaints about so far which means it’s performing well. Not the Infinix Zero 5 PRO?? . Infinix Zero 5 and Zero 5 Pro have basically the same specs, the only difference is storage capacity; the Zero 5 has 64GB ROM while the Zero 5 Pro comes with 128GB ROM. I’d read that they do not. The two smartphones support 4G network, they will work well with any line that provides 4G network in your area. A friend warmed me not buy the model note 4 pro, bcoz the battery and charging system is not good enough, is there any improvement on this? All these complaints! Hmmmm! I bought my note 4 pro since October, no problems at all. Honestly, m enjoying it. Someone said d camera is whack. The truth is d camera is better than many Samsung phones. When I was passing out (NYSC), my phone was d celeb dat day. Everyone wanted to use my camera. Dey snap with my phone n collect d pictures through Xender. When I did my induction, everyone snapped with my phone to collect through xender. The phone is superb. People refer to my phone as machine (no joke). It still does d x-charge. D pen is Wat m not a fan of. Doesn’t really interestel me. Thank God dey phone can be used without the pen. And please, if u buying a phone,make sure to buy d original. Go to an Infinix outlet. If u are having problems with yours, please take it to an Infinix shop as long as u bought it from them. There r many fake phones out there. Is it working with screen mirroring to connect with webOS smart tv? The Hotspour cannot be connected to my laptop. When I plug my phone to my laptop you can’t find the phone on the laptop. Pls isn’t warranty supposed to cover damages by water? hope the infinix note 4 pro iz working wel nw coz i’ve heard much complain bout the version nd i intend getn 1 soon. Pls when will u lunch infinix zero edge? and how can I spot a fake one? I want to buy the infinix note 4 pro next but the comments I’m getting here is really discouraging. Does the phone really worth the price or should I just go for another phone? I need suggestions please. AdaObi Good morning, I can see that u are really bitter about this Infinix Note 4 Pro. Can u please give me more reviews on the problems and shortcoming u encountered while using it because I intend getting mine next week. Hi, am interested in getting the note 4 pro so how can i tell which one is imitation or original? Niyi is correct. There’s Note 4 with 3gb and 32gb ROM there are three variants of note 4 but that variant is as scarce as gold. I have infinix note 3 which I bought last year November 2016. Can I change it to infinix note 4 and possibly add some money? please can you kindly enlighten us on how to identify an imitation…. l see people complained about the xpen. l want to know, can’t the phone work without the Xpen. Same use as the stylus in the Samsung NOTE series. Egbon easy. With great specification comes great money, and if we dont have the money for “iPhone” as you suggested, should we wither and die? We r here for “feedback” and not castigation. If the phone didnt work for u, please say so, and why it didnt, and leave it at that. No problem, that’s what I got. U can google infinix note4 launched in india. D battery is 4300mah. I could remember infinix has done something lyk dat b4. The price is a bit higher than the normal note4 with 2gb ram. Perhaps, u confirm from the store. I bought same last week but it didn’t come with pen. That should be Infinix Note 4 Pro you got… are you sure the battery is 4,300 or 4,500 ? I read something like that. It seems there are three variants of infinix note 4. There is one some retailers refers to as infinix note 4 High, it shares everything with the note 4 pro except the x-pen, and perhaps with 4300mah battery as opposed to 4500mah on the pr. Does infinix note4 get 3gb ram and 32gb rom version? Coz mine is like that its nt pro. Am really impressed with the phone Infinix note 4 pro and am preparing to go and buy my own. but please hope the phone will not be hanging if someone is using it. If the xpen goes down battrey wise, how can one charge it assuming it has battrey . Henry pls educate me. You charge it by inserting it into the smart cover together with the Infinix Note 4 Pro at the same time. It draws power form the Note 4 Pro. I just bought it yesterday, but pls no xpen inside so what can I do now. Hello, You can simply meet with the retailer you bought it from and have it sorted out. PLEASE WHERE CAN I GET INFINIX NOTE 4 PRO IN NIGERIA ? Hi CJ, the phone is available on Jumia. Pls some said the battery is 4500,while some said is 4300, pls which one r we believing? Hello Silver, the infinix note 4 pro has been confirmed to have 4500 mAh battery and NOT 4300. Thanks for stopping by. Please Henry is it possible and reasonable for me to swap Apple iPad 3 with infinix note 4 pro.. so it’s available already… how much? please am also having issue making choice between the two. which one did you end up going for? Sure the Infinix Note 4 pro is really an impressive phone. Is it possible for me to swap my infinix X551 HOT NOTE with infinix HOT NOTE 4 PRO X571.How much am I going to put on top? That might be possible Osoyemi. The guys at Gonaiij mall offer swapping service for Infinix phones. You can find out more details about that here. You can call them on the contact provided there to see what they have to say concerning swapping Infinix Hot Note for an Infinix Note 4 Pro. where is the gonaij mall and l need their mobile contact.l am interested in phone swap.thanks.

2019-04-25T16:46:17Z

https://www.naijaandroidarena.com/infinix-note-4-pro/

Abstract: This article demonstrates how to define a ClientDataSet's structure at both design-time and runtime using TFields. How to create virtual and nested dataset fields is also demonstrated. In the last installment of The Professional Developer, I described how to define the structure of a ClientDataSet using the ClientDataSet's FieldDefs property. This structure is used to create the in-memory data store when you call the ClientDataSet's CreateDataSet method. The metadata describing this structure, and any data subsequently entered into the ClientDataSet, will be saved to disk when the ClientDataSet's SaveToFile method is invoked. While the FieldDefs property provides you with a convenient and valuable mechanism for defining a ClientDataSet's structure, it has several short-comings. Specifically, you cannot use FieldDefs to create virtual fields, which include calculated fields, lookup fields, and aggregate fields. In addition, creating nested datasets (one-to-many relationships) through FieldDefs is problematic. Specifically, while I have found it possible to create nested datasets using FieldDefs, I have not been able to successfully save and then later reload these nested datasets into a ClientDataSets. Only the TFields method appears to create nested datasets that can be reliably saved to the ClientDataSet's native local file formats and later re-loaded into memory. Like the FieldDefs method of defining the structure of a ClientDataSet, you can define a ClientDataSet's structure using TFields either at design-time or at runtime. Since the design-time technique is the easiest to demonstrate, this article with start with it. Defining a ClientDataSet's structure using TFields at runtime is shown later in this article. You define the TFields that represent the structure of a ClientDataSet at design-time using the Fields Editor. Unfortunately, this process is a bit more tedious than that using FieldDefs. Specifically, using the FieldDefs collection editor you can quickly add one or more FieldDef definitions, each of which defines the characteristic of a corresponding field in the ClientDataSets's structure. Using the TFields method, you must add one field at a time. All this really means is that it takes a little longer to define a ClientDataSet's structure using TFields than it does using FieldDefs. Although using the TFields method of defining a ClientDataSet's structure is more time consuming, it has the advantage of permitting you to define both the fields of a table's structure for the purpose of storing data, as well as to define virtual fields. Virtual fields are used define dataset fields whose values are calculated at runtime -- the values are not physically stored. Place a ClientDataSet from the Data Access page of the Component Palette onto a form. Right-click the Fields Editor and select New Field (or simply press the INS key). The New Field dialog box is displayed, as shown in the following figure. Enter PartNo in the Name field, and Integer in the Type field. Leave the Field Type radio button set to the default, which is Data. Your New Field dialog box should now look something like the following. Click OK to accept this new field. The newly added field should now appear in the Fields Editor. Repeat steps 3 through 5 to add three more fields to the table structure. For the first field, set Name to Description, Type to String, and Size to 80. For the second field, set Name to Price and Type to Currency. For the third field, set Name to Quantity and Type to Integer. When you are done, the Fields Editor should look something like the following. Adding a virtual field to a ClientDataSet's structure at design-time is only slightly more complicated than adding a data field. This added complexity involves setting additional properties and/or adding additional event handlers. Let's begin by adding a calculated field. Calculated fields require both a new field whose type is Calculated, and an OnCalcFields event handler, which is associated with the ClientDataSet itself. This event handler is used to calculate the value that will be displayed in this virtual field. Note: This example demonstrates the addition of a calculated virtual field, which is available for most TDataSet descendents. Alternatively, these same basic steps can be used to add an InternalCalc field, which is a special calculated field associated with ClientDataSets. InternalCalc virtual fields can be more efficient than Calculated virtual fields, since they need to be re-calculated less often than calculated fields. Begin by right-clicking the Fields Editor and selecting New Field (or press INS). Using the New Fields dialog box, set Name to Total Price, Type to Currency, and Field Type to Calculated. Click OK to add the new field. Now select the ClientDataSet in the Object Inspector or the Object TreeView, and display the Events page of the Object Inspector. Aggregate fields, which can be used to perform a number of automatic calculations across one or more records of your data, do not require event handlers, but do require that the ClientDataSet have at least one index. The following steps will walk you through adding an index, as well as an aggregate field that will use the index. A more complete discussion of ClientDataSet indexes will appear in a later article in this series. With the ClientDataSet selected in the Object Inspector, choose the IndexDefs property and double-click the ellipsis button that appears. Using the IndexDefs collection editor, click the Add New button once. With this newly adding IndexDef selected in the IndexDefs collection editor, use the Object Inspector to set its Name property to PNIndex, and its Fields property to PartNo. Select the ClientDataSet in the Object Inspector once again. Set its IndexName property to PNIndex and its AggregatesActive property to True. We are now ready to add the aggregate field. Double-click the ClientDataSet to display the Fields Editor (alternatively, you can right-click the ClientDataSet and select Fields Editor from the displayed context menu). Right-click the Fields Editor and select New Field. Set Name to Total Parts and Data Type to Aggregate. Select OK to close the New Field dialog box. The aggregate virtual field is displayed in its own section of the Fields Editor, as shown in the following figure. Select the Total Parts aggregate field in the Fields Editor. Then, using the Object Inspector, set the Expression property to Sum(Quantity), the IndexName property to PXIndex, and Active to True. That's all it takes. All you need to do now is call the CreateDataSet method at runtime (or alternatively, right-click the ClientDataSet at design-time and select Create DataSet). Of course, if you want to actually see the resulting ClientDataSet, you will also have to hook it up to one or more data-aware controls. The use of the TField definitions described here are demonstrated in the FieldDemo project, which you can download from Code Central. The following is the main form of this project. As you can see from this code, the ClientDataSet in this example resides on a data module. Upon startup, this form calculates the name of the file in which the ClientDataSet's data can be stored. It then tests to see if this file already exists. If it does not, CreateDataSet is called, otherwise the ClientDataSet is opened. The following figure shows this form at runtime, after some records have been added. Nested datasets represent one-to-many relationships. Imagine, for instance, that you have a ClientDataSet designed to hold information about your customers. Imagine further that for each customer you want to be able to store one or more phone numbers. There are three techniques that developers often use to provide this feature. The first, and least flexible technique, is to add a fixed number of fields to the ClientDataSet to hold the possible phone numbers. For example, one for a business number, another for the a home number, and a third for a mobile phone number. The problem with this approach is that you have to decide, in advance, the maximum number of phone numbers that you can store for any given customer. The second technique is to create a separate file to hold customer phone numbers. This file would have to include one or more fields that define a link between a given customer and their phone numbers (such as a unique customer identification number), as well as fields for holding the type of phone number and the phone number itself. Using this approach, you can store any number of phone numbers for each customer. The third technique is to create a nested dataset. A nested dataset is created by adding a Field of DataSet type to a ClientDataSet's structure. This dataset field is then assigned to the DataSetField property of a second client dataset. Using this second ClientDataSet, you can define fields to store the one or more records of related data. In this example it might make sense to add two fields, one to hold the type of phone number (such as, home, cell, fax, and so forth), and a second to hold the phone number itself. Similar to the second technique, nested datasets permit a customer to have any number of phone numbers. On the other hand, unlike the second technique, in which phone numbers are stored in a separate file, there is no need for any fields to link phone numbers to customers, since the phone numbers are actually "nested" within each customer's record. Here is how you create a nested dataset at design-time. Using the technique outlined earlier in this article (using the Fields Editor), create one field of data type Data for each regular field in the dataset (such as Customer Name, Title, Address1, Address2, and so forth). To define the fields of each nested dataset, add fields to each secondary ClientDataSet using its Fields Editor, just as you added fields to the primary ClientDataSet. For example, following the customer/phone numbers example discussed here, the nested dataset fields would include phone type and phone number. For an example of a project that demonstrates how to create nested datasets at design-time, download the NestedDataSetFields project from Code Central. This project provides an example of how the customer/phone numbers application might be implemented. This project contains a data module that includes two ClientDataSets. One is used to hold the customer information, and it includes a DataSet field called PhoneNumbers. This DataSet field is associated with a second ClientDataSet through the second ClientDataSet's DataSetField property. The Fields Editor for this second ClientDataSet, shown in the following figure, displays its two String fields, one for Phone Type and the other for Phone Number. In the previous article in this series, where a ClientDataSet's structure was defined using FieldDefs, you learned that you can define the structure of a ClientDataSet both at design-time as well as at runtime. As explained in that article, the advantage of using design-time configuration is that you can use the features of the Object Inspector to assist in the definition of the ClientDataSet's structure. This approach, however, is only useful if you know the structure of your ClientDataSet in advance. If you do not, your only option is to define your structure at runtime. You define your TFields at runtime using the methods and properties of the appropriate TField or TDataSetField class. Specifically, you call the constructor of the appropriate TField or TDataSetField object, setting the properties of the created object to define its nature. Among the properties of the constructed object, one of the most important is the DataSet property. This property defines to which TDataSet descendant you want the object associated (which will be a ClientDataSet in this case, since we are discussing this type of TDataSet). After creating all of the TFields or TDataSetFields, you call the ClientDataSet's CreateDataSet method. Doing so creates the ClientDataSet's structure based on the TFields to which it is associated. The following is a simple example of defining a ClientDataSet's structure using TFields. You can test this code for yourself easy enough. Simply create a project and place on the main form a ClientDataSet, a DataSource, a DBGrid, and a DBNavigator. Assign the DataSet property of the DBGrid and the DBNavigator to the DataSource, assign the DataSet property of the DataSource to ClientDataSet, and ensure that the ClientDataSet is named ClientDataSet1. Finally, add the preceding code to the OnCreate event handler of the form to which these components appear, and run the project. When your structure is defined using TFields, there is an important behavior that might not be immediately obvious. Specifically, the TFields specified at design-time using the Fields Editor define objects that are created automatically when the form, data module, or frame to which they are associated is created. These objects define the ClientDataSet's structure, which in turn defines the value of the ClientDataSet's FieldDefs property. This same behavior does not apply when a ClientDataSet's structure is defined using FieldDefs at design-time. Specifically, the TFields of a ClientDataSet whose structure is defined using FieldDefs is defined when the ClientDataSet's CreateDataSet method is invoked. But they are also created when metadata is read from a previously saved ClientDataSet file. If a ClientDataSet is loaded from a saved file, the structure defined in the metadata of the saved file takes precedence. In other words, the FieldDefs property created at design-time is replaced by FieldDefs defined by the saved metadata, and this is used to create the TFields. When your ClientDataSet's structure is defined using TFields at design-time, metadata in a previously saved ClientDataSet is not used to define the TFields, since they already exist. As a result, when a ClientDataSet's structure is defined using TFields, and you attempt to load previously save data, it is essential that the metadata in the file being loaded be consistent with the defined TFields. As mentioned in the preceding section, TFields defined at design-time cause the automatic creation of the corresponding TField instances at runtime (as well as FieldDefs). If you define your ClientDataSet's structure at runtime, by calling the constructor of the various TField and TDataSetField objects that you need, you must follow the call to these constructors with a call to the ClientDataSet's CreateDataSet method before the ClientDataSet can be used. This is true even when you intend to load the ClientDataSet from previously saved data. The reason for this is that, as pointed out in the previous section, ClientDataSet structures defined using TFields do not rely on the metadata of previously saved ClientDataSets. Instead, the structure relies on the TFields and TDataSetFields that have been created for the ClientDataSet. This becomes particularly obvious when you consider that virtual fields are not stored in the files saved by a ClientDataSet. The only way that you can have virtual fields in a ClientDataSet whose structure is defined at runtime is to create these fields using the appropriate constructors, and then call CreateDataSet to build the ClientDataSet's in-memory data store. Only then can a compatible, previously saved data file be loaded into the ClientDataSet. Here is another way to put it. When you define your ClientDataSet's structure using FieldDefs, you call CreateDataSet only if there is no previously saved data file. If there is a previously saved data file, you simply load it into the ClientDataSet - CreateDataSet does not need to be invoked. The ClientDataSet's structure is based on the saved metadata. By comparison, when you define your ClientDataSet's structure using TFields at runtime, you always call CreateDataSet (but only after creating and configuring the TField and TDataSetField instances that define the ClientDataSet's structure). This must be done whether or not you want to load previously saved data. The VideoLibrary project, which can be downloaded from Code Central, includes code that demonstrates how to create data, aggregate, lookup, and nested dataset fields at runtime using TFields. This project, whose running main form is shown in the following figure, includes two primary ClientDataSets. One is used to hold a list of videos and another holds a list of Talent (actors). The ClientDataSet that holds the video information contains two nested datasets: one to hold the list of talent for that particular video and another to hold a list of the video's special features (for instance, a music video found on a DVD). This project is too complicated to describe adaquately in this limited space (I'll save that discussion for a future article). Instead, I;ll leave it up to you to download the project. In particular, you will want to examine the OnCreate event handler for this project's data module. There you will see how the various data fields, virtual fields, dataset fields, and indexes are created and configured. Cary Jensen is President of Jensen Data Systems, Inc., a Texas-based training and consulting company that won the 2002 Delphi Informant Magazine Readers Choice award for Best Training. He is the author and presenter for Delphi Developer Days (www.DelphiDeveloperDays.com), an information-packed Delphi (TM) seminar series that tours North America and Europe. Cary is also an award-winning, best-selling co-author of eighteen books, including Building Kylix Applications (2001, Osborne/McGraw-Hill), Oracle JDeveloper (1999, Oracle Press), JBuilder Essentials (1998, Osborne/McGraw-Hill), and Delphi In Depth (1996, Osborne/McGraw-Hill). For information about onsite training and consulting you can contact Cary at cjensen@jensendatasystems.com, or visit his Web site at www.JensenDataSystems.com. I was searching this, and found it. Clear, concise and smart in the explanation. Thank's a lot! Great column! ...It would be nice to be able to get all of the projects in this series in one zip file. Midas.dcu is one of the Borland units. There may be something wrong with your library search path. Try adding MidasLib to the uses clause in the project source file (*.dpr). This piece of demo does not work."Midas.dcu" is missing.

2019-04-24T01:11:35Z

http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/29001

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2019-04-23T06:03:24Z

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This set of space and time we inhabit is likely not just a unified and consistent set of space and time. Space and time we feel and experience in real life consist of heterogeneity in terms of both space and time, to the extent we may consider them ironic. In this regard, Foucault’s spatial concept of heterotopias, in which different spatialities which cannot coexist are complexly intertwined and overlapped, or heterochronias, in which non-simultaneous temporalities are mixed into simultaneous temporalities, provide us many implications for explaining these strange and complex spatialities and temporalities of our era. At the same time, it appears it will be of some assistance in explaining the artistic realm of the Chinese artist, You Jin, whom Alternative Space Loop has invited for this exhibit. It is because the artist, too practices unique painterly qualities by implying such different temporal, spatial qualities in single compositions, and we seek to view the artist’s artistic realm by establishing this as the concept of an alternative view of space and time, or a heterotopos, in which the here and now overlap with the other. It is because actual, sensorial reality, like those; and this space and time, as such, operate on us in a multifaceted fashion through a different spatial and temporal nature, i.e., a heterotopos; as such. In the artist’s paintings, landscapes of many different times and spaces are overlapped on single compositions. Different parts of time and spaces are mixed together. Such landscapes of complicated space and time require attention particularly because they contain landscapes of Asia, which had to travel a path divergent from Western-centric modernization, a path of rapid growth and condensed development, in their entirety. Unlike their Western counterparts, whose modernization consisted of systemic and self-conforming growth; Asian, Eastern regions like China and Korea had to repeat Western-style development in a short amount of time, and had to overlap a certain innately Eastern culture on this; thus having to weave a unique social, cultural landscape heterogeneously combining different spaces and parts of time. The modern and contemporary have intersected one another in an exquisite fashion to compile an alternative culture of space and time. In this regard, the East had to experience a third path, called non/extra modern and contemporary eras distinguished from both those of the West and traditional Eastern significances. In the artist, You Jin’s art, too such complicated landscapes of space and time, which China had to face and personally experience amidst rapid development and growth, take their place in their entirety. In this regard, the artist’s paintings represent sensuous sympathies regarding real life, which the artist had to experience himself, and work fully revealing a richly sensible situation. In particular, changes in space and time as presented before the artist’s eyes may have been even greater since the artist has personally experienced situations of multi or mixed cultures, which the East was unable to avoid despite its own deeply-rooted cultural traditions; and the dynamic changes of Chinese society, which has recently achieved rapid social and cultural development. For this reason, the West’s modern and differential characteristics coexist with the East’s traditional and convergent elements. Different spatial and temporal qualities of the East and West are coexisting in single compositions. Self-confidence acquired through a gradual progression from cultural exclusiveness to openness is likely to have played a role in this as well. It demonstrates the characteristics of China’s younger generation, which modernizes even Western-style culture on their own terms rather than to stop at simply accepting what is of the West. Although it assumes what belongs to the West’s oil painting tradition, You’s work contains a certain will to create the artist’s own thoughts and sensibilities, a preference for the younger generation’s characteristic styles, and respect for traditional Chinese culture, as opposed to just a vague association and admiration for the West. One can confirm these aspects, the artist’s intentions to create his own painting style through his own sensibilities, in You Jin’s art. What Alternative Space Loop, which has been introducing new Asian artists while working to help them network, is interested in, too is this very point. It is the latent Eastern and Asian value to be found in the artist’s work, consistent with You Jin’s position as a young contemporary artist of China, and the artist’s potential for future growth with which to transcend the setting of an East/West dichotomy. This is because, in this regard, You Jin is not just an artist creating an experimental painting trend in contemporary China; but is also one of special thought and sentiments, based on which the artist creates works through which to illuminate both directly and indirectly the rapidly changing flow of Chinese society; and an artist who is expanding the possibilities of contemporary painting through crossovers with various areas, including digital media, fashion and design. The artist’s such features possess a unique significance in allowing us to rethink the meaning of painterly qualities in contemporary art. The artist’s painting style is non-sedentary, as if to progress forward while drawing a trajectory, and appears as if passing by seemingly slowly but quickly. As if repeating the advent of China’s excited contemporary painting history in his own works, the artist increases his compositions’ density and strength by beginning from everyday scenery or objects to gradually expand the spatial qualities of his paintings while involving temporal qualities through an alternative linear method. You Jin’s paintings, consisting of the artist’s characteristic detailed and sculptural lines and splendid chromatic sensibility, could be popular for their sensuous completeness; but the artist takes things further than such through finishing touches which add a certain degree of privacy and complexity to his paintings. It is likely that the spatial and temporal qualities the artist achieves in the compositions are increasing in depth, and in this exhibit at Alternative Space Loop, too one can peek into the artist’s such recent flow. Overall, spatial and temporal qualities are complexly entangled together in the artist’s compositions; and lines and planes, lines and colors, and curves and straight lines operate the composition with their own, regular principles. For instance, if the basic structures and compositions are expressed with straight lines, then curved lines may be used to contain the artist’s sensibilities and expressions regarding those. In terms of the composition of the greater canvas, the artist applies color first and then paints in shapes and boundaries; choosing a generally subtractive method, as opposed to an additive one, while moving from meditation on colors to meditation on lines. In particular, the artist claims he uses colors to contain symbolism and meaning, and he controls even such symbolism and meaning, too through a process of linear tuning, i.e. the artist’s own thoughts. It appears we should pay attention to how the artist values certain thoughts, feelings and expressions of his in his final judgements, rather than operating his picture planes through a certain compatible structure and composition. Even the artist’s complex compositions are ultimately only a certain result, and not something elaborately calculated and structured in advance. It is because the nature of divergent visual space and time may be, as such, a matter of sensibilities arising from different experiences of real space and time, as opposed to a certain, structurally complex concept. The nature of visual space and time we face, experience and feel in reality is likely an accumulation of collisions and impressions of immeasurably expansive sensibilities which have not been restored as single, even entities. In this regard, despite the complex and elaborate picture plane compositions, and despite the complex structures of the lines and planes present across the compositions; You Jin’s paintings more closely resemble Eastern expressions, which are like a flow of the heart, than Western ones. The artist, too, as if in response to this, states that the complicated are actually easier while emptying and organizing are important. Perhaps therefore, You Jin’s paintings generally consist of an entanglement of complex spatial and temporal qualities, in which figural aspects are pronounced; but are partially finished with almost abstract condensation and omissions. The figural and abstract fully coexist in the same picture planes. It is because, as in the artist’s own words, it is perhaps more important to leave in place important objects of visible space and time, in other words organizing them with the heart, than to collect all kinds of those objects in the paintings. In this regard, it appears understanding the artist’s work as governing the heart is required. Eastern thought runs through the base of You Jin’s art, which otherwise reveals an extremely Western painting style. For this reason, You Jin values peace and stability of the mind and nerves when painting. He ultimately views even the spatial and temporal qualities of such a multifaceted spectacle through the mental eyes of his heart. Actually, perhaps no spatial and temporal qualities are as mobile and heterogeneous as the gazes and sensibilities of our inner thoughts. This is as even reality’s dynamic spatial and temporal qualities, too change their multifaceted appearances according to one’s will. Perhaps for this reason, You Jin’s paintings generally employ much bright, primary colors while often contrasting complimentary colors like in traditional Chinese painting. They possess a chromatic sensibility of neither very light nor dark shades and tones. Such color sensibilities also connect back to the artist’s thoughts on today’s realities and, in how You expresses a certain symbolism and meanings through his colors, the artist appears to certainly harbor a critical view of reality, to an extent, but not entirely; and seems to have treated the world with a general optimism toward life. Although we can read You’s such state of mind through the artist’s chromatic sensibility as expressed in his canvases, it appears the artist’s multifaceted thoughts regarding the world, too are being delivered to the viewer through this chromatic sensibility, which is elaborate and more. 요진(由金, You Jin)은 1979년 중국 랴오닝(遼寧) 성의 성도인 선양에서 태어나 중국의 4대 미술대학으로 평가 받고 있는 루쉰 예술학교(Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts.를 졸업하고, 현재 베이징에 거주하면서 작업 활동을 하고 있다. 주요 개인전으로 2008년 뉴 에이지 갤러리의 ‘Chaotic Code(북경)’, 2009년 EGG 갤러리의 ‘Continue Chaotic’, 2011년 오페라 갤러리(제네바, 스위스) 의 ‘Lost in Desire’, 2013년 같은 공간에서 ‘From Chaos to Freedom(제나바, 스위스) 등이 있으며, 상하이 모스크바, 대만, 베를린, 플로리다, 마이애미, 런던, 싱가포르, 자카르타, 서울, 홍콩 등 전 세계를 무대로 다양한 공간에서의 단체전에 참여하면서 활발한 작업 세계를 펼치고 있다. 우리가 살고 있는 이 시공간은 단일하고 균일한 시간, 공간만은 아닐 것이다. 실재의 삶에서 느끼고 체험하는 시공간은 모순적이라 할 만큼 시간과 공간 모두에서 이질적인 것들로 혼융되어 있다. 그런 면에서 푸코가 말한, 서로 양립 불가능한 각기 다른 장소성이 복잡하게 얽혀지고 겹치진 헤테로토피아의 공간성 개념이나 비동시적인 시간성이 동시적인 시간성으로 혼합되어 있는 헤테로크로니아의 시간성 개념이 동시대의 이런 묘하고 복잡한 시간공간성을 설명하는데 많은 시사점을 준다. 동시에 이번에 대안공간 루프에서 초대한 중국 작가 요진의 작업세계를 설명하는데 있어 얼마간 도움이 될 것 같기도 하다. 작가 역시 이러한 서로 다른 시간, 공간성을 한 화면에 겹치고 함축해내면서 독특한 회화성을 펼쳐나가고 있기 때문인데, 이를 ‘지금, 여기’를 의미하는 ‘이此’와 다름을 의미하는 ‘이異’가 중첩된 이시공간異時空間 개념으로 설정하여 작가의 작업세계를 조망해보고자 한다. 실재의 감각적인 현실이 그런 것들처럼, 이 시공간은 그렇게 서로 다른 시공간성, 곧 ‘이시공간성’으로 우리에게 복잡다단하게 작동하고 있기 때문이다. 작가의 그림에는 많은 시간, 공간대의 풍경들이 한 화면에 중첩되어 있다. 서로 다른 시간, 공간이 뒤섞여 있는 것이다. 이러한 복잡한 시공간의 풍경 속에는 특히나 서구 중심의 근현대화와는 다른 길을 걸어야 했던 아시아의 급격한 성장, 압축적 발전의 풍경 또한 그대로 담겨 있기에 주목을 요한다. 중국과 한국과 같은 아시아, 동양은 서구의 근현대화처럼 체계적이고 정합적인 성장을 이룬 것이 아니라, 짧은 시간에 걸쳐 서구식의 발전을 거듭해야 했고, 또한 여기에 동양 특유의 문화를 중첩시켜야 했기에 서로 다른 시간, 공간이 이질적으로 결합된 독특한 사회 문화의 풍경을 직조해내야 했다. 근대, 현대, 그리고 동시대가 묘한 방식으로 교차해가면서 다른 시공간의 문화를 엮어냈던 것이다. 그런 면에서 서구적 의미와는 다른, 그리고 전통 동양적인 의미와도 구별되는 ‘비/탈’의 근현대, 동시대라는 제3의 길을 겪어야 했다. 요진 작가의 작업 속에서도 급격한 발전과 성장을 거듭하면서 중국이 직면하고 몸소 겪어야 했던 이러한 복잡한 시공간의 풍경이 그대로 자리한다. 그런 면에서 작가의 그림은 작가 자신이 경험해야 했던 현실적 삶에 대한 감각적 교감들이며 풍부한 감각적 상황을 그대로 드러내는 작업이기도 하다. 특히나 뿌리 깊은 동양의 문화적 전통에도 불구하고 근현대화의 과정에서 피할 수 없었던 다문화, 혼성문화의 상황들이나 근래 들어 급격한 사회문화적 발전을 이룬 중국 사회의 역동적 변화를 몸소 체험한 작가였기에 작가의 눈앞에 펼쳐진 시공간의 변화는 더욱 컸던 것일지도 모르겠다. 그런 이유로 작가의 작업에는 서양의 현대적이고 분화적인 특성은 물론 동양의 전통적이고 융합적인 요소가 혼재되어 있다. 동서양의 서로 다른 시공간성이 한 화면에 공존하고 있는 것이다. 이는 문화적 폐쇄에서 점차 개방화로 발전하면서 갖게 된 자신감도 한 몫 했을 것이다. 단순히 서양의 그것을 받아들이는데 그치는 것이 아니라 서양식 문화마저도 스스로의 문화적 지반에서 현대화시키는 중국의 젊은 세대의 특성을 고스란히 보여주고 있는 것이다. 비록 서양화의 그것을 취하고 있지만 작가의 작업에는 막연한 서양에 대한 추수와 동경만이 아닌, 중국의 전통 문화에 대한 존중, 그리고 젊은 세대 특유의 스타일에 대한 선호와 자기 스스로의 사유와 감각들을 만들려는 어떤 의지들을 분명히 담고 있기 때문이다. 작가의 작업에서 이러한 면모들, 스스로의 스타일과 감각을 통해 화풍을 만들어가려는 지향성을 재차 확인하게 된다. 그동안 아시아의 새로운 작가들을 소개하고, 이들의 네트워킹에 힘써온 대안공간 루프가 주목하는 지점도 바로 이러한 대목이다. 주목받고 있는 중국의 동시대 젊은 화가로서의 작가의 입지 못지않게 작가의 작업에서 발견할 수 있는 동양적이고 아시아적인 잠재적 가치, 서양/동양의 이항대립의 설정을 뛰어넘을 수 있는 향후 발전 가능성 말이다. 그런 면에서 요진 작가는 단지 중국의 동시대의 실험적인 회화의 흐름을 만들어내고 있는 작가일 뿐만 아니라 중국의 전통 문화예술에 대한 각별한 사유와 정서는 물론 이를 바탕으로 급변하는 중국사회의 흐름을 직간접적으로 조명해 볼 수 있는 작업을 전개하고 있고, 미디어, 패션, 디자인 등 다양한 분야와의 크로스 오버를 통해 동시대 회화의 가능성을 넓히고 있는 작가이기 때문이다. 이러한 작가의 면모들이 동시대 미술에서의 회화성의 의미를 다시금 생각해보게 한다는 면에서 남다른 의미를 갖는다. 작가의 화풍은 마치 궤적을 그리며 앞으로 나아가듯 한 곳에 머물지 않고, 느린 듯 빠르게 자라나는 것 같다. 마치 격동하는 중국 동시대 회화사의 계통발생을 자신의 작품에서 되풀이라도 하듯, 초기의 일상의 풍경이나 대상을 다른 선線적인 방식에서 점차 화면에서 다루고 있는 공간성을 확대하고 시간성을 개입시키면서 화폭이 갖고 있는 밀도와 강도를 키워나가는 식이다. 특유의 세밀하고 조형적인 선과 화사한 색감으로 구현된 그의 그림은 감각적 완성도를 갖고 있기에 대중적일 수 있었겠지만 작가는 이에 머물지 않고 화면의 구성을 좀 더 내밀하고 복잡한 방식으로 완성해 간다. 갈수록 화면에서 구현되고 있는 공간성과 시간성이 심화되고 있다고 해야 할 것인데, 이번 대안공간 루프의 전시도 작가의 이러한 최근의 흐름을 엿볼 수 있다. 전체적으로 공간성과 시간성이 서로 복잡하게 얽혀있는 구성인데, 선과 면, 선과 색, 곡선과 직선이 나름의 일정한 원리를 가지고 화면을 작동시킨다. 예를 들어 기본적인 구조와 구성은 직선으로 표현하고, 곡선으로는 이에 대한 작가의 느낌과 표현을 담아내는 식이다. 큰 화면의 구성에 있어서는 색을 먼저 칠하고 형과 테두리를 나중에 그리는 방식인데, 색에 대한 생각에서 선에 대한 생각으로 이동하면서 전체적으로 더하는 것이 아니라 빼는 방식을 택하고 있다. 특히 색을 통해 상징과 의미를 담아낸다고 하는데 이러한 상징과 의미조차 선적인 조율의 과정, 곧 작가 자신의 사유들로 조정하고 있는 것이다. 어떠한 정합적인 구조와 구성으로 화면을 구동시키는 것이 아니라 최종적인 판단에 있어 작가의 어떤 생각과 느낌, 그리고 표현을 중시하고 있음을 주목해야 할 것 같다. 복잡한 화면 구성 조차 결국 어떤 결과일 뿐 미리 치밀하게 계산되고 구조화된 것이 아니었던 것이다. 이시공간성은 이처럼 구조적으로 복잡한 어떤 개념이라기보다는 현실의 시공간에 대한 각기 다른 체험 속에서 갖는 감각상의 문제일지도 모를 일이기 때문이다. 우리가 현실에서 마주하고 경험하고 느끼는 시공간성이야말로, 단일하고 균등한 것으로 환원되지 않은 숱한 감각들의 충돌과 느낌의 축적들일 것이다. 이런 면에서 복잡하고 화려한 화면의 구성에도 불구하고, 그리고 화면을 가로지르는 선과 면들의 복잡한 구조에도 불구하고 작가의 그림은 서양의 그것이라기보다는 마음의 흐름과도 같은 동양의 어법을 닮아있다. 작가 역시도 이에 화답하듯 복잡한 것이 오히려 쉽고 비우고 정리하는 것이 중요하다고 말한다. 그래서인지 작가의 그림은 전체적으로는 구상적인 면모가 도드라지는 복잡한 시공간성이 얽혀있지만 부분적으로 추상적이라 할 정도로 압축과 생략으로 마감되어 있다. 구상과 추상이 한 화면에 고스란히 공존하고 있는 것이다. 그의 말처럼 그저 가시적인 시공간의 대상을 쓸어 담기 보다는 의미 있는 것을 남기는, 다시 말해 마음으로 이를 가다듬고 정리하는 것이 더 중요한 문제일지 모르기 때문이다. 그런 면에서 작가의 작업을 심치心治, 곧 마음을 다스리는 것으로 이해하는 것이 필요할 듯싶다. 지극히 서양적인 화풍을 드러내고 있음에도 불구하고 그 기저에 동양적인 사유가 관통하고 있는 것이다. 이런 이유로 작가는 그림을 그리는데 있어 마음의 안정, 평정심 같은 상태를 중요시 여긴다. 그토록 복잡다단한 스펙터클의 시공간성 조차도 결국은 내면의 심안으로 바라보고 있는 것이다. 사실 우리 내면의 시선과 감각만큼 유동적이고 이질적인 시공간성이 또 어디에 있을까 싶기도 하다. 현실의 역동적인 시공간성도 마음먹기 여하에 따라 그 복잡다단한 모습을 달리 하니 말이다. 이런 이유 때문인지 몰라도 그의 그림은 대체로 원색 계열의 밝은 색이 많고 중국 전통 회화의 그것처럼 보색 대비를 즐겨한다. 아주 밝지도 어둡지도 않은 색조 감을 갖는 것이다. 이러한 색감은 다시 당대의 현실에 대한 작가의 생각으로도 이어지는데 앞서 말한 것처럼 색감을 통해 어떤 상징과 의미를 담아낸다는 측면에서, 작가의 세상의 현실에 대한 생각이 분명 얼마간 비판적이긴 하지만 그렇다고 부정적이지만은 않은, 대체로 삶에 대한 긍정성을 가지고 세상을 대하지 않았나 싶다. 화폭에 구현된 색감으로 우리는 작가의 이러한 심경을 읽어낼 수 있긴 하지만, 화려하면서도 그렇다고 단순한 화려함으로만 그치지 않은 이러한 색감으로 인해 작가의 세상에 대한 복잡다단한 마음마저 전해져 오는 것만 같다. 급변하는 중국의 정치경제적 변동과 삶에 무관하지 않은 작가였기에 그의 그림에는 동양과 서양이, 전통과 현대의 사회, 문화가 서로 상충하고 충돌하는 과정 또한 고스란히 담겨있다. 서로 다른 시간성과 공간성의 차원은 이처럼 작가가 겪어야 했던 중국의 근현대화의 과정에서 빚어진 자연스러운 결과였던 것이다. 그렇기에 그의 그림을 단순히 복잡하고 화려한 회화적인 기법이나 스타일, 역동적인 화면 구성의 차원에서만 받아들이기에는 일정한 한계가 있다. 작가 스스로 겪어야 했던 유동하는 동시대 사회적 변화의 삶이 그대로 담겨 있기 때문이다. 이런 이유로 그의 그림에는 종종 이러한 동서의 문화적 차이를 담은 대상들이 등장하기도 한다. 호랑이와 판다, 미키마우스와 같은 동물들이 그러한 한 예들이다. 특히나 그의 그림에서 유독 많이 접할 수 있는 수없이 겹쳐지고 이어진 중국식 창과 문은 의미심장한 효과를 작동시킨다. 창이나 문은 또 다른 세상으로 들어가는 입구이자 출구이고 이질적인 서로 다른 세상을 잇는 매개체이기 때문이다. 하지만 작가는 여기에 그치지 않는다. 이 수많은 문들이 때로는 해체된 듯 소용돌이치면서 역동적으로 공간을 불안정하게 가로지르는데, 종종 이러한 복잡한 화폭 어디엔가 계단이 있고, 의자가 있는 식이다. 해체와 구축을 반복하는 역동적인 중국의 사회적 변화를 암시하는 동시에 그러한 혼잡한 세상의 변화 속에서 자신이 지금 어느 시공간에 있는지를 알려줄 수 있는 어떤 좌표로 창이나 문, 의자와 계단 같은 설정을 했던 것이 아닐까 싶다. 비슷한 맥락에서 이러한 복잡한 시공간 속에서 무기력하게 휴면하고 있는 인물이 등장하기도 한다. 자신을 둘러싼 세상의 복잡다단한 변화가 때로는 버겁게 다가왔는지도 모르겠다. 그렇게 움직임과 머무름, 열림과 닫힘을 이어가고 반복하면서 세상의 시공간의 변화를 대면하고 있는 것이다. 분명 시각적으로 그의 그림은 변화무쌍한 시공간의 변화를 담고 있다. 하지만 그의 그림을 종국에 관통하는 것은 이러한 외면적인 시공간의 카오스가 아니라 그러한 무질서의 카오스와 같은 세계마저도 평정한 마음으로 조망하려는 어떤 안정적인 질서로 향하고 있는 것만 같다. 카오스모스처럼, 단지 이질적이고 복잡한 시공간성에 머무는 것이 아니라 그러한 시공간성을 관통하며 이를 침착하게 조망하려는 작가의 어떤 마음의 상태마저 담으려 하면서 말이다. 그렇기에 그의 작품에서 볼 수 있는 이시공간성異時空間性은 다시 정동靜動의 시공간성으로 변모한다. 이러한 정동의 시공간성을 가로지는 것이 어쩌면 작가의 세상에 대한 어떤 의지나 지향, 혹은 자유 같은 것은 아니었을까. 작가가 그동안 숱한 중국사회의 변화를 목도하면서 그리고 스스로의 변화마저 두려워하지 않고 그러한 극적인 변화의 시공간성을 담아내려 하면서 체득하려 했던 저 ‘자유’ 말이다. 그렇게 작가는 급변하는 중국사회의 한 복판에서, 스스로 중심을 잡으려 하면서 자신이 어떤 시공간성에 있는지를 되묻는다. 이러한 물음들이 어디 비단 작가에게만 해당되는 것일까. 우리 역시도 작가의 그림을 보면서 스스로 존재하고 있는 시공간을 돌이켜보고 성찰할 수 있는 기회가 될 테니 말이다. 그런 면에서 작가의 그림은 단지 우리를 둘러싸고 있는 복잡다단한 시공간성만을 드러내는 것이 아니라 그렇게 유동하는 시공간성의 변화를 따라 다른 모습으로 변모될 우리 자신의 역동적인 변화 또한 담아내고 있지 않았나 싶다. 이러한 수행성의 차원이 다시 작가의 그림을 동양적인 사유, 정서들과 결합시킨다. 현실의 해체와 구축만을 단순 반복하는 것이 아니라 그러한 반복과 변화 속에서도 작가 스스로 다시 평정한 마음으로 이 복잡다단한 세상을 바라보려 하면서 우리로 하여금 정동과 생성의 기운을 느끼게 하고, 그렇게 자유로울 또 다른 변화를 추동케 하니 말이다. 그렇게 작가의 작업은 현실의 시공간을 주름 짓고 펼치면서 스스로 자유로워질, 우리 자신을 향해 부단히 시각적인 말을 걸어오고 있는 것만 같다.

2019-04-25T02:05:14Z

http://altspaceloop.com/exhibitions/the-view-of-heterotopos

All cats love to have shelter away from adverse weather conditions and other animals who may be out there. You may wonder why you would want to buy your cat their own home rather than just letting them come inside. Well, cats are highly independent and territorial. A cat home gives them a place to call their own away from the potential stresses outdoors. Alternatively, you may have feral cats in your area, and you want to give them a place to shelter. With so many different options out there, it can prove to be somewhat of a challenge to choose the ideal cat home for your four-legged friend. To allow you to make the most informed decision possible, we have selected 10 of the best outdoor cat houses and listed their most appealing features. Ready to put a roof over your cat’s head? Then let’s find one! First up on the list, we have this truly beautiful two-story outdoor cat house. The bottom area is enclosed for protection, while the upper terrace lets your cat enjoy the outdoors, which means they still having the protection of the asphalt roof if the weather takes a turn for the worse. Since it is such a large structure, it is perfect if you have multiple felines. You don’t have to be a DIY expert to assemble the house and the holes are all pre-drilled. Once it is set up, the house provides a stable abode as the wood is made of anti-rot material to stand the test of time. This outdoor cat shelter offers both comfort and protection from bad weather conditions. There is a pair of entry and exit points, so your cat can decide how they would like to get in and out, and they have a means of escape if needed. This is the kind of outside cat house which is durable and tough enough to stand the test of time. It also comes with a manufacturer’s warranty for added peace of mind. As for the assembly, it is straightforward, and no tools are required. If you are looking for an insulated outdoor cat house, this one is designed to keep your feline friend warm. The floor, walls and roof are all contain high-quality insulation, ensuring that the structure stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter. You can also adjust the lifting handles to alter the ventilation. As for the unique door design, it allows your cat to enter, while still offering protection from predators. As well as being made from recycled post-consumer content, it is also designed to never chip, crack or fade. If your cat loves climbing up to high places, this three-story outside cat shelter gives them the opportunity to do this. And you are bound to get some joy seeing them poking their little heads out of the hinged shutters and peekaboo openings! The roofing is rainproof to ensure that your cat stays nice and dry, while the raised plastic floor keeps air circulating to ensure that the floor remains comfortable. The large door at the rear offers quick access and easy maintenance. This outdoor and feral cat house is easy to assemble, so you can put a roof over your furry friend’s head in no time at all. Inside is a heated bed which is designed to keep your kitty warm, no matter what the weather is like outdoors. The heated cat house features two clear door flaps, which are removable depending on whether you are trying to encourage airflow or keep the heat inside. For added peace of mind, you can rest assured that these houses have been certified to USA/CA electrical safety standards. One of the major advantages of this wooden cat house is how easy it is to assemble. There are two escape points which ensure that your pet is not going to get trapped by predators. The wood is made from an anti-rot material which is designed to last at least three years. However, if you have a particularly destructive pet, they can end up causing damage to the house. Bear in mind that it is designed to fit a single cat under 15 lbs. Designed for both winter and summer usage, the wood used in the construction of this cat house is cedar, which is meant to stand for a long time. You can be certain of high-quality workmanship and materials. When the sun comes out, the lounging deck provides the ideal spot for your cat to catch some rays! As for the floor, walls, and ceiling, thermal-ply insulation has been placed inside for heating and cooling properties. This heated outdoor cat house is designed to warm to your pet’s body temperature using only 25 watts when your cat lies down. The design may look simple but it is also effective. The structure has the major plus point of being easy to assemble. Large enough to fit any cat, it is also a highly portable, and you can put it in a range of different locations including the garage, shed, porch, or anywhere else you would like to protect your cat from extreme temperatures. This outdoor cat house for winter and summer has a host of positive qualities including being light and durable, as well as insulated and waterproof. Since it only uses Velcro and zips in its assembly, there are no tools required, so you can put it up in no time at all. Dual openings ensure that your cat won’t get trapped inside. The door flaps are removable and transparent, so your four-legged friend has a view of the outside world no matter what. The unique igloo design of this outdoor cat house is made to direct any rain or snow away from the entrance. Also, the plastic surface stops flea and mold growth. Inside is a cozy carpet which offers warmth, as well as encouraging scratching. No tools are required in the assembly. All you have to do is snap together the sides. An alternative usage is a shelter for an indoor cat who wants a little home to hide and sleep. So, you have read through the product selection and think that you have the ideal cat house chosen? Before you make your final decision, there are some key considerations which are worth bearing in mind. After all, you don’t want to have to go through the time and effort of putting up the cat home, only to find that it is simply not right for your feline friend. Here are some important factors to bear in mind. First, look closer at ahat sort of materials have been used to make the cat house. You need to match the materials to the environment that the house will be put in. For example, if you live in a particularly humid place, you should avoid wood which will expand and contract. And if you are in a hot climate, you should watch out for plastics which are more likely to overheat. Of course, the house still needs to offer a decent level of protection from the elements like rain if it will be sitting in your backyard. If you plan on putting it in a covered area such as a porch, you can be more confident in choosing a fabric-coated option. This is also the more suitable choice if you would like to bring the home indoors from time to time. The ease of assembly may well have an impact on your decision-making process – particularly if you are not all that skilled in the art of DIY. It is also worth looking at whether or not you are going to need any tools as you will need to consider how you are going to get your hands on these beforehand. There are also those cat homes which are easy enough to seal up with zippers or Velcro. These are ideal if you need to put your cat home up in a hurry and don’t want to go through the confusion and risk of breakage that a tool-based installation is likely to bring. If you live in an area which is particularly cold and miserable, you may need to investigate heated cat homes. It is worth confirming the energy needed for the heating pad to run effectively. Alternatively, you could consider insulation as another option. If the walls, floors, and rooves are properly insulated, they will trap inside warm air during the winter months and cool air during the summertime. You can also add some of your own insulation with blankets, padding, and other soft surfaces. If you are offering a shelter to cats during the colder months of the year, researching the heating and insulation situation is especially important. Buying a cat house which isn’t the right size is a waste of money, so you should make sure that your feline friend fits inside comfortably. If you are unsure, it is worth going for a larger size rather than a smaller one to ensure that they have enough space. You are bound to need a bigger house if you have multiple pets who will be sharing the structure. Having said that, you should still remember that larger houses are more difficult to heat than smaller ones, and they also present greater cleaning challenges. These two factors go hand-in-hand and contribute toward your cat house standing the test of time. Don’t forget that your cat is likely to bite and scratch at the surfaces, which can end up damaging them. Reliability is based on a solid construction with joints which fit tightly together. For a better indication of durability, check the product reviews to see what other cat owners have had to say. You may find out some information which was not already apparent. Some of the products above also advise that they are not suitable for cats who are more destructive, so this is another point which is worth bearing firmly in mind. Closely linked to the previous section, it is worth knowing a little bit more about how long your cat house is likely to last. Of course, the vast majority of people want this to be a long-term purchase and dp not want to keep buying a new one time after time. Many products have some sort of guidance on this subject, and others include a warranty which gives you an added guarantee. You could look in more detail at what sort of protection they offer against mold, water, and any other substances which could cause an issue. It is likely that you are going to need to clean your cat’s home from time to time, and you don’t want your job to be overly complicated. If the design features some cushions or another type of bedding, it is easier if they are all washable. If you want to make things even more straightforward, you should select a house which has a removable roof or floor. Over time, you may need to conduct some repair or maintenance work, so it is worth knowing a little bit more about what this may entail. Do I Really Need an Outdoor Cat House? If you have an outdoor cat, buying them a home is a worthwhile investment. When the cold of winter sets in or the rain starts pouring, it is important to provide them a place where they can get some shelter. Alternatively, you may be looking to offer a sanctuary to any stray or feral cats which are in your local area. Or perhaps you have a cat who passes between the indoors and the outdoors, but you would like to offer them a spot to rest outside. Many felines love to have a place of their own to shelter, sunbathe or simply explore. All of the options in the product guide above which offer a combination of one or more of these different qualities. But the weather isn’t the only threat to your feline friend. Other animals can also pose a risk, which is why so many of these houses come with dual openings to provide an easy escape. Other harmful factors which feral cat shelters can protect against include fleas, insects, and mold. Many are made of materials which are specifically designed to defend against these issues. As you will have been able to tell from the above buying guide, there are several different types of cat houses available. Here are some of the main differentiating features which can help you to make your mind up. Some of the cat houses above only have the capacity to hold a single cat, while others are big enough to contain several. Obviously, your decision will be based on how many felines you want to provide a shelter for. As we mentioned earlier on, it is worth taking your cat’s measurements to ensure that you select one which is the appropriate size. Of course, all the cat shelters above promise outdoor usage, but some withstand the elements better, while others are better kept under a roof or another similar structure. For example, the wooden houses are generally the ones which do well in any conditions. Many are made of anti-rot wood with the assumption that they will need to withstand a lot of rain and/or snow. Others are made from simple fabrics, which make them suitable for indoor use, and outdoors if they are under a shelter like a porch. Obviously, everything comes down to where you plan on putting the cat house. While some outdoor cat homes don’t come with any heating features at all, others are electrical or self-heated. Obviously, electric houses require a power source and electricity to function effectively. You also have the option of using these models without electricity if you would like. As for self-heated houses, they are made from insulating materials which keep your pet warm or cool, depending on the season. Of course, electrical houses have the potential to be warmer, but they don’t have the convenience factor of being able to put them anywhere you like. A: Encouraging your cat to use their cat house can present some challenges at first. Your first task is to make sure that you position the structure in the right place. The front should face away from the wind, and it should be in a location which protects against the rain and snow such as under a porch or some trees. If you can choose a place which has some sunshine and a nice view, this is always going to be a bonus. If you are planning on using it for feral cats, a discreet location is best as this is less likely to antagonize your neighbors who may not agree with keeping them. Cats also prefer an area where they can get some peace and quiet. Some shelters are best not directly on the ground as this will make it colder and more likely that other wildlife will be attracted. You could use pallets or bricks to prop it up. Cats also like heights because they feel more secure and protected. Patience is key when it comes to encouraging your cat to use their shelter. Make sure that everything is clean by washing any cushions, blankets or bedding beforehand. You could also make the shelter more alluring by spraying it with catnip. If you own the cat, you could put some of their toys and their scratching post inside to get their scent inside straight away and offer a sense of familiarity. You may need to leave them inside for some time before the smell becomes obvious. Your cat will probably start to explore slowly and cautiously, so offer them plenty of encouragement. A small treat can also help, but don’t only entice your cat with food as this can tempt other animals to enter as well. Don’t force your cat to go inside before they are ready as this can end up putting them off entirely. During the winter months, a heated pad will be very tempting to a cat, so let them discover the warmth for themselves. However, when they are asleep, you should avoid disturbing them. Simply allow your cat to get used to the shelter by themselves and they are likely to return when they want another sleep. Q: How do I select the right house size? A: Choosing the right house size is one of the most important considerations when you are buying a product of this variety. Essentially, you want it to be big enough for your cat to comfortably turn 360-degrees, as well as lying down and stretching out when they like. Bear in mind that many cats feel more comfortable in a cozier home. Larger homes are tougher to heat and can also end up encouraging other animals to enter. Of course, if you are looking to provide a place for multiple cats, you will need something bigger. Ultimately, it is worth getting a tape measure to compare your cat’s size to the dimensions of the house. Q: How should I clean my outdoor cat house? A: The cleaning method of your outdoor cat house depends on the type of materials which it is made from. If it contains fleece, woolen or similar soft materials, these can often be put in the washing machine on a gentle and cool cycle, but always check to confirm this. As for washing the rest of the house, you should remove anything you can first before attempting a standard soap and water scrubbing session. Many of these houses feature large openings which make it easier to reach inside and do the necessary cleaning work. Our number one pick of all is this stylish cat condo which is big enough to provide the perfect spot for several felines. The pre-drilled holes ensure that it is easy to assemble, while your cats have the choice of whether they would like to enjoy the fresh air on top or shelter underneath. Either way, they are protected from the rain by an asphalt roof. Made of cedar wood, it is designed not to rot over time. In fact, it should last for a period of at least three years if it is kept outdoors. Ultimately, this is the kind of product that your outdoor cat will love, and it will also look stylish in your garden too.

2019-04-25T23:54:21Z

https://www.petside.com/best-outdoor-cat-house/

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) registered their first win in this season of Indian Premier League (IPL) over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 8 wickets in Mohali on Saturday, April 13. Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and chose to field first. Put into bat, Punjab openers Chris Gayle and KL Rahul added 60 runs in the powerplay. Apart from Gayle, other batsmen were not able to reach the 20-run mark. Gayle, on the other hand, scored 99* off 64, including 10 boundaries and 5 sixes and put up 173 on board. Chasing 174, Bangalore captain Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers scored 67 and 59* respectively. Their 85-run partnership and Marcus Stoinis’ quickfire 28 off 16 helped them to claim their first win of the season. Punjab came to bat after losing the toss. They were hoping for a flying start while they struggled to score in the first two overs. However, Gayle was the one who started hitting first. He hit Umesh Yadav for a boundary and a maximum in the consecutive deliveries and later KL Rahul took on Yadav for two back-to-back boundaries. They put up 60 runs in the powerplay. KL Rahul couldn’t do much as he was dismissed for 18 in the 7th over which included two boundaries and a six. In-form Mayank Agarwal also failed to impress and was dismissed for 15. However, Gayle reached his fifty in the 9th over. Another in-form batsman Sarfaraz Khan also got out for 15 off 13. Gayle, somehow, failed to maintain the same strike rate during the middle-overs (7-15). He managed to score just 18 runs off 23 balls. This cost Punjab’s batting as well because the other batsmen were not able to contribute much. Gayle was lucky enough to not get dismissed in the very first over when he was trapped before the stump by Umesh Yadav. But umpire didn’t raise his finger and Virat Kohli also didn’t take any review. Gayle anchored the innings till the end and scored an unbeaten 99 which helped them to put up 173 on board after 20 overs. Chasing the total, Bangalore opener Parthiv Patel started with a boundary off Sam Curran. Then Kohli took on Shami for two consecutive boundaries in the second over. There back to back boundaries showed that they were there to win the game. However, Parthiv Patel got out in the 4th over for 19 off 9 but that didn’t slow down their scoring. His dismissal brought AB de Villiers in the crease; who showcased his talent from the very first over he faced. They put up 63 runs in the first six overs. However, they both rotated the strike beautifully and hit big shots whenever needed. They scored 98 runs in 11 overs and Kohli reached his half-century off 37 deliveries. Kohli was dismissed for 67 off 53, including 8 boundaries. On the other hand, de Villiers was there, stood strong and anchored the innings till the end. Bangalore needed 38 runs in the last three overs when some big hittings from AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis took the team over the line. The equation was 38 needed off 18 deliveries and the two set batsmen, AB de Villiers, and Marcus Stoinis were in the middle. Andrew Tye came to bowl the 18th over where he was hit by Stoinis for a boundary in the very first ball. Stoinis hit another boundary in the next ball through backward point. The fourth delivery went for a maximum over extra cover and Tye conceded 18 runs in the over. Shami started the next over quite well but a boundary in the fourth ball by Stoinis and a maximum by de Villiers in the final ball of the over ease the pressure. When they were needed only 6 runs in the final over, Ashwin handed over the ball to Sarfaraz Khan; who haven’t bowled before and that was his first over in the IPL history. However, he failed to restrict the runs as Stoinis hit a boundary in the very first ball, took two runs in the next ball and Bangalore registered their first victory of the season with four balls to spare. Had the bowlers able to restrict them in the death overs, the result might have been different. Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has signed for Middlesex to play in the upcoming Twenty20 Blast. AB de Villiers will play his first English county cricket which will start from July. However, he has signed up for the first seven group matches but he will be available for the latter stages also. The Twenty20 tournament is scheduled to start on 18 July where Middlesex will face Essex at Lord’s. It is expected that de Villiers might play in the opening match. The 35-year old retired from international cricket in May 2018. Since then, he has been taking part in T20 leagues all around the world, including the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the Mzansi Super League, and the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL). Middlesex head coach Stuart Law has expressed his excitement about de Villiers’ arrival to the club. This will surely strengthen their batting line up. Moreover, his inclusion will help the youngsters as well. “I look forward to working with AB this season and can’t wait to watch one of my favourite modern day batsman up close and personal,” Law further added. AB de Villiers too expressed that he has always wanted to play county cricket and playing at Lord’s is always special. One of the greatest batsmen of all time, AB de Villiers has played 272 T20 matches and amassed over 7000 runs at a strike rate of 148.85. He has played more than 400 International matches and has more than 20,000 runs in his name. He has been in a great form in the ongoing PSL and recently concluded BPL. He scored a 40-ball 45* and a 29-ball 52* in his last two matches for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL. He smashed a quickfire 50-ball hundred in the BPL, earlier this year. However, the South African batsman is the second renowned player to sign for the club after Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman; who will join the squad for the upcoming campaign. Shanthakumaran Sreesanth is in news again. This former Indian bowler is a participant in the latest edition of much controversial show Bigg Boss and is being anything but loved by the other contestants. Sreesanth had already enough reasons to be disliked by the fans for his past and now he is adding some more to that. People from various fields come to the show to regain popularity or to change the image and here Sreesanth is becoming famous for all the negative reasons. One of his roommates termed him as enemy whereas he is being criticized for showing the least sportsman spirit in the house. Sreesanth was banned by BCCI in 2013 for spot-fixing during IPL. Post that, he tried to make a comeback through the entertainment industry. Apart from few films, he was also seen in Jhalak Dikhla Ja before Bigg Boss. Although Bigg Boss 12 has not been very effective for Sreesanth as of now, there was a time when this former cricketer used to win matches for India and was loved by the fans. Few of his iconic performances are still remembered by them. When Rahul Dravid led Indian team finally won a test match on the South African soil in 2006, Sreesanth became the man of the match with his massive contribution. The match drew huge media attention not just for the ill record of the Indian team, but also for Sourav Ganguly who was making a comeback after a gap of 10 months. Indian team scored 249 in the first innings which included Ganguly’s 51 and made his comeback worth remembering for fans. The score wasn’t enough to defend the South African side consisting of Smith, Amla, Kallis, and AB de Villers but the Indian side bowled in a splendid way to restrict them for just 84 runs. Sreesanth took 5 for 40 with Zaheer and Kumble each taking 2 wickets. India came to bat again and with Laxman’s 73 put a score of 236 with South Africa already trailing behind by 165 runs. In the second innings, Anil Kumble led the show with Sreesanth and each of them took 3 wickets. South Africa was all out for 278 and India won that historic match by 123 runs. Sreesanth played his first test in 2006 in Nagpur against England and took 4 wickets in debut match. The performance in South Africa test showed his consistency and temperament. The aggressive bowler showed calm whenever he was on the crease, unlike his off-field image. He had an interaction with Allan Donald before the South Africa tour which helped him to deliver that magical spell. He played 27 test matches and 53 ODIs with 37.59 and 33.44 averages respectively. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that he was here to stay but he lost it all for himself. We can certainly hope for his sanity in the show so that he doesn’t make it worse for his fans. IPL 2018: SRH giving away points? Sunrisers Hyderabad is on the lead on the scoreboard for IPL by giving out great performances throughout the series. However, it looks as though they are now slacking and have lost the last three matches consecutively, not only disappointing fans but also affecting their stand and net run rate. Although they haven’t fallen from their position yet, their weakness is becoming an advantage for other team members. The subsequent loss started with their match with CSK. This was a highly anticipated match because the two teams on the top of the points table were going to have a face off. The match started off well for SRH however at a mere 18 runs and nearly just 3 overs into the game, Alex Hales was out by just making 2 runs. Deepak Chahar was one of the best bowlers of the match and in four overs, SRH was able to score only 16 runs and he managed to take a wicket. They were able to score a mere 29 runs in 6 overs. They were so slow that was only able to make 62 runs in 10 overs, which was very upsetting to look at. SRH and made 179 runs in total. They could have done much better, especially during such a match. CSK, on the other hand, took the pitch by storm by their wondrous batting and Ambati Rayudu managed a 100 not out!. Shane Watson and Ryaudu opened with a glorious 3 sixes by Watson. However, the sixes and fours did not stop with Ryaudu hitting 7 sixes and 7 fours in total. Manish Pandey dropped MS Dhoni’s ball and encouraged CSK even further. Siddharth Kaul and Shakib Al Hasan gave away 40 and 41 runs respectively. Their poor bowling resulted in the CSK win in 19 overs with a run rate of 9.47. RCB was suffering by being at the bottom of the points table and it was crucial for them to win the match against SRH, in order to secure a place for themselves and stay in the running. RCB’s reputation was shoddy this time, probably, making SRH overconfident. It is well-known fact that RCB’s batting lineup is categorized as one of the strongest and this time, they indeed proved themselves. Although Kohli and Parthiv Patel were out without making any significant differences to the scoreboard, AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali certainly did make a great score! a grand total of 107 runs over 57 balls. However, with Rashid Khan onboard, they did not manage to get too far. Nevertheless, apart from the 19-year-old, it appeared as though no other bowler was up to the mark and Basil Thampi was highly disappointing by letting slip 70 runs in 4 overs. Shakib Al Hasan wasn’t up to the mark at all either. On the other hand, the RCB bowlers were doing a relatively better job than SRH and pulled the team through. Dhawan was out at 18 by Yuzvendra Chahal. Alex Hales was ousted by De Villiers by his breathtaking catch. When SRH was about the turn of the tables, Williamson was ousted by Mohammed Siraj. Tim Southee successfully curbed their win in the final overs. The third match that SRH consecutively lost was against KKR. This was a must-win if SRH wants to keep up its reputation. SRH started off good, however, it soon began slacking by the 8th over, one of the most promising batsman till then, Shreevats Goswami was out and leaving SRH at 79-1. Not a loss they cannot recover from. However, Russell who caught Goswami caught Williamson too. Although his bowling was not exceptional, it appears as though his fielding most certainly was. Dhawan who was going great until now gets out just three overs after Williamson by an LBW. This is where the fall of risers begins to happen. 15 overs down and a score of 140 was not what we were expecting, it’s slightly disappointing. Eventually, almost every over after this, one player gets out and the team is all out by the 20th over. When KKR starts batting it’s a spree of fours until the 3rd over when Sunil Narine is caught out. However, no other damage is caused to the batting until later in the 13th over when the second wicket falls, giving them enough time to Chris Lynn and Robin Uthappa to balance the scores. Sandeep Sharma‘s bowling is disappointing as he gives away 30 runs in 2 overs. Although SRH does take down 5 of the opposing team’s men, their good play compared to SRH’s slacking game makes them win the match. Thus, it can be said that SRH were out of form for these three matches and it did cost them. Their Net run rate would drop and although they haven’t fallen off the top, it has affected the fans’ nerves and is proof of their weaknesses which might be aimed at again if they do not cover it up. All the best SRH! IPL 2018 | Match 53 | RR vs RCB: Rajasthan Royals defeat the Royal Challengers Bangalore to kick them out of the tournament yesterday at Jaipur. RR is now still in contention for the playoffs, placed fourth. Their net run rate, however, still remains low at -0.250, allowing them to be easily surpassed by Mumbai Indians if they win today. RCB, on the other hand, see themselves out of the tournament with their loss placing them in the sixth position with no more matches left to allow them to make a comeback. This came as a definite shocker with RCB having the more potential of winning yesterday. RR won the toss and opted to bat. Rahul Tripathi (80) and Jofra Archer (0) opened the innings for the team. RR lost Archer for free to Umesh Yadav in the first over itself. A good auspicious start for RCB, but apparently not as great with the next wicket being taken only in the fourteenth over. Tripathi remained undefeated to complete the innings at 80. Captain Ajinkya Rahane (33) came in to replace Archer and partnered with Tripathi to smack Yadav for three boundaries in the fourth over, taking revenge for the early wicket. By the end of power-play, the duo had 45 runs in their pocket. Rahul Tripathi reached his third IPL fifty in just 38 balls Their partnership pushed the score to 100 for 1 by the fourteenth over, when Umesh Yadav came in again to take out Rahane and Sanju Samson (0) one after the other. Sanju Samson’s golden duck left everyone reeling – yesterday was not his day to make it back to form. Heinrich Klaasen’s cameo over five overs added 32 runs to the scoreboard. He went down with a bang as he infuriated Siraj with twelve runs in the nineteenth over only to be dismissed right after. Krishnappa Gowtham (14) went out on the final ball, ending the innings with a score of 164 for five. Jofra Archer’s debut as opener did not go as planned, he will probably not be seen doing it again in their next match (if there is one). Umesh Yadav is arguably the best bowler in RCB as he finished with a figure of 3/25. He gives away a few runs but he does remove the crucial players off the field when the team needs him to. He is second to the Purple cap Andrew Tye as he lagged behind by four wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal did not take any wickets but the leg-spinner only conceded 26 runs in his four overs. With a target of 165 to chase, RCB decided to continue with its same line-up and opened with Virat Kohli (4) and Parthiv Patel (33). Kohli was seen off the field by Karnataka boy, Krishnappa Gowtham in the third over – the first massive blow to the team. AB de Villiers came in to replace him and secured his sixth half-century this IPL season in 32 balls. Shreyas Gopal then started his hunt with Parthiv Patel being his first wicket in the ninth over. He immediately dismissed Patel’s replacement, Moeen Ali (1), in the very same over. Mandeep Singh (3) came on to the field only to end up being Gopal’s third wicket of the evening. Even Colin de Grandhomme (2) couldn’t save his team as Ish Sodhi took him out in the twelfth over. But all through these wickets, they still had De Villiers but he was not spared by the Gopal storm as he became his fourth and final wicket for the night. After this major blow, it was all downhill for RCB with Mohammed Siraj’s (14) wicket sealing their fate at 134-all out in 19.2 overs. Harsh Bhogle expressed his sentiments regarding RCB’s loss just as all their fans must have felt. Oh, #RCB, you are changing things on the points table, but not in a manner we thought you would. RCB played well in phases and every time they got a momentum going, Shreyas Gopal hit them with a wicket. AB de Villiers delivered as usual but with no major support from any of his teammates, he was unable to single-handedly serve them this victory. RCB’s biggest flaw has been the inability of the middle-order batsmen to sustain the fall of the top order but hopefully, the team will come back next season with a new and improved batting line-up. RR will keep their fingers crossed as they hope the results of today’s remaining matches do not push them out of the top four and they make it into the playoffs.

2019-04-20T17:09:10Z

https://khelpanda.com/tag/ab-de-villiers/

I’ve seen several search engine topics involving schnauzers having symptoms of heart failure, and fainting, even when asleep. I’ve been there with two of my schnauzers. My last one just died 12 days ago… always consult your vet with questions, but here is my experience. I’m also an RN (disabled, but got my license 28 years ago and still have it). I was cued in to abnormal breathing and behaviors, which helped me know that I needed to get both of my dogs who had heart failure seen by their vets. My first schnauzer to have heart failure was Hannah. I got her in 1988 as a 6 week old puppy. To make a sweater for her (there weren’t many options for puppy clothes back then) I cut holes in one of my socks. She had some episodes that were called seizures, but with how things turned out, she probably had some heart issues starting at about 18 months old when she fainted (and twitched) for the first time. By the time I got her to the vet, she was fine. She had those episodes now and then, until 2000 when in one night she fainted 7 times (I stayed up with her all night). I thought I was taking her to the vet to be put to sleep that next morning, but he got her on some medications and prescription dog food and she lived another GOOD year. I vowed to not make her live just so I didn’t have to face the loss of her. As a single woman with no kids, she was my family. I wanted the best for her, but when she died, it was really hard. She had done well up until the last couple of days; when she quit eating, I knew that was it. I had decided to get another dog before she died, so that kept me going. Then I got Mandy. She did very well until she was just about 11 years old. She fainted. Her breathing got too ‘hard’, and I knew what was going on. I took her to the vet, and with an exam and x-rays (showing an enlarged heart, displaced trachea- from the size of her heart, and some lung congestion) she was also diagnosed with canine heart failure. She was put on medications, and did fairly well. She only fainted 3 times total- including one time when she was asleep. The last ‘episode’ wasn’t the same, but it was similar, and she died in my arms within 15 minutes. I still cry every day missing her. Something huge to remember is to not give the dog ‘people’ food because of the salt content, unless it has no salt (which means that most processed foods are out). I got freeze dried peas (meant for toddlers) for Mandy, and she also loved freeze dried bananas (NOT the fried ones in the grocery store). Those items had NO added ingredients. She also liked pieces of raw apples. The only commercial treat she could have was “Charlee Bear”- because of the sodium content being low enough (I e-mailed the company for the answer re: sodium content, and then cleared it with my dog’s vet- please check this out with your dog’s vet as well 🙂 Towards the very end, Mandy didn’t want to eat. She had lost weight, so I tried various things- ground beef, ground turkey, scrambled eggs, rice, potatoes, oatmeal, baby food fruit and veggies…. that last morning she had two Swedish meatballs that I’d adjusted for her (low sodium and baked instead of fried- like the Christmas party meatballs were). It’s heartbreaking to see them get older and struggle. I made some mental notes as to when it was ‘enough’- though with Mandy it was a bit less clear until she just had a brief episode and then was actively dying in minutes. But I was prepared to have her put to sleep. Hannah died in my arms as she was euthanized. She knew I was there. That was important to me- I couldn’t have either of them think I’d left them. Mandy looked scared until she just collapsed in my lap. Then it was just a few minutes before it was over. I talked to her, and scratched behind her ears as I knew she liked. I’m not sure what my malfunction is, but I’m sorta grumpy. I got up way earlier than usual (I’m one of those who is usually up half of the night and then sleeps until noon). I’ve got a vague headache, but that’s nothing all that new. I have chronic headaches. Christmas was really good- I got to see (and meet) family, and talked to my biological mom and half-brother on the phone, which is always good. I got to spend time with family at the Swedish Christmas party since I’ve got the ice vest to wear when I leave home and don’t have as much chance of being overheated because of the dysautonomia. And yet, I’m a major dud this morning. I’ve been extremely irritated at comments to news stories on various online sites and publications. So many people are so heartless and cruel. Or pathologically immature and even psychopathic. Responding that they’re ‘happy’ about an article where five people were made homeless by a fire that destroyed their home? How do people get that way? Who dropped them on their head? Or burned them? And then there are the other ‘less’ disturbing posts that are just plain nasty and/or cruel. Or ignorant. I’m actually very thankful I don’t know those people or have to spend any IRL time with them. A click of the back button takes them out of my life. The onslaught of horrible stories that are on the news constantly is also a major bummer. I feel really badly for those folks and what they’re going through, but what good does it do anybody to have it dissected in the media for days to weeks on end? I’ve been a crime survivor of a high profile case (before the 24/7 media, back in 1987). It wasn’t helpful to see it on TV for days or see the newspaper coverage over and over. The people who knew about it, and were my actual friends/family already knew what happened, and face it: most people really don’t want to know about real life horrors that happen to other people. Or they don’t know what to do with the information, at least to the persons’ face. Behind their back, the chatter won’t stop. If people would have just asked me straight out what happened, or even if I wanted to talk about it would have been much more helpful than days of media coverage (without any input from me- I was an object). I had one ‘different’ neighbor that responded to meeting me with “I never thought I’d meet you ! ” Really? Meeting someone who has been raped and beaten was a life goal? Step away from the strange one ! I’m extremely disgusted with my weight, and have my food diary set up to start on January first. I don’t want to look like this on my 50th birthday next November. I don’t want to be grotesque and repulsive going into the last third to half of my life. I have to restrict food. I’ve tried the ‘normal’ calorie amounts I’ve been given from the doctor and diabetic dietician, and that doesn’t work…so I’ve got to go lower. I can’t do much exercise because of the issue with passing out when my heart rate goes up or I get overheated, and my knees and spine issues. So the calories have to go. A slippery slope for me, so I’ve got to be careful- but I have to DO something beyond what I’ve been doing. I didn’t look like this before chemo… and I want to lose any remnants of those days. Losing weight will also save me some time before having to have my left knee replaced (I had the right one done in late 2006, and it was a very unpleasant experience with some complications and ‘dull’ response time by the doc and nurses to a bladder infection). I had to go to a rehab place for the medically defective. It was a good rehab facility- great care, but set up where people stayed in their rooms like a hospital between therapies (no common area), and since I was infective, I was in a private room- not a horrible thing, but friggin’ isolated. It’s not like there was a big risk of someone coming into contact with my pee. My left knee has unrepaired, and questionably healed ACL and medial meniscus tears, done when I turned over in bed back in 2009- about a week before my closest friend from here in this town died suddenly (following several complications from a KNEE replacement). She’d moved to a different state to be closer to one of her daughters, but we were in contact by phone daily, even when she was in the hospital or rehab. I was supposed to have the left knee replacement done, but then got leukemia and everything was put on hold to survive that. Been a weird few years. I’m frustrated that I don’t feel that people understand why I’m like I am. I’ve got diagnoses that people haven’t heard of. I ‘look’ like I’m capable of working, and I miss being a nurse SO much- but too much standing or walking, and the whole heat/heart rate thing = one unconscious middle-aged RN. I’ve been an RN for nearly 28 years. I’ve been on disability for 8 years. But I still keep my license, because I still AM an RN. I worked hard for that thing. And I loved working with it… And those days are done. When people ask me what I’m doing to get back to work, it hurts- there isn’t anything that can be done by me or anyone else. Some things CAN’T BE FIXED ! SO those perky, blessed-to-be-clueless people need to shut up and go target someone who has some stuff going on that is treatable. I’ve been dealing with much of this since 1996- and worked until 2004- I held out as long as I could. I fought to keep working. QUIT asking me if I’m going back to work. NO, I can’t ! I was raised in an evangelical church, and am a born again Christian, without some of the judgmental drama that can go with those two things. I hate the passive ‘I’ll pray for you’ stuff- prayer is wonderful, and I do it often, but if someone wants to help, some action would be really amazing ! Prayer is about as passive as a person can get and rationalize to themselves that they’re ‘doing’ something– and while I do believe in prayer and that it is a very positive and powerful thing (and pray for people on the news all of the time since I can’t do anything else), it’s not the be-all end-all answer to really being of use to someone. It’s definitely better than nothing, but it really doesn’t show much in terms of actively supporting and helping someone. Sometimes it’s all people CAN do- and that’s appreciated. But remember the ‘faith without works is dead’? I’ve sensed a lot of dead. I wish I could do more for others, and feel guilty about that. Not like I know many people around here to be available for… back in the home where my heart is, I could be more useful, even if I’m not that physically ‘able’… I could drive someone to the store, or appointments. I could water plants when they were gone, or change out cat litter. I couldn’t walk dogs or watch kids… but I’d do what I could. Anyway, that’s a bit of what’s rattling through my head today. I’m a little less grumpy now. Hannah was my present to myself for my 25th birthday. She was a salt and pepper miniature schnauzer. I’d gone and picked her out from her litter when she was about 4 weeks old. When she was ‘ready’ at 7 weeks old, I drove out to Lake Travis (near Austin, TX) in a raging thunderstorm in November 1988, and got her. She and her littermates were all standing up on the covered patio with their dog mama, peeking in the French doors into the house. They were all so cute, but she walked over to me first when the door was opened. She seemed to remember! She was so funny when she was little. I didn’t have the heart to make her sleep by herself, and since she was a ‘baby’ didn’t want her peeing in my bed. I put her into a regular baby bassinet that a neighbor had given to me, and put it next to my bed. She’d give a good puppy howl if she was scared, and as soon as I draped my hand into the bassinet, she’d quiet down and go back to sleep. After a couple of nights, she seemed to understand that I wasn’t going anywhere. As soon as she was potty trained, she slept in bed with me. Hannah was about 2 years old when she had her first ‘seizure’. By the time I got her to the vet, the vet looked at me like I was a bit on the overprotective side. Hannah was fine, and just stared at both of us. Back home… She continued to have these ‘seizures’ on and off for years. They never happened more than 2-3 times a year, so from what the vet had said about risk/benefits of medication, I opted to keep her off of meds. She always bounced back as if nothing had happened. When Hannah was 11 1/2 years old, she scared me out of my mind. One single night, she passed out seven times. I was up all night with her. She’d get sort of woozy and stagger a bit and, then fall over on her side, twitching. She’d then stagger to her feet and have to go out to pee immediately. Like right now. I thought for sure she was dying. She slept on the couch next to me that whole night between episodes. She had stopped eating the day before (which was very unlike her), but initially I thought it was some bug. I watched her, and she didn’t have any vomiting or diarrhea… but then that night. Oy. I thought it was the end. As soon as the vet’s office opened I called, and got her right in. We lived in a small town from the time she was 7 years old; they didn’t have an emergency animal hospital there at the the time. I was glad her regular vet saw her. He asked me to leave her there for a few hours so he could figure out what was going on. I agreed, but I hated leaving her. She was my only companion. My best friend. I got the call to come and get her (good news) and when I got there the vet told me that she was in heart failure. Grade 4 murmur ( a ‘5’ is the worst). He’d given her oxygen and a shot of a strong diuretic (water pill medicine), and she’d peed off a bunch of fluid her heart couldn’t circulate through her body normally, to be eliminated through her kidneys. I got prescription dog food, three medicines to give her by mouth, and a bottle of the diuretic medicine to give her as a shot if she needed a ‘booster’ to help her breathing, and the syringes and needles for her shots. He knew I was an RN, so giving shots wasn’t a problem. He just showed me where on the back of her neck to give them. She also couldn’t have regular dog treats, or anything with a ‘normal’ sodium level. I got her some low-sodium peanut butter (to hide her pills in). She didn’t like it. She also didn’t like the prescription ‘heart’ diet food, so the rest of that case of cans was returned, and she got the ‘kidney’ food. It had limited sodium like the ‘heart’ diet. And she got grapes (this was about 10 years before I found out that dogs shouldn’t have grapes). She LOVED those grapes. I’d sneak her pills into them, and she acted like I’d given her filet mignon and truffles. She did very well, and had many, many days where she was playing, and acting like she felt really good. She knew the names of her individual toys, and would get them, and enjoy chasing them. She still howled when I was on the phone to my folks; my mom had dementia, and one thing SHE still enjoyed was Hannah howling at her on the phone when I said “woof”, or “bow wow”. I just had to say the words, and she’d do her howling bit. Mom loved it ! Hannah, and the toy named “Weirdo”- feeling better ! Hannah still had an occasional fainting episode, but within a few minutes (and a quick trip outside to pee) was back to her normal self. I had told the vet that I would NOT put my best friend through a miserable year just because I couldn’t say goodbye. If she wasn’t going to have any quality of life, forget it. But he was right- she had some very good months left in her. About 11 months later, I noticed her start to change not long after moving to a different apartment in the same complex. She started not wanting to eat, and her breathing was getting funky. I gave her the shots to get rid of the fluid (and it did). But it wasn’t working as well. I had told myself when she was diagnosed that if she started to refuse food completely, that was it. We were done. The shots were only helping for about a half a day, and I had to give them to her a couple of times a day for 4-5 days. Then she completely stopped eating. My heart started to break. That night, her breathing was horrible. I knew what was coming. In the morning, she got off of the bed, and peed on the floor. Then she went and hid in my closet, as if to say she was so ashamed. I couldn’t get mad at her, she was sick ! It was pitiful to see her hiding from her accident. She NEVER peed on the floor- she was so good about waiting to go outside, or using the pee pads when I left her in the kitchen to go to work. I knew I had to take her to the vet. I sat on the couch before getting ready to load her into the car. She got up on the couch with me, and climbed on my lap. She ended up sitting on my thigh, and then putting her head on my shoulder. I think she was saying goodbye, and it was easier for her to breathe if she was upright, but didn’t have to support herself. I loaded her into a laundry basket to put in the car, since her balance was a little iffy. When I took her in to the vet, he said he’d like to try some more oxygen and medications, and he’d call me. I told him that I could be back there in minutes if it looked like she was getting worse (she was already bad), and he agreed that he’d call me if I needed to come. I did not want her dying without knowing I was there, and I hadn’t just dropped her off and deserted her. I got the call around 11:30 a.m. I had the kind of desk nursing job where there was flexibility for such things. I’d told my boss ahead of time what was going on, so when I told the receptionist I had to leave I could just go. When I got there, Hannah was hooked up to an IV, oxygen, rectal probe (temperature), and heart monitor. She looked spent. But she also lifted her head a little when she heard my voice. She knew I was there. I was told to take whatever time I needed, but I think when she put her head on my shoulder earlier that morning, that was our time. Right then, I had to do what was best for her, so I started taking the equipment off of her, and just holding her. I was satisfied she knew I was there, and that it was OK for her to stop fighting. I told the vet to just ‘do it’. She slowly dropped her head as the ‘go to sleep’ stuff took effect. I could feel her full weight against my arms, and then she took her last breath. It was over. My best friend was gone. I was told that I could spend time with her. (the vet’s office had cleared out for lunch, aside from those who were helping Hannah… and they were all in tears as well). I could hardly see her through the tears, but I did want to hold her for just a few minutes. They let me take her to one of the exam rooms where it was quiet, and private. I just cried, and told her how much I loved her, and how wonderful she’d been as my best friend. I wasn’t in that little room with her for very long. I’d had 12 1/2 years with her to remember… those were gifts. But I got to say ‘goodbye’, just her and me. I just hope she knew how much I loved her.

2019-04-19T06:26:59Z

https://jillinoisrn.com/tag/schnauzer/

Team UKRM did the Snetterton 8 hour race on the weekend preceding the start of the Manx Grand Prix. While the bike hadn’t been changed much since the previous 6 hour race at Pembrey, it did have a new petrol tank. Insufficient flushing of the contents caused serious problems with the fuel system (blocked filter, knackered fuel pump). So, for the two days before departure, Alex Ferrier and I went through the whole bike – replacing all the consumables (oil and filter, brake pads, tyres, etc) and replacing the all the fuel lines, connectors and filter, as well as changing the tank for one with a normal filler cap (instead of the twin filler dry-break system we use for endurance racing). Alex and I are lucky enough to be good friends of Manx residents Keith and Jan, and their near neighbours Sally and Michelle – lodging had been arranged for us with “the girls”, and space cleared in Keith’s workshop for my bike and kit. Having loaded the van the evening before, today consisted of little more than driving to Heysham, collecting Alex from Bridgnorth on the way, and getting the ferry to the Isle of Man. We arrived in the early evening, driving over the mountain (the “wrong way”) to Ramsey in the evening sunshine. On days like this, the Isle of Man is definitely one of the most beautiful places on earth. After unloading an enormous amount of kit into Keith’s workshop, we ensconced ourselves in Sally and Michelle’s house, and then got a takeaway curry. A busy, busy day - I had to get to the Grandstand in Douglas and sign on, get my kit inspected, and jump through several other administrative hoops including the newcomers briefing and the newcomers bus tour of the circuit. Meanwhile, Alex took my bike to Slick Bass’s tuning shop and gave it a run on the dyno, to ensure that it was still healthy after all the work we’d done on it. Encouragingly, it still made 130bhp at the rear wheel. Scrutineering for practice started in the afternoon, with all the newcomers scheduled to do a lap behind a travelling marshal (mounted on a Fireblade) before being allowed to take to the circuit alone. This new measure was introduced this year after a French rider killed himself at the TT last year, on his first lap of practice, on about the 3rd corner. And this was our undoing. Despite the bike having run that morning on the dyno, and run for the best part of 8 hours the previous weekend, it chose this moment to develop a water leak (where the hose joins the water pump) on the start line, just as we’re due to be shepherded round by the travelling marshals. We quickly pulled it off the grid and fixed the problem in about 10 minutes; however by this time the ducklings had all left with their mother goose, and I wasn’t allowed to start – I would have to wait until Monday. This was not a good start to the fortnight. Later, in more contemplative mood, I reasoned that if one were going to suffer a catastrophic water leak anywhere on the Isle of Man, waiting on the start line is probably the best place. A busy day in the garage. I can’t remember what we did now (two weeks later) but it must have been important. Because of missing Saturday’s session, I and half a dozen other newcomers were to be escorted behind a Travelling Marshal at the start of today’s practice. Consequently, our presence was requested early at Scrutineering – i.e. around 2:30pm, even though the scrutes don’t arrive until 4pm. There’s a lot of waiting around in this game. And, the weather didn’t look good. In fact, it looked pretty bad – it was raining, so we retired to local hero Tommy Clucas’ awning, for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake. Tom is a mate of Keith’s, and despite being favourite to win the Junior race, and perhaps the Senior too, he is really down to earth, friendly and approachable. I first met him six weeks earlier, when he took time out to sit in the passenger seat of the car and talk me round a lap. Eventually we got scrut’ed, and then it was another two hours until the roads closed at 6pm, with practice due to start at 6:15. Although the rain had stopped, the weather still looked bad – the problem with the Island circuit is that if the weather comes down, the mountain section is covered in fog/cloud. In the old days, no one cared, but now, if the helicopter can’t fly the whole course, then no one rides. So, at around 6:30, the practice session was cancelled and we all went home. So, I’d been on the Island for four days now, and still hadn’t ridden the bike. It’s fair to say I was not in a good mood. In the morning, a group of us stood around in the workshop, wondering why there was so much travel in my brake lever. Alex, Keith and Joe decided to fix the problem, and pulled the brakes to bits, discovering several stuck pistons and some rather dished disks. We got all the pistons moving (with compressed air), cleaned them up, fitted some moderately flat disks and Keith bled the brakes in 10 minutes, and now they felt 10 times better than they ever had before. Why didn’t I do that ages ago? Thanks, guys. Got to scrut’ing early again, and then had the wait until 6:15 pm for the off. Which, today, actuall happened! Six new boys in orange bibs lined up on the Glencrutchery Road, and off we set behind the Travelling Marshal. It was immediately obvious that this was going to be a sloooooow lap – apparently some of the TMs had been criticised for going too fast on the escorted laps on Saturday. I spent half the time resting my left hand on the tank – I don’t think we went faster than 70 or 80mph down the straights. No matter, my penance was served, and when we got back to the Grandstand I was free to do a solo lap. Which, after a quick look over the bike, I immediately did. This was more like it! I headed off towards St Ninians Crossroads and Bray Hill, aware that I just need to dial myself carefully. But even so, that drop down the hill is quite amazing. Fortunately, having done so many laps of the circuit before on open roads, I had no problem knowing where the course went, and was able to navigate round at a comfortable pace – I got back to the Grandstand to find that I’d done 95mph – I was happy enough with that for my first lap on closed roads. The bike wasn’t handling particularly well either, so I resolved to call Richard at Maxton for some set up advice the next morning. By now I’m in the swing of things. There are always a few little jobs to do in the morning – checking the bike over, buying fuel, charging the transponder, etc, and then it’s off to the Grandstand in Douglas, and get in the queue for scrut’ing. Now that I’d passed my novice initiation, I was out practicing with the fast boys – practice sessions are divided in two – the first for classic and smaller capacity bikes (125s and 400s), the second for the 600s and 750s (and the odd pukka race 250 two stroke). So now there as an even longer wait until my session started just after 7pm. A fair amount of meaningless wandering around took place to pass this time. I also managed to meet Richard from Maxton in the queue, and he had a bounce on the rear suspension of the bike, and applied a few clicks, and then a few more. Bikes go off in pairs at ten second intervals for practice, just like in the race, but your starting position depends on how soon you get through scrut’ing and how much you’re prepared to jostle in the queue. I didn’t want to be too near the front, but nor did I want to be near the back either, so I manage to get out about half way. Bear in mind that there are a lot of bikes on the course for a practise session – easily over a hundred. I set off with another rider (can’t remember who now) and immediately felt good – just comfortable and enjoying the speed of the bike. I wanted to do two laps (including a ‘flying lap’ as the second one to actually get into the rhythm of the place, and make sure the bike was ok, as it would need to do this in the race (which is four laps with a pit stop). Of course, there are still some places where I was slowing down despite the fact that I knew I shouldn’t – the flat out kinks at Glen Vine, Crosby, Gorse Lee and the end of Conk-y-Voddy were far from flat out. But elsewhere the suspension felt far better now Richard had adjusted it. My sense of fun was interrupted at the 13th Milestone, however – coming out of the bottom of Barregarrow, there were waved yellow flags – we slowed down, and coming round the corner there was a scene of carnage. Three bikes were down, riders lying in the road, and straw bales littered everywhere. We had to thread our way through the wreckage at no more than 20mph. It suddenly hit home to me that if there’s an accident here, the bike and rider are likely to stay on the road (rather than slide off the track into the gravel as on a short circuit), and collisions were therefore a real danger (I was later told that the 2nd and 3rd riders had crashed hitting the wreckage of the first one). That gave me pause for thought, but I soon got my head down and got going again. I was enjoying myself here – there were a few bikes coming past me, but I was catching and passing a few myself, and in some ways was just like being on a ride out with a bunch of fast mates, but with all the road to use, and no concerns about traffic or police. I came flying through and started my second lap. We still had to slow to negotiate the accident at the 13th, but otherwise I felt good, and when I got back to the pits Alex greeted me with a big grin, telling me that my first lap had been 101mph, and the second 103mph. I was over the moon! Thursday afternoon practise is a little different – it’s in the afternoon, rather than the evening, and slightly longer, meaning most people can get in three laps if they want. Consequently, the whole timetable of the day is moved forward. Fortunately, we had nothing to do to the bike, and so were up, breakfasted and over to Douglas with no rushing around. The bike passed scrut’ing again without trouble (once we’d noticed the missing bolt on the handlebar clamp in the queue! This place really does shake bikes to pieces). Often Thursday produces the fastest times, just because it’s a more congenial time to be riding bikes (with no low sun as in the evening sessions) but the weather was grey with a threat of rain. Still, no problems, and we were all off on time. By now I was feeling pretty comfortable, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to find any additional pace. Again, there were a couple of accidents on the course, one at Rhencullen and then, after speeding up again for the Bishopscourt section I came round a corner to find an accident that the marshals hadn’t even got to yet – the rider was on one side of the road, the bike on the other, on fire, with smoke drifting across and obscuring the road. I had no time to do anything apart from scream, and went flying through the smoke to find myself still on two wheels and pointing in approximately the right direction. Now that was scary. I decided to see if I could up the pace a little, so tried to ensure I got out near the front of the practice group, and found myself lining up with Irish newcomer Andrew Neill, riding TT winner Ryan Farquar’s ZX6RR. As expected, Andrew immediately drew ahead of me on the run down Bray Hill, but I girded my loins and tucked in behind him, and kept him in sight all the way to Cronk-y-voddy (10 miles later), where my bike started to play up, holding back in top gear. This felt exactly like the fuel starvation problems we’d had previously at Snetterton. Through the twisty bits it was ok, and only when flat in top did it show up. I soldiered on, but the bike wouldn’t pull more than 10k in top all the way from Union Mills to the Highlander, or along Sulby stratight, so I knew there was a ‘real’ problem. I must have been yanking on the throttle particularly hard, because on the run down to the Creg-ny-bar the throttle cable snapped. If only we’d listened to the scrutineer. So, I parked by the pub, and a marshal gave me some money to get a drink, and I waited for the roads to open and Alex to come and pick me up in the van. Still, I’d managed a 104mph lap, even with a bike that was a bit slow in top gear. Andrew Neill was 27 seconds faster (106mph) so tagging on to him had been a good plan. Alex went through the fuel system this morning, checking the tank, fuel filter and hoses. Meanwhile, I dashed from Ramsey to the paddock in Douglas, got some new throttle cables made up, and dashed back to Ramsey to fit them. The new inner cables were slightly too long for the new outers, so we had to get them shortened in the paddock again anyway. I also got a new chain fitted, as recommended by all the old Isle of Man regulars – the course is so bumpy it plays hell with chains. We then went through the by now regular routine. This was the last practice session, and several people advised me to just take it steady, and to just bed in the new chain. Which is what I did, posting an easy 102mph. Unfortunately, the fuelling problem was still there. Oh dear. Sunday 29th August – Day before Newcomers Race. So now we had a problem – the bike had a fuelling problem, and there was no more practise time. The problem could only be down to two things – either the fuel pump couldn’t supply the peak fuel demand, or the one-way valve on the tank breather (which lets air into the tank, but not fuel out) was causing a restriction. So, I borrowed a fuel pump from local rider Derren Slous, and we threw away the one-way valve and replaced it an old fashioned length of hose, curled up several times. We took the bike to Slick Bass’s dyno and ran it before and after the changes. While the dyno couldn’t re-create the problem (it’s not able to put the engine under load for long enough) we could at least check that it still ran as well as it did before. And it was still making healthy horsepower. But, before all this, there was more admin to do. Keith and I had to go to the race office at the Grandstand to sign on, and I had to go to the Newcomer’s race briefing, which was really just about how to do a pit stop. Having done three seasons of endurance racing, pit stops held no fears for me, but they’re something new for riders who’ve only done short circuit races. It was while having a cup of tea in the paddock with Keith that we heard that fellow newcomer Gavin Feighery had died overnight from the injuries he sustained when he crashed at the Mountain Box in the last practice session. It was the first fatality of the week. Scrut’ing is done slightly differently for the race – batches of bikes have a time slot, and ours was 7:00 to 7:30. This meant the van had to leave Ramsey at 6:30am! We’d loaded the van the evening before, and Alex and Michelle had volunteered to take it over, giving me an extra hour in bed. Thanks guys! I arrived with Keith at 8:30 and had to get my riding gear scrut’d again. And then it was just a question of waiting for the off, and the weather, which again didn’t look good. While the cloud was quite high (so no mist over the mountain) several showers had blown over the course, and much of it was reckoned to be wet. I collared two guys from Manx Radio, and they told me the entire Glen Helen section was soaked. So, that decided it – we swapped the wheels to run intermediate tyres, as did about 90% of the field. The roads closed at 10am, but a 30 minute delay was announced immediately, putting the start back to 10:45. At 10:30 we started moving the bikes up to the Glencrutchery road, but just as it looked like we were going to get away, another 30 minute delay was announced. So, we all milled around on the grid, chatting to each other and offering clichés and platitudes. And then the time went, and the start procedure was underway. Racing on the Mountain Course is essentially a time trial – riders set off in pairs at ten second intervals, and race the clock. I was number 29, meaning I would start some 2 minutes and 10 seconds behind the starting pair. Alongside me was a chap called Dave Saxby, who coincidentally was from Gloucestershire too, and was riding a GSX-R 600 from Fraser’s Motorcycles. We got a clean start, and the extra few ponies in my 750 got me ahead of Dave on the run to St Ninian’s crossroads, and that was the last I saw of him. When I spoke to him later he told me his intermediate tyres we sliding all over the place. The run down Bray Hill, for the first time in a race, for the first time in the wet, was scary. And, on the approach to Quarter Bridge, I, like the most of the rest of the field, had the warnings ringing in our head not to overcook it on cold tyres, with a full fuel load. And the same advice applied through Braden Bridge, which was also wet. In fact, the road was wet all the way to Glen Vine, but my tyres felt great, and I was already catching people – coming round the bottom of Union Mills and seeing someone ahead of you on the straight run to Glen Vine is a great feeling. I passed a couple of bikes on the way to Crosby, and caught a couple more through Greeba Castle, passing them on the run down to Gorse Lee and Ballacraine. And then we were into the Glen Helen section. Normally I love this part of the course, tho I’m not sure I’m particularly quick, but with very wet roads it needed some care. Still, I seemed to be going OK, and the tyres weren’t moving around at all, so I burst out of the climb up Creg Willys Hill onto the Cronk y Voddy straight, and onto completely dry roads for the first time, enjoying myself. And, the bike pulled top gear along the straight with no problems, meaning the fuelling problem was sorted. At the time of writing (10 days after the race), my memory has already faded too much to give a corner by corner write up. In fact, I found earlier in the week that even after two practise laps, I had pretty poor recall of when things happened – the brain is just too busy to file stuff away. The rest of the first lap went well, and (tho I didn’t know it at the time) I’d moved into 15th place. The mountain was mostly dry (apart from Bungalow Bridge, which stayed wet for the whole race), and my bike definitely pulled well over the top. The second lap was much drier, tho still wet through Glen Helen and the 13th Milestone, and a few other places under the trees. It was on this lap that I caught number 28, Vince Prevett, who’d started 10 seconds ahead of me. It took me a little while to get past him, eventually doing it at Bishopscourt. I thought that was the last I’d see of him, but blow me if he didn’t outbrake me into Parliament Square, some 6 miles later. I followed him up the mountain, getting past on the Mountain Mile, but he came alongside me in the stop box on the way into the pits. The pit stop was smooth, but slightly slow – our petrol tank had explo-safe expanded foam in it, and it slowed down the petrol going in (we pulled this out for the Senior race). Two or three bikes I’d passed got out of the pits before me (including Vince) but I soon caught and passed them again, although Vince took a while. The next two laps were a bit of a blur – each lap was drier, though it remained wet in parts of Glen Helen, the 13th Milestone, Quarry Bends and Bungalow Bridge. Vince and I had a right old ding dong, passing each other two or three times a lap, but I got the result in the end – as I’d started 10 seconds behind him, I knew that I only had to keep him in sight, but I managed to finish 1 second in front of him on the road too. I was greeted by Alex and Keith in the paddock, with big grins on their faces. I experienced an odd combination of emotions – relief, euphoria, achievement, all overlaid with a severe overdose of adrenaline. The results were available on a computer in the rider’s centre, and it turned out I was 11th, and had earned a replica (by finishing within 110% of the winner’s time). While there, I learnt another quaint part of the Manx GP tradition – riders get a free sandwich, piece of cake and a cup of tea! We took the day off, and did nothing. I wanted to watch the Junior race, so borrowed a car and drove down to Quarry Bends. Unlike the TT, it is possible to get a decent view even at the popular viewing places at the Manx Grand Prix, and I sat on the bales and watched as the front runners came flying through. Tommy Clucas got off to a storming start, setting a new MGP record of 120mph on his first lap. He continued to open the gap over the next two laps, but on the last lap he didn’t come through Quarry Bends. At the commentary point at Ramsey, he was reported as missing, but no other word came, which I knew meant he’d had a serious crash (breakdowns and minor accidents are usually reported quite quickly on the commentary). I went back to Ramsey and had a beer with Keith in the Central Hotel as the 350 Classics came through. Apparently Tommy had crashed on the run down to Ballaugh Bridge. Alex, Sally, Michelle and I went to the Villa Marina in Douglas for the presentation of the awards for Monday’s and today’s races. The sense of pride I felt hearing my name read out by Geoff Cannell (the voice of the TT, for me), and going on stage to collect my replica was enormous, as can been seen in this picture. I went round to see Keith and show off my replica, to find him very quiet – Tommy had died overnight. The second death of the meeting. Keith knew Tommy very well, and was talking about not even riding in the senior the next day. And, the weather forecast was awful. Just to contradict the weather forecast, the day dawned bright and sunny. The senior race was in the afternoon, after the Lightweight/Ultra-Lightweight race. Despite dire predictions, it stayed dry, and the cloud stayed high, and the first race got off on time. And then it was our turn. This time I was starting number 92, over seven minutes behind the guys at the front of the grid. Which was a good thing, because those guys were going to be going a lot faster than me (fastest lap in practice had been 118mph). Number 91 was a non-starter, so I set off by myself. Strangely, I got passed by a few people on the first lap, even though I didn’t feel I was going slowly (turns out I was – first lap was only just over 100mph). The second lap I got my head down a bit and did 103. Although the roads were dry, it was incredibly windy over the mountain, and the bike felt pretty flat in place, and was hard to steer in others. Still, it was the same conditions for everyone. At the pit stop, Alex employed his trusted motivational technique – “Why are you going so slow?” he asked. “Come on, get your finger out!” It must have worked, because I picked up the pace and gained some places. Also, about here, I started racing with Simon Briggs, on his old steel framed 600 Honda. He was riding as if on a short circuit, out-braking me into the slow corners, but I mostly stuck to my line and usually out accelerated him down the straights. Of course, it helped having more horsepower! Simon had a lower starting number than me, so I knew I was ahead of him on time, but it was good fun racing on the roads. In the final run down the mountain Simon got in front of me and I thought he was going to win the race on the road, but he outbraked himself into Govenors Bridge and I rode through the huge door he left open for me and beat him over the line. We grinned at each other as we rode back up to the paddock. I got the results shortly afterwards – 60th, from some 100+ starters. And a best lap of 105mph, which had been my target speed from the beginning. Not too bad, tho I must admit that I felt slightly disappointed – if I’d gone faster on the first lap I’d have been a few positions up, and my mate Keith had posted a new personal best of 107, and I’d not been able to go with him. Still, not bad for a newcomer. Alex and I got the ferry that evening, and drove home through the night. I got to bed at 4am. The next day I was up, changed the oil, filter, brake pads and tyres on the bike, fitted the endurance petrol tank and drove the van to Donington. The next day, Team UKRM did the final six hour race of the season. too many others to mention for help large and small.

2019-04-24T06:21:12Z

http://champ.org.uk/bikes/racing/mgp.html

MAY 3RD - 5TH WELCOME BACK CAMPERS!! This year our first weekend of camping once again coincides with CINCO DE MAYO!! Join us Friday Night for a "meet and greet" in the Lodge. We'll have some Chips and Salsa on hand and a Pinata for the kids. Take a fun family photo with some of our Cinco de Mayo props!! We will be making some maracas on Saturday morning and having a Special "South of the Border" bingo around noon. Looking for ideas for Bingo? How about a cactus, taco or fajita kits, some "Hot Tamales", chips and salsa, some avocados, a pinata, or sombrero, "mustachios", etc. If all else fails....a candy bar will do! Every Saturday afternoon during our "Spring Fling" weekends, we invite all our kiddos and adults to join Mr. Marcondes at the basketball courts for some "Street Hockey"! There will be two sessions, 3:00 - 4:00 will be an ALL age session and 4:00 to 5:00 will be for age 12 thru adults. How much fun does that sound?? Our "Welcome Back Campers' Pot Luck Supper" (Mexican food would be wonderful but not necessary) will be at 6:00 on Saturday night followed a spectacular band, WELCOME BACK "Loose Screws" beginning at 7:30. LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER EPIC SEASON!! Saturday morning, we will have a special craft available for the kiddies to make for Mom in the Lodge! Saturday afternoon we will be hosting a "Paint and Pamper Party" for Mom in the Lodge with "Life Expressions Decor" (http://lifeexpressionsdecor.com). Additional vendors will also be on hand such as LuLaroe Apparel, Paparazzi Jewelry, Essential Oils, Heavenly Goddess Spa Products and more. Snacks provided but BYOB. While Mom is having her fun in the Lodge, Dad and the kids are invited to participate in a Fishing Derby or Kick Ball Game at the Ball Field. Moms also get a free cup of coffee and pancakes from the Coffee Shop Sunday morning! How much fun does that sound?? Happy Mother's Day Moms! Pets camp FREE this weekend! We are planning a Pet Parade (COSTUMES OPTIONAL...but how cute would that be?) immediately following our Wake Up Charlie Flag Raising, Family Pet Photos (if you don't have a pet, Charlie will be more than happy to be in your Family Photo), Pet Talent Show - start practicing now, and FRIDAY NIGHT..."PET SUPPLIES BINGO" .... Purchase a card with any item relevant to a pet and we will create a "BARK/MEOW Box" which will be donated to a local Pet Shelter. Last year our "Bark/Meow Box" was donated to Swansea Animal Shelter and it was VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!! The campground will supply the prizes for the Lucky Winners. (Suggestions are available on the web site and on the Lodge Bulletin Board.) Every Saturday afternoon during our "Spring Fling" weekends, we invite all our kiddos and adults to join Mr. Marcondes at the basketball courts for some "Street Hockey"! There will be two sessions, 3:00-4:00 will be an ALL age session and 4:00 to 5:00 will be for age 12 thru adults. Saturday night we WELCOME BACK A FANTASTIC BAND in the Lodge.... "FUNHOUSE"! Sounds like a "Paws-itively "PURR-fect" Weekend!! MAY 17TH - 19TH NATIONAL ARMED FORCES APPRECIATION WEEKEND! National Armed Forces Day is May 19TH and we would like to show our appreciation to all Military Personnel, past and present!! Special 20% discount on amenities and activities throughout the weekend and complimentary coffee in our coffee shop Saturday and Sunday morning for all military personnel past and present. Please be prepared to show your military card for discounts. We have a special Bingo planned with all card purchases ($2.00 each) being donated to the "WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT". Maple Park will supply the prizes for the lucky Bingo winners. We also will be having our SECOND ANNUAL WALK/RUN OR RIDE FOR THE "WARRIORS". We are asking for a $5.00 donation for adult participants and $2.00 for kids. (Sorry folks...walkers, runners and bikes only. No golf carts.) The "track" will be approximately 1.5-2 miles throughout the campground. All donations from this event will also be donated to the "Wounded Warrior Project". 2018's donation was $300.00 to this GREAT organization!! For further information, please visit https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/. Saturday night we will honor our Veterans, past and present with a tribute in the Lodge followed by Mike Young's Band, "PRIDE AND JOY", a rhythm and blues revue! Also, every Saturday afternoon during our "Spring Fling" weekends, we invite all our kiddos and adults to join Mr. Marcondes at the basketball courts for some "Street Hockey"! There will be two sessions, 3:00-4:00 will be an ALL age session and 4:00 to 5:00 will be for age 12 thru adults. How much fun does that sound?? Our first (unofficial) weekend of summer!! Join us Friday night at the outdoor theater for a "BLAST FROM THE PAST MOVIE". Saturday we'll be playing candy bingo, having a sand castle contest, ceramics, scavenger hunt, and Saturday night $$ BINGO. Also, every Saturday afternoon during our "Spring Fling" weekends, we invite all our kiddos and adults to join Mr. Marcondes at the basketball courts for some "Street Hockey"! On "Sunday/Funday", join us for a fishing derby, cook-out on the beach and our first of the season OUTDOOR DANCE with a live band....WELCOME BACK "UNPLUGGED"!! MAY 31st - JUNE 2nd KARAOKE WEEKEND and OUR FOURTH ANNUAL SUPER SOUP CONTEST! Join us for our first of two Karaoke Weekends this summer! Friday night $$ Bingo. Saturday Night "Kiddie Karaoke" starts at 7:30, Adult Karaoke begins at 9:00. This event is so popular, and it always amazes us how much talent our Maple Park Families have! If singing isn't your passion but cooking is, we will be having our Fourth Annual "Super Soup" Contest at 3:00 on Saturday! The competition field gets bigger every year! Just make a pot of your very best soup and our judges will be on hand to pick the "Super Soup" winner of 2019. This year we will be awarding Maple Park Gift Certificates for the 1st Place ($50.00), 2nd Place ($30.00) and 3rd place ($20.00) winners. After judging is over, we will invite our guests to sample the left-overs to see if they agree with the judge's decisions! Also, every Saturday afternoon during our "Spring Fling" weekends, we invite all our kiddos and adults to join Mr. Marcondes at the basketball courts for some "Street Hockey"! We have lots of family fun competitions and activities planned for this weekend such as a family scavenger hunt, "Human Hungry Hippo" (so much fun), "Family Feud" on the beach, family water balloon toss, "FUN IN THE SUN" Bingo and a dance at the Outdoor Theater with LOOSE SCREWS!! Also, every Saturday afternoon during our "Spring Fling" weekends, we invite all our kiddos and adults to join Mr. Marcondes at the basketball courts for some "Street Hockey"! Mom had her Special Day in May.... Now it's Dad's turn. Special kid's craft for Dad o n Saturday morning, PAINT PARTY FOR DAD IN THE LODGE...Just Kidding...actually we will be having a Tailgating Party at the Ball Field for Dad with a Cook-out, Horseshoe and Bocce ball tournaments beginning at 1:00, Mom and the Kid's Gift Bingo in the Lodge and Saturday night, "FUNHOUSE" will be back to entertain us!! FREE COFFEE AND PANCAKES AT THE COFFEE SHOP FOR ALL DADS ON SUNDAY MORNING!! JUNE 21st - 23RD PIRATE WEEKEND - SECOND KARAOKE NIGHT OF THE SEASON! Ahoy there Matey's...This weekend is all about PIRATES and "SINGIN' UP A STORM"!! Friday night we will have a special Pirate Pizza Party with a visit from a REAL, LIVE PIRATE!! (Advanced reservations required). Saturday, we invite ALL our guests to "walk the plank" for some "booty", possibly while "sword fighting" ....and did I mention in the water?? An afternoon "Pirate Bingo"...bring a wrapped gift ($2-$5 in value) but.....winners beware, the Pirates can steal your "booty"! Adults and teens are invited to participate in our "Pirate Ship" (kayak) races!! We have a special Pirate Treasure Hunt planned with a "boat-load" of treasure to the lucky winners. Saturday night we will be entertained with another fun-filled night of KARAOKE beginning at 7:30 with "KIDDIE KARAOKE" until 9:00 then moving on to "ADULT TIME" from 9:00-10:30. Hopefully, this gives all our "STARS" a chance to entertain us! (This date is subject to change depending on local cities and town's final day of classes due to snow days)Some of the great daily activities we have planned for this summer are ceramics, beach games, lunches and Friday Pizza Parties with our mascot Charlie, OUTDOOR MOVIES at our outdoor theater, special event nights, volleyball, and crafts for all ages. We will have morning cartoons, face painting, treasure and scavenger hunts,Candy Bar and Gift Bingo, Tie Dye and so much more! Rain or shine, we ALWAYS have a GREAT time here at Maple Park. We begin our weekend with a noontime Pizza Party with Charlie, ceramics and Friday night $$ Bingo. Saturday, join us for some tie-dye, ceramics, candy bingo and a Beach Dance with an AWESOME band FUNHOUSE! Sunday's highlights are an afternoon candy bingo and an Outdoor Movie at the Outdoor Theater. "MAGIC MONDAY"- An early evening Magic Show starring one of the very talented magicians from The Magic Company. "EXTRATERRESTRIAL TUESDAY", is all about Alien Adventures....believe it or not, it is actually WORLD UFO DAY today!! "WAY BACK WEDNESDAY - We are rolling back the prices on Kayak and Paddle Boats today, creating some COOL Tie Dye shirts and making some Pet Rocks. Root Beer and Creamsicle Floats are only a $1.00 today!! Tonight, we will be showing a "Blast from the Past" movie at the Outdoor Theater. Bell bottoms and Leisure Suits are optional!! On Thursday, July 4th, our HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA CELEBRATION begins with our Annual "Star-Spangled Parade", an "All American" Cook-out on the beach, our Annual Children's Presentation on the beach followed by our Floating Bonfire and Beach Dance. FABULOUS FRIDAY we planned a family scavenger hunt, a noontime Pizza Party with Charlie and Charlotte, Ceramics, and $$ Bingo. SATURDAY (7/6) we begin the day with our ANNUAL CRAFT/VENDOR FAIR and end the day with our 23RD ANNUAL TALENT SHOW - What would a summer at Maple Park be without our Annual Talent Show! Imagine it has been 23 years since we started this spectacular event!! If anyone has some old photos from Talent Shows in the past, please forward them to me either by text (5084930913) or email (AVACAL8@COMCAST.NET) or drop off pictures at the office and I can scan them. I will put a slide show together that everyone can enjoy before and after the show. Always a big hit for all our guests whether your talent is watching or participating!! A horseshoe tournament, sunflower seed spitting contest (believe it or not, they practice all year long for this event), "Battle of the Beans" contest on 2nd beach. Who will have the honor of making the best-baked beans this year?? $50.00 MP Gift Card to the 1st place winner!! A Country Western dance with A LIVE BAND, "Loose Screws", and YES, they really do play Country music, at the Outdoor Theater! COME ON DOWN and join the fun!! Yes!! A whole week of Christmas festivities. Every day we will make an ornament to hang on our tree. On Friday (July 19th) night we have a VERY SPECIAL tree lighting ceremony planned at the Outdoor Theater. Santa visits on Saturday night (July 20th) followed by a dance with MC Productions. (Parents must provide gifts for Santa's bag.) Site decorating contest, Polar Bear swim, Breakfast with a MAGIC SHOW, "Snowman" contest, Gift Bingo, "SNOWBALL" toss, and Red and Green tie-dye, are just some of the fantastic events of this week and the list goes on and on and on...OH, I FORGOT TO MENTION OUR "HILLARIOUS HOLIDAY T-Shirt CONTEST" If you don't have one, don't despair...bring a T-shirt to the Lodge Saturday Morning and we'll have supplies on hand to help you "Merry It Up"! This was such a spectacular week for all involved in years past that we have made it an annual event. This is a week of crafts, fun, comradery, and spirituality for all children ages 5 to 18. Non-Denominational, Non-Discriminatory, just an atmosphere of acceptance and Love of God. Bienvenido campista!! Welcome Campers!! A "Jumping Bean" Contest, Pinatas', "Taco Bar" and Cook-Out on the Beach, and a Beach Dance with "UNPLUGGED" are just a few of the highlights of this weekend. Sign up for our Annual Chili Cook-off Contest and be crowned the Chili King or Queen of 2018!! Competition is tough - start "Googling" your recipes now!! If Nachos are your passion, we'll be having a "Supreme Nacho Contest" too!! YUM!! Join us for our 13TH Annual Mardi Gras!! Decorate your floats...golf carts, wagons, bikes, strollers, etc..... or help us decorate our Mardi Gras float and join us in our evening Mardi Gras parade. Prizes for best Mardi Gras "Floats". Kids and adults will be decorating their masks for our Saturday Night Mardi Gras Ball featuring our FAVORITE Mardi Gras Band on the beach...."TIMELINE" (formerly Mojo Mambo). Welcome Back Guys!! This weekend is all about "FUN IN THE SUN"!! We have lots of beach activities planned such as a water balloon toss, Hula Hoop contest (kids and adults), tug o' war in the water, Kayak races, WATER volleyball, Beach Bingo, etc. Just plan on having lots of fun and getting a "little" wet during the day AND dancing the night away one of the spectacular DJ's from MC Productions!! You can also "LOCK UP A LOVED ONE ON THE ISLAND" this weekend. All "BAIL" $$, yes, you must eventually post bail, will be donated to our 2019 Maple Park Cares for Kids Charity (to be announced). Last year we raised $2,000 for the Tommorrow Fund. A full weekend of every kind of BINGO imaginable! (AND WE REALLY STRETCHED OUR IMAGINATIONS FOR THIS ONE!) What you will need are: school supplies, groceries, $3.00+ gift, gardening items, a $3.00+ toy, $$, and candy. This year since we will be having Family $$ Bingo on Friday night, on Saturday night we will have a special early evening (6:30) Toy/Gift Bingo for the FAMILY and $$ Bingo will be for the Adults (18+) beginning at 8:30. FOR BINGO LOVERS.....this is the BEST weekend of the summer!! AUGUST 23rd - 25th 5th ANNUAL CLASSIC CAR SHOW!! This was such a huge success last year!! We have lots of vendors, food trucks and some spectacular cars, trucks and tractors on display. LOOSE SCREWS will be entertaining us at the show and at the outdoor theater in the evening, Check back for more information on this event!! It is something you will not want to miss!! . This weekend is highlighted by our annual Craft Fair/Flea Market (8/31). New crafters/vendors are always welcome. $$ Bingo is on Saturday night. We also have kid's crafts, a horseshoe tournament, movies, softball, volleyball, FIRE TRUCK rides, etc. and our END OF SUMMER FAMILY FUN DAY with Games, Bounce House and Cotton Candy, followed by our ANNUAL GOLF CART SHOW AND PARADE and Farewell Summer Dance with "FUNHOUSE" (9/1). Also, last year we had our FOURTH Annual "Maple Park Cares" Event beginning in August and ending on Columbus Day Weekend. We raised $2,000 for THE TOMORROW FUND!! Proceeds from this weekend's FAMILY FUN DAY will be going toward this year's charity in hopes of matching or beating our 2018 total. Limited Activities will be offered during these weekends but TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WARM FALL WEATHER TO WALK THE CAPE COD CANAL OR VISIT THE CHRISTMAS TREE SHOPS ON THE CAPE. See office for directions and a list of LOCAL EVENTS which will be available for the month of September. SEPTEMBER 6TH - 8TH GRANDPARENTS WEEKEND - We have some truly "GRAND" activities planned for this weekend including an "OLDIES" dance with MC Productions!! Unfortunately, after almost 50 years in operation, the Bourne Scallop Festival does not take place anymore...However, let's have our own "SEAFOOD FESTIVAL" at Maple Park. On September 21st, we will start our day with a beach-inspired craft, followed by a "Chowder Contest" ($50. Gift Card for 1st, Place, $30. For 2nd and $20. For 3rd) at noon, an ocean-themed paint party for kids and adults, and a "Seafood Pot Luck Supper" at 6:00. I'll be serving up some spaghetti with white clam sauce and garlic bread. What is everyone else bringing?? Chowder, cod fish cakes, Shrimp Mozambique, fish sticks, clam cakes, even tuna salad sandwiches would work! To top off this spectacular day, how about a fun night of KARAOKE?? OH YAH!!! SEPTEMBER 28th DANCE WITH "UNPLUGGED" Join us on October 5th for a SPECIAL HALLOWEEN EVENT FOR OUR FABULOUS FALL GUESTS WHO WILL BE LEAVING US ON SUNDAY! On Saturday afternoon, beginning at 3:30, we invite all Ghosts, Goblins, Princesses, Pirates, Zombies, etc. to join us in a costume parade followed by Site to Site Trick or Treating throughout the campground. Saturday Night, "LOOSE SCREWS" will be entertaining us in the Lodge. Costumes optional but WELCOME!! Site to Site Trick or Treating, pumpkin decorating contest, Halloween crafts, Scary movie, our Annual Adult Only Night with Harry French on Friday night, Columbus Day Weekend Craft Fair on Saturday (new crafters are always welcome), Our 6th Annual Harvest Carnival which is always a spectacular event, Our 52nd Annual Chicken BBQ catered by TAZZ BBQ (10/13), followed by our FINAL DANCE (can't believe it's over) OF THE 2019 SEASON with MC Productions!! Advance reservations required for Chicken BBQ!! THIS IS ALSO THE FINAL WEEKEND OF OUR "MAPLE PARK CARES" EVENT. SPECIAL RAFFLES AND OUR SPECTACULAR "PATH OF PUMPKINS FOR A CURE" WILL BE HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEKEND. REMEMBER, LAST YEAR WE RAISED $2,000 for THE TOMORROW FUND!! A GREAT, BIG THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS CAMPERS! Once again, will choose a local charity near and dear to our hearts. Our hope is to match or beat that donation in 2019!

2019-04-22T06:19:17Z

https://www.capecodmaplepark.com/cape-cod-camping-rates.html

My blog this week was to be an essay on the similarities between my memoir of my two years teaching English and living in Kazakhstan as an older, married Peace Corps volunteer (At Home on the Kazakh Steppe) and Kathy Pooler’s memoir of living in and escaping from domestic violence, twice (Ever Faithful to His Lead). Nice young ladies don’t complain. Neither of us was willing to risk the relationship we had by speaking our truth, out loud. Good girls play nice. They go along. The blog, though, wasn’t coming together. Instead, it rambled, it bogged down, or it was confusing. Still, I forged ahead. I had a deadline to meet. Stiff upper lip. With this last one I stopped, realizing I was in the midst of making that same mistake again. What I was ignoring — a trauma I’d experienced only a few days before — wasn’t going away. And it was affecting my ability to concentrate or attend to what was in front of me, this blog being only the most obvious. The real story for today had to be what was going on for me tonight, as I write this blog on December 8. Wednesday night, December 3, on our way home from a chorus rehearsal of The Messiah, Woody and I had an accident. We skidded on black ice and totaled our pickup truck. The GMC Sierra rolled over a few times, slid down an embankment, and landed on the driver’s side door. I had initially been unaware Woody had lost control. Engrossed in my cell phone as we sped up the highway, my first indication something was amiss was the sudden jarring motion as the car skidded. I saw the road swerve before me as in one of those slow motion scenes in earthquake documentaries. I fully expected him to bring the truck back under control. “Don’t overcorrect,” I told him. Twice. I thought it would help. Then I watched out my side window as a reflector along the shoulder came racing toward me. I knew we were going over the embankment just beyond it. And I had no idea how steep it was, or how long the fall would last, or what would finally bring the truck to a halt. I believed I could be meeting my death. But what I remember most was that in that moment I felt peaceful. It was out of my hands. I had given up trying to fix it; I’d let go of the outcome. There was nothing I could do and I knew it. I was certainly in the moment. But the moment didn’t last long. We rolled over at least twice; I heard glass break; the truck bounced a few times. Then there was silence. “Are you OK?” I asked Woody. “Yes. Are you?” he replied. I took a quick assessment. The truck had landed on its left side, on Woody’s driver’s side door. Our seat belts held us securely in our seats, which meant I was suspended a few feet above Woody. Both side windows were blown out and shards of glass plastered my face and neck. Woody also lay on his side, his left arm through the former window and onto the snow beneath him. Miraculously, neither of us had any injuries. But we were trapped in the cab and it would take nearly an hour for the rescue squad to cut us out and help us walk away. Neither of us panicked. I called 911 from the cell phone that I still clutched in my hand. “We’ve been in an accident,” I reported to the dispatcher, “Rt 91 Northbound.” I gave her our names and told her neither of us was injured, just unable to get out. She wanted our mile marker. Woody told me, “north of the Barnet exit.” She still wanted the mile marker. I had seen the legs of people walking around above us while I was on the phone. I’ve got this covered, I’d wanted to tell them. Really; there’s no need to stay. I asked them for the mile marker and someone knew it, so I passed it on to the dispatcher. Then I noticed my phone was low on battery so we hung up. I hadn’t even thought of that. But it explained the gusts of cold air that Woody was getting from beneath the car. “Woody’s shaking. He’s lying in the snow and he’s cold. I want to get him out.” I took off my hat and handed it to him. He’d lost his in the roll. Someone handed us a parka through my open window and I tried to get it over him, but my orientation was off. I’d think I was pushing it up onto his shoulder but I wasn’t even close; it would slide off. Eventually, we figured it out. I was glad the people were there. Even if none of them had a phone charger I could use. With the light from the wrecker upon it, our GMC Sierra lies on its side. It served us well. The state trooper was the first to arrive, delayed by the icy roads, he said. He bent low and peered into the cab through my husband’s missing window. “Put your car in park and give me the keys,” he said to Woody after asking us about injuries. The rescue squad came next; they’d all been at home, warm and comfortable before we slid off the road. The EMS crew was the final set to join; they wanted to know our medical history. Really. While I dangled midair in my seat belt, the only medical condition I could think of concerned my overactive bladder. After much analysis and discussion, the rescue crew cut the roof off the cab. This involved covering us with blankets so the glass from the front and rear windows that they needed to shatter first would not get in our faces. With the roof laid out on the snow, they guided us as we walked over it and up to the EMS van. Our vitals were taken. My blood pressure was twenty points higher than normal, Woody’s was forty. The crew said they weren’t concerned by that, but I noticed they took Woody’s again after a few minutes; it had come down 20 points. We chose not to go to the hospital and signed the necessary papers. Then, we waited in the trooper’s car for the wrecker that had to come. Our entourage had left and I watched from the front passenger seat as the trooper combed the hillside collecting the bags of stones we had had in the truck for winter ballast against the weight of the snow plow (at home in the barn on this night). After the trooper drove us home, Woody and I spent considerable time making sure we found all the remaining shards of glass. Really. My right ear was packed with glass but I had only a small puncture wound on my right pinky finger. Woody had his single puncture wound on his left ring finger. We felt immeasurably grateful and slept very well that night. For the next day and a half I believed that we’d escaped unscathed. I posted to one of my closed FB groups, We Love Memoirs, and got all the necessary support and sympathy I expected and wanted. We sang in the first concert of The Messiah that Friday night and talked with the folks from the two cars who had stopped. It had been traumatic for them as well. Saturday morning we drove into town to see the truck and collect those odds and ends that we wanted to hang onto. That afternoon I had a massage, then went food shopping, planning to get home in time to have a light supper and dress for the second of the three concerts that weekend. But as I shopped I got angrier and angrier. When I overheard a conversation between the two store employees and a policeman about a shopper, I complained. “That’s not a topic to be discussing where it can be overheard by a customer,” I told them in anger. They shrugged, but they stopped talking (though one of the managers rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath at me). As I drove home I realized that the effects of the trauma I’d had just a few days before were beginning to show. “I’m staying home,” I told Woody when I got home. “I can’t go anywhere tonight.” I just wanted to stop moving. “I’m going,” he responded in an equally defiant tone. I ignored him. Eventually, as the reality sunk in, he admitted he’d also considered staying home. He just didn’t want to. I took a bubble bath; he watched Netflix. Sunday we felt well enough, even eager, to sing in the final concert, an afternoon event. I was glad we did. On Monday night, telling my hospice choir friends about it, I began to cry. I had no idea I was still so raw. When I didn’t think about it, I’d carry on as though nothing was amiss. When I thought about it, I’d break down. When I didn’t think about it, I’d snap at Woody and hear Woody snap back at me. When I thought about it, I’d cry. I have a hard time concentrating. My mind is scattered. I can’t settle into a routine. Writing this blog, as you now know, has been difficult. Cognitively, I know that I am grateful we were not seriously injured. But I don’t FEEL grateful. I feel outrage, fury. I want to hit something. I want to yell, to scream really. But I do neither. Instead, I write. I posted tonight to another closed FB group I’m on and am eager to hear from them. I talk on the phone to friends. I walk in the woods (on snow shoes). I take bubble baths. The anger comes in spurts. Unexpected spurts. And as quickly as it surfaces, it evaporates. I’m drinking lots of tea. I’m doing all the things I should be doing. I’m also playing computer solitaire like a junkie. Woody and I stopped talking about it. What more can we say? Don’t just do something; sit there. And that is exactly what I will do. I will allow myself time to wind my way through the many layers that have formed. And, later, after we know what the insurance company will allow, I will help Woody find himself a new truck. Time changes the needs of people. It had a picture of an hour glass and a long, winding road in the background. I haven’t thought of it in years. With time, I feel myself back in my own skin once again. But I’m different too. From the policeman at the food store talking out of turn, to my mother last week saying something I thought insensitive, to a woman in my recent writer’s group this week interrupting someone I wanted to hear, my reactions are different than they would have been just a few weeks ago. I’m speaking out, standing up, letting my reality be known. Whether its because I realize my time on this earth really is limited (and precious) or something else, I don’t even try to know. What I do know is that I felt peaceful at the moment I thought I was facing my death. And that is a gift. As is our ability to replace our Sierra with a shiny new toy. In 2000, my husband and I had a car accident and was lucky to be alive. It changed the both of us. Our whole outlook on life has changed since then. We appreciate each other more but I also use that for my decision making. When I don’t want to do something, I ask myself – If the one I loved died tomorrow, would I have regrets? If the answer is no, I don’t do it. If the answer is yes, I grin and bear it while I do it. Many of the little things that used to irritate me don’t any more because in the grand scheme of things – who really cares? I fight the fights that are important to me even if I feel it is a losing battle because it feels right to me. My sense of what is important has changed. Now we do a lot of traveling and meeting new friends. Life is too short so I need to get busy enjoying it! I’m so glad y’all are okay! Give yourself time for everything to make sense again. Hi Pat. Yes, time. That is the great healer. Thanks for stopping and adding your thoughts. Btw, I’m going to send your website address to my colleagues in Kazakhstan; you can offer them an interesting new perspective on teaching. I take walks along the beach and sing to the top of my lungs. A great release allowing fresh thoughts and ideas. Why do you think you feel angry? Hi Susan, I thought of you when I read the news recently of the contingent going to Uraguay. I need to learn more of your adopted land. In my mind I lump it in with Paraguay, something akin to American lumping all the Stans together. As for the why, I can only say that I’m more focused on feeling the anger, on experiencing it, “honoring” it if you will. If I start to analyze it, I find myself going into my head and then I don’t feel it so much anymore. It really doesn’t matter to me so much, but honoring it, getting it out does. And, as I write these words, I have to say I’m not feeling it at the moment. As I wrote below, sometimes one trauma can raise old traumas never fully healed, so that’s a possibility. Oh, Janet, your post took my breath away. I am so glad you and Woody were not physically injured. Trauma like that is not easy to just set aside to go away on its own. It will be with you for a while. Speaking and writing about it is the best medicine for now. Do not ignore it. I pray your holidays will be filled with healing and peace. Yes Joan, that’s another gift I have, that I can write about it and I have people in my life who (seem to) never tire of hearing the tale. Telling our stories of trauma, at all levels, is healing. That and hot baths (though someone on facebook did warn that too hot baths seem to be related to stroke, particularly after a physical trauma, so they are no longer so hot). And I also know that each tragedy or loss reignites those that may still lie unresolved, so I’ve got much to chew on since this happened. Thanks for your support. Oh Janet, thank God you and Woody survived such a frightening ordeal. It’s amazing how near-death experiences wake us up to what really matters. When I was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease in 1996, my life came to a complete halt but in that halt, I learned a very important lesson–life is short and don’t sweat the small stuff. Enjoy the moments and yes. don’t just do something , sit there.” The rawness of your writing brings me right there with you and makes me even more grateful you are around to pick out that bright red truck! BTW, thank you for your thoughts about the similarities of our stories. At the time, they were ,of course, our life crises. But isn’t it grand to be able to look back and realize they were a detour that led to who we are today. Alive and well and very, very grateful. Sending healing hugs your way. Hi Kathy I love that image of life coming to a halt, and in that halt seeing things more clearly. I shall accept your hugs and return them in full. Judging from the previous comments, your readers can relate to the accident you’ve recently experienced. I know I can. Writing/illustrating your feelings will help you continue to process the trauma. I experienced something similar back in college when the car I was a passenger in flipped over on a snowy road – all in slow motion as you describe. No one wore seat-belts, so 6 bodies flew all over the place. I ended up with a bloody knee but did go to the hospital to get checked out. Then, over ten years ago I was rear-ended by a fast moving vehicle which totaled my sturdy car, an Infiniti. Half of the car looked like an accordion. In the moment of crisis, common sense left me, and I handed a complete stranger my wallet so I could us his cellphone. Dumb – though he did hand it back. Like you, thoughts and actions registered as non sequitur. After such dramatic events, we have to believe we live in an altered state at least for awhile, probably suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome, which may explain your anger. I like your recipe for healing, don’t just do something; sit there. I hope it’s in front of a blazing fire with some hot chocolate. Blessings and healing to you and your family this Christmas season. Hi Marian, Well, I can report that we had our woodstove moved upstairs this summer and it’s now ablaze about two feet from me here on the DR table. I find I prefer to write downstairs lately, not upstairs in my little corner of the world. Alas, the hot chocolate is tea, but there is more honey in it than usual. One more concession to where I am at the moment. Thanks for writing. As always. Glad you and Woody are okay. That was quite an ordeal and it sounds life-changing. I think that is what transformation does. We are never the same. I am going through something similar as I continue to heal from an illness that has dogged my life for nearly four decades. I hear and understand your anger. For me, adjusting to a new life that is one of health rather than chronic illness has been incredibly difficult. Letting go of life as I knew it–one fraught with illness–has meant changing, completely, how I live including my routine. Only now, am I stepping into my “new shoes,” as it were. A recent watershed moment revealed that transformation requires letting go of what one was for what one is now. This post is so beautifully and achingly written, Janet. Thank you. Thank you, Karen. And welcome. Your words are always a balm to me. I’ve been following your story through your blog posts and, with your comment here, I’m really struck by how easy it is for me to fall into that judgment trap. ( e.g., New found health after years of illess is Good. Traumatic auto accident is Bad.) And once again I’m reminded how limiting these judgments can be. Both situations involve change, a change in a sense of who we are, our identity of you will. And both require time and gentleness. I send you a warm virtual bear hug over the miles.

2019-04-20T16:40:39Z

https://janetgivens.com/speaking-my-truth-sharing-my-reality/

"The intention was to confer the privilege of citizenship upon that class of persons whom the fathers knew as white, and to deny it to all who could not be so classified." T akao Ozawa was born in Japan, moved to the territory of Hawaii, and later lived in California. Altogether he had lived in the United States continuously for twenty years when he applied in 1914 for naturalization, the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. At the time, he had graduated from high school in Berkeley, California, and had been a student at the University of California for three years. He had children, all born in the United States. The family spoke English at home and attended American churches. Nevertheless, the U.S. government opposed his application to become a citizen, on grounds that he was not "white." Eight years after his application was filed, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the government: Ozawa was not eligible to become a citizen. 1894, as Japan was emerging as a strong military and industrial power in Asia, a treaty with the United States had guaranteed free immigration to the United States for Japanese. But six years later, in the midst of strong opposition to Japanese immigrants among European Americans in California, Japan agreed not to issue passports for laborers seeking to enter the United States. (A passport is the formal travel document issued by a country's government that allows a citizen of that country exit and reentry.) For the Japanese government, it was a way to cut off emigration and solve the problem without agreeing to treatment that would be regarded as discriminatory against Japanese. The cutoff of passports did not, however, include passports for laborers seeking to enter Hawaii, Canada, or Mexico, from any one of which it was easy for Japanese to enter the United States. In 1907, the San Francisco Board of Education decided to segregate its Asian students. All Asian students, including Japanese students, were to be placed in a single "Asian school" that kept the students apart from "white" European American students. Seeing Japanese the objects of discrimination upset the government of Japan just at the moment when the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919; served 1901–9) wanted to maintain smooth diplomatic relations with Japan. Roosevelt, who was eager to increase U.S. influence in east Asia, was counting on Japan to counter the influence of Russia in the region. To cool the diplomatic tensions with Japan created by the school board in San Francisco, Roosevelt persuaded the school board to drop its segregation plan in exchange for promises that the federal government would try to solve the issue of Japanese immigration. The result was the "Gentleman's Agreement" (an agreement that falls short of a formal treaty) of 1907 under which Japan agreed to cooperate in stemming the flow of Japanese workers to the United States. The Japanese government said it would continue to refuse to issue passports for all Japanese workers planning to go to the United States. In addition, it would not object to the removal of Japanese from the United States who held passports issued for travel elsewhere, such as Canada or Mexico. In return, San Francisco authorities discontinued segregating Japanese students in a special school for Asians. Officially, Japanese still had the right to immigrate, on an equal basis with citizens of other countries. The San Francisco school board incident demonstrated how U.S. immigration laws and attitudes affected American diplomatic policies unrelated to immigration. The incident also served as a reminder of the long-standing controversy in California over the admission of people from Asia, whether Japanese or Chinese, and the importance of race in determining U.S. policy. As early as 1790, the Congress had passed a law limiting citizenship to immigrants who were "free white persons." At the time it was adopted, the law was intended to deny citizenship to slaves from Africa. Seventy-five years later, after slavery was abolished, the immigration law was amended to include Africans and people of African descent—but nothing was said about Asians. With many Americans displeased with immigration from Asia (and also from southern and eastern Europe), the U.S. district attorney (prosecutor) had objected when Ozawa applied for citizenship. The government, in its arguments to the Supreme Court, admitted that Ozawa would make a good citizen: He was well educated; his family spoke English at home and attended church; and he had lived in the United States for most of his life. There was nothing in his conduct that might suggest he would make a poor citizen. Nevertheless, the government argued in court that U.S. law had been clear, since 1790: "Any alien being a free white person … may be admitted to become a citizen." The only exception was made in the Naturalization Act of 1870, which also made Africans or people of African descent eligible to become naturalized citizens. Ozawa did not fit any of these categories, in the government's opinion. Ozawa's lawyers cited inconsistencies in the way that U.S. immigration laws had been written. They argued that when Congress passed a new naturalization law in 1906, it intended to overhaul the immigration law completely. Since the 1906 law had not specifically barred citizenship for Japanese people (as other laws specifically barred Chinese people), Ozawa's lawyers argued that he deserved to become a naturalized citizen. But the Supreme Court said no, ruling that if Congress had intended to remove the racial limitations on naturalized citizenship, it would have done so explicitly and decisively, rather than simply ignoring the issue. The Supreme Court noted that limiting citizenship to free white persons had been the law since 1790 and that the law had only been amended to include people born in Africa or of African descent. No such exception was ever made for Japanese, which both sides on the argument described as being a separate "race." The Supreme Court also ruled on two other questions raised in the case: first, whether someone from Japan could be considered "white" under the law; and second, whether Ozawa could be barred from becoming a citizen because of race. On the first question, Ozawa's lawyers had argued that the original immigration laws referred to "free white persons" in order to distinguish them from enslaved Africans, or "black," people. The lawyers tried to persuade the court that "white" meant "not black," and that the phrase was not intended to exclude Asians. The court's opinion rejected the argument, holding that people from Japan were not considered to be "Caucasian," which was what the law meant by "white," and were therefore not eligible to become citizens. On the second question, the court ruled that Congress did have the power under the Constitution to determine the basis on which immigrants could become citizens, even if the basis was a concept as vague as race. The Ozawa decision was significant in the history of immigration to the United States because it reconfirmed the importance of race when deciding whether immigrants should be allowed to become citizens—a standard for eligibility that had existed since the very beginnings of the United States as an independent country. The ruling came at a period of history when prejudice against racial and religious minorities was very strong among European American citizens, a fact that was not lost on the justices of the Supreme Court. The Ozawa case came before the court at a time when the United States had already begun to restrict immigrants, especially those from southern and eastern Europe. For the forty years preceding the case, a higher number of Europeans than ever before had come to the United States, including many from poor areas of southern and eastern Europe. The case was decided in an era when the idea of "race" seemed highly important to many Americans, who were disturbed by the large number of darker-skinned individuals from countries around the Mediterranean. Although the Supreme Court is intended to interpret what Congress might have meant in passing laws, and making sure those laws do not conflict with the U.S. Constitution (the basic law of the land), in reality justices of the court usually have a political background and are often sensitive to the public sentiments of the time. The concept of race has always been vague, as the court's opinion admits. What race is the child of a black mother and a white father, for example? The court's opinion brushes aside this fundamental issue by saying that such questions fall into a "zone of more or less debatable ground." But since Ozawa had been born in Japan, the issue of his race was not subject to question: He was not white, and therefore not eligible to become a citizen. The court's opinion carefully examined minute details of previous immigration laws in an effort to understand what Congress intended to do. On the subject of what constitutes a "white" person, the opinion in essence says the court did not have time to study the issue from a scientific basis. The court ruled that anyone who was not a "free white person" (or who was not born in Africa or of African descent) did not fall into the category of people eligible to become citizens, and that included people from Asia. On the question of whether the authors of the 1790 law intended to exclude Asians, the court simply said that it has no power to read the minds of the authors of the original law. Since no subsequent Congress changed the wording, the court had no power to rule otherwise. The act of June 29, 1906, entitled "An act to establish a Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, and to provide for a uniform rule for the naturalization of aliens throughout the United States," consists of 31 sections and deals primarily with the subject of procedure. There is nothing in the circumstances leading up to or accompanying the passage of the act which suggests that any modification of section 2169, or of its application, was contemplated. "It is the opinion of your committee that the frauds and crimes which have been committed in regard to naturalization have resulted more from a lack of any uniform system of procedure in such matters than from any radical defect in the fundamental principles of existing law governing in such matters. The two changes which the committee has recommended in the principles controlling in naturalization matters and which are embodied in the bill submittedherewith are as follows: First, the requirement that before an alien can be naturalized he must be able to read, either in his own language or in the English language and to speak or understand the English language; and, second, that the alien must intend to reside permanently in the United States before he shall be entitled to naturalization." This seems to make it quite clear that no change of the fundamental character here involved was in mind…. "Any alien being a free white person … may be admitted to become a citizen…." 1 Stat. 103, c. 3. This was subsequently enlarged to include aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent…. In all of the naturalization acts from 1790 to 1906 the privilege of naturalization was confined to white persons (with the addition in 1870 of those of African nativity and descent), although the exact wording of the various statutes was not always the same. If Congress in 1906 desired to alter a rule so well and so long established it may be assumed that its purpose would have been definitely disclosed and its legislation to that end put in unmistakable terms…. It is the duty of this Court to give effect to the intent of Congress. Primarily this intent is ascertained by giving the words their natural significance, but if this leads to an unreasonable result plainly at variance with the policy of the legislation as a whole, we must examine the matter further. We may then look to the reason of the enactment and inquire into its antecedent history and give it effect in accordance with its design and purpose, sacrificing, if necessary, the literal meaning in order that the purpose may not fail…. We are asked [by Ozawa's lawyers] to conclude that Congress, without the consideration or recommendation of any committee, without a suggestion as to the effect, or a word of debate as to the desirability, of so fundamental a change, nevertheless, by failing to alter the identifying words of section 2169 , which section we may assume was continued for some serious purpose, has radically modified a statute always theretofore maintained and considered as of great importance. It is inconceivable that a rule in force from the beginning of the government, a part of our history as well as our law, welded into the structure of our national polity by a century of legislative and administrative acts and judicial decisions, would have been deprived of its force in such dubious and casual fashion. Weare, therefore, constrained to hold that the act of 1906 is limited by the provisions of section 2169 of the Revised Statutes. Antecedent: Referring to a preceding event, condition, or cause. Literal: Referring to accepting the exact meaning of the words of a statement or opinion and allowing no further interpretation. Section 2169: A sentence in the naturalization law that said naturalization "shall apply to aliens, being free white persons and to aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent." Ozama's lawyers argued that because this sentence did not explicitly ban Japanese from becoming naturalized citizens, Congress did not intend to bar Japanese from becoming citizens when it passed a naturalization law in 1906. Second. This brings us to inquire whether, under section 2169, the appellant is eligible to naturalization. The language of the naturalization laws from 1790 to 1870 had been uniformly such as to deny the privilege of naturalization to an alien unless he came within the description "free white person. By section 7 of the act of July 14, 1870 …, the naturalization laws were "extended to aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent." Section 2169 of the Revised Statutes, as already pointed out, restricts the privilege to the same classes of persons, viz. "to aliens being free white persons, and to aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent." It is true that in the first edition of the Revised Statutes of 1873 the words in brackets, "being free white persons, and to aliens" were omitted, but this was clearly an error of the compilers and was corrected by the subsequent legislation of 1875…. Is appellant, therefore, a "free white person," within the meaning of that phrase as found in the statute? Appellant: A person bringing a lawsuit from a lower court to a higher court for a new hearing. On behalf of the appellant it is urged that we should give to this phrase the meaning which it had in the minds of its original framers in 1790 and that it was employed by them for the sole purpose of excluding the black or African race and the Indians then inhabiting this country. It may be true that those two races were alone thought of as being excluded, but to say that they were the only ones within the intent of the statute would be to ignore the affirmative form of the legislation. The provision is not that Negroes and Indians shall be excluded, but it is, in effect, that only free white persons shall be included. The intention was to confer the privilege of citizenship upon that class of persons whom the fathers knew as white, and to deny it to all who could not be so classified. It is not enough to say that the framers did not have in mind the brown or yellow races of Asia. It is necessary to go farther and be able to say that had these particular races been suggested the language of the act would have been so varied as to include them within its privileges…. Affirmative form: The structure of a phrase denoting assent or agreement. Framers: Those who wrote the Constitution. If it be assumed that the opinion of the framers was that the only persons who would fall outside the designation "white" were Negroes and Indians, this would go no farther than to demonstrate their lack of sufficient information to enable them to foresee precisely who would be excluded by that term in the subsequent administration of the statute. It is not important in construing their words to consider the extent of their ethnological knowledge or whether they thoughtthat under the statute the only persons who would be denied naturalization would be Negroes and Indians. It is sufficient to ascertain whom they intended to include and having ascertained that it follows, as a necessary corollary , that all others are to be excluded. Corollary: Deduction that needs no proof. The question then is: Who are comprehended within the phrase "free white persons"? Undoubtedly the word "free" was originally used in recognition of the fact that slavery then existed and that some white persons occupied that status. The word, however, has long since ceased to have any practical significance and may now be disregarded. We have been furnished with elaborate briefs in which the meaning of the words "white person" is discussed with ability and at length, both from the standpoint of judicial decision and from that of the science of ethnology. It does not seem to us necessary, however, to follow counsel in their extensive researches in these fields. It is sufficient to note the fact that these decisions are, in substance, to the effect that the words import a racial and not an individual test, and with this conclusion, fortified as it is by reason and authority, we entirely agree. Manifestly the test afforded by the mere color of the skin of each individual is impracticable , as that differs greatly among persons of the same race, even among Anglo-Saxons , ranging by imperceptible gradations from the fair blond to the swarthy brunette, the latter being darker than many of the lighter hued persons of the brown or yellow races. Hence to adopt the color test alone would result in a confused overlapping of races and a gradual merging of one into the other, without any practical line of separation…. Moreover, that conclusion has become so well established by judicial and executive concurrence and legislative acquiescence that we should not at this late day feel at liberty to disturb it, in the absence of reasons far more cogent than any that have been suggested…. The determination that the words "white person" are synonymous with the words "a person of the Caucasian race" simplifies the problem, although it does not entirely dispose of it. Controversies have arisen and will no doubt arise again in respect of the proper classification of individuals in border line cases. The effect of the conclusion that the words "white person" means a Caucasian is not to establish a sharp line of demarcation between those who are entitled and those who are not entitled to naturalization, but rather a zone of more or less debatable ground outside of which, upon the one hand, are those clearly eligible, and outside of which, upon the other hand, are those clearly ineligiblefor citizenship. Individual cases falling within this zone must be determined as they arise from time to time by what this court has called, in another connection …, "the gradual process of judicial inclusion and exclusion." Impracticable: Incapable of being accomplished. Anglo-Saxons: Descendants of the Germanic peoples who conquered England in the fifth century c.e., in this case referring to white non-Jews. Imperceptible gradations: Gradual stages barely capable of being seen. Judicial and executive concurrence: Agreement between courts of justice and the executive branch of government. Legislative acquiescence: Acceptance by those who make laws. Caucasian: Of or relating to the white race. The briefs filed on behalf of appellant refer in complimentary terms to the culture and enlightenment of the Japanese people, and with this estimate we have no reason to disagree; but these are matters which cannot enter into our consideration of the questions here at issue. We have no function in the matter other than to ascertain the will of Congress and declare it. Of course there is not implied—either in the legislation or in our interpretation of it—any suggestion of individual unworthiness or racial inferiority. These considerations are in no manner involved…. Briefs: Legal documents outlining the facts and points in a case. Two years after the Ozawa case, the Supreme Court ruled in another case (United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind) involving a man described as "a high-caste Hindu, of full Indian blood, born at Amritsar, Punjab, India" who had applied for citizenship, arguing that he was "Caucasian." In the Ozawa case, the Court ruled that the word "white" did not really refer to skin color (since many people have lighter or darker skins), but rather to the "Caucasian" race. But in the Thind case, the Court took the opposite approach: Thind might be Caucasian, in a scientific sense, but in a popular sense, his skin was too dark to qualify as "white," and therefore he was not eligible to become a citizen, the court ruled. "It may be true," wrote U.S. Supreme Court justice George Sutherland (1862–1942), "that the blond Scandinavian and the brown Hindu have a common ancestor in the dim reaches of antiquity, but the average man knows perfectly well that there are unmistakable and profound differences between them today; and it is not impossible, if that common ancestor could be materialized in the flesh, we should discover that he was himself sufficiently differentiated from both of his descendants to preclude his racial classification with either." In other words, the "average man" knows a "white" person when he sees one, even if lawyers and scientists cannot agree on what the term means. It was a startling admission that the concept of race and skin color, applied to immigration law, had no real meaning beyond what the "average man" might think at any given moment. In 1924, Congress took another approach to limiting immigration. The Immigration Act of 1924 set permanent limits on the number of immigrants from each country. From 1924 through 1927, the number of immigrants from any one country was set at 2 percent of the number of foreign-born people of that nationality already in the United States in 1890. After July 1, 1927, the limits on each nationality were determined by a more complicated formula calculated by determining what percentage of the total population was represented by each national group, then multiplying that percentage by 150,000. Thus, if nationality "A" represented 1 percent of the U.S. population in 1890, the number of immigrants of nationality "A" admitted each year would equal 1 percent of 150,000, or 1,500 people. The practical effect of the 1924 law was to limit severely the number of immigrants after 1924, especially immigrants from non-European countries. The law also included a provision that barred anyone from immigrating who was not eligible to become a citizen. This provision was specifically aimed at Japanese immigrants and was at least partly based on the Ozawa decision of the Supreme Court. The Ozawa case was just one of several examples of how racial consciousness played a large role in American politics during the 1920s. The year before the decision was handed down by the Supreme Court, Congress had passed the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, which limited immigration from any single country to a number equal to 3 percent of the number of immigrants of that country who were living in the United States in 1910. The Ku Klux Klan was a secret organization that first appeared after the American Civil War (1861–65) as a means of terrorizing newly freed African American slaves and discouraging them from exercising their right to vote. Members of the original Klan wore long, white robes with a tall, peaked hood. They often burned crosses near African American neighborhoods at night as a means of frightening black people. In 1915, a new organization had been formed, using the same name as the Klan and the same costumes. The second version, however, was more open in its membership. Rather than being limited to the southern states, like the first Klan, the reborn Klan found many members in states of the Midwest, particularly Indiana. Although the second Klan still burned crosses, it also took on the form of a social club. Many elected politicians, including future president Harry S. Truman (1884–1972; served 1945–53), admitted to belonging to the Klan for a time. Whereas the first Klan had aimed its attacks at newly freed slaves, the second Klan attracted people opposed not only to racial minorities but also to Catholics, Jews, and immigrants from southern Europe (many of whom were also Catholic). Inside organizations like the Ku Klux Klan, racial prejudice and religious prejudice went hand in hand. George Sutherland, the Supreme Court justice who wrote the opinion in Ozawa v. United States, was himself an immigrant. Sutherland was born in Buckinghamshire, England, and brought to the United States as a baby. His family settled in what was then Utah Territory, which be came a state in 1896. Sutherland, a Republican, was Utah's sole U.S. representative from 1901 to 1903 and a U.S. senator from 1905 to 1917. He was nominated for the Supreme Court by President Warren Harding (1860–1924; served 1921–24) on September 5, 1922, and confirmed by the Senate on the same day. He had been a Supreme Court justice for just a month when the Ozawa case was argued, October 3–4, 1922. The case was decided one month later, on November 13, 1922. Dudley, William, ed. Asian Americans: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997. Ichihashi, Yamato. Japanese in the United States. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1932. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1969. Ichioka, Yuji. The Issei: The World of the First Generation Japanese Immigrants, 1885–1924. New York: Free Press, 1988. Tehranian, John. "Performing Whiteness: Naturalization Litigation and the Construction of Racial Identity in America." Yale Law Journal (January 2000): p. 817. "The History of Japanese Immigration." The Brown Quarterly (Spring 2000). http://brownvboard.org/brwnqurt/03-4/03-4a.htm (accessed on February 29, 2004). "In What Ways Did Our Laws Institutionalize Racial Prejudice Against Japanese Americans?" Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.http://www.densho.org/causes/1racism/1institutionalizedracism.asp (accessed on February 29, 2004). "Takao Ozawa v. U S, 260 U.S. 178 (1922)." FindLaw.com. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&court=US&case=/us/260/178.html (accessed on February 29, 2004). "Ozawa v. United States." U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library. . Encyclopedia.com. 29 Mar. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.

2019-04-21T12:28:38Z

https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ozawa-v-united-states

As you can see in the quality/durability guidelines here ... quilting layers that aren't more than "about an inch or so" thick won't have a meaningful effect on the durability or useful life of a mattress. The BestMattressEver uses all high quality high quality and durable materials and as you can also see in my comments in post #2 in the topic we are posting in (and unlike some of the other simplified choice mattresses) there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress that would compromise the durability or useful life of the mattress even relative to higher weight ranges than yours. Last edit: 01 Nov 2015 19:07 by Phoenix. Appreciate the comprehensive summary of the disruptor mattresses! I'm leaning towards T&N as it seems is the most firm of all of these options. Certainly doesn't hurt that it's priced more competitively (esp. with the Amex + underground discount). Given the free trial periods, I'm wondering if anyone has actually ordered from several vendors and, assuming you have the bedroom space, tested them all over the same ~100 day period? I'm leaning towards T&N as it seems is the most firm of all of these options. Based on general feedback it's probably among the firmer options out of the single firmness mattresses and may be firmer than some of the "medium" firmness options for mattresses that have multiple firmness options but it probably isn't as firm as some of the "firm" options that are available. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like "medium" for someone else or even "soft" for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they "rate" a mattress as well (see post #15 here ) so different people can have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science. Last edit: 09 Nov 2015 00:16 by Phoenix. Phoenix, I am so grateful to have found your website and the wealth of knowledge it contains. Thank you so much for bringing this much-needed information together in such a cohesive and useful way! I am looking at both the Love Bed from Nest Bedding and the Sedona Sleep base mattress and topper from Sedona Sleep. I would be interested in your thoughts regarding how to compare these two mattress systems, as well as how the discount code works. There is more information about the 3 most important parts of "value" of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn't turn out as well as you hoped for). The most important part of the "value" of a mattress purchase is how well you will sleep on it and whether a mattress is a good "match" for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences. While your own careful testing or personal experience is the only way to know for certain whether any mattress or combination of layers and components is a good "match" for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) ... when you can't test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help "talk you through" the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and "feel" of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best "match" for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the "averages" of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about "matching" their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else. Outside of PPP ... the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can't "feel" and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the type and quality of all the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label so I would always make sure that you are able to find out the information listed here so you can compare the materials and components in a mattress to the quality/durability guidelines here so you can confirm that there are no lower quality materials or obvious weak links in a mattress that would compromise the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase. Both of these manufacturers are completely transparent about their materials and both of them use high quality materials and there are no lower quality materials or weak links in either design that would compromise the durability or useful life of either mattress. Having said that ... they are both very different designs. The topper that goes with Sedona Sleep is a solid layer of blended Talalay latex which would be a little bit more resilient than the convoluted continuous pour synthetic Dunlop in the Love bed and is also a more costly material (Talalay latex is more costly than synthetic Dunlop and solid layers are also more costly than solid layers). There is more about convoluted layers in post #2 here . There is also more about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here . Both of them offer multiple firmness options. The Love Bed has a cover that is quilted with polyfoam and the Sedona Sleep topper uses an unquilted stretch knit cover so you would be sleeping more directly on the latex itself. Which type of cover you prefer would be a preference issue and there is more about the pros and cons of quilted covers vs a thinner stretch knit cover in post #12 here . The Love Bed has a 100 night free return/exchange policy and trial period. Sedona Sleep also has a 100 night trial period but there will be a small shipping cost involved to either exchange the topper for a different firmness or return the mattress for a refund. A mattress/topper combination also has the advantage of being able to replace just the topper after the trial period without having to replace the entire mattress if your needs or preferences change down the road or if the topper softens or breaks down before the rest of the mattress (the top layers of a mattress are generally the weakest link of any sleeping system whether they are inside the mattress cover or outside it). You are certainly looking at two great quality/value choices and once you have narrowed down your options to a list of finalists that are all choices between "good and good" (which you have) and none of them have any lower quality materials or "weak links" in their design relative to your weight range (which they don't) and if there are no clear winners between them (which is usually a good indication that you have done some good research) then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your local testing or mattresses you have slept well on, your more detailed conversations about each of them, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, your preferences for different types of materials or types and blends of latex, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress or individual layers, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on "informed best judgement" based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you. Last edit: 18 Dec 2015 12:25 by Phoenix. We ended up returning our BME as the Latex feel wasn't for us. Working with them was a pleasure and they even gave a topper to try, but we spent nights in our guest room as we just didn't like the feel of the BME. We went mattress shopping again today and really liked memory foam (temper-cloud elite mattress was our favorite after 30 minutes of laying) . However, as a 240 lb male these simplified choices are all listed as cautionary or recommended against. I have read many of your posts and the cross references but it is almost burying me in information. We are willing to spend up to a temperpedic but after becoming so knowledgeable from your site (thanks again!), I recognize this is not worth it. In terms of my specific interests, I could even consider going firm and putting a topper on the mattress so it supports my weight and is extra plush for myself and my bride-to-be (120lb). I narrowed it down to the Novosbed and Nest Alexander Medium. Is this smart or should I go a different route? If so do you recommend a coil core with memory foam on top for heavier individuals? The third post in this topic is being "reserved" for a different purpose. There are a number of the "simplified choice" mattresses that are already described in post #2 in this topic as being suitable for any weight range in terms of the quality and durability of the materials. If you tend to prefer more traditional memory foam mattresses and if you are looking at online options then outside of the simplified choice list the mattress shopping tutorial also includes several other links to lists of many of the better online options I'm aware of (in the optional online step) that include many different types and categories of mattresses in a wide range of budgets, firmness levels, and with different return/exchange policies that may also be worth considering including a list of the better online memory foam options I'm aware of. While the process of how to choose a mattress would involve the same steps that are listed in the mattress shopping tutorial ... most people in higher weight ranges will generally need or prefer firmer mattresses (firmer materials will feel softer because you will sink into them more) and materials and components that are higher quality and more durable than those that are in lower weight ranges (the materials and components in a mattress will soften and break down faster for those in higher weight ranges than they will for someone that is in a lower weight range that doesn't compress the mattress as much). I would be particularly cautious about mattresses that use more than "about an inch or so" of memory foam that is less than about 5 lb density or polyfoam that is less than about 2 lb density ... particularly in the upper layers of the mattress. You can also see my comments about choosing a mattress first with the intention of adding a topper later in post #2 here . In most cases I would avoid this approach because of the uncertainty involved with two purchase choices instead of only one and choosing a topper that would be suitable in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) for a specific person on a specific mattress can sometimes be almost as difficult as choosing a mattress that doesn't need a topper in the first place. I would generally focus on choosing a mattress that is likely to be a suitable match without a topper (unless you can test the combination in person or you are purchasing both online as a "set" that is designed to work together and they both have a good return/exchange policy) and then use the option to add a topper as a "backup" strategy in case your initial choice doesn't turn out as well as you hoped for rather than a "primary" strategy. It can also be more costly than just buying a mattress which includes the same materials as the topper as a layer inside the mattress itself and you would be avoiding the risk of having additional materials in your base mattress that you may not need or that may be lower quality foam (that can soften or break down more quickly) or that may be softer than what would be ideal for a transition layer under a softer topper. I would also make sure that you can find out all the specifics of the materials inside the base mattress so you can make sure it meets the quality/durability guidelines here and that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in any of the materials or components in your sleeping system that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress. Having said that ... if you do choose a suitable mattress/topper combination which turns out to be a good "match" for you in terms of PPP (and there are no lower quality materials or "weak links" in the mattress/topper combination) then it would have the advantage of being able to replace just the topper without replacing the entire mattress if it softens or breaks down before the upper foam layers in the mattress (which is likely because a sleeping system will tend to soften or break down from the top layers down) or if your needs or preferences change over time and a topper can also help extend the useful life of a mattress underneath it as well. 1. Careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of "comfort", firmness, and PPP ... and/or that you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or "fine tune" the mattress and any costs involved if you can't test a mattress in person or aren't confident that your mattress is a suitable choice. 2. Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you are considering relative to your weight range that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress. Last edit: 17 Mar 2016 19:26 by Phoenix. I'm knew to this forum and interested in purchasing a new mattress in the next couple of months. My wife and I have been sleeping on a King size tripedic memory foam mattress from select-a-bed.com for about eight years now. I find that the support and pressure relief has been insufficient for some time time now (I'm about 185lbs) though my wife still finds it okay. We both find that it sleeps hot. I think I'm done with memory foam. I've spent a lot of time trying to research on the internet about mattress buying and quality components. I must admit that the bed-in-a-box category is appealing, perhaps due to the very vigorous and clever on line marketing campaigns that make their product appear more 'authentic' than traditional mattress manufacturers/retailers. One bed-in-a-box company that I'm surprised not to see mentioned in this thread that seems to be everywhere in the online world now is the new Purple mattress with their new hyper-elastic polymer comfort layer (collapsing gel). I must admit that I am intrigued by their message and the 'raw egg test', though I realize the real test would by my wife and I seeing if a mattress meets our PPP's. I wonder if their polyfoam support layers layers are a 'weak link' in the bed construction underneath this wonder gel layer (side note: the product and company used to be called WonderGel and you can buy seat cushions under this brand at Bed Bath & Beyond, I have one and it works really well). The tripedic mattress you own is a good quality/value mattress but if you are no longer sleeping well on it and it has lost its "comfort" and/or support then after 8 years it's very likely that it's time for a new mattress. Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you've read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best "match" for you in terms of "comfort", firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn't turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the "value" of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you. I've spent a lot of time trying to research on the internet about mattress buying and quality components. I must admit that the bed-in-a-box category is appealing, perhaps due to the very vigorous and clever on line marketing campaigns that make their product appear more 'authentic' than traditional mattress manufacturers/retailers. I would keep in mind that "marketing campaigns" are just that and don't necessarily relate to the suitability, quality, or durability of a mattress. You've probably read this already as well but you can read more about what I call "simplified choice" mattresses in the first post in this topic. I would also keep in mind that there are many other good quality/value online mattress choices that are shipped directly to consumers that don't fit the "simplified choice" category (in many cases because they have more than one mattress available on their site). Outside of the simplified choice list ... if you are looking at online options then the mattress shopping tutorial also includes several other links to lists of many of the better online options I'm aware of (in the optional online step) that include many different types and categories of mattresses in a wide range of budgets, firmness levels, and with a range of different return/exchange policies that may also be worth considering. There may also be some good options available to you locally and if you let me know your city or zip code I'd be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I'm aware of in your area. One bed-in-a-box company that I'm surprised not to see mentioned in this thread that seems to be everywhere in the online world now is the new Purple mattress with their new hyper-elastic polymer comfort layer (collapsing gel). I must admit that I am intrigued by their message and the 'raw egg test', though I realize the real test would by my wife and I seeing if a mattress meets our PPP's. I wonder if their polyfoam support layers layers are a 'weak link' in the bed construction underneath this wonder gel layer (side note: the product and company used to be called WonderGel and you can buy seat cushions under this brand at Bed Bath & Beyond, I have one and it works really well). Outside of the 23 mattresses that are already listed in the simplified choice list ... there are currently 23 more that I'm aware of that have been launched more recently that I haven't added to the list yet (and more are being launched on a regular basis). Some of them have been mentioned on the forum (and some haven't yet) but I will likely add some or most of them to the list over the coming weeks although some of them will be included in the "avoid until complete specs are known" section of the list. Because the list has so many options available I wouldn't consider it to be as much of a "simplified choice" list any longer because there really isn't much difference between choosing between 46 mattresses that are offered by 46 different companies or 46 mattresses (or less) that are offered by a single company and when you are purchasing online it's not possible to make "real time" comparisons between many different mattresses to see if you like one better than another which you can in a local store. Because most of them have good trial periods and refund policies though, you can at least try them with little risk to find out if they are "good enough" in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP even though you can't know if another one would have been a better choice unless you try it as well. Purple certainly has a very aggressive advertising campaign (their ads show up everywhere once you have been to their site especially) and until they are listed in the simplified choice list you can see some comments about the Purple mattress and the buckling column gel they use in post #2 here and the posts it links to. Last edit: 20 Apr 2016 11:07 by Phoenix.

2019-04-23T08:21:27Z

https://www.themattressunderground.com/mattress-forum/index/18124-simplified-choice-mattresses-aka-disruptors-bed-in-a-box-one-choice-fits-all-universal-comfort-millennial-mattresses.html?start=20

Microsoft Virtual Academy is a free access training portal site from Microsoft, that is focused on helping those in IT to easily learn about Microsoft technologies. It consist of several courses you can study at your own pace. The courses are worth a determined amount of points depending on their depth level. The MVA site in turn works on a points based system and scoreboard as way of encouragement and as way to rank you in the site. Bronze: 0 to 370 points. Silver: 371 to 699 points. Gold: 700 to 999 points. Platinum: 1000 points or more. Beyond the points and scoreboard within the MVA community. Finishing courses and getting points get anyone enrolled in the MVA discounts for Microsoft Certifications and access to special Microsoft promotions related to Microsoft technologies with courses on the MVA. The Microsoft Virtual Academy is free for anyone wanting to enroll in, the only thing needed is a Live ID and being interested in a specific course. The Microsoft Virtual Academy site in itself is very well laid out and as something worth of pointing out, it happens to sport a Metro UI-UX styled design. Something that looks to be spreading over all Microsoft web properties now. And I must say it works very well to make things fluid and pleasant. For further questions about the MVA, the site got a fairly clear F.A.Q page you can take a look at. Microsoft Virtual Academy results in a very interesting hybrid of e-learning portal and promotional vehicle from Microsoft as its main function beyond promoting Microsoft Tech is to help as a easier to follow and use learning aid for those interested in Microsoft Certifications. But that thanks to it being well balanced, works pretty well. Separated by less than a month from the release of Flash 10.2, A new Adobe AIR update is now out and while it is not a major release by itself, it is what should have also been released with Adobe AIR 2.5. In fact Adobe AIR 2.6 got released broken in several releases; From the release of AIR 2.6 for Android that was released in advance of both the Desktop SDK and Runtime of Adobe AIR 2.6, and of course the actual update for currently installed Adobe AIR runtimes that just went live last week. The reason for the advanced release of AIR 2.6 for Android had all to do with Adobe’s strategic partnership with Google, as Adobe needed and more than likely was demanded for this release AIR to spice up Google’s own release of Android 3.0 A.K.A Honeycomb and Android 3.0 based slates like the Motorola XOOM. This way AIR for Android could then fully support the Content Viewer for Android and Adobe’s new Digital Publishing Suite. Adobe AIR 2.6 is all about pushing forward the dream of Adobe to go Multiscreen and do so with good performance. Reason why I guess all that it is in AIR 2.6 could not had been released with AIR 2.6 as Flash 10.2 advancements were integral to realizing this. With AIR 2.6, Adobe goes back to truly supporting iOS in the SDK, and they are going back on iOS with a vengeance, as they are now offering a end to end solution akin to what Novell’s MonoTouch does for iOS. Giving Flash, Flex and WebStack devs the comfort of developing in the way they know they are faster with. Leaving it to the AIR for iOS solution to integrate the developed code as a native iOS App via the “new” AIR Developer Tool instead of the OS X Packager for iPhone; Native iOS apps with the RIAness of Adobe but without sacrificing performance anymore. So AIR 2.6 starts truly delivering Adobe AIR as a MultiScreen solution. In the same way you can say Microsoft is working on making Silverlight run everywhere. AIR 2.6 actually puts Adobe once again completely in the lead, by making it possible to deliver RIA apps that run in the Desktop (Win, OS X, Linux), the Web (Via the Flash plugin) and in two mobile platforms (Android and iOS) with two different form factors. And with the additional promise of AIR being able to deliver Apps to two extra Mobile platforms sooner than later. Starting with The Playbook from RIM and potentially following with HP WebOS later on. You could also wonder why am not also counting Adobe AIR for TV’s. And the simple reason for that, is because it is not truly there yet. But just like in the case of The Playbook, that should soon change. Take advantage of new features in iOS 4 like multitasking, retina display for higher screen resolutions up to 960x640, and front and back camera support. Capture audio with the microphone and build applications with an integrated development process when packaging to the IPA format. Conveniently debug your applications on an Android device through a USB connection with no Wi-Fi setup required. Android USB drivers for Microsoft® Windows® are now included with the Adobe AIR software development kit (SDK). Maximize graphics rendering performance for Android and iOS by taking advantage of the device's graphics hardware acceleration. Display web links inside an application (for example, your Facebook application) to quickly access web content without having to leave your application. No need to switch to your web browser. Simplify the development of multiscreen applications when soft keyboards automatically appear when required. Desktop applications originally designed for physical keyboards are more easily optimized for mobile devices when you don't have to modify the content or application to display the soft keyboard. Is in a sense what Adobe AIR 2.6 brings now, An Adobe that shows they are playing to win by bringing their best RIA game into fruition, in as many screens and platforms they can manage. Making the plight for the RIA a dead serious statement on why Runtimes and Plugins are here to stay and got a solid place in the future. But if words are not enough, here is a video showing what AIR 2.6 brings and the potential of what Adobe AIR 3.0 could then mean in the future. Before there were proper browser add-ons, there were Bookmarklets. These allow you to perform a function you would usually use a browser extension or userscript for. And they are named bookmarklets, because they can be saved in the same way as a simple bookmark, while at the same time they are not bookmarks at all. In order to use them you need to click them in the same way you would click any other bookmark. Usually best to access them from the favorites bar or Bookmarks toolbar in your preferred browser for a improved convenience. Marklets is a simple bookmarklet search engine and index, from where you can search for all kinds of these smart bookmarks, as the marklets site aptly calls them. Right now there are 99 bookmarklets, but the number should be able able to grow well beyond that as anyone can add a bookmarklet to the site or rank the existing ones. Site is well structured, while sparsely designed in order to make the ads in the site a bit more effective from what I can gather. Not really a bother just a make the site a bit uneven. So what kind of functions can you get by using bookmarklets? Anything from a one click link capture twitter share to a one click website element remover for a easier website screenshot capture, etc, etc. Bookmarklets are a good way to not having to install unnecessary browser-addons and easy to use and share because they will work in pretty much any browser. Marklets makes for a easier way to get them. Technorati Tags: marklets,marklets.com,bookmarklets,smart bookmarks,bookmarklets search engine. Burst Linking is a concept that always attracted my attention from the times it was only possible via a desktop tool running in Windows 95 (circa 1997 . Now the concept is being used along with Shorturl sharing as a web app, which makes this old concept fresh once again. Brief.ly is a great free burst linking online tool, that allows you to share multiple links in a single shorturl link. Going also beyond what other similar online tools did by giving you a better landing page for your pack of links with free analytics and even multiple shorturl providers for you to choose from. Previously, I had posted about BridgeURL, which was to my knowledge (at the time I posted on it) the best online burst linker tool around. With only a really big flaw: the shorturl it gave you linked to a website viewer first instead of linking to a landing page with the pack of links you had shared. Which struck me as odd as it goes against the purpose of burst linking. Brief.ly don’t does that and gets it right by giving you several shorturl providers to choose from and linking you first to a landing page with the pack of links you shared as it should be! Secondary to that come the iframe based website viewers, they also give you and even the need of you having to be registered to the service. You don’t have to be registered to use brief.ly. But if you do register, they give you some simple analytics for the links you are sharing as an extra. You can join brief.ly by registering a account or by logging in with Facebook. The choice is put at your discretion. I personally recommend registering an account. It is a really great online tool for sharing multiple links in one go, the best one yet. Taken from the Ireland Windows 7 Theme, here I bring you 17 Desktop Backgrounds (wallpapers) of Ireland plus 22 custom system sounds made for that theme you can also use if you want. Then you just select the sounds you want to change one by one, match accordingly to the file names of the .Wav files included in the zip file linker in this very post. That should give you the same “Celtic” sounds scheme that is added automatically in Windows 7, but in your Windows XP installation. In the case you want to revert to the default sound scheme, just go back to the Sound Tab in the Sounds and Audio Device Properties Window and select the default sound scheme under the sound scheme selector, then click apply. Easy. Then you just select the sounds you want to change one by one, match accordingly to the file names of the .Wav files included in the zip file linked in this very post. That should give you the same “Celtic” sounds scheme that is added automatically in Windows 7, but in your Windows Vista installation. In the case you want to revert to the default sound scheme, just go back to the Sound Tab in the Sound Window and select the default sound scheme under the sound scheme selector, then click apply. Easy. While it was mainly a coincidence, what better day to post a Windows 7 Theme focused on Ireland than in Saint Patrick’s Day right? Right. This way you can easily extend your thoughts of the contemplatively beautiful Ireland from a day to a week. And as the official theme write up says, why would you not if it is all so pretty and nice? This Windows 7 Theme comes with a green tint (of course), 17 desktop backgrounds, but more importantly 22 custom sounds for the OS with an awesome Irish folklore music touch to them apply called Celtic. Simply a very well conceived Windows 7 Theme. Above the average for sure. I wonder if it was put up by someone actually Irish, certainly hope so and if not, lets pretend it was to make it feel even more authentic. Some websites and blogs offer intentionally only cut-up feeds in order to make to you click to their sites and make you leave the confines of your favorite feed reader. A practice I personally dislike and disagree as you can easily check from Appatic’s own feed. For that reason I want to offer all of you that happen to agree with me a way to convert cut-up/truncated/limited feeds into full feeds. Full Text RSS Feed Builder is a free online service that does exactly what its self-explanatory name implies. It allows you to input any cut-up/limited/truncated feed that only offers a little part of a blog post instead of the full content, and convert into a Full Text RSS Feed. Once you have converted your truncated/limited/cut-up feed, you get a instant preview of how your converted feed will read along with the link for it. Fast & Easy. This is not the first time I tell you about a service like this, before I had posted about WizardRSS and FullFeeds. But Full Text RSS Feed Builder just seems a better option right now. WizardRSS was recently updated but not upgraded. And FullFeeds looks to be now down all the time, maybe even for good. For those reasons I thought that Full Text RSS Feed Builder was worth a post of its own since it resulted better and multiples choices are always good even if for the same kind of services. Check it as it well worth a bookmark if you are a feed reader user. Previously, FilesBoox was a File Search Engine based on FilesPump. But looks like it faced either some pressure or a change of heart and now the service has reinvented itself by jumping in the mirror, while at the same time conserving its name and domain. FilesBoox is a quick file sharing and hosting online service. With it you can share any kind of file of any size for quick online delivery. There is no leaderboard of recently shared files or anything like that, so you can either share the file publicly or privately. It is at your own discretion. Just load the site and you will see a Browse Files button. Click it and a Windows Explorer dialog will pop up, select the file you want to share and then click Open. After you click Open, you will instantly see a upload progress bar that will show you the name of the file you are sharing, its data weight and the % uploaded. If you need to cancel, just click the red x button to abort the upload. Once your file has finished uploading, a window frame will appear showing the Direct Download Link for the file you have just share along with a HTML and Forum code with that link for quick copy-pasting use. Finally, it will also show you a remove link in case you need or want to have the file erased. Now you got what you need to share your file. FilesBoox makes for a good uncomplicated online file sharer and temporary file host. Given the ease of use and size of the usable site. FilesBoox also makes for a good candidate to be used as a SSB app, if you want to consider that option, I recommend you to use Bubbles for that end. It was back in 2009 with the release of IE8 that Microsoft first started to publicly declare the need for the world of letting go of IE6. From then to now things have only got more and more direct and since last week, the breaking point has finally been reached. Now Microsoft is not just saying it and supporting others declarations for the phase out of IE6. They have decided to put up a site for that goal, and that goal only. TheIE6CountDown.com is a educational and promotional site that calls for the phase out of IE6 educating with the numbers of the current IE6 usage around the world and the basic info on why not use IE6. It is also a promotional vehicle for the close to be released IE9 in the case of Vista and 7 users or as a Microsoft sanctioned upgrade path to IE8 for those still using XP as their main Windows OS installation. As of Feb 2011, approximately 12% of the connected world is still using IE6 as the main browser. The goal of Microsoft is to make that 12% a 1% as soon as possible. Something not as hard to do when it comes to common users, meaning those not accessing the internet from workstation. From the detailed stats screenshot below combined with the profiled one above, It is clear that the average percentage of IE6 usage around the world if not counting China, South Korea and India (the top 3 countries using IE6) is already at 5-6%. So the goal of only a 1% of usage is reachable from that perspective, even if I see 3% on average as the most realistic figure for 2011. But counting everyone in, then I would put the reachable target for 2011 at 9% and maybe maybe 7% if things go extremely well. With all this said, it will be a good thing if you want to collaborate and check out on the site to know how you can accelerate the IE6 phase out. Ok, this one is pretty much only for those that either got a little kid (7yrs old or less) or happen to like and hunt for WPF based (.NET fans) apps. In my case I got a little nephew constantly around and I do like to hunt for .NET based apps, so since I had both reasons, I decided to post about this little App. FlashCards.Show is a ClickOnce enabled, WPF based educational kids game app focused in flashcard styled games designed by IdentityMine. Made for Microsoft to be used as a fleshed out illustrative example of a App that went from being a WPF desktop app to a Silverlight based one for WP7 and how the same app can be faithfully transitioned to different mediums. But since it was so fleshed out, I decided that it should not just be used by those doing tech demos at Microsoft, but by anyone that would want it. FlashCards.Show comes with 3 different Card Deck classes: Alphabet, Animals and Flowers. In turn each Card Deck class got 3 different kinds of game: Leaning, Matching and Memory. The learning games will show a card a time and if clicked, the card will turn showing the name of what the card is showing. Plus to that it will also show a play button with the audio of the correct pronunciation of the name of what was shown by that card. The matching games will show a wall of shown cards separated by demonstrative cards and name cards. Matching a demonstrative card to the name card will make both disappear and that will be marked as a correct match. The memory games will show a wall of unshown cards. Clicking or touching one card will show either a demonstrative or name card for 5 seconds and will turn around if left untouched or if a match is not made with another card. A memory match should then consist of a demonstrative card and a name card. If the match is made, both cards will disappear and that will be considered a correct match. A simple, well designed and free educational game app for kids easy to enjoy. Only drawback about it is that you truly wish it had a lot more card decks and more games. But given the price and the easy 3 clicks install, there is really no much to complain about. App works in XP, Vista and 7.

2019-04-20T18:17:58Z

http://www.appatic.com/2011/03/

Just yesterday, I had attended a casual meetup session with our program director, Dr Mike Molesworth to gain a little more insight to the degree. Majority of the time spent during the session was about internship and I had been guilty of not putting much effort in sourcing for a company as of yet. Anyways, back to the topic: Students should acknowledge that internship is vital for their personal development. Allowances – Some students were paid as low as 450$ per month. Much lesser than my army allowance as an admin support assistant. The Slavery Perception – We all experienced it before, tasked to complete the most insignificant jobs out there which serves no purpose to what we really want to learn. Module Credits – It’s equivalent to 6 module credits and if we were graded badly, it would affect our GPA so badly. For interns, sometimes we might tasked to complete the most insignificant jobs to offload our supervisor’s pressure getting paid with peanuts with the constant pressure of unable to achieve better grades. Been there, done that and from a diploma holder perspective, the concerns were really insignificant as compared to what I had experienced. It had offered me a platform to test-drive my skills and contribute to the organization. I had a clearer picture of assessing questions pertaining to my interest in retail and my weaknesses under a sheltered work environment. Tip of the day: It’s about your progression and development as an undergraduate. Be enthusiastic about it! It might be the most simplest task, but constantly ask yourself if there are room for improvements and contribute in every means possible that is. The management would always appreciate employees with a heart to learn and you would get much more in return. Manpower – In a fast paced business process when time is crucial especially retail and manufacturing, well trained interns are a big help to schedule plannings and let us rest the full-time staffs. Atmosphere – Having fresh blood and youth in the firm provides a much diverse work environment and higher energy level. I enjoyed the ideas imposed by them and sharing sessions of what was taught from school. Employment – Future employment can be considered upon their graduation. Prior work experience under the firm makes things so much easier without the hassle of interviewing. Tip of the day: Take into account of the individual’s learning as youths should be given a chance to be entrusted with important tasks. Make them feel integrated as part of the organisation despite being here only for the short term. Let’s not forget that by offering an experience of a lifetime for the interns, it would benefit the firm back through word of mouth and achieve enhanced reputation as well! It’s a representation of how we deal with Human Resource. Yang Ying and Shahirul had just ended their 4 months tenure with us. 2 cultured and industrious individuals with a bright future ahead. All the best! To end off this post, I would like to share an article in relation to the internship landscape currently in Singapore – Some are offered $10.000 a month, others are working for free? In my opinion, i would define internship program as an important stepping stone for a job you wish to land in the near future and you are building your career concurrently. Final Assignment: But this is clearly not the end! I couldn’t agree further that the beauty of #MANG2049 is the freedom to conduct collaborate learning. This is evident from our video as it was created from the effort and skills of individuals with various viewpoints and unique backgrounds. From Topic 4, I had learnt that content marketing is a huge market to tap on and by having first-hand experience on posting my own video online on YouTube, it creates a platform for me to showcase more of the online identity which I wish to portray. As a marketer, it is vital to be creative! Moving on, I would wish to explore other software such as Sony Vegas and Prezi as it helps to present a more creative side of me to tackle future modules and blogging opportunities. #MANG2049 had encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and craft interesting online contents. The interactions between the UK students made me realize the importance of social networking to enhance my digital presence through Blogging and Twitter. In future, I would continue to take the initiative to communicate with content owners on websites such as Forbes and Inc to build connection with other internet users. They might be interested in my contents such as entrepreneurship, marketing and lifestyle. Facebook was a platform for me to connect with people. However, by leaving my contents online backdated 6 years ago, there is a risk that others might stumble upon contents that isn’t a representative of my current identity. My account is now strictly to connect with friends, acquaintances and interest groups after cleaning up inappropriate contents. It was merely impossible to scan through the vast amount of tweets and my account is now used as a tool to connect with people for learning purposes and social networking. Also, as mentioned from my video, I am actively following accounts such as DDB and Nielsen to understand more about their culture and contents to stand a better chance for my upcoming internship interviews. Accounts such as CMi, DMWF updates marketing contents they had posted online and by constantly sharing what I find relevant and useful is another form of learning. Plans for the future: As my twitter was “reset”, I would follow more accounts relevant in the area of my interest and hopefully, gain followers whom are interested in my contents to build a stronger online identity. Despite deeming LinkedIn as rather irrelevant, it is still good to showcase my credentials online. I might be able to source for individuals with certain expertise to work on certain projects based on my connections. I had listed down that I am looking for an internship opportunity as well. Plans for the future: To join groups on LinkedIn and be part of communities related to my particular interest in areas such as Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship to partake in the various discussions upon acceptance. I had purchase a domain name for Etools Technology and my personal blog. As a traditional B2B firm, Etools is lacking in the area of digital presence and it would be an excellent platform to tap on! My future plans for the firm would be working with external parties to get a corporate website set up to gain more exposures online from search engines. Hopefully, I would be able to run the website well based on what I had learnt so far. Successfully registered a domain name on http://www.godaddy.com for Etools Technology. I would continue to blog about “anything under the sun” in my personal blog and besides being more presentable and gaining exposures, I would consider customizing my email accordingly to my domain name to be achieve a more professional identity in the future. It would bring a form of standardization across my online profile. Google App allows me to customize my email according to my domain name at a fee of $5 a month. A great investment upon graduation perhaps? Upon further research in the area of Open Education Resources, I had amended my stand to say that we should not overlook on the various disadvantages which open access might bring. First of all, to elaborate on the advantages of OER from Yi Lin’s post, we had common grounds in agreeing that every individual deserves an equal chance to learn irregardless of differing demographics such as race, family income level or age. Based on my research on educational attainment, it draws my attention that even for a first world country like America, not everyone is privileged enough to afford college or a degree of their interest. OER provide substantial cost savings to students without negatively impacting their learning (Hilton & Wiley, 2011; Allen, 2010). Cheaper textbooks and material costs! Furthermore, education institution stands to benefit as well! Linking back to my post about academic publishers moving towards oligopoly, through OER, education institution can afford to provide a higher quality of teaching for their students through a wider source and selection of research materials! Moving onto the macro perspective. On the surface, OER seems to be an ideal solution to aid developing countries such as Africa and Afghanistan. Examples: Cheaper textbook costs and higher quality of teaching. However, Easter mentioned that the proliferation of free online resources available would result in a drop in OER quality. This problem would be magnified as developing countries would have a harder time filtering and locating relevant materials which are truly effective. Not to forget, due to the lack of internet access in developing countries, it drives the fundamental question of whether are the ones whom are truly in need of education benefiting from OER? Lastly, to what extent would transfer of learning truly takes place? As mentioned from Tonybates: you can’t just take content from one country and dump it into another and expect results. Perhaps educational institutions from developed countries may take distance learning into considerations and alter selected OER to ensure effectiveness of training in developing countries. To a certain extent, would OER and widen the poverty gap of developing countries since only developed countries get to reap the most out of open access? This leaves me to ponder about my previous stand, the disadvantages of open access in the area of global education shouldn’t be overlooked. Topic 5: What does the shift towards open access implies? Newsflash: Just barely 2 weeks ago, Lingua, a prominent linguistics journal lost a total of 37 editorial employees via resignation due to a disagreement over changing their business model to be a fully open access publication with the journal’s publisher, Elsevier. This is due to increasing concerns of institutional libraries unable to afford escalating subscription fees, a worrying trend, which is a disadvantage of open access. Academic publishers moving towards oligopoly in the digital era? Due to the popularity of open access, mergers and acquisition in academic publisher industry had increased. Five largest publishing houses combined control 50% of the market in 2015. “The world of academic publishing has been consolidated into a limited number of tightly controlled channels” Peter Mcpherson (Nov 3, 2015). Which is bad news for libraries and internet users like me as lesser competition would eventually lead to higher subscription costs for educational institution and more restrictions such as paywalls for consumers with the intention for them to increase their profit margins such as Elsevier. Harvard university raised concerns about these worrying trends. In topic 4, I had mentioned about user generated contents, a major disadvantage for anyone making their contents or materials available free online would be being prone to undesired outcomes such as not being cited or being a victim of plagiarism. It is only ethical for us to give recognition for other’s work! Open access would enhance the effectiveness of an individual’s informal learning process as there are more materials available at their disposal. It is definitely encouraged in businesses as it is a cost effective and efficient way of training employees. For example: Middle-aged employees whom wish to upgrade themselves besides training or part-time education grants offered by the firm, would be more inclined to research about particular topics to improve themselves. This give every single individuals a chance to gain more knowledge about a topic. In the aspect of society, it gives every individuals belonging to any of the income bracket a chance to gain in-depth knowledge about a topic of their interest instead of being put off by access fees and paywalls. In America, grants are given out from the nation’s taxes for researches to be conducted and perhaps due to social reasons, it encouraged the White House to review and announce a new US open-access policy. By making your content available online might perhaps be the start of your brand. Last month, I was invited to an alumni dinner and gained a little bit of insight to the concept of crowdfunding. Alphonso managed to kick start his brand through the exposure gained from posting his product idea online. A total of $39,213 AUD was pledged to bring his project to life and that was the start to Natsu Wallet. Open access had allowed plenty of internet users with brilliant ideas to gather feedback and attract venture capitalist to invest in their ideas. Dear readers, would you agree with me that the advantages of open access is too vital to be ignored today? Personally, I feel that the advantages of open access outweighs the negatives. Review of Topic 4: Should we embrace firms using social media unethically? For topic 4, I had touched on content marketing and UGC which revolve around creation, publishing and sharing contents in order to acquire and retain customers. Whereas competitive marketing reminds us on the importance of developing competitive insight and bringing it to our advantage. Tian Yi’s blog highlighted the importance of competitive marketing leading to public bashing of competitors. We have certain similarities in our stand – Using social media to bash competitors isn’t entirely a bad thing! Coca and Cola and Pepsi are locked in fierce battles as direct competitors described sometimes as “Cola Wars”. An example of integrating UGC into competitive marketing would be Pepsi creating a campaign urging customers to share reasons they prefer Pepsi MAX to Coke asking them to post it on social media such as Instagram and their mini-site offering prizes to the best entries. There might be questions to ethicality of the campaign but Pepsi had played their cards right as the consumer’s generated content based on their perception isn’t a representation of the company! No legal risks right there. Spectrum of Direct/Indirect Competition for Pepsi. Was it wrong of Pepsi to come up with a marketing campaign to create a better product image? Emilia’s blog mentioned a framework for moral decision making. Utilitarian approach is about us choosing the action that will produce the greatest benefits and the least harm which raises certain questions in my head. It would be naïve for a business to be confined into choosing the least harm for their competitors! Competition must exist even as we move onto the digital era. But of course, as she mentioned, the study of ethical approach can be taken by a firm to ensure success of a digital marketing campaign. Edging towards a macro perspective, my stand remains unchanged: Society should embrace firms using social media unethically as marketing strategies which involves the use of social media such as user generated contents and online bashing of competitors is a sign of competition which should be encouraged in the aspect of business. Topic 4: Is it Ethical for Brands to incorporate user generated contents under their names? Consumers can be content creators of today. GoPro’s content marketing strategies encourages and attract users to generate contents for them with a webpage to showcase the most captivating videos captured by their users. In return, they promise global exposure and monetary incentives for the best videos in competitions such as the annual GoPro awards. As cultural theorist Henry Jenkins (2006) once cited that: ‘Audiences, empowered by new technologies, occupying a space at the intersection between old and new media, are demanding the right to participate within the culture’. From my perspective, that was the rise of social media and digital residents whom are also the sources of user generated contents today. From a marketing point of view, user generated contents should never be ignored especially for B2C firms with strong branding presences. Instead of us creating content, why not actively encourage content creation, giving consumers a platform for communications and engagements just like Coach and Burberry? UGC had changed the landscape for content marketing and it is the upcoming trend for majority of the B2C firms in the upcoming year of 2016. Content Marketing Institute’s 2015 Benchmark, Budgets and Trends reports that 48% of the B2B firms and 70% of B2C firms are currently or planning to engage in UGC within next year. How and why are user generated contents effective? Here is an overview of the statistics. Exploiting from the online community? There are outcries from creative circles labeling UGC as “WFF” – Working For Free. Which is true to a certain extent, considering that crowdsourcing campaigns rewards the “top of the crops” and the winners are very likely to be individuals whom had experiences or exceptional talents in the relevant fields such as designing and photography. A growing concern for creators is how are they expected to make a living if their work are made available for free? The time and effort spend by all the participants combined are not taken into considerations and organizations get to reap further benefits by storing participants’ work or ideas as valuable references or data to work on future projects. There are criticisms of media corporations exploiting amateur creators by committing them to relinquish the rights of their creations and taking commercial advantage of “user-generated content”. However, I felt that the benefits of user generated contents outweighs the ethical issues highlighted above. For marketers, UGC may be utilized for a successful marketing campaign and brings forth several advantages such as cost effectiveness of a marketing strategy and enhancing brand loyalty for a firm. For creative circles, despite potential ethical issues arising, these opportunities had also created a platform for them to gain visibility and to gauge if their works would attract attention! It also creates networking opportunities, gaining reputation through increased followers which might arguably be better for the long run especially for amateur designers or creators to build on their portfolio. Dear readers, what are your views on this topic? Review of topic 3: What does an authentic and professional online identity implies for politicians? Are all digital platform truly effective? Upon reviewing Edward’s blog, I was really captivated by his style of blogging by drawing reader’s attention through his personal experiences as well as linking to the area of Singapore affairs. It reminded me of a news article with regards to a Singapore politician, Ms Tin Pei Ling. Ms Tin faced several criticisms for posting a selfie with her new Kate Spade Bag on FaceBook in year 2011. Majority deemed her image as non-professional and condemned her action through online petitions in an attempt to kick her out from the parliament! Despite the Petition in 2011, she managed to make a comeback through social media once again by upholding a professional and matured image as a politician. Edward‘s post had broadened my scope of research by understanding that there is an increased emphasis for influential figures such as politicians, educators and religion pastors to maintain an authentic and professional online identity simply by observing social trends or the news. Hence, a point which I had failed to mention for topic 3 earlier- be extremely caution of what you post! Technology advancements such as cloud data had made it impossible, something which I had learnt as a marketing student. On the other hand, Siew Woon’s blog had moved into the area of questioning the effectiveness of digital platform these days. A very creative post through utilization of GIFs and various interaction medias, she had approached the topic from a very unique perspective. Just like every ‘tools’ in a garage, every digital platform has its strength and shortcomings in areas of recruitment. For example: Blogging might had opened up potential spaces for you to ‘present’ more of yourself, but just like a double edged knife, the probability of you posting something negative increases and what are the chances of you really getting noticed by a chief executive of a big firm at the first place? Could it be that a certain mix of digital platforms create a better synergy such as the theory behind integrated marketing communications? An intriguing thought. To end off my reflection, I would like to link back to my topic 2, where I had mentioned about authenticity previously. From a marketing point of view, anonymity and authenticity would result in positives outcomes and hence should be encouraged! On the contrary, from an entrepreneur and job recruiter’s perspective, it is a must to display an authenticity and professional online identity.

2019-04-24T13:58:48Z

https://patrickword.com/2015/11/

According to current practice, the Saudi trademark office requires a commercial registration certificate from local entities along with the trademark application. It is not a requirement to provide evidence of use or statement of intention to use a trademark. The new trademark law has extended the subject matter of trademarks in Saudi Arabia. The law provides a non-exhaustive list of registrable trademarks. Anything with distinctive character can be a trademark, such as names, words, signatures, letters, symbols, numbers, titles, stamps, drawings, pictures, inscriptions, packaging, figurative elements, shapes or colours, groups of colours, or combinations thereof, or any sign or a group of signs used or intended to be used to distinguish the goods or services of one undertaking from the goods or services of another undertaking or intended to identify a service or as a certification mark in respect of goods or services. For the first time in Saudi Arabia, the law has explicitly recognised smells and sounds as trademarks. The test of distinctiveness will, however, be applicable in each case, which may be strictly applied in the case of non-conventional trademarks. Presently there is no standard approach to three-dimensional trademarks other than in some cases (eg, shapes of bottles are registered in Saudi Arabia). In the new law, the inclusion of the term ‘packaging’ in the subject matter of a trademark seems to be an attempt to include three-dimensional marks. marks that contain the following words or phrases: ‘Patent’, ‘Patented’, ‘Registered’, ‘Registered drawing’ or ‘copyright’ or similar words and phrases. In practice, certain goods and services, inter alia, having religious connotation such as a Christmas tree, or prohibited under shariah law, for example, bars, dance clubs and any product or service with a reference to alcohol cannot be covered under trademark registration. In Saudi Arabia, common law rights are not recognised. Trademark rights are acquired only after registration of trademarks. The quasi-judicial bodies and courts in Saudi Arabia are reluctant to recognise unregistered trademark rights. The exception to this rule is only for well-known trademarks. There is a heavy burden of proof upon the claimant of a well-known mark to establish the fame of a mark in Saudi Arabia, and the law specifies the requirement. The fame of a trademark will be determined by different factors, including the recognition of the mark in the eyes of the consumers concerned, the length of the period of use or registration in the case of a registered mark, the number of international registrations and the commercial impact it has produced in the markets. If a claimant is able to provide sufficient evidence in court, rights over an unregistered well-known mark can be recognised. The online registration process in Saudi Arabia is relatively fast track. The registration process from filing to issuance of registration may take up to four months. The estimated time may increase in the case of office actions issued by trademark office, which may include a condition of disclaimer, deletion of certain terms and amendment of the trademark. In the case of opposition, the estimated time may be further delayed by nine to 12 months. The documentation required for filing of trademark application is legalised power of attorney up to the Saudi consulate and notarisation in case of a Saudi entity, a clear image of the trademark, priority document if priority is claimed and a commercial registration certificate for Saudi applicants in some cases. According to the online procedure, the first step is to upload a power of attorney for examination by the trademark office. After acceptance of the power of attorney, which does not usually take more than half a working day, a further process for application can be initiated. The trademark office does not consider uploading of the power of attorney as the initiation of the filing process, and this, in some (rare) cases, has the effect of missing the deadline for claiming priority. It is therefore not recommended to apply for trademarks with a priority claim on the deadline of a priority claim. The total official cost from filing to registration of one trademark in one class, without opposition, is US$2,405. Attorney fees may vary. Saudi Arabia has adopted the international Nice Classifications. The online portal for filing applications substantially includes all goods and services as provided under the international Nice Classification. However, to ensure that prohibited goods and services are not covered by trademark applications, the Saudi trademark office has either removed some such goods or services from the online portal or the portal is programmed in such a way that it is not possible to select such prohibited goods or services, even if available. As mentioned in question 2, prohibited goods or services, inter alia, include goods or services with a religious connotation, such as a Christmas tree, or those prohibited under shariah law, for example, bars, dance clubs and any product or service with a reference to alcohol. Under the trademark law effective from 27 September 2016, there is provision for multi-class filings; however, the trademark office is yet to issue the procedure and cost for filing such applications. there is a condition to put a disclaimer on certain descriptive terms. The applicant may respond with the required amendment, and the trademark office may issue an acceptance or refusal decision. Failure to respond within the stipulated period may lead to the refusal of the trademark. It is possible, although very rare, that the trademark office may issue a second chance to amend the mark. Letters of consent or coexistence agreements generally are not acceptable. In special cases, they may be acceptable. Since the filing procedure from start to end is online, it is therefore usually not possible to submit arguments to the trademark office. The applicants or their legal representatives can visit the trademark office to discuss any objections raised by the trademark office, but this is not stipulated procedure. Once a trademark is accepted, it is published on the website of the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, usually on the same day of acceptance. The 2016 law changed the opposition period from 90 days to 60 days. If no opposition is filed, the applicant will be asked to submit a registration fee for issuance of an online registration certificate. It is not a requirement of law to provide evidence of actual use or undertaking of intention to use for filing application; therefore the applicant is not required to submit such document. Non-use of a registered trademark during any five-year consecutive period renders it vulnerable to cancellation action. A registered trademark can be cancelled by third-party action on the basis of non-use before a competent court. An action of non-use can be defended if the registrant provides reasonable justification for non-use. Acceptable justification may be reasons beyond the control of the registrant such as during war, import sanctions or any other justifiable reason that can prove that the registrant had no intention of stopping using the registered mark. A single invoice has been accepted as sufficient evidence to defeat a non-use cancellation action in Saudi Arabia. Saudi trademark law does not define what constitutes ‘use’ of a trademark. Being a member of the Paris Convention, Saudi Arabia grants a right of priority to applications filed in convention states within a period of six months post filing. Substantial similarity of a priority application with the application filed in Saudi Arabia and within the same class is a condition of claiming priority. Minor amendments in later trademarks are allowed. An appeal can be filed against a refusal decision and also against the imposition of conditions by the trademark office, within 60 days of issuance of the refusal decision or imposition of conditions. Appeals are filed with the trademark office in writing form. Within the 30-day period for filing an appeal, the trademark committee will provide a copy of the appeal statement to the applicant for submission of a written reply within 60 days. The committee may also conduct hearings upon request filed by either party in the appeal, provided that the prescribed fee is payable by the party requesting the hearing. Fees are applicable for filing oppositions and for each hearing request. The decision of the trademark committee can be appealed by the aggrieved party to the Administrative Court within a 60-day period. The Administrative Court issues a hearing notice to both parties and conducts hearings. Both parties will submit written arguments and rebuttals. There are no court fees applicable in Saudi Arabia. A decision of the Administrative Court can be further appealed before the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal may either reject the appeal or remand the case back to the Administrative Court, along with observations. In case of refusal of appeal, the Court of Appeal will issue a written judgment, which will be final and enforceable. There is only one hearing conducted in the Court of Appeal and that is on the day of pronouncing judgments only. If a case is remanded back to the Administrative Court with observation, the Administrative Court may reconduct hearings by issuance of notice to both parties. The Administrative Court may reverse its judgment or maintain its earlier judgment. In either case, the judgment will be appealable to the Court of Appeal by the aggrieved party. Accepted applications are published on the website of the Ministry of Commerce and Investment for a period of 60 days. Within this period, the application is open to opposition by third parties. Under the new law, opposition can be filed with the trademark office in physical form. It is expected that an online portal may be created for filing online oppositions. Oppositions can be filed on the basis of legal justification, which can be earlier registered trademark rights or an earlier pending application in Saudi Arabia. Oppositions can also be filed on the basis of rights established by unregistered well-known marks having fame in Saudi Arabia. Other than earlier conflicting registered trademarks or applications, it is also possible to file opposition on the basis of any legal provisions that prohibit registration of certain marks in Saudi Arabia (eg, indistinctiveness, being contrary to public order and morality, based on religious connotations, covering prohibited goods or services, exclusionary subject matter) or challenging the competence of the applicant to acquire registration in Saudi Arabia. Within the 30-day period of filing opposition, the trademark office will provide a copy of the opposition statement to the applicant for submission of a written reply within 60 days. Hearings may also be conducted upon a request filed by either party to the opposition provided that the prescribed fee is payable by the party requesting the hearing. Fees are applicable for each hearing request. The decision of the trademark opposition committee can be appealed by the aggrieved party to the Administrative Court within a 30-day period. The decision of the Administrative Court can be further appealed before the Court of Appeal. The procedure for adjudication of a dispute by the Administrative Court and Court of Appeal is discussed in question 8. It is possible to challenge the existing registration of a trademark. A cancellation action can be initiated within a period of five years of registration by any concerned party on the basis of a prior use claim and by proving that registration was not acquired in good faith or on the plea that the trademark was not lawfully registered. Such actions will, however, not be maintainable after completion of five years of registration and use with no legal action commenced against such registration. In cancellation actions initiated by the owners of well-known marks, the extent of their fame in Saudi Arabia has to be established. Other than a case initiated on the basis of a well-known mark, it is very difficult to cancel a registered trademark in Saudi Arabia on the basis of earlier unregistered trademark rights. The total inclusive fee for opposition before trademark committee may be in a range of US$2,000 to 2,500. The attorney fee for a cancellation action in court may range from US$15,000 to US$25,000. There are no court fees in Saudi Arabia. The duration of trademark registration is for 10 hijrah years. The hijrah (lunar) year applicable in Saudi Arabia is 11 days shorter than the Gregorian year. To maintain registration, the registrant shall file renewal during the last year of expiry. There is a six-month grace period post expiry of trademark, with an additional fee payable as penalty. After the six-month grace period, the trademark will be declared cancelled and further renewals will not be possible. As per Saudi trademark law, an expired mark cannot be registered in favour of any third party for a period of three years post expiry or cancellation. Use of the trademark is required in order to avoid non-use cancellation action by any third parties. Continuous non-use for five consecutive years makes a registered mark vulnerable to cancellation action. Saudi trademark law does not define ‘use’; however, in a true legal sense, a registered trademark will be considered as used if the registered trademark or substantially similar mark is used on all or any of the goods and services covered under the registration. A single invoice has been accepted as sufficient evidence of use to defeat a non-use cancellation action in Saudi Arabia. there are no common-law rights. The only exception is well-known marks, which places a heavy burden of proof upon a claimant to declare the mark as well known in Saudi Arabia. Recordal of a trademark licence with the trademark office is optional in Saudi Arabia. Under the new trademark law, non-recordal does not have any legal detriment. From the point of view of enforcement of trademark in relation to third parties, it is always advisable to record a licence agreement for easy recognition of the licensee’s right to legal action by the Saudi courts. Recordal of licence also provides better protection to the licensee. A licensee of a recorded licence can object to the removal of a licence from the trademark register on proper grounds. A registered trademark can be assigned, wholly or partly, to any third party competent to acquire a registered trademark in Saudi Arabia. A trademark may be assigned with or without goodwill. Ownership of a registered trademark can also be transferred by will and succession. In order to make a trademark assignment effective in relation to a third party, it is mandatory to record the assignment with the trademark office. In transactions of transfer of ownership of actual business or investment projects, trademarks have been declared as an integral part of such transactions; however, even in such cases, it is not mandatory to assignment the trademark; the parties to transactions can agree otherwise. certified Arabic translation of power of attorney. Trademark assignment is examined by the trademark office and published in the Online Gazette. After publication, a trademark certificate is issued in the name of the assignee. This whole process may take up to two months, occasionally delayed. Saudi trademark law provides that in order to make the assignment of a trademark effective in relation to a third party, it is mandatory to record the assignment with the trademark office. The consequence of non-recordal of assignment is clearly provided in the law. As far as validity of assignment is concerned, it cannot be effected owing to non-recordal. However, it is in the interest of both assignor and assignee to record the assignment with the trademark office. Security interest is recognised and notarised, or legalised security interest can be recorded against a registered trademark. Security interest, unless recorded with the trademark office and published, shall not be deemed effective in relation to third parties. The law does not provide any marking as such. In practice, however, it is common to use the ® sign for a registered trademark. For an indication of trademark use, the ™ symbol is used; however, this is not common practice in Saudi Arabia. Use of the ® sign provides an indication to other parties that the mark is exclusively registered and not free to use. However, use of the ® sign is not a requirement to initiate infringement action, and non-use cannot be pleaded as a defence against infringement if otherwise infringement is established. Indication of an unregistered mark as a registered mark is a punishable offence in Saudi trademark law; therefore use of the ® sign for an unregistered mark may be risky from this perspective. There are two types of proceedings available in Saudi Arabia for trademark infringement actions: administrative action and court action. Administrative action can be initiated before the Anti Commercial Fraud Department (ACFD) in Riyadh. The ACFD has recently introduced a centralised complaint management system, and therefore a complaint can be filed with the ACFD headquarters in Riyadh against infringement occurring in any Saudi city. The ACFD requires evidence of infringement in the form of a sample of genuine and infringing products, purchase bills from outlets selling infringing products and the address of the location. The process includes submission of an online complaint along with evidence, study of the case by the ACFD, raids on outlets offering infringing products and destruction of the infringing products. Although the ACFD operates under its own law (Anti Commercial Fraud Law), in some of the court’s judgments trademark infringement cases were dismissed and plaintiffs were advised to first resort to administrative procedure. The court also stated in its (debatable) judgment that any trademark infringement case will be premature and not maintainable if, prior to filing an infringement action, administrative action was not taken by the trademark owners. Administrative procedures are usually speedy, and in cases of prima facie infringement ACFD inspectors may conclude complaints within a two-month period. Apart from administrative action, trademark infringement actions can also be filed with commercial courts in Saudi Arabia. In each type of action, registration of trademark is a precondition for success. Unregistered rights are not recognised in Saudi Arabia except in the case of well-known trademarks, in which case the plaintiff is under a heavy burden of proof. Border control measures are considered as a very effective approach in Saudi Arabia. The customs authorities in Saudi Arabia have set up a procedure to record registered trademarks with customs for vigilance in all upcoming consignments of imports into Saudi Arabia. The customs authorities will stop, either on their own suspicion or by request filed by trademark owner, any suspected shipment, and will contact the registered trademark owner or its legal representative to confirm whether the suspected held products are genuine or counterfeit. Customs authorities are cooperative in this procedure and usually share pictures of suspected products very quickly and, where required, samples are also provided for the purpose of confirmation. In any case, the trademark owner is obliged to initiate a case before a competent court within 10 days for the issuance of the order to destroy the imported goods or remove them from the channel of business. Goods harmful to public health and the environment are usually destroyed. knowingly possessing tools or material intended to be used in the imitation of registered trademarks or famous trademarks. Infringement proceedings are initiated by submitting a statement of claims to a competent court, or an online complaint before the administrative authority in the case of administrative action. In court proceedings, statements of claims will be served upon the defendants with instructions to submit a written statement on the date of the scheduled hearing. In Saudi Arabia, litigation is conducted through an exchange of written documents and oral arguments. In the case of technical matters, the judge can appoint an expert to submit his or her advice on any specific issue, although it is not the usual practice of courts. Oral testimony is acceptable as evidence. The case is decided by a presiding judge. Criminal proceedings in trademark cases are initiated by a public prosecutor upon the recommendation of the ACFD. Saudi criminal procedure law is applicable to all criminal proceedings. In Saudi Arabia trademark rights are acquired through registration; therefore a registration certificate is sine qua non to bring an infringement action. It is also the duty of the plaintiff to establish confusing similarity. In the case of unregistered well-known trademarks, the plaintiff is under an additional burden to prove that the mark is famous. The new trademark law stipulates the criteria for establishing the fame of a trademark, which are the extent of its recognition by the concerned consumers as a result of its promotion, the length of period of registration or use thereof, the number of countries of registration or fame or the value of the mark and the extent of its impact in the promotion of goods or services that the mark is used to distinguish. In any action based on a well-known mark, all the above elements shall be proved by the plaintiff. If a well-known mark is actually used in Saudi Arabia, it is usually very convincing in proceedings. The owner of a registered trademark or a licensee, authorised under agreement to do so, may bring a civil trademark infringement action if any third party has commercially exploited the registered trademark without authorisation. A criminal complaint may be initiated by the ACFD if, inter alia, the trademark infringement also has elements of fraud to consumers. The ACFD may initiate such actions suo moto or on a complaint submitted by the rights holder. In the latter case, the ACFD will examine the presence of criminal elements independently. In such cases, foreign activities outside Saudi Arabia should establish cause of action in Saudi Arabia. Any unauthorised exploitation of registered trademarks through activities done outside the jurisdiction of Saudi Arabia will establish actionable cause if such goods are attempted to be imported into Saudi Arabia. The Saudi customs department has a strong mechanism of border control. Any suspected infringing or counterfeit goods are seized at the border, either by a complaint or on the initiative of customs officials. The customs officials will communicate with the rights holder or its authorised representative (recorded with custom) to confirm the status of the seized goods. In the case of counterfeit goods, the consignment is seized at the border and the customs department will initiate a procedure to destroy the goods or remove them from commercial channels. There are no legal provisions in place for a discovery procedure. In practice, discovery of fact or discovery of documents is not possible in legal proceedings. The judge can, however, depending on the circumstances, ask any party to produce certain documents, but the law does not oblige litigating parties to produce them. The time frame for litigation varies from case to case. Preliminary injunction proceedings can be concluded within two months. At trial level, it may take 12 to 16 months. Appeals before the Court of Appeal are usually concluded within four to six months. Administrative infringement actions can be concluded within three to four months. A typical infringement action may cost from US$15,000 to US$25,000 before Saudi courts. Administrative actions before ACFD usually cost from US$5,000 to US$7,000. The award of damages is possible only in theory. Although Saudi trademark law has provisions on the award of damages, the Saudi courts follow shariah (Islamic) principles on damages. Under the Islamic principle, the damages should be actual, quantifiable and not based on speculation. Reputational damages are not recognised under this principle. The heavy burden of proof upon the plaintiff makes it difficult to establish damages to the satisfaction of the court, and in practice damages are not awarded. In infringement and cancellation actions, the decision of the first instance court can be appealed by the aggrieved party before the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal may either reject the appeal or remand the case back to the first instance court along with observations. In the case of a refusal of appeal, the Court of Appeal will issue a written judgment, which will be final and enforceable. See questions 8 and 9 for the appeal process in trademark refusals and opposition proceedings. if the infringement action is brought by the owner of unregistered well-known marks, the defendant can dispute the fame of the well-known mark in Saudi Arabia. A successful infringement case, whether administrative or in court, can end up in the issuance of an order to destroy the infringing goods. The actual damages and lost profits can be considered for apportionment of monetary relief, but in practice this is rarely granted. Award of damages or monetary relief is possible only in theory. Although Saudi trademark law has provisions on the award of damages, Saudi courts follow shariah principles on damages. Under the Islamic principle, the damages should be actual, quantifiable and not based on speculation. Reputational damages are not recognised under this principle. The heavy burden of proof upon the plaintiff makes it difficult to establish damages to the satisfaction of the court, and in practice damages or monetary relief are not awarded. Interim injunctions are available in law, but in practice hardly granted by Saudi courts. Application for interim injunctions should be based on a prima facie case, which should include proof of trademark registration, and prima facie infringement of the registered trademark. Where the nature of imitation is such that a question of similarity between the marks may be subject to consideration, an interim injunction will not be granted. Depending on the offence committed, monetary punishments can be between 1,000 and 1 million Saudi riyals. A recidivist can be punished with double punishments as provided for specific offences and reoffending may also lead to temporary closure of his or her business. ADR is highly encouraged under Islamic principles. Mediation and arbitration between parties to disputes is encouraged in all forms of litigation and has strong roots in shariah law and traditions. Arbitration in Saudi Arabia is governed under the new Law of Arbitration, issued by Royal Decree No. M/34, which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on international commercial arbitration, although not a verbatim adoption. Under this law, parties can exclude the jurisdiction of Saudi courts to take cognisance of a dispute between parties. Recourse to arbitration may save the parties time in a dispute and they may select a specialised arbitrator who has the relevant knowledge and skill to settle a dispute. The parties can adopt the language of the proceedings and place of arbitration. A notable concern is that the provisions of an arbitration agreement, either separately executed or by reference in a main agreement, cannot exclude the jurisdiction of Saudi courts on the invalidation proceedings of awards. The law provides a list of provisions for bringing an invalidation action; therefore, bearing in mind the Saudi legal system, there is always an element of uncertainty in the enforcement of awards, especially where the arbitration was held outside Saudi Arabia or by application of a non-Saudi law. Saudi trademark law has provisions on criteria to establish a well-known trademark. According to the law, the fame of the mark shall be determined by the extent of its recognition by the concerned consumers as a result of its promotion, the length of period of registration or use thereof, the number of countries of registration or the fame or the value of the mark and the extent of its impact in the promotion of goods or services which the mark is used to distinguish. Subject to the above provisions, a well-known trademark can be enforced against infringers if the use of the mark were to indicate a connection between the goods or services required to be distinguished by it and the goods or services of the owner of the well-known mark or the use of the mark would lead to the possibility of damage to the owner of the well-known mark. Saudi courts also recognise provisions of multilateral intellectual property conventions and agreements relating to well-known marks. well-known marks, whether registered or unregistered, are enforceable against a third party’s infringement. the Saudi government announced the establishment of a new IP Authority in March 2017. The Saudi Intellectual Property Authority (SIPA) is considered one of the initiatives of the Trade and Investment System within the National Transformation Program 2020. The Trade and Investment System has worked to bring SIPA into existence and has set up the regularity arrangements to enable the authority to achieve its objectives. This is all with a view to the unification, under one umbrella, of the competent authorities that have a direct relation to the protection of intellectual property rights in the Kingdom. Kadasa was founded 30 years ago by the renowned Saudi attorney Nassir Ali Kadasa in Riyadh, the Saudi Capital, under Associated Patent Attorneys. Mr Kadasa has the distinction of being the first Saudi attorney to prosecute and win an infringement lawsuit on behalf of a foreign entity against a national infringer.

2019-04-24T20:20:42Z

https://gettingthedealthrough.com/area/40/jurisdiction/51/trademarks-2018-saudi-arabia/

A prestigious event, one of a kind, must-attend here, for the first time, in London this year. The event brings together an array of cutting edge solutions emanating from some of the brightest, most innovative companies in Spain. Whether it is the next fabric, print, colour – or the most effective and efficient source – we know making a sourcing decision involves searching around the world for the best Readymade Garments, Textiles and Home Textiles to stand out amidst your competition. In its third edition, Destination Africa 2018 will take place this November 17-19, 2018 at the Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski Hotel in Cairo. The 3 day event, will open its exhibition doors on the 17th – 18th and will host an International conference with leading expertise on the 19th. It is THE event of the year to source Readymade Garments, Textiles and Home Textiles from the new frontier: Africa. Register now for Destination Africa 2018! Give your business the tools for success it deserves. Register now to attend Destination Africa 2018. Copernicus International Consulting in association with Enterprise Estonia and Gateway Baltic have organized meetings with potential UK trade partners in a 3 day visit to the UK. The companies involved (see list below) are all specialists in their field, and bring with them new ideas and the potential for outsourced cost savings to UK businesses. Leading Spanish cosmetic and pharmaceutical company expands their market presence in the UK via an increase in their distribution network facilitated by a a Copernicus market entry project. Brands such as E'loifexir and Atashi celluar cosmetics are now increasingly available to the UK public thanks to this initiative. The Pechkek Misfortune Cookie which was introduced to the UK for the first time at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair. Well, the taste – it’s crisp, not at all dry, high quality organic ingredients. The concept –It’s unique. A Pech is a German imp or mischievous gremlin. The humour in the cookie and the brand imagery reflect that – dry, sardonic wit that met with a fantastic response in the UK field research. It’s a collection – there are a number of Pechkeks – in a box of 13 at least 4 variations as you can see from the illustration, so at a dinner party they provide a talking point in respect of the individual Pech, and of course there are a whole host of sayings inside, again no two ever the same in a single box. One of the oldest and most respected graphic design companies has joined with a leading International Marketing Consultancy to launch the Multi- Award winning Body of Work™ Photographic Collection into the Global Markets. Company offers authentic Scandinavian designed houses, barns and accessories for self build projects. Copernicus evaluated the Canadian market entry opportunity for the company. The building and remodelling boom in Canada revealed a market niche for the company and its unique product offerings. Introduce the company's product to Canada in a stylish manner which communicates authenticity and originality of use for residential and commercial applications. Create a web site featuring impactful graphic displays and detailed product information that reflected the company’s Scandinavian origins. Develop a marketing, advertising, and communications effort to generate interest among the target audiences (contractors, architects, interior designers, real estate developers and consumers) and direct them to the web site. Implementation: Copernicus executed a targeted trade and consumer advertising campaign supported by public relations to create awareness and direct the audience(s) to the web site and generate inquiries. Results: The marketing campaign generated thousands of hits on the web site and generated a quality data base of 100+ Canadian contractors, architects, interior designers, real estate developers and consumers. In addition to Canadian editorial coverage, our public relations efforts resulted various European publications covering the Company's Canadian market entry which was valued at over $25,000 in media coverage. Founded in the 19th century, our client is one of the most famous marques for filled products and household textiles in England, Europe, and around the world. Copernicus conducted a market evaluation to explore the viability of the client exporting down-filled products to the US. We discovered the US comforter market is dominated by the less expensive synthetic products but category growth was found in the down segment. The analysis revealed that current pricing, competitive product dynamics and an innovative distribution strategy presented a genuine opportunity for our client to strongly consider a US market entry program. Introduce client down-filled products to the US market. Exploit existing consumer perception that European goods are well-crafted, high quality products. Using American consumer preference for high quality household furnishings, communicate benefits and imagery of owning a genuine English comforter. Client to build on initial market entry and consider product development for wider US entry based on customer feedback from initial 12 months. The client has a unique process that adds real wine to chocolate to produce non-liqueur chocolates with authentic wine flavours such as shiraz, merlot and pinot noir. UAE is a challenging retail environment with leading brands from around the world fighting to be part of the success story. The client, in wishing to enter the UAE market, engaged Copernicus to carry out a pre-market assessment study on which to base their market entry strategy. Copernicus conducted a market analysis, an opportunity assessment, and evaluated the competitor’s product offering, pricing, and routes to market. Introduce the client into the market within a 6 month timeframe. In doing so establish a potential sales pipeline that would demonstrate a short term return on investment in line with agreed targets. In the short term to identify and work with established retailers to allocate store space to our client. Subsequently to introduce the client to suitable hotel and hospitality partners to obtain in-house concessions and to make our client’s product the accompaniment of choice, white labelled per customer, for events and occasions such as conferences. Copernicus introduced the company to retail buyers, distributors and hotel management through our established network of contacts. The unique aspect of the client’s chocolates was emphasised as this was seen as a key element in a market where differentiation is becoming increasingly difficult as investment budgets for competing parties seem virtually limitless. Sales in year one exceeded 15% of targets. The client realized its objective of entering the UAE market and is now continuing to work with Copernicus with the aim of developing a specific range for the UAE in line with customer feedback with the intention of growing sales by over 200% in the next 24 months. Z wear is an innovative baby care product created and launched by company founder Natasha Rocha in upstate New York in 2004. Natasha has a background in creative design and developed her range after the birth of her first child when she was unsatisfied with the various baby slings and associated products on the market. Once established she started to look further afield and was referred to Copernicus by a former colleague. “there was nothing quite like my range available in Europe that I could find, but how to sell there? On a strong recommendation we undertook a preliminary market research project covering the EU in general. This then narrowed down to Germany where Copernicus introduced us to our first international distributor. We now ship to Germany every month and will be looking to replicate the success there as we work with Copernicus to identify additional markets in the very near future”. Client company has been established over 100 years, is well known in their domestic market and also has some export success to Europe. Using grapes from their own vineyards they produce a range of Bomvu and Ifula African wines. In previous years they have attempted, but have never been able to establish, a foothold in the US market. Introduce the African range as a brand associated with the wildlife and traditions of the continent of origin. In doing so establish a distribution route that would demonstrate a first year return of investment in line with agreed targets. Position the client with ethnic brands and in locations complimentary to the offer as a quality, affordable wine alternative to better known Australian, New Zealand or European wines. Communicate through trade advertising and promotion to the target consumer market that this was a wine to be enjoyed anytime any pace by discerning wine drinkers who desired value for money and were open minded to new experiences. Client company has been very successful in their domestic market with a new rang of Aloe Vera based drinks. Introduce the range to establish a distribution route that would demonstrate a first year return of investment in line with agreed targets. Position the client with health awareness brands and in locations complimentary to the offer as a quality, affordable alternative to better known “health” drinks. In particular lead with the “hangover tea” product which we are reliably informed is a liver remedy which also cures hangovers before they start if consumed ahead of the alcohol over indulgence. Communicate through trade advertising and promotion to the target consumer market that this is a drink for the health conscious and introduce further products from the range (Aloe King Coffee, Juices and Teas) as uptake increases. The client realized its objective of entering the Canadian market and is now continuing to work with Copernicus with the aim of generating incremental sales revenue. Macademia nuts and associated products. Macademia nut exports to Russia are virtually zero, yet in 2006 over 40,000 tons were produced in Australia and exports to new markets are growing. As consumerism in Russia continues to develop surely there must be a place for this “high end” nut and derivative products at the tables of the more affluent Russians. Identify any barriers to entry, and which products or derivatives would be ideal launch products and through which channels or partners. Potential distributors and retailers were invited to taste firsthand the nuts baked, grilled, ground, salted, baked into bread or served as an aperitif alongside traditional vodka or French Champagne. Negotiations over subsequent months have resulted in the appointment of regional distributors in Moscow and St. Petersburg. 2008 year sales will exceed pre-agreed target by over 20%. The client manufacturers a high quality array of capacitors, sensors. Protection devices and inductors. Northern Italy is widely recognised as a major European manufacturing hub. Suppliers worldwide compete at all levels of the value chain to be involved in the output of a huge variety of high quality equipment. Introduce the client into the market as a first or second tier supplier. Build a business case for market entry that will demonstrate a clear return on investment in line with agreed targets. From the market intelligence gained it was clear that additional R&D work would have to be undertaken to meet local standards and requirements. Gaining input from potential customers assisted this process, and in turn led to buy-in of the redeveloped products. Sales in year one failed to achieve expectations, but in year 2 sales of 380, 000 Tunisian Dinar (€197,000) were achieved. The client realized its objective of entering the South European market via Italy . Germiston is a South African based furniture manufacturer who wished to enter the UK market in 2006. Their unique designs, use of indigenous materials and short lead times had led them to believe that finding a UK distribution network would be simple. In reality it was anything but. After 2 years, thousands of air miles, the cost of not one but two exhibitions, the company turned to Copernicus. Within 3 months owner Petyr Beyer was back in the UK to discuss UK and Ireland distribution with two multiple retailers, and has since gone on to partner further with one of the retailers as they have entered the Dutch market, once again with the assistance of Copernicus. Petyr commented “We could have saved ourselves time and money if we had used the connecting market service that Copernicus offer in the first place. The interim key account manager support we first offered to our new distributors helped to consolidate our initial sales, and we have since gone on to employ someone full time in the UK as the business levels justify the investment. For anyone contemplating entering a new market there are free services, like the government support, and there are business services with a real understanding of what is required. In Copernicus we found an organisation that knows what the demands of international business are, and how to deliver results”. Company is a second generation family business based South London with 12 staff that offers authentic Mexican marinades in hot, hickory smoke and original flavours for use in domestic cooking. In the UK they sell on-line, through regional distributors and have a limited rage available in one national supermarket chain as of 2008. France is of course world famous for its gastronomic and culinary expertise, and has a reputation for shunning ready meals and cooking short cuts. Copernicus evaluated the French market entry opportunity for the company to ascertain if this was the appropriate first export market and to quantify the opportunities and investment required to achieve market penetration. Introduce the company's product to France in cost effective manner which can then be replicated in subsequent markets. Make direct contact with the buyers and where necessary outlet managers to introduce the products and to create meetings at which the client can best present their marinades and the potential additional sales opportunities to the buyers. The client is a niche designer and manufacturer of Irish Linen clothing. They have an established distribution across the UK, with some additional sales to other English speaking markets such as USA, South Africa and Australia. Introduce the client into the market in a low volume, zero credit, high end position . In doing so define where the Russian perception of Irish products would position the company, identify what, if any, modifications needed to be made for the Russian market and establish a sales pipeline that would demonstrate an 18 month return on investment in line with agreed targets. Access the independent retail trade associations and through them generate awareness and from there offer potential sole regional rights to the product portfolio to increase the exclusivity aspect of the range. Within three months the client had their first customer in Moscow. By the end of 2008 the “Russian” range is handled through 14 individual retail outlets, sales are expected to exceed €100,000 and EU funding has been obtained to exhibit at Moscow fashion week. Specialist manufacturers of solar products from lighting, solar home systems, fridges, freezers, mosquito killing machine to cookers. Affordable solar powered products. Identify any barriers to entry. Introduce the company's product to potential distributors in a cost effective manner. Having identified the competitors, benchmarked their offer and routes to market it was agreed that potential volume users would be contacted, their level of interest gauged and the product introduced in Southern Italy to wholesalers and distributors who had the most extensive sales networks. Potential distributors and re-sellers were contacted to gauge their level of interest in the entire product range, and from this research to define what was to become the South European market entry offer. A network of 12 showrooms has been established within the first 2 months since market entry. Showroom display stock is heavily subsidised y the client, and sales satisfied from via regional fulfilment partner. The client has been established for 5 years and employs just 15 skilled personnel in a very modern production facility on the outskirts of Helsinki. The client specialise in high quality coloured glass processing for architectural and furniture products. The company has some export success in Scandinavia, but following a trade mission to Canada believed that there could be a niche market for their high end ducts. Introduce the client into the market in a low risk, limited capital exposure strategy. In doing so establish a sales pipeline that would demonstrate a first year return of investment in line with agreed targets. Copernicus worked with the company to create a market awareness of the clients capabilities by identifying Canadian companies who were involved in small scale projects “with a difference”. The client’s ability to produce intricate, individual designs, made to measure with a 99.9% first time delivery accuracy and a rapid delivery system despite the distances involved has endeared them to their customers. Results: Sales in year one exceeded 18% of targets, and year two over 66% demonstrating an more than acceptable return on their investment with Copernicus and the export to Canada connecting markets service. The client realized its objective of entering the Canadian market and is now continuing to work with Copernicus with the aim of generating further sales revenue and new opportunities in additional markets.

2019-04-23T04:43:52Z

https://www.copernicus-consulting.com/international-case-studies.html

The New Age Movement, what does it teach? Find out with Eric Barger on the show Christ in Prophecy. Last aired on August 8, 2010. Dr. Reagan: What in the world is the New Age Movement and how does it threaten the Church today? And why do many people believe that Oprah Winfrey has emerged as one of the premier leaders of the movement? For the answer to these questions by one of Christendom’s foremost experts on cultic movements, stay tuned. Dr. Reagan: Greetings in the name of Jesus our blessed hope, and welcome to Christ in Prophecy. I am delighted to have back with me again this week my special guest Eric Barger. Third week you’ve been here Eric. Eric Barger: It’s great, feels like an old hand now. Dr. Reagan: I am also glad to have Nathan Jones with us to help interview Eric. Nathan is our Web Minister and he is on that site everyday of the week for about 8 hours. Answering questions and talking with people all over the world, so if you want to get acquainted with Nathan just e-mail him through our website, ask him the question that you have and he will be back in touch with you. Nathan, why don’t you start off with the first questions. Nathan Jones: Sure! Well, your story is so interesting. Your testimony and all you started off in the church as a Christian and then somehow you ended up in the New Age Movement which isn’t Christian. How did the transition happen? And, again, I am still a little nebulous about the New Age Movement. What is the New Age Movement? Eric Barger: Well the transition took place, I came out of a liberal church background. I say liberal, I was unsaved but I went to church and I’m not sure the Gospel is preached there faithfully it may have been I am just not sure. I just never meet Jesus there, no one every challenged me about a personal relationship. When I was about 13 years old I started playing in rock bands every Friday and Saturday night, I would be out playing some place. I was actually thinking about playing my first band when I was 11. Eric Barger: Yeah, a local DJ heard about us, and I was kind of an anomaly at that age you know to be out playing in a band. But that is where it started, and by the time I was 16 or so I was a full blown drug addict, by the time I was 21 I was involved in New Age Philosophy. I moved to Seattle, a lot of New Age philosophy in Seattle, it became my religion. Now I would have still said there was a God, and I believe there was probably a guy named Jesus, that kind of thing. But I had adopted Eastern Mystic philosophies and techniques the arrow sticks, which you throw it is a form of fortune telling. The I Ching which is a book that explains to you life, you know from an Eastern viewpoint. And so I was into those kinds of things. I was very much into astrology charts, it wasn’t a little tiny thing in the newspaper. By the way I used to be an Aries and now I am a Christian. But it wasn’t a little thing in the newspaper. This was a scroll that had been made for me by a lady, I use that term very loosely who was a bona fide black witch and I literally would follow it, I was so superstitious by this it controlled my life. When I was playing in the band I would literally would not go out of the hotel room door until I knew what my stars said for that day. Eric Barger: That is where I was at. Nathan Jones: Because stars and planets determine your life? Eric Barger: Exactly, you know even though those things have no bearing on it. The God who created me and controls my life He created those stars too. I don’t need to look up at the stars I need to look to the One who made them you know. And a lot of people today, I meet Christians all the time who will make some statement about, “Oh well he is a Libra and he will do this and he will do that.” And I go, “No that has nothing to do with it.” You know people don’t realize where they are putting their faith and trust. Nathan Jones: So, is astrology a major component of the New Age Movement? Eric Barger: It is more so the occult, but many things that are occultic flow into the New Age, and many things that cultic also flow into the New Age. And in the occult it is all in that genre of rebellious spiritualism that is maybe the best way to define it. Dr. Reagan: Well how would you define the New Age Movement, it just seems so difficult to get your hands on it, it is so amorphous. Eric Barger: I’ll give some definitions that I think one of these will stick with people. It is a Westernized form of Eastern Mysticism. Dr. Reagan: Okay, very well put, yeah. Eric Barger: And often time is not taught with the Maharishi or a figure like a bong wan or an Eastern Mystic leader now it is taught with a College Professor and it is taught in business courses in our colleges. But it is a Westernized form, it is put in our words. Some of the teachers and leaders on the PBS Network, we can start naming them by name, which I do in the DVD’s and in my seminars, are teaching these things. And you look to who their leaders and their gurus are, are Eastern Mystic gurus, but they are now Westernizing this teaching making it palatable to us and therefore making a fortune. Dr. Reagan: So does this get into Pantheism? Eric Barger: It certainly does, you know there are many, many gods or that you have become part of one ethereal god force. Nathan Jones: Which is Hinduism, right? Eric Barger: Yes, very much so, but Hinduism and Buddhism both flow in those. Most Americans wouldn’t say I am a practicing Hindu but many have adopted those philosophies as a way of life. Dr. Reagan: Would you put the teaching spiritual teachings of Shirley MacLaine, for example into the New Age category? Eric Barger: Certainly, she is out on a limb just like her books says. Dr. Reagan: I am god. Eric Barger: It is also a spiritual experience without the cost of repenting of your sin, and probably the best definition I can give is: any system of belief that tells you to look inside of yourself, to yourself for enlightenment, wisdom and power is generically New Age. Now we look to the Holy Spirit who lives in us for enlightenment, wisdom and power. But we are not god. In the New Age, you look to the spark of god, the god force within you for enlightenment, wisdom, or power, it is a very close counterfeit. And this is across the board today, doctors, lawyers, scientist, PhD’s, Nobel Prize winners, people of politicians, people of high mental capability. Okay I guess we can take the politicians out of that group come to think of it. But people of high mental capability who believe in these philosophies because it works, and just because it works doesn’t make it right. New Age philosophies do work, because they are spiritually powered, they work, but by what spirit it works should be the question we ask. Nathan Jones: It works in the here and now, but for eternity it doesn’t work. Eric Barger: No, not at all and that’s the thing people want it now. Of course we live in a culture that if the one drive-thru across the street isn’t fast enough we drive across to the other one that is faster that is where we are as a culture. Dr. Reagan: Well it seems to me that there is an overwhelming, the New Age Movement indicates an overwhelming need of people to have something spiritual in their lives. They want some sort of spiritual expressions but they want one that makes no demands on their life. Dr. Reagan: I mean this is the Hollywood religion, owe yes I am very religious, I sit and I meditate, and I hum and I do all of this, but I don’t have any demands on my life in terms of morality or whatever. Eric Barger: Jesus calls us to come to God through repentance. The New Age Movement doesn’t like that idea. Our culture doesn’t like the idea. We want a spiritual experience without the cost of repentance of our sins. Dr. Reagan: Well that happens to be one of the most unpopular words in all of Christianity today. Dr. Reagan: You flip on TV and you see ministers of some of the largest churches in American who would never mention the word repentance, because it might offend somebody. Dr. Reagan: Or that they are sinners. Eric Barger: Exactly those words are all left out in many Christian circles but that is, that is the core message of Christianity that is being cut off at the knees. Dr. Reagan: So Christianity itself is being impacted by the New Age Movement. Eric Barger: It is, it is and do you know why, because our culture has adopted the gospel of self as a religion. Nathan Jones: How many churches are holding Yoga, that is what gets me. Yoga now is becoming a mainstream class offered in churches. Eric Barger: That’s big in emerging circles. I heard Rob Bell and Doug Pagitt both recently speak about how Yoga is so transforming. Nathan Jones: Empty yourself out, when we should be filling ourselves with the Holy Spirit and the Bible and thinking on these things. We are emptying ourselves so we don’t think of anything. Eric Barger: Rob Bell went as far, and he is an emergent leader from Michigan to say that we should listen to the message of the Yoga masters. Now wait a minute, I know about that, and yet his congregation seems to buy into this because many of them have no church background. You can have a big congregation but it depends on what type of Gospel you preach when you get in there. I will take 10 people who will turn a community upside down for the glory of God, over a thousand who will sit there and do nothing and never, ever make it to Heaven. We want those 10 who will actually go out and evangelize with the Gospel not with a false counterfeit. Dr. Reagan: Reminds me of a sermon that I heard here in this area by a Hispanic preacher who was talking about what is a live church. And he said, “We often think a live church is one that has lots of activities going on.” He said, “The other day I opened the newspaper and here is a major denomination in our city and they are offering Yoga classes, Transcendental Meditation classes and all kinds of Eastern, Oriental, Mystical things that have spiritual significance to them, they are not just neutral. And he says, “Lots of activities going on, but he says, “It is just spiritually dead.” He said, “Folks it reminds when I was a kid and living in Mexico once a week we went to Grandma’s house and we looked forward to it on Sunday because she had chickens and we got meat once a week. And she would go out to the back yard and she would grab a chicken and she would pop her wrist, and pop that chicken’s head off and it would run all over the yard. Said it was the liveliest and active chicken in the yard and it was the deadest.” Now brother that preached. Eric Barger: That is great, that is great, let me write that down, new sermon title, dead chicken will preach. Dr. Reagan: Dead chicken that is real active, you know. It is just, it is a lack of discernment that people just don’t seem to understand that something like Yoga and this sort of thing has spiritual significance. Eric Barger: It most certainly does no doubt about it. And those who have brought this into our culture and now it has seeped its way into the church. Hey if a church doesn’t stand for good doctrine, if we don’t have a standard that is the Bible being the truth we follow, and the only truth we follow, this other stuff is going to make in the door, it is just that simple. Dr. Reagan: And I am reminded of this I think, I guess it wasn’t a novel but it was a sort of self-help book, The Celestine Prophecy wasn’t that a New Age type of book? And I saw Christian everywhere reading this thing. Eric Barger: Yeah, yeah. Well you take a look of the reading, I was in a well known national chain print shop recently, a whole book rack there of self-help books. And I went down through them and I went I can find one Christian there throughout all of these books and the rest of them every one of them I could name to you as somebody that has adopted Eastern philosophies and put it into a Western context as a New Ager. So this is the stuff that is being sold to us as the way to control the problems or the things in our life, to get what we want to think and grow rich ideas. Eric Barger: The idea that we can, we are going to make it through life and be more popular people and be more powerful around people by using these techniques, so it works, yeah. But let’s never forget atomic bombs work, just because they work doesn’t make it right, you know. Nathan Jones: That seems to be the theme that you have talked about – the New Age and the Emergent all these – everything seems to go back to the sin that Adam and Eve committed when Satan said, “You will be like gods.” Everything you have said about this replaces God with us. Nathan Jones: And we buy into that. Eric Barger: That is exactly right. I think the five major doctrines even though New Agers would never claim to hang the doctrine, but the five major belief systems inside the New Age coming right out of Genesis 3:1-5 the Fall of mankind, starting with the very first Trans channeling or mediumship or séance in history. The devil possessed the body of a serpent and spoke to Eve the same as a medium gives over the use of his body to a spirit to speak to people today. I mean that is the first séance that we have ever seen in recorded history and that is where the lie came from, just like the same lie is being perpetrated in New Age séance. Dr. Reagan: Several years ago I read a New Age book that just astounded me, it talked about the fact that the masters of the universe have been channeling to New Age philosophers. And one of the things they’ve told them is that time is coming in the very soon future when those who live by faith will be taken out so that those who live by reason can continue in their evolutionary development and develop the world and the earth and all this. And I thought man this is going to be a New Age explanation of the Rapture. Eric Barger: Oh, most certainly, the Devil reads the Bible, the Devil knows. Dr. Reagan: And they will be able to say, “Hey we told you this back in 1970 we told you this in ’75 this is what happened. Eric Barger: Yeah the Devil is a Bible expert no doubt about it. Look at the most famous transchanneler in modern history is J.Z. Knight but the name of the demons she channels Ramtha is more famous then her. I mean she has been doing that for over 30 years, I saw a clip on YouTube recently when she is on the Merv Griffin show and she is talking to Merv Griffin as herself, and they go out to break and come back and Ramtha has shown up while they are at break. And this is a mans voice now speaking out of this woman’s body. Now whether it is fake or not it is just like Saul in 1 Samuel 28, he went to the witch of Endor, whether that was Samuel or not that spoke to him, he died the next day for even trying to contact the spirit realm. Folks we are not to be involved contacting any spirit in the spirit realm except the Holy Spirit of God. Eric Barger: All other spirits that do not confess Jesus Christ as Lord, whether they be angels or spiritual beings, they are demonic spirits they are counterfeits. And our world today is loaded with people looking for anything. They think a spiritual experience validates the idea that it must of come from God, it must be good. They forgotten or didn’t know that Satan comes as an angel of light. Dr. Reagan: Welcome back to our interview with Eric Barger, who is the Founder and Director of Take a Stand Ministries. I like that name, we desperately need to do that in this day and time, take a stand. Now Eric I heard an expert on the New Age Movement recently make a startling statement and I want to read it to you because I want to get it right. He said, “The largest church in the world is preaching New Age philosophy, and the pastor of that church is Oprah Winfrey.” What did he mean by that? Eric Barger: Well she is the most influential New Ager out there, by far the most famous New Ager. Ten to twelve years ago I began to make off the cuff statement in my seminars that Oprah was a New Ager, and I took a lot of heat for it. Eric Barger: Phone calls, letters, and then later on when e-mail became popular, e-mails telling me, “No Oprah is a Baptist.” You know and people defender her, these are Christians defending her. And I am going, nope what Oprah is teaching is New Age and eventually we will all know. And now we do know. Dr. Reagan: Well she just finally came out of the closet. Eric Barger: Completely, completely came out of the closet this year. And I want to preface anything we say now or anything we have said about the Emergent Church and others the last show we were talking about in the last program, this is not about good person versus bad person this is about truth versus error and that is what apologetics is, it’s the study of what truth is against what error is. And it’s not that we hate anybody, we are praying, I pray for Oprah Winfrey nearly everyday that she would be saved and think about the impact that she could have. Dr. Reagan: And I found that people often respond to any criticism of her by saying, “Look at all the good work that she does.” And she does a lot of good works. Dr. Reagan: And denied that Jesus was the only way to God on her program. Eric Barger: She is arguing with two audience members, saying that there couldn’t possibly be just one way, there are millions of ways that was her exact words you know. This is a headline from US Today, we will probably put this up on the screen, Cultural Agenda is Set by Oprah not Religious Leaders. Dr. Reagan: And that is true. Dr. Reagan: Recently Oprah has really begun to actively and aggressively teach New Age Philosophy right? Dr. Reagan: Not only on TV but mainly on the Satellite radio, right? Eric Barger: Satellite radio and the Internet but now on TV. She is coming out of the closet. Dr. Reagan: Who are some of the gurus she is using? Eric Barger: Well Eckhart Tolle, and his book A New Earth, she made him an instant millionaire. He was a well known New Age author before, but he is not the only one she has had on there. She promoted and really brought out to the public the book, The Secret, three years or so ago. And all you would have to do is go to the websites of the authors of The Secret, to see what this was. It was a mix of the Kabala and Gnosticism and Rosicrucianism and she helped to promote that idea. She has also had on her XM satellite radio channel a lady named Esther Hicks who is a transchanellor, who channels who channels several entities who all call themselves Abraham they are different to her. Now this must be confusing at Thanksgiving dinner. Dr. Reagan: There are several Abrahams? Eric Barger: Several Abrahams but that is one of them and this lady has also been on our TV show and Oprah has probably has done more to promote the old New Age philosophy of A Course in Miracles then anybody else. Eric Barger: Because she has brought Mary Ann Williamson to her website and to her TV set, now Mary Ann Williamson is doing a devotional everyday during 2008 on Oprah’s XM radio network that came right out of the Course in Miracles. And Mary Ann Ramson has written a book about it, she is unity minister by the way, which is not a Christian denomination. Eric Barger: It’s a cult my mother was involved with for 25 years before she got saved, and tragically passed away. But, so I know all about Unity and that’s Oprah is promoting this. Dr. Reagan: I know for a long time there Oprah continued to say that she was a Christian but does she even claim that anymore? Do you know? Eric Barger: She doesn’t claim that at all, you know, she doesn’t claim it at all, and she is bringing the heaviest hitters in the New Age Movement. Dr. Reagan: Well I didn’t know that. Eric Barger: Because he wanted to be connected forever with a 14th Century occult mystic named Meister Tolle or Meister Eckhart, sorry. I mean that’s how deep this guy is, he is into all kinds of mysticism. And he says, the first thing when you ask him his influences he says, A Course in Miracles and that is something a common theme throughout all these New Age leaders and authors today. But here is Oprah turns to him and says to him, “So if your God is a believing experience it really is not God because God is a feeling experience and not a believing experience.” And folks if you go on your feelings you will be deceived; if you go on the absolute truth of God’s Word you will never be deceived. Dr. Reagan: Amen, brother preach it. Dr. Reagan: Eric the Bible says that in the End Times right before the return of Jesus we are going to enter into a period of great deception. And it seems to me that we are in that period and it seems to me that one of the greatest needs in the church today is discernment. How can a person become a more discerning Christian because all of us are capable of being deceived? How can we be more discerning? Eric Barger: There is no short cut for sound Bible study, there is no short cut for the preaching of the Word of God. I say enough with the programs, enough with the spin doctors from the pulpit. That we come back and teach the Word of God to our people because as you said privately to me there is a famine of the Word. And there is a famine of the Gospel today amongst our people. I am talking about in evangelical circles. Places that say they believe the Bible let’s preach the Word of God, enough of the programs. Come back to the Word. Look at what is happening in the lives of the people and tell me there isn’t a need. Dr. Reagan: And it’s not just the responsibility of the preacher or the teacher, it is the responsibility of each of us as Christians to study. Dr. Reagan: You know you are talking about what my colleague Dennis Pollack used to call the 5 letter dirty word, STUDY. Dr. Reagan: And people just don’t want to. Eric Barger: That is because we have allowed Television and everything else to get in our way. Nathan Jones: But, they can watch this show. Eric Barger: Obviously we are not against TV, we’ve got my DVD sitting here, we’re on TV right now. That isn’t, the point is that we’ve have forgotten what the on/off button does we let everything get in our way. We let, well I am going to get on somebody, we let Sunday morning soccer tournaments get in our way. We let all this other stuff get in our way from being first of all constant in the church, but maybe more important, constant in the Word of God. If you had to look at what’s the most important thing knowing the Word because from there everything thing else emanates that we are supposed to be. Dr. Reagan: Well the bottom line is you can just never become a discerning Christian if your only spiritual experience is one hour a week on Sunday morning. Eric Barger: I never forget when I was a youth pastor I had a distraught mother come to me and say, “My son is doing all this stuff, can’t you do something about it?” I said, “Ma’am, I only have him for an hour on Friday nights, I can not replace what the school system has taught him, what his friends have done to him, what is happening in the home.” I mean she looked at me like, I thought you were the problem fixer, the problem solver for my son’s problem. And it is the same with us as adults. Dr. Reagan: When I first became acutely aware of this problem of discernment was when the Barna polls began to, I began to read those concerning the freshman in evangelical colleges and universities coming out of evangelical churches who could not even name the four Gospels or name 2 of the Apostles. Eric Barger: Yeah, you don’t dare ask them where Philemon is. Yeah. Dr. Reagan: And you ask them, and then you begin to wonder what are they doing in these churches just weenie roasts? Eric Barger: Yeah, yeah, it makes you wonder and that is part of it, that is certainly part of it, but this is also the Era we live in. We live in the time when the Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonians that the mystery of iniquity would abound. Eric Barger: That is a mysterious, occultic, direct affront to the Word of God that’s what those words mean, the mysterion of anomia, mystery of iniquity. When He said that is something behind that, when the occult rises up, and I have a whole DVD and message about this, when we see the rise of the occult we know that is a prophetic sign that has to happen just before the return of the Lord. At the same time there is going to be this famine of the Word of God, where we have a lot of people that have a form of godliness but deny the power there of. Eric Barger: We see these things. To the Christian, to the Pastor, to the Sunday School teacher, examine what you are going to present to the people, examine what you take into your heart. It’s fine to read other books then the Bible, but if the Bible isn’t being read, do you really have time to read another book? Dr. Reagan: Well it seems to me, test everything, test it by the Word of God. Dr. Reagan: And if you don’t know the Word of God you can not test it, but you’ve got to test it. The fact that a person gets up and who is smooth and charismatic and dynamic, and can speak well, and mentions Jesus name a whole lot of times, does not necessarily mean that he is teaching the truth. And maybe 90% of what he is saying is absolutely true, but it is just that 10% that is so off base, you’ve got to test it. Paul complemented the Bereans for testing everything that he taught by the Word, and he was an Apostle of God. How much more should they test what you teach and what I teach? Eric Barger: Oh, I invite people, I say this so often when I am teaching to test what I’m telling you, to test what I am teaching, to test what I have on the screen behind me in my seminars, to test what I am saying. And if you do you’re going to come out there ahead, more Biblically sound. We need Christians who will test through the Word of God, use the Word of God as the strainer to strain everything through, now we are going to get into this. Dr. Reagan: Brother you have got some wonderful materials on your website that you have produced to help people to be more discerning. So would you just look into that camera and tell people how they can get in touch with your website. Eric Barger: I appreciate that. It is ericbarger.com, E-R-I-C-B-A-R-G-E-R.COM or course www. And for those that do not have web access you can call us at 214-289-5244, we would be glad to send you an informational package. Dr. Reagan: Mention that telephone number one more time. Eric Barger: It is 214-289-5244, and that is our office line, just leave a message if we don’t answer we will call you back. Dr. Reagan: And you have quite a variety of materials, videos, pamphlets and so forth that they can order. Eric Barger: We’ll send a free packet of information with some past newsletters and that kind of thing. Dr. Reagan: Well that’s great. Well Eric I want to thank you again for being on this program and you know I would like to ask you to come back for a 4th week. Would you be willing to do that? Eric Barger: Well I started to say a minute ago, I would love to get into one thing that we’re going to talk about here. Dr. Reagan: Because I would like to talk about many roads to God and some things like that.

2019-04-22T20:23:17Z

https://christinprophecy.org/sermons/defending-the-faith-with-eric-barger-part-3/

Climbed mountains with prominence exceeding 1000 meter. Here is a list of some mountains I have climbed. This list is ranked (sorted) according to the "primary factor" (in the US also called "prominence") of the peak. Only mountains with a primary factor of at least 1000 meter is qualified for this list. The interval from 600 to 1000 meter is covered on a separate list below. The column "vertical climb" currently lists the vertical elevation from the actual trailhead to the summit. Note that the actual vertical gain may be substantially higher. Prominence based Completion Maps can be found here. 17 Yu Shan 3952 m 3952 m 1341 m HP on Taiwan. 18 Mount Margherita 5109 m 3951 m 3507 m HP Uganda/Congo. 19 Gunung Kerinci 3805 m 3805 m 2043 m HP on Sumatra. 21 Jebel Toubkal 4167 m 3757 m 2427 m HP in Northern Africa. 22 Cerro Chirripo 3820 m 3727 m 2330 m HP Costa Rica. 23 Gunung Rinjani 3726 m 3726 m 2741 m HP on Lombok, Indonesia. 26 Hvitserk 3694 m 3694 m 1500 m HP in the Arctic. 27 Nevado Ojos del Salado 6893 m 3688 m 1642 m HP in Chile. 28 Gunung Semeru 3676 m 3676 m 1500 m Java HP. 29 Ritacuba Blanco 5410 m 3645 m 1420 m HP in Cordilla Oriental, Colombia. 30 Ararat 5137 m 3611 m 2944 m HP in Turkey. 31 Mount Blackburn 4996 m 3535 m 2102 m HP in the Wrangell. ** 50 finest cut. **** 3530 m **** Word 50 finest. 32 Etna 3326 m 3326 m 1422 m HP on Sicily. 33 Mulhacén 3479 m 3285 m 1662 m HP in (continental) Spain. 34 Mount Meru 4566 m 3171 m 3235 m No. 2 in Tanzania. 36 Gunung Lawu 3265 m 3118 m 1373 m Java, Indonesia. 37 Pico Duarte 3098 m 3098 m 2000 m HP in the Dominican Republic. 38 Mount Whitney 4417 m 3071 m 1869 m HP in the 48 states. 39 Piton des Neiges 3070 m 3070 m 1682 m Indian ocean HP. 40 Gunung Agung 3031 m 3031 m 1871 m Bali HP. 41 Mount Shasta 4316 m 2979 m 2225 m California. 42 Pico do Fogo 2829 m 2829 m 1071 m HP Cape Verde. 43 Pico de Aneto 3404 m 2812 m 1394 m HP in the Pyrenees. 44 Mount Ruapehu 2797 m 2797 m 1158 m HP North island, New Zealand. 45 Mount Elbert 4399 m 2772 m 1336 m HP in Colorado. 46 Mount Baker 3286 m 2707 m 2275 m Washington, USA. 47 Monte Cinto 2706 m 2706 m 1494 m Corsica HP. 48 Gunung Sumbing 3371 m 2628 m 1442 m Indonesia. 49 San Jacinto Peak 3304 m 2542 m 1363 m Southern California. 50 San Gorgonio 3506 m 2526 m 1403 m HP in Southern California. 51 Charleston Peak 3633 m 2517 m 982 m HP in Southern Nevada. 52 Corno Grande 2912 m 2514 m 777 m HP of the Apennine. 53 Mount Adams 3751 m 2474 m 2218 m Washington, USA. 54 Musala 2925 m 2473 m 2218 m Balkan HP, Bulgaria. 55 Psiloritis 2456 m 2456 m 1089 m HP on Crete. 56 Gunung Merbabu 3145 m 2432 m 1600 m Indonesia. 57 Roque de los Muchachos 2426 m 2426 m 270 m Palma, Canary Islands. 58 Grossglockner 3798 m 2423 m 1430 m HP in Austria. 59 Cotopaxi 5897 m 2404 m 1259 m No. 2 in Ecuador. 60 Mount Olympus 2429 m 2386 m 2246 m Washington, USA. 61 Galdhøpiggen 2469 m 2372 m 629 m HP in Scandinavia. 62 Gerlachovsky Stit 2654 m 2356 m 974 m HP in Slovakia. 63 Olympos 2918 m 2354 m 1835 m HP in Greece. 64 Montanho do Pico 2351 m 2351 m 1116 m HP in Portugal/Azores. 65 Mount Hood 3426 m 2341 m 1632 m HP in Oregon. 66 Profitis Ilias 2407 m 2337 m 850 m HP on Peloponnes. 67 Mount Taranaki 2518 m 2308 m 1563 m North island, New Zealand. 68 Hotaka-dake 3190 m 2307 m 1806 m Japan. 69 Wheeler Peak 3982 m 2305 m 879 m Nevada, USA. 70 Asahi dake 2290 m 2290 m 700 m Hokkaido HP, Japan. 71 Glacier Peak 3213 m 2285 m 2590 m Washington, USA. 74 Wedge Mountain 2892 m 2249 m 2525 m BC, Canada. 75 Kita-dake 3193 m 2240 m 1700 m 2nd. highest in Japan. 76 Piz Bernina 4049 m 2234 m 1400 m Switzerland / Italy. 78 Nevado de Toluca 4690 m 2220 m 714 m 4th. highest in Mexico. 79 Choqa 4095 m 2220 m 30 m Ethiopia. 82 Korab 2764 m 2169 m 1489 m Albania and Macedonia HP. 83 Dufourspitze 4634 m 2165 m 1835 m Switzerland HP. 84 Gannett Peak 4209 m 2158 m 1888 m Wyoming HP. 85 Cloud Peak 4013 m 2154 m 1237 m Wyoming, USA. 88 Hvannadalshnukur 2119 m 2119 m 2028 m Iceland HP. 92 Amba Farit 4270 m 2061 m 711 m Ethiopia. 93 Medetsiz Tepe 3524 m 2058 m 1617 m Turkey. 94 Triglav 2864 m 2052 m 1877 m Slovenia HP. 95 Mount Hanang 3417 m 2047 m 1533 m No. 4 in Tanzania. 98 Páchnes 2453 m 2038 m 765 m No. 2 in Crete. 99 Jezerce 2693 m 2036 m 1827 m Albania. 100 Mount Edith Cavell 3363 m 2033 m 1815 m Jasper, Canada. 101 Mount Tapuae-o-Uenuku 2885 m 2022 m 2420 m New Zealand. 102 Säntis 2503 m 2021 m 1150 m Switzerland. 103 Mount Athos 2030 m 2012 m 2030 m Greece. 104 Mount Loolmalasin 3648 m 2006 m 1250 m No. 3 in Tanzani. 105 Grand Teton 4199 m 1996 m 2150 m Wyoming, USA. 106 Gunung Yong Belar 2181 m 1992 m 1200 m Malaysia. 107 Tope de Coroa 1982 m 1982 m 1600 m Cape Verde. 108 Tengu-dake 1982 m 1982 m 985 m Japan. 109 Volcan Agua 3761 m 1981 m 1700 m Guatemala. 110 Single Cone 2319 m 1969 m 730 m New Zealand. 111 Kizlar Sivrisi 3070 m 1966 m 933 m Turkey. 112 Morron de la Agujereada 1956 m 1956 m 50 m Gran Canaria, Spain. 113 Ortler 3905 m 1953 m 2055 m Highest in South Tirol. 114 Olympos 1952 m 1952 m 756 m Highest on Cyprus. 115 Halla-san 1950 m 1950 m 1300 m Highest on Jeju. 116 Sacajawea 2999 m 1949 m 1469 m Oregon, USA. 117 Volcan Calbuco 2015 m 1946 m 1610 m Chile. 118 Kings Peak 4123 m 1938 m 1245 m Utah HP. 119 Miyanoura 1936 m 1936 m 850 m Utah HP. 120 Syue 3886 m 1932 m 1746 m 2nd. highest on Taiwan. 121 Mount Graham 3269 m 1932 m 530 m Arizona, USA. 122 Torre de Cerredo 2648 m 1931 m 814 m HP Picos de Europa. 123 Monte Baldo 2218 m 1931 m 1800 m The summit is called Cima di Valdritta. 124 Mount Gelai 2948 m 1930 m 1000 m Tanzania. 125 Yosef 4280 m 1929 m 230 m Ethiopia. 126 Ta Chi Nhu 2979 m 1924 m 1883 m Vietnam. 127 Hasan Dagi 3268 m 1922 m 1280 m Turkey. 128 Volcan La Malinche 4430 m 1920 m 1341 m Mexico. 129 Aka-dake 2899 m 1916 m 1500 m Japan. 130 Sierra la Laguna HP 2085 m 1905 m 2046 m Mexico. 131 M'Goun 4071 m 1904 m 1965 m Morroco. 132 San Antonio 3068 m 1903 m 535 m Local name is Baldy. 133 Jebel Tidirhine 2428 m 1901 m 600 m Morroco. 134 Haku-san 2702 m 1897 m 1400 m Japan. 135 Gran Paradiso 4061 m 1891 m 2091 m Highest in Italy. 136 Chokai san 2236 m 1891 m 1030 m Japan. 137 Volcan Osorno 2652 m 1889 m 1470 m Chile. 138 Telescope Peak 3368 m 1886 m 889 m HP in Death Valley. 139 Picachos el Chena 2630 m 1885 m 1769 m Mexico. 140 Mount Peale 3877 m 1878 m 833 m Utah, USA. 141 Cerro Chemal 3837 m 1878 m 230 m Guatemala. 142 Pizzo di Coca 3050 m 1878 m 2115 m Utah, USA. 143 Yotei san 1898 m 1878 m 1560 m Japan. 144 Cerro el Potosi 3720 m 1875 m 50 m Mexico. 145 Mount Washington 1917 m 1872 m 1300 m New Hampshire State HP. 146 Killini 2376 m 1870 m 793 m No 2 on Peloponnes. 147 Pico Ruivo 1862 m 1862 m 611 m Madeira HP. 148 Montanas Pena Blanca 3520 m 1860 m 950 m Guatemala. 149 Mount Mitchell 2037 m 1857 m 181 m North Carolina State HP. 150 Kissavos 1978 m 1854 m 1125 m South of Olympos, Greece. 151 Humphreys Peak 3851 m 1841 m 1008 m Arizona State HP. 152 Acatenango 3975 m 1835 m 1587 m Guatemala. 153 Doi Inthanon 2565 m 1835 m 20 m Thailand. 154 Marmora 1834 m 1834 m 628 m Sardinia Island HP, Italy. 155 Cotacachi 4944 m 1832 m 914 m No. 11 in Ecuador. 156 Mount Borah 3861 m 1829 m 1591 m Idaho HP. 157 Volcan Llaima 3125 m 1819 m 1650 m Chile. 158 Monte Amaro 2795 m 1812 m 890 m Abruzzo, Italy. 159 Kootenay Mountain 2456 m 1801 m 787 m BC, Canada. 160 Manakau 2608 m 1798 m 2470 m New Zealand. 161 Dikti 2148 m 1798 m 1013 m Crete, Greece. 162 Haute Cime 3257 m 1796 m 1843 m Switzerland. 163 Maja e Papingut 2482 m 1792 m 1419 m Albania. 164 Nakadake 1791 m 1791 m 751 m Japan. 165 Mount Ellen 3512 m 1787 m 319 m Utah, USA. 166 Mount Jefferson 3640 m 1786 m 965 m Remote in Nevada. 167 Vihren 2914 m 1783 m 931 m Bulgaria. 168 Birkenhead Peak 2506 m 1781 m 1115 m BC, Canada. 169 Kitumbeine 2867 m 1779 m 700 m Tanzania. 170 Cima Dodici 2336 m 1779 m 611 m Near Asiago, Italy. 171 Pangaion 1956 m 1773 m 771 m Greece. 172 Deseret Peak 3362 m 1771 m 1096 m Utah, USA. 173 Mount Harrison 3360 m 1770 m 1325 m BC, Canada. 174 Chamechaude 2082 m 1769 m 756 m Near Grenoble, France. 175 Mount Jefferson 3199 m 1767 m 1740 m Oregon, USA. 176 Babadag 1969 m 1763 m 50 m Turkey. 177 Gunung Sindoro 3150 m 1761 m 1344 m Indonesia. 178 Mount Hector 3394 m 1759 m 1550 m Alberta, Canada. 179 Peleaga 2509 m 1759 m 907 m Romania. 180 Kaimaktsalan 2528 m 1758 m 616 m Greece. 181 Volcan Atitlan 3537 m 1754 m 1929 m Guatemala. 182 Kisokomaga 2956 m 1751 m 500 m Japan. 183 Shengena 2464 m 1750 m 775 m Tanzania. 185 Dirfis 1749 m 1749 m 640 m Evia island HP, Greece. 187 Pilot Peak 3266 m 1745 m 1255 m Nevada, USA. 188 Iwate san 2038 m 1745 m 1425 m Japan. 189 Crazy Peak 3417 m 1743 m 1451 m Montana, USA. 190 McDonald Peak 2993 m 1743 m 1477 m Montana, USA. 191 Jiehkkevarri 1834 m 1741 m 1834 m Troms HP, Norway. 192 Smolikas 2637 m 1736 m 975 m 2nd.highest in Greece. 193 Monte Antelao 3264 m 1735 m 1593 m 2nd. highest in Dolomites. 194 Hakken-take 1915 m 1732 m 1032 m Japan. 195 Sungwi Mountain 2301 m 1731 m 418 m Lushoto, Tanzania. 196 Rishiri 1721 m 1721 m 1510 m Japan. 197 Cond Peak 2801 m 1720 m 1300 m BC, Canada. 198 Pointe D'Arcalod 2217 m 1719 m 1076 m France. 199 Jebel Kawr 2730 m 1718 m 2000 m Oman. 200 Serra Dolcedorme 2267 m 1715 m 709 m Southern Italy. 201 Newtontoppen 1713 m 1713 m 1713 m Svalbard, Norway.. 202 Montalto 1956 m 1710 m 634 m Calabria, Italy. 203 Grintovec 2558 m 1706 m 1662 m Slovenia. 204 South Sister 3157 m 1703 m 1489 m Oregon, USA. 205 Grosser Priel 2515 m 1703 m 1950 m Austria. 206 Gunung Karang 1778 m 1703 m 934 m Java, Indonesia. 207 Giona 2510 m 1702 m 975 m Greece. 208 Cheonwangbong 1915 m 1700 m 1200 m South Korea. 209 Pukeashun Mountain 2301 m 1696 m 861 m BC, Canada. 210 Morton Peak 2250 m 1695 m 678 m BC, Canada. 211 Sierra Blanca Peak 3652 m 1693 m 671 m New Mexico, USA. 212 Almanzor 2592 m 1687 m 822 m Highest in Sierra de Gredos Spain. 213 Grigna Settentrionale 2410 m 1687 m 991 m Italy. 216 Mount Nebo 3636 m 1679 m 820 m Utah, USA. 217 Overseer Mountain 2749 m 1679 m 3035 m BC, Canada. 218 Gunung Salak 2211 m 1678 m 1430 m Java, Indonesia. 220 Cima Presanella 3558 m 1674 m 1700 m Near Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. 221 Solunska Glava 2540 m 1666 m 1119 m Macedonia. 222 Kendervices 2121 m 1666 m 1109 m Albania. 223 Birnhorn 2634 m 1665 m 1760 m Austria. 224 Uyluk Tepe 3016 m 1664 m 850 m Turkey. 225 Phu Soi Dao 2120 m 1664 m 1650 m Thailand. 226 Dedegol Tepesi 2992 m 1663 m 1300 m Turkey. 227 Picachos el Centinela 3130 m 1660 m 1900 m Mexico. 228 Snowshoe Peak 2663 m 1658 m 1400 m Montana, USA. 229 He Feng Jian 2323 m 1658 m 1267 m Hubei, China. 230 Pichincha 4784 m 1652 m 664 m No. 14 in Ecuador. 231 Picacho San Onofre 3550 m 1650 m 841 m Mexico. 232 Hayford Peak 3022 m 1650 m 1236 m Nevada, USA. 233 North Schell Peak 3622 m 1647 m 854 m Nevada, USA. 234 Phu Khe 2079 m 1646 m 1290 m Thailand. 235 Star Peak 2999 m 1645 m 1024 m Nevada, USA. 236 Upper Saddle Mountain 2330 m 1645 m 1442 m BC, Canada. 240 Adrar Bou Nasser 3340 m 1642 m 1850 m Morroco. 243 Mount Taylor 2333 m 1636 m 1639 m New Zealand. 249 Mount Ossa 1617 m 1617 m 867 m Tasmania HP. 250 Shirane 1617 m 1617 m 867 m Tasmania HP. 251 Jebel Igdet 3619 m 1613 m 1500 m Morroco. 252 Fansipan 3143 m 1613 m 180 m Vietnam. 254 Picachos el Fraile 2400 m 1610 m 1682 m Mexico. 255 Mount Timpanogos 3581 m 1606 m 1493 m Utah, USA. 260 Skippers Range HP. 1648 m 1598 m 450 m New Zealand. 262 Jôf de Montasio 2752 m 1596 m 1251 m North-East Italy. 264 Arc Dome 3588 m 1595 m 924 m Remote in Nevada, USA. 265 Radomir 2031 m 1595 m 663 m Greece and Bulgaria. 266 Cerro Chorolque 5571 m 1593 m 535 m Bolivia. 267 Dainichi 2128 m 1593 m 2290 m Japan. 268 He/She Devil 2865 m 1591 m 551 m Idaho, USA. 269 Volcan El Mocho 2422 m 1587 m 1430 m Chile. 270 Chiricahua 2986 m 1580 m 936 m Arizona, USA. 271 Mount Seton 2855 m 1580 m 1800 m BC, Canada. 272 Polinik 2784 m 1580 m 1444 m Austria. 273 Volcan Cumbal 4764 m 1579 m 1630 m Colombia. 274 Boz Dag 2156 m 1579 m 420 m Turkey. 275 Mount Lemmon 2791 m 1578 m 238 m Arizona, USA. 276 Pietrosul Rodnei 2303 m 1578 m 1360 m Romania. 277 Puy de Sancy 1885 m 1578 m 748 m Massif Central, France. 278 Monte Cimone 2165 m 1578 m 800 m Italy. 279 Store Lenangstinden 1624 m 1576 m 1624 m Lyngen, Norway. 280 Volcan Villarrica 2860 m 1575 m 1006 m Chile. 281 Abercrombie Mountain 2227 m 1575 m 706 m Washington, USA. 282 Barla Dagi 2800 m 1574 m 1100 m Turkey. 283 Mount Cronin 2396 m 1571 m 1410 m BC, Canada. 284 Tödi 3614 m 1570 m 2809 m Switzerland. 285 Chieu Lau Thi 2402 m 1570 m 200 m Vietnam. 286 Gunung Bintang 1862 m 1570 m 1900 m Malaysia. 287 Birkkarspitze 2749 m 1567 m 1000 m Austria. 288 Botev 2376 m 1567 m 1628 m Bulgaria. 289 Maja e Cikes 2044 m 1563 m 1000 m Albania. 290 Kispiox Mountain 2096 m 1561 m 1528 m BC, Canada. 291 Iztaccihuatl 5230 m 1560 m 1575 m 3rd. highest in Mexico. 292 Mount Eddy 2751 m 1556 m 670 m Northern California. 293 Davraz Tepe 2635 m 1553 m 972 m Turkey. 294 Ellmauer Halt 2344 m 1552 m 1259 m Via Ferrata route. 295 Ilgaz Daglari 2587 m 1546 m 300 m Road to the top, Turkey. 296 Geyik Daglari 2877 m 1543 m 770 m Turkey. 297 Grande Tete de L'Obiou 2790 m 1542 m 1227 m South of Grenoble, France. 298 Roman-Kosh 1545 m 1541 m 1195 m Crimea, Ukraine. 299 Tsurugi-san 1955 m 1540 m 600 m Japan. 300 Whitecap Mountain 2918 m 1533 m 2459 m BC, Canada. 301 Dunn Peak 2636 m 1531 m 1250 m BC, Canada. 302 Miller Peak 2885 m 1527 m 1099 m Arizona, USA. 303 Valamara 2373 m 1526 m 1010 m Albania. 304 Volcan Lonquimay 2865 m 1524 m 1036 m Chile. 305 Mount Tod 2155 m 1523 m 315 m BC, Canada. 306 Cerro Kennedy 2866 m 1522 m 300 m Colombia. 307 Mount Temple 3540 m 1520 m 1678 m BC, Canada.. 308 Hochtor 2369 m 1520 m 1800 m Austria. 309 Sarektjohkka 2089 m 1519 m 1659 m Sarek, Sweden. 310 Grimming 2351 m 1518 m 1696 m Austria. 311 Grand Combin 4314 m 1517 m 2500 m Switzerland. 312 Imbabura 4634 m 1516 m 1172 m No. 17 in Ecuador. 313 Pelister 2601 m 1516 m 1182 m Macedonia. 314 La Tournette 2351 m 1514 m 923 m France. 315 Guna Terara 4120 m 1510 m 425 m Ethiopia. 316 Psili Korifi 1589 m 1514 m 611 m Greece. 317 Mount Joffre 3433 m 1505 m 1935 m BC, Canada.. 318 Piz Kesch 3418 m 1504 m 1172 m Switzerland. 319 Zirbitzkogel 2396 m 1502 m 785 m Austria. 320 Malpaso 1501 m 1501 m 153 m El Hierro, Spain. 321 Cima Brenta 3151 m 1500 m 1630 m Dolomites, Italy.. ****** End "Ultras" ****** ****** ***** End "Ultras" 322 Mount Marcy 1630 m 1498 m 966 m HP in New York. 323 Mount Moriah 3678 m 1497 m 657 m Nevada, USA. 324 Le Taillefer 2857 m 1490 m 1184 m France. 325 Monte Amiata 1738 m 1490 m 1184 m France. 326 Cucurbata Mare 1849 m 1483 m 671 m Romania. 327 Yolla Bolly Mountain 2467 m 1479 m 372 m California. 328 Bobotov Kuk 2523 m 1478 m 616 m Montenegro. 329 Midzhur 2168 m 1478 m 600 m Serbia/Bulgaria. 330 Monte Togano 2301 m 1474 m 1362 m Italy. 331 Pourianos Stavros 1610 m 1473 m 532 m Greece. 332 Torrecilla. 1919 m 1472 m 655 m Malaga, Spain. 333 Culebra Peak 4282 m 1471 m 1466 m Colorado. 334 Dammastock 3630 m 1465 m 1394 m Switzerland. 335 Mount Pinos 2692 m 1463 m 150 m California. 336 Monte Vettore 2476 m 1463 m 937 m Italy. 337 Raucheck 2430 m 1463 m 1300 m Austria. 338 Gjegnen 1670 m 1460 m 1610 m Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. 339 Monte Grappa 1765 m 1456 m 50 m Italy. 340 Haldensteiner Calanda 2806 m 1449 m 1050 m Switzerland. 341 Monte Cadria 2254 m 1434 m 1252 m Italy. 342 Monte Viglio 2156 m 1422 m 728 m Italy. 345 Pico da Antonia 1393 m 1393 m 748 m Cape Verde. 346 Reisskofel 2371 m 1390 m 860 m Austria. 348 Monte Velino 2486 m 1385 m 945 m Italy. 349 Skårasalen 1542 m 1385 m 1142 m Møre og Romsdal, Norway. 350 Oksskolten 1916 m 1384 m 1386 m HP in Northern Norway. 352 Monte Petrella 1533 m 1370 m 620 m Italy. 353 Emery Peak 2388 m 1367 m 742 m HP in Big Bend, Texas. 357 Afentis Stavromenos 1476 m 1350 m 494 m East Crete, Greece. 358 Schneeberg 2076 m 1348 m 1291 m Austria. 359 Monte Cervati 1899 m 1344 m 250 m Italy. 360 Ben Nevis 1344 m 1344 m 1344 m HP in Great Britain. 361 Mirnock 2110 m 1343 m 888 m Austria. 362 Santiago Peak 1733 m 1340 m 350 m California. 368 Monte Miletto 2050 m 1306 m 1080 m Italy. 372 Col Visentin 1763 m 1295 m 341 m Italy. 375 Store Trolla 1850 m 1292 m 1741 m Sunndal/Innerdalen, Norway. 376 Grosser Pyhrgas 2244 m 1290 m 1200 m Austria. 377 Snæfellsjökull 1446 m 1283 m 1100 m . 378 Langlitinden 1277 m 1277 m 1275 m Highest island in Norway. 391 Monte Semprevisa 1536 m 1231 m 660 m Italy. 396 Toro Peak 2657 m 1218 m 140 m California. 399 Sacagawea Peak 2941 m 1204 m 645 m Montana, USA. 400 Petermans Bjerg 2940 m 1200 m 2940 m HP in Northeast Greenland. 401 Grossvenediger 3666 m 1199 m 2722 m Hohe Tauern, Austria. 409 Double Mountain 2433 m 1171 m 1120 m California. 413 Monte Cairo 1669 m 1165 m 560 m Italy. 419 Greenhorn Mountain 3764 m 1151 m 277 m Colorado, USA. 423 Cerro San Luis 4051 m 1136 m 950 m Chingaza, Colombia. 425 Pico de Posets 3375 m 1131 m 1900 m 2nd Highest in the Pyrenees. 426 Øksfjordjøkelen 1204 m 1131 m 1202 m Finnmark HP. 427 Cerro San Luis 4051 m 1131 m 950 m Colombia. 428 Hochgölling 2862 m 1124 m 1800 m Austria. 429 Cervialto 1808 m 1124 m 729 m Italy. 430 Norra Sytertoppen 1768 m 1115 m 1272 m Sweden. 431 Cerro Cunurana 5071 m 1114 m 484 m Bolivia. 432 Monte Taburno 1394 m 1114 m 370 m Italy. 434 Volcan Galeras 4256 m 1111 m 900 m Pasto, Colombia. 453 Løksetinden 1242 m 1069 m 1191 m Troms, Norway. 460 Piute Peak 2573 m 1061 m 50 m California. 478 Wheeler Peak 4011 m 1039 m 1207 m HP in New Mexico. 479 Nord Saulo 1768 m 1038 m 1218 m HP on the Norwegian-Swedish border. 480 Tverrbakktinden 1392 m 1038 m 1392 m Lyngen in Troms, Norway. 481 Yr Wyddfa 1085 m 1038 m 750 m HP in Wales. 482 Store Sølnkletten 1827 m 1037 m 862 m Hedmark, Norway. 483 Eidskyrkja 1482 m 1037 m 1022 m Møre og Romsdal, in Norway. 484 Lavangstinden 1215 m 1037 m 1045 m Troms, Norway. 485 Spanstinden 1457 m 1034 m 1031 m Troms, Norway. 486 Vanntinden 1031 m 1031 m 1026 m Troms, Norway. 487 Smisetnebba 1175 m 1030 m 1000 m Møre og Romsdal, in Norway. 488 Sætertind 1095 m 1027 m 1087 m Troms/Nordland, Norway. 489 Hermannsdalstinden 1027 m 1027 m 1027 m Norland, Norway. 490 Le Piton de la Fournaise 2621 m 1026 m 750 m Reunion. 491 Vassdalsfjellet 1587 m 1026 m 1326 m Troms, Norway. 492 Trollvasstinden 1441 m 1025 m 1321 m Troms, Norway. 493 Mount Lafayette 1603 m 1024 m 1054 m New Hampshire, USA. 494 Kirkestinden 1677 m 1022 m 1559 m Troms, Norway. 495 Drangen 1022 m 1022 m 1000 m Troms, Norway. 496 Stormauken 1249 m 1021 m 1078 m Troms, Norway. 497 St. Mary Peak 1171 m 1021 m 641 m Flinders Ranges, Australia. 498 Santa Barbara 1021 m 1021 m 1 m Terceira, Azores. 499 Monte Sirente 2349 m 1019 m 1200 m Italy. 500 Skåla 1128 m 1018 m 943 m Møre og Romsdal, in Norway. 502 Monte Greco 2285 m 1015 m 800 m Italy. 503 Unterberghorn 1773 m 1013 m 300 m Austria. 506 Breckenridge Mountain 2310 m 1011 m 10 m California. Go to mountains having primary factors in the range 600 - 999 meter.

2019-04-26T06:11:09Z

http://www.ii.uib.no/~petter/mountains/PFlist.html

The most efficient operation of boilers can be achieved by combining the features of their own controls with those of a BMS. Christian Engelke of Viessmann explains why the benefits are often going unnoticed. A. O. Smith has launched five commercial boilers to complement its range of high-efficiency water heaters and solar systems. Epsilon and Upsilon (pictured) condensing boilers have outputs from 38 to 140 kW and enable the company to deliver a total solution for heating and hot water. Two major plumbing and heating merchants have added Windhager biomass heating boilers into their catalogues. They are Plumb Center, part of the Wolseley Group, and PTS, part of the Travis Perkins Group. Pre-assembled lifting stations for removing condensate from boiler plant have been development by Grundfos. Conlift operates automatically when condensate enters the collection tank. When it comes to refurbishing heating systems in schools, offices, municipal facilities or even churches, building-services engineers are faced with many choices. If budgets are tight, tough decisions have to be made, especially when the cost of replacing entire heating systems is prohibitive. Peter Gammon of MHS Boilers, explains the potential problems of new boilers on old systems, and examines the simple and cost-effective solutions available. Following a successful trial of scrub willow to fuel a Euroheat HDG 50 boiler, a farmer in Wales went ahead with the replacement of an oil-fired system that was costing over £4000 a year to run. Hendre Farm in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park has 20 acres of scrub willow, which owner Jim Dale was initially concerned would not be a suitable fuel. Where energy efficiency is concerned, heating manufacturers and specifiers are setting themselves new challenges to deliver maximum efficiencies and energy savings at all times, says Mark Northcott of Remeha Commercial. Despite the popularity of low-water-content boilers, there are many instances where selecting boilers with a higher water content will significantly improve system performance. Simon Mitchell of Hoval explains the engineering reasons, which will be reflected in the next version of ‘CIBSE Guide B1: Heating’, due in March 2013. Whilst wider technologies such as renewables and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) have increased their share of the limelight over recent months, Pete Mills of Bosch Commercial & Industrial Heating explains why condensing boilers should still be considered an essential element of an industrial heating solution. The long-appreciated benefits of packaged plant for heating and hot water can be extended to incorporate low/zero-carbon energy sources, explains Jeff House of Baxi Commercial Division. The R40 wall-mounted boiler from Stokvis incorporates the latest gas-heating technology to achieve maximum operating efficiencies with minimum environmental impact. For example, CO2 levels are 8.5 to 8.7%, and NOx emissions are less than 39 mg/kWh at 0% oxygen — exceeding requirements for maximum BREEAM credits. Baxi Commercial Division has supplied Potterton Commercial boilers and Baxi-SenerTec multi-module Dachs mini-CHP system for the refurbishment of the heating system of St Aidan’s College of Durham University. The previous heating system had reached the end of its operational life, and the university was keen to ensure that the replacement equipment should employ low-carbon technologies. Viessmann has added three models to its line of Vitocrossal 200 gas-fired condensing boilers, offering higher heat outputs of 400, 500 and 630 kW. A standard two units can be cascaded to deliver a total output of 1260 kW, though it is possible to cascade up to four boilers. These boilers can deliver flow temperatures of up to 95°C for applications such as schools, hospitals and other buildings with large radiator coverage. Renovation work of St Leonard’s Church in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, included the replacement of a 60-year-old oil-fire unit with three 65 kW gas-fired Thision L boilers and a Pisces pressurisation manager from MHS Boilers. They are mounted on a free-standing cascade frame as part of the complete refurbishment of the heating system. The new communal heating system for two high-rise blocks in Wolverhampton is served by Evinox packaged boiler skids that are more efficient than individual boilers. The £12 million investment to refurbish the buildings on the Hickman estate is part of the Wolverhampton Homes Decent Homes programme. Each flat has a ModuSat heat-interface unit equipped to provide accurate metering of energy consumption and billing. Many types of boiler could disappear from the commercial market as the Energy Related Products Directive takes effect. Bob Walsh of Hamworthy Heating looks at the potential implications for the heating industry. Marshall-Tufflex has produced a mini-brochure outlining its most popular PVCu multi-compartment perimeter trunking solutions. Called ‘We’ve got it covered’, the brochure details size, ideal installations and brief technical information. It also includes images. Danlers’ batten-mounted ‘intelligent’ photocell switch delivers significant energy savings at low cost. Its radical new calibration process enables this control to distinguish between artificial and natural light, removing the site-specific addition of artificial light from any decision to automatically switch the lights on/off. This minimises hysteresis drift and reduces the risk of false triggering or ‘hunting’. This technology has a GB patent pending No. 1219746.3. Plumbing and heating merchant Plumbase has rebranded its Plumbline stores in Scotland to Plumbase during a national rollout of its new brand identity. A total of 19 stores have been rebranded. Each store has been remerchandised and received new exterior and interior signage. The Save It Easy adapter that enables energy-efficient T5 lamps to be installed in existing fittings now comes with a 5-year guarantee, making it an even lower-risk way to cut fuel bills and maintenance costs. Over a million of these T5 converters have been installed across the UK and Europe. By converting old-style luminaires to high-frequency operation, energy savings of 37 to 65% can be achieved with T5 and T8 lamps. Armstrong has opened a new London sales office to enhance services for customers and provide a base for its expanding energy-services team. The company has always had a strong presence in London and the South East, but with the growing demand in the capital for its energy-audit and efficiency-upgrade services has decided to create a dedicated site. Climate Center now supplies Carrier Chillers nationwide following an agreement enabling it to offer a full chilled-water solution alongside the existing refrigerant-based range. The agreement includes Carrier’s Aquasnap chillers up to 160 kW in screw- and scroll-compressor versions, high-efficiency fan coils with EC motors and a range of bespoke compact air-handling units. Hattersley offers a range of press-fit valves with integrated adapters for the Geberit Mapress system. Comprising a ball, balancing, strainer and check valve, the range is available in sizes from 15 to 54 mm and can be used with copper and Geberit stainless- and carbon-steel tubing. Prefabricated valve assemblies from Marflow Hydronics for HVAC applications save a lot of time on site. Xterminator valve assemblies are not only supplied pre-assembled but also pre-tested and individually tagged and labelled. Other benefits are that fewer components need to be ordered for a project and that these assemblies can help optimise flow and temperature in a building, potentially reducing wasted energy in unoccupied or rarely used spaces. Is Remote Commissioning really a great innovation that could change our future and make possible the long wish list for improving and sustaining the efficient operation of buildings. Martin Lowe of Marflow Hydronics shares his thoughts. Thoroughly cleaning a pipework system before it is commissioned and ensuring it remains clean is vital to the success of commissioning and the subsequent life of the pipework — so much so that it requires proper management. Reginald Brown of BSRIA explains the latest guidance. SES has won the contract to supply MEP services for the £15 million design-and-build contract for a multi-site project for Avon & Somerset Police. It is the largest win to date for the south west regional office of SES, which will work on behalf of Miller Construction, which is delivering the facilities for the Blue Light Partnership. Eaton now offers a 3-phase RCBO that can fit directly into the popular Memshield 3 range of distribution boards. This RCBO is a 3-pole plus permanently connected neutral device, eliminating the inconvenience and extra cost associated with using externally mounted RCDs to protect 3-phase boards. The Grundfos Selcoperm electrolytic chlorination system uses common salt to disinfect water and is an approved disinfection method complying with the Drinking Water Inspectorate regulations for drinking water. The sodium hypochlorite solution produced has a pH of 8 to 8.5 and a maximum equivalent chlorine concentration of less than 8 g/l. Its long life makes it ideal for storage in a buffer tank. An LED lighting system for applications such as offices that produces uniform light for direct and indirect illumination can replace T5 and TCL lamps. TALEXXengine Stark INDI is avaialble in the Classic version with a CRI greater than 80 and is ideal for floor-standing and pendant luminaires. In pendant luminaires, 80% of the light is direct and 20% indirect. This ratio is reversed by floor-standing luminaires. A development from Passivent makes possible natural air movement in partitioned floor areas without noise transfer from one area to another. The Active SoundScoop Transfer unit delivers optimum efficiency in balancing natural ventilation with noise attenuation in closed-plan buildings. CP Electronics has introduced a series of PIR presence detectors to provide automatic control of lighting loads using an infra-red handset. These miniature detectors can be mounted directly to batten-style luminaires — either inside or outside — and controlled manually if required. When movement is detected, the load will switch on. When the area has been empty for an adjustable time period, the load will be switched off. Sensitivity to movement can be adjusted. Pegler Yorkshire has developed an improved version of the union angle valve that is used in its Prestex thermostatic mixing valves. The principal new feature is that the water supply to the valve can be locked when it is closed to prevent it being opened when, for example, maintenance work is being carried out. This locking function can be particularly used in commercial applications The union connection provides 360° of rotation. Grundfos’s SoloLift2 range of sewage and wastewater domestic lifting stations comprises just five models to provide the solution to handling wastewater for any combination of WC, bidet, sink, shower and washing machine. Applications include providing an extra bathroom, holiday cottages, adding facilities in hotels and guest houses or during the renovation of commercial buildings. Xpelair Ventilation has expanded its Avantgarde range of extract ventilators with the Avantgarde DC, designed to one of the most energy-efficient ventilation solutions on the market. Ideal for new build and refurbishment, this range features Xpelair’s most advanced DC motor. Units can deliver intermittent or continuous ventilation, with an optional pre-trickle function and boost speed selectable at point of installation. Helvar’s drivers for LED lighting fittings include a 30 W dimmable (pictured) and 60 W constant-current version. They have a projected life of 50 000 h and are suitable for a wide range of fixtures — including downlights, track lights and linear lights in offices, schools, hospitals and retail environments. Powrmatic’s TE range of gas- and oil-fired free-standing air-rotation heaters deliver efficient heating with excellent temperature control for large spaces such as warehouses, factories, retail ‘sheds’ and leisure facilities. They are especially for areas with dense racking, as well as open-plan manufacturing facilities. Vent-Axia’s ERV range of energy-recovery ventilation units cover airflows from 500 to 1500 m3/h. Offering basic controls and functionality, these units are designed for projects that require cost-effective heat-recovery ventilation without the complexities of demand-controlled ventilation. Thermoscreens’ HX range of air curtains features EcoPower air technology and optional weather compensation. EcoPower air technology provides improved air velocity, uniformity and high levels of energy effectiveness by combining three design features. Airedale International Air Conditioning has added 27 models to its SmartCool range. They have cooling capacities from 16 to 60 kW and increase the scope of the range to 16 to 180 kW to meet an even greater range of IT cooling requirements — from small computer rooms to large data centres. AET’s Flexmatic controller for its underfloor air-conditioning system, Flexible Space, can monitor and adjust up to 16 zone units. This wall-mounted controller can monitor up to 24 master fantiles and seven slaves per fantile per zone unit, with each zone unit delivering air through the floor void to individual fantile units. To provide complete control over every aspect of the performance of its e-pump range, Grundfos Pumps has developed GO control software to provide intuitive handhold control. A user-friendly interface in a smart phone or iPod Touch provides the capability to monitor, set up and control any Grundfos e-pump. Heatrae Sadia has begun creating BIM (building information modelling) objects of its water-heating products, starting with its Megaflo eco unvented hot-water cylinder. The BIM objects are available from the company’s web site, and architects and specifiers can simply drag and drop them into building designs and also access the product information they require. The Zitares range of compact wide-spectrum control gear from b,a,g, Electronics is designed for the operation of LED modules and can achieve an average efficiency of up to 93%. Applications include commercial, industrial, retail and educational lighting. S&S Northern’s Merlin CT1650 gas interlock product is designed for commercial kitchens and supports the TB140 guidance by The Gas Safety Register and IGEM, which states that a secondary backup in the form of a carbon-dioxide detector may be used in commercial kitchens if the ventilation system fails. Advanced Ergonomic Technologies (AET) has developed a direct-expansion version of its Flexible Space System for underfloor air conditioning. With this system, the whole plenum under a raised access floor becomes the ‘duct’, with each floor of the building divided into a number of zones to suit operating requirements. Xpelair has added a 12 in commercial fan to its Carbonlite range. Improved styling gives greater aesthetic appeal, and these fans are designed to be among the most efficient on the market. They use ultra-efficient long-life EC motors, which are available with variable-speed control when used with MS2/MS3 controllers. Airflow’s new Loovent eco fan is based on the million-selling Loovent. It is exceptionally quiet and offers 2-speed intermittent operation up to 31 l/s. Alternatively, setting a switch during installation provides a choice of 5-speed continuous (dMEV) ventilation. They can be installed in any room and form part of a whole-house ventilation strategy. Amtech is expanding its product offerings to include intelligent data content for Autodesk Revit MEP via Building Data SysQue following a recently announced strategic product and technology partnership with Building Data LLC. SysQue managed data content, powered by the Building Data database, is a cloud-based software as a service that enables designs in Revit MEP to use real-world, manufacturing-specific data that is ready for fabrication and meets the detailing, fabrication, manufacturing and installation requirements of MEP contractors.

2019-04-26T02:52:17Z

http://modbs.co.uk/news/archive_browser.php/issue/1357016400.html

Many secure systems rely on a �human in the loop� to perform security-critical functions. However, humans often fail in their security roles. Whenever possible, secure system designers should find ways of keeping humans out of the loop. However, there are some tasks for which feasible or cost effective alternatives to humans are not available. In these cases secure system designers should engineer their systems to support the humans in the loop and maximize their chances of performing their security-critical functions successfully. We propose a framework for reasoning about the human in the loop that provides a systematic approach to identifying potential causes for human failure. This framework can be used by system designers to identify problem areas before a system is built and proactively address deficiencies. System operators can also use this framework to analyze the root cause of security failures that have been attributed to �human error.� We provide examples to illustrate the applicability of this framework to a variety of secure systems design problems, including anti-phishing warnings and password policies. It is becoming increasingly apparent that humans are a major cause of computer security failures. In the context of secure systems, humans are often thought of as �the weakest link in the chain� . In 2006 the SANS Top 20 Internet Security Vulnerabilities report began listing human vulnerabilities along with software vulnerabilities . A 2006 Computing Technology Industry Association survey found that security managers attribute approximately 60 percent of security breaches to human error, up from 47% the previous year . Social engineering attacks and lack of compliance with organizational security policies are increasingly cited as security concerns. With so many security failures attributed to humans, secure systems that do not rely on a �human in the loop� to perform security-critical functions are attractive. Automated components are generally more accurate and predictable than humans, and automated components don�t get tired or bored . Indeed, in some areas we have seen significant progress towards secure systems that �just work� without human intervention. For example, while early anti-virus programs prompted users to make a decision about every detected virus, today many anti-virus programs automatically repair or quarantine infected files in their default mode of operation. Thus, anti-virus software no longer relies on inexperienced users to make security-critical judgments. When software is likely to be able to make a better security decision than a human, removing the human from the loop may be wise. Likewise, when a user is unlikely to have relevant insights into which configuration options to choose, well-chosen default settings may result in better security-configurations than most humans would achieve on their own. In some cases we don�t seem to be able to avoid relying on humans to perform security-critical functions. There are a number of reasons why it may not be feasible or desirable to automate these functions completely , . Some tasks rely on human knowledge that is currently difficult for a computer to reason about or process. For example, today humans tend to be better than computers at recognizing faces in crowds or noticing other humans who are acting suspiciously . When tasks rely on human knowledge about context, it may be difficult to capture the entire necessary context in a way that a computer can reason about it. For example, a human may be a better judge than a computer about whether an email attachment is suspicious in a particular context. We also rely on humans to make some security-related configuration decisions and to apply policies when it is difficult to encode all of the nuances of a policy or program a computer to handle special cases. In some cases a completely automated system might be too restrictive, inconvenient, expensive, or slow. Some secure systems rely on humans to manipulate or protect physical components, for example, insert a smartcard into a reader and remove it before walking away from the computer. When secure systems rely on the use of secrets, humans must typically store and protect the secrets, and produce them when needed. In addition, most systems that restrict access to only certain humans rely on those humans to participate in the authentication process. When secure systems rely on humans in the loop to perform security-critical functions, threats to system security include not only malicious attackers, but also non-malicious humans who don�t understand when or how to perform security-related tasks, humans who are unmotivated to perform security-related tasks or comply with security policies, and humans who are not capable of making sound security decisions. To protect against these threats, we must systematically analyze the human role in a secure system to identify potential failure modes and find ways to reduce the likelihood of failure. In this paper we propose a framework for reasoning about the human in the loop in a secure system. In Section 2 we provide an overview of the framework and describe its components. In Section 3 we explain how to apply the framework, and show how it can be applied to make recommendations in two different settings. We discuss related work in Section 4 and discuss our conclusions and future work in Section 5. The human-in-the-loop security framework is designed to help us understand the behavior of humans whom we expect to perform security-critical functions. We are primarily interested in understanding the behavior of non-malicious humans—those who intend to maintain the security of a system as well as those who are indifferent to system security, but do not intend to attack the system. While this framework provides some insights into the behavior of attackers, traditional computer security threat modeling techniques may be better suited to identifying vulnerabilities that attackers may exploit. The human-in-the-loop security framework is based on a simple communication-processing model in which a communication is sent to a receiver (the human user), triggering some behavior, as shown in Figure 1. What behavior occurs is dependent on the outcome of several information processing steps taken by the receiver, as well as the personal characteristics of the receiver and the influence of communication impediments. Our framework is built on the Communication-Human Information Processing (C-HIP) model from the warnings science literature . More general transmission models of communication are discussed in the communication theory literature . We discuss the ways our framework differs from the C-HIP model and explain the rationale behind developing a new framework in Section 4. We based our framework on a communication processing model because security-related actions by non-experts are generally triggered by a security-related communication—for example an on-screen alert, software manual, or security tutorial. Indeed, if a human security failure occurs and there is no associated communication that should have triggered a security-critical action, the lack of communication is likely at least partially responsible for the failure. In such situations, if it is not feasible to automate the security-critical action, a good starting point for analysis would be to consider possible communications that might be added to the system and determine whether they would have been likely to prevent the failure. Experts may initiate security-related actions on their own, based on their past training (a communication), or a self-discovered security technique. In the latter case, an individual�s decision to carry out a security plan might be modeled as a communication to oneself. For example, an expert may notice that emails containing hyperlinks in them seem rather suspicious and might decide to adopt the strategy of examining these links before clicking on them. We can consider the decision to adopt this strategy as the relevant communication as we apply our framework. The framework facilitates the analysis of a wide range of secure systems that rely on humans. For example, the warnings provided by anti-phishing toolbars or other security tools are communications that may or may not result in the user heeding the warning, and password policies are communications that may or may not result in users selecting strong passwords. The human-in-the-loop security framework is not intended as a precise model of human information processing, but rather it is a conceptual framework that can be used much like a checklist to systematically analyze the human role in secure systems. The framework, summarized in Appendix A and described in detail below, includes factors and information processing stages that will impact security-related behaviors. However, the relationships between the various components are intentionally vague. While Figure 1 depicts a temporal flow from communication delivery, through communication processing, through application, this should not be interpreted as a strictly linear process. In practice, some of these steps may be omitted or repeated. The first component of the human-in-the-loop framework is the communication, which if all goes well will trigger an appropriate behavior. We distinguish five types of communications that are relevant to security tasks: warnings, notices, status indicators, training, and policies. Warnings are communications that alert users to take immediate action to avoid a hazard. For example, web browsers provide a variety of active pop-up warnings as well as passive warning indicators in the browser chrome to alert users to phishing web sites, expired SSL certificates, and other hazards. While some warnings merely alert users about the presence of a hazard, the most effective warnings generally provide clear instructions about how to avoid the hazard. Effective warnings must get the users� attention and convince them to take an action to avoid or mitigate a hazard. Warnings experts emphasize that warnings should be used only as a last resort when it is not feasible to design a system that fully protects against a hazard . Thus, in cases where we can use software to accurately identify and thwart security threats without user involvement, that is generally preferable to the use of warnings. Notices inform users about characteristics of an entity or object. For example privacy policies and SSL certificates are examples of frequently-encountered notices. Notices may be used by users to evaluate an entity and determine whether interacting with it would be hazardous or consistent with their security or privacy needs. However, generally notices are not intended to be used when an automated tool has determined that a hazard is imminent. Effective notices provide users with the information they need to make judgments. Status indicators inform users about system status information. Generally they have a small number of possible states. Examples of status indicators include taskbar and menu bar indicators that show whether Bluetooth has been enabled or whether anti-virus software is up to date. File permissions information can also be thought of as a status indicator. Training communications are intended to teach users about security threats and how to respond to them. They may take a variety of forms including tutorials, games, instruction manuals, web sites, emails, seminars, courses, and videos. When training is effective, users will not only learn concepts and procedures, but also remember what they learned and recognize situations where they need to apply what they have learned. Policy communications are documents that inform users about system or organizational policies that they are expected to comply with. For example, many organizations have policies about the types of passwords people may use and what types of documents must be encrypted. Policy documents are frequently part of employee handbooks and ISP terms of service documents. Policies may also be conveyed as part of memos or training communications. If policies are to be effective, users must recognize situations where the policy is applicable, understand how to apply the policy, and have the capability and motivation to comply. Some communications fall into more than one of the above categories. For example, notices and status indicators provide objective information for users to interpret as they wish or to consider as part of a trouble-shooting process; however, some might also function as warnings when they provide information that may enable users to make risk-reducing decisions . Another way to classify security communications is to put them on a scale from passive to active. The active communications are designed to interrupt the user�s primary task and force them to pay attention, while the passive communications are available to the user, but easily ignored. At the most extreme active end of the spectrum, the user cannot proceed with the primary task until the user has taken an action related to the communication. For example, the Firefox anti-phishing tool prevents Firefox from loading suspected Phishing web sites unless a user clicks on a link to override the tool�s recommendation. Other active indicators might play sounds or animations to get a user�s attention, without blocking the primary task. Passive communications, on the other hand, may simply change the color of an icon without doing anything to attract the user�s attention. Secure systems designers should consider which type of communication will be most effective in a particular system, as well as where to place it on the active-passive spectrum. They should consider the severity of the hazards that the system is attempting to avoid, the frequency with which the hazard is encountered, and the extent to which appropriate user action is necessary to avoid the hazard. For example, frequent, active warnings about relatively low-risk hazards or hazards that ordinary users are unable to take action to avoid may lead users to start ignoring not only these warnings, but also similar warnings about more severe hazards. A more passive notice or status indicator might be a better choice than a warning in such situations, as it will provide information that may be of use to expert users without interrupting ordinary users for whom it is of minimal use. On the other hand, when hazards are severe and user action is critical, active warnings may be most appropriate, perhaps with links to relevant training. Both environmental stimuli and interference may cause a partial or full communication failure. In the most extreme cases, the receiver might not even be aware that a communication was sent. Environmental stimuli are communications and activities that may divert the user�s attention away from the security communication. These include other related and unrelated communications, ambient light and noise, and the user�s primary task (which the security communication may interrupt). The more passive the communication, the more likely environmental stimuli will prevent users from noticing it. Passive indicators may also compete with each other for the user�s attention. For example, a number of security-related Firefox extensions add passive indicators that clutter the browser chrome, making it difficult for users to focus on any particular one. Interference is anything that may prevent a communication from being received as the sender intended. Interference may be caused by malicious attackers, technology failures, or environmental stimuli that obscure the communication (for example, ambient noise that prevents a user from hearing an audio alert). Traditional secure systems analysis typically focuses on interference, examining whether a critical communication might be blocked or manipulated. In the case of security indicators, the analysis first examines whether the indicator behaves correctly when not under attack, and then whether it behaves correctly when under attack. Does the correct indicator appear at the correct time without false positives or false negatives? Is the indicator resistant to attacks designed to deceive the software into displaying an inappropriate indicator? Can the indicator be spoofed, obscured, or otherwise manipulated so that users are deceived into relying on an indicator provided by an attacker rather than one provided by their system? For example, Ye, et al demonstrated how malicious web servers could cause browsers to display SSL lock icons and certificates, even when no SSL session has been established . The first information-processing step is communication delivery, which includes both attention switch and attention maintenance. The communication will not succeed unless users notice (attention switch) the communication or are made aware of rules, procedures or training messages. They must also pay attention to the communication long enough to process it (attention maintenance). In the case of symbolic indicators, this may mean simply focusing their attention on the indicator long enough to recognize it. For other communications this may mean spending time reading, watching, or listening to it fully. Environmental stimuli and interference, as well as characteristics of the communication (format, font size, length, delivery channel) will impact attention switch and maintenance . In addition, communication delivery may also be impacted by habituation, the tendency for the impact of a stimulus to decrease over time as people become more accustomed to it. In practice this means that over time users may ignore security indicators that they observe frequently. It can be easy for a system designer to overlook communication delivery failures as a potential underlying cause of human security failures, especially when the communication is properly displayed and the user simply fails to notice it. However, there is evidence that many users don�t notice a variety of security indicators in software they use regularly. For example, user studies indicate that some users have never noticed the presence of the SSL lock icon in their web browser , . A study that used an eye tracker to observe participants� behaviors when visiting SSL-enabled websites found that most users do not even attempt to look for the lock icon . The next information-processing step is communication processing, which includes comprehension and knowledge acquisition. Comprehension refers to the user�s ability to understand the communication. The user�s familiarity with indicator symbols and their similarity to related symbols, the conceptual complexity of the communication, and the vocabulary and sentence structure will all impact comprehension. Short, jargon-free sentences, use of familiar symbols, and unambiguous statements about risk will aid comprehension . Knowledge acquisition refers to the user�s ability to not only understand a communication, but also to learn what to do in response to it. A user may comprehend a security warning and understand that they must take action to avoid a hazard, yet be unsure about what specific steps to take to avoid that hazard. Knowledge acquisition depends on the extent of training provided to the user and their involvement during the training. In many cases warnings are accompanied by little or no training in hazard avoidance, and thus unless users have received previous training they are unlikely to know what they are supposed to do when they see the warning. Thus, a good warning will include specific instructions on how to avoid the hazard. Communicating clearly to non-experts about computer security is challenging, and communication-processing failures are common. It is difficult to write about computer security concepts without using technical jargon, and security-related concepts are difficult to represent clearly with icons. For example, most users do not understand the meaning of web browser security symbols and pop-up warnings , . Anecdotal evidence suggests that the lock icon variations used by Firefox 2 to indicate certificate problems and the eyeball icons used by IE and Netscape Navigator to indicate blocked cookies are meaningless to the vast majority of users, including security experts. The final information-processing step is application, which consists of knowledge retention and knowledge transfer. Knowledge retention refers to the user�s ability to remember the communication when a situation arises in which they need to apply it, and to recognize and recall the meaning of symbols or instructions. Knowledge retention is impacted by the frequency and familiarity of the communication, the user�s long-term memory abilities, and the level of interactivity of training activities. Knowledge transfer refers to the ability of users to recognize situations where the communication is applicable and figure out how to apply it. Knowledge transfer is impacted by the level of interactivity of training activities as well as the degree of similarity between training examples and situations where knowledge should be applied. For example, users may retain knowledge from anti-phishing training, and use it to analyze email messages similar to those shown in the training materials. If they can apply this knowledge to other types of email messages, or even to suspicious messages sent through other channels then they have also transferred this knowledge. In the case of security warnings that appear automatically whenever the system detects a hazard, knowledge transfer may be unnecessary, as there is no need for the user to figure out on their own when a warning is applicable. Personal variables include demographics and personal characteristics, as well as knowledge and experience. Demographics and personal characteristics that impact the receiver may include age, gender, culture, education, occupation, and disabilities. When designing a secure system that relies on humans, it is important to consider who these humans are likely to be and what their personal characteristics suggest about how they are likely to behave. It is also important to consider what relevant knowledge and experience these humans are likely to have. The users� education, occupation, and prior experience will impact this. Personal variables may impact a user�s ability to comprehend and apply communications, and their intention and capability to take appropriate actions. For example, expert users with computer-security-related training and experience may be more likely to understand complicated instructions than novice users. On the other hand, experts may also be more likely to second-guess security warnings and, perhaps erroneously, conclude that the situation is less risky than it actually is. Intentions includes attitudes and beliefs, as well as motivation – factors that will influence whether a user decides that a communication is worth paying attention to and acting upon. A number of theories and models of behavioral compliance are useful for understanding why users may receive and comprehend a communication, yet decide not to bother complying with it . Relevant attitudes and beliefs include beliefs about the accuracy of the communication, whether they should pay attention to it, their ability to complete recommended actions successfully (self-efficacy), whether recommended actions will be effective (response-efficacy), how long it will take to complete recommended actions, and their general attitude towards the communication (trust, annoyance, etc.) . Motivation addresses the incentives users have to take the appropriate action and to do it carefully or properly. Since security communications often distract users from their primary tasks, security goals may be in conflict with a user�s primary goals and their attitudes and motivation may be colored by their perception of security risk and importance they place on the security communication versus the primary task. If users tend to view delays in completing the primary task as more important to avoid than security risks, then they will tend to ignore the security communication. Attitudes and beliefs might be further influenced by a user�s past experience with a particular security indicator. For example, if the indicator has displayed erroneous warnings (false positives) in the past, users may be less inclined to take it seriously. Organizations might create incentives for complying (or disincentives for not complying) with security policies that serve as additional motivation. There are a number of approaches that can be taken to motivate users to take security-related actions. Whenever possible, security tasks should be designed so that they are easy to perform and minimize disruption to a user�s workflow so that users do not perceive these tasks as overly burdensome. Users should also be taught about the security risks involved so they can appreciate the consequences of security failures and that their actions might lead to security failures or hazard avoidance. Any relevant cultural norms that might serve as disincentives to good security practice should also be identified and addressed. Finally, within an organization, rewards and punishments may be useful motivational tools. Finally, even if receivers comprehend a communication, understand how to apply it, and recognize a situation where they should apply it, a failure may still occur if they do not have the capability to take the appropriate actions. Depending on what these actions are, specific knowledge, or cognitive or physical skills may be necessary to complete the action. In some cases specific software or devices may also be required. For example, the ability to remember random-looking strings is a capability demanded by many password policies. Many users fail to comply with these policies because they are not capable of performing this memory task. The goal of a security communication is to produce the desired behavior. The receiver�s information processing steps, personal variables, intention, and capability, interact with any environmental stimuli and interference to influence the human receiver�s behavior. In the best case, the receiver properly understands what action needs to be taken and proceeds to take that action. However, failures may still occur at this stage when users are unable to actually complete the action successfully or determine whether they have carried out the action properly. Norman describes the gap between a person�s intentions to carry out an action and the mechanisms provided by a system to facilitate that action as a Gulf of Execution . For example, a user may be aware that anti-virus software is out of date and that they need to take action to update this software. However, they may be unable to find the menu item in their anti-virus software that facilitates this update. On the other hand, a user may complete an action, but may be unable to interpret the results of the action to determine whether it was successful. Norman refers to this as a Gulf of Evaluation . The Gulf of Evaluation is large when it is difficult for users to determine what state a system is in. For example, Maxion and Reeder found that users have trouble determining effective file permissions in Windows XP . Thus, when users change file permissions settings, it is difficult for them to determine whether they have achieved the desired outcome. The gulf of execution and gulf of evaluation can be minimized through good design. To minimize the gulf of execution, designers should make sure security communications include clear instructions about how to execute the desired actions. They should also examine the interface components or hardware that must be manipulated to make sure the proper use of these components is readily apparent. To minimize the gulf of evaluation, designers should make sure that software and devices provide relevant feedback so that users can determine whether their actions have resulted in the desired outcome. For example, after a usability study of cryptographic smart cards revealed that users have trouble figuring out how to insert these cards into card readers, Piazzalunga et al. recommended that visual cues be printed on the cards themselves (reducing the gulf of execution) and that the card readers provide feedback to indicate when a card has been properly inserted (reducing the gulf of evaluation) . James Reason developed the Generic Error-Modeling System (GEMS), a theory of human error that distinguishes three types of errors: mistakes, lapses, and slips. Mistakes occur when people formulate action plans that will not achieve the desired goal. For example, a na�ve user may decide to evaluate an email message before opening an attachment by checking to see whether the message was sent by someone the user knows. However, this plan will result in a mistake when a friend�s computer is infected with a worm that propagates by email messages to everyone in her address book. Lapses occur when people formulate suitable action plans, but then forget to perform a planned action, for example skipping a step in a sequence of actions. Slips occur when people perform an action incorrectly, for example press the wrong button or select the wrong menu item . Good design can reduce the chance of mistakes, lapses, and slips. Designers should develop clear communications that convey specific instructions so as to reduce the chance that users will make mistakes while completing security-critical tasks. They should minimize the number of steps necessary to complete the task and, whenever possible, provide cues to guide users through the sequence of steps and prevent lapses. To prevent slips, designers should locate the necessary controls where they are accessible and arrange and label them so that they will not be mistaken for one another. Secure systems often rely on randomness to prevent attackers from exploiting predictable patterns to breach system security. Thus, failure can also occur at the behavior stage when users successfully perform the desired actions, but do so in a manner that follows predictable patterns that an attacker might exploit. For example, a number of studies on graphical passwords have found that users select these passwords according to predictable patterns. Davis et al. found that students using a graphical password system based on images of faces tended to select attractive faces from their own race. They demonstrated that an attacker who knows the race and gender of a user can use that knowledge to substantially reduce the number of guesses required to guess a password. Thorpe and van Oorschot found that many background images used in click-based graphical password schemes have a small number of popular �hot spots� from which users tend to select their password click points. They demonstrate techniques an attacker can use to learn what these hot spots are and substantially reduce the number of guesses required to guess a password . Designers should consider whether an attacker might be able to exploit predictable user behavior, and if so, find ways to encourage less predictable behavior or prevent users from behaving in ways that fit known patterns (e.g. prohibit passwords that contain dictionary words). We designed the human-in-the-loop security framework to be used as part of a four-step iterative process in which human threats to system security are identified and mitigated. This process is illustrated in Figure 2. The human threat identification and mitigation process can be conducted at the design phase to proactively reduce opportunities for human security failures. It can also be conducted after a system has been implemented and deployed to identify the cause of observed failures and find ways of mitigating them. In the task identification step the secure system designer identifies all of the points where the system relies on humans to perform security-critical functions. This can be done by enumerating the points of human interaction with a secure system and considering which of these interactions are critical to security. In the task automation step, the designer attempts to find ways to partially or fully automate some of the security-critical human tasks. This may or may not be possible or desirable, depending on the type of task. One way of automating tasks is to replace user decision steps with well-chosen defaults or automated decision making. Whenever software developers build systems in which end users are asked to make security configuration decisions or answer questions posed by pop-up security alerts, they should consider whether the anticipated users will have expertise or information that will allow them to make a better decision than the software developer can implement through an automated process or a default setting . Edwards et al. describe the limits of security automation in detail and propose a set of guidelines for appropriate security automation . In the failure identification step, the designer identifies potential failure modes for the remaining security-critical human tasks. The human-in-the-loop security framework offers a systematic approach to identifying these failure modes. User studies can provide empirical evidence as to which failures occur in practice and additional insights into the reasons for these failures. If empirical data is not available, the framework can suggest areas where user studies are needed. In the failure mitigation step, the designer tries to find ways to prevent failures by determining how humans might be better supported in performing these tasks . For example, context-sensitive help and decision-support tools might assist humans as they perform security tasks. Automated error checking tools might warn users if they appear to be making mistakes. Alerts might remind them that a task remains to be done. Visualizations might make it easier for them to spot anomalies or understand the overall system state. Training materials might help them better understand the tasks they must perform. Warnings might be better designed to communicate more effectively. In many cases it may be possible to reduce the burden on humans, even if it can�t be completely eliminated. User studies can help designers evaluate the effectiveness of their failure mitigation efforts. After completing a first pass through the four-step process, designers may revisit some or all of the steps to try to further reduce the risk of human security failures. For example, if after completing the mitigation step designers are unable to reduce human failure rates to an acceptable level, they might return to the automation step and explore whether it is feasible to develop an automated approach that would perform more reliably than humans. An automated approach known to be imperfect might have been considered and dismissed during the first pass through the process, but might be reconsidered during a second pass once it is discovered that human performance on a given task is even less reliable than the automated tool. In Appendix B we present two case studies to illustrate how to apply the human-in-the-loop security framework in the human threat identification and mitigation process. Security researchers often evaluate the effectiveness of systems as measured by their ability to resist various forms of attack. They typically envision a threat model in which a determined attacker will attempt to �fool the software� by disabling the security software, performing a malicious action in an undetectable manner, or deceiving the security software into interpreting a malicious action as an innocuous one. More recently security researchers have expanded their threat models to include semantic attacks , in which attackers attempt to �fool the humans� by obscuring or visually spoofing the indicators provided by their security software. However, this work tends to focus on how to prevent sophisticated semantic attacks by developing unspoofable indicators , . But humans are often fooled by much simpler attacks and may even ignore the (usually correct) warnings provided by their security software . Cranor proposed a series of questions that can be used to analyze the human factors criteria associated with security indicators and identify areas of potential failure. These questions can be mapped to models of warning processing from the warning science literature, for example the C-HIP model on which the human-in-the-loop framework is based . Research on how to create the most effective warnings goes back at least 100 years—for example, research was performed at Yale University between 1904 and 1906 to determine the most effective colors for railroad signals, and the results were subsequently field tested before red, yellow, and green were adopted as standards in 1908. However, most warnings have been introduced to address industry needs, with little or no scientific evaluation of their effectiveness , . In the past two decades, interest in warnings research has increased, and peer-reviewed studies are now being published in this area. Wogalter proposed the C-HIP model to identify reasons that a particular warning is ineffective . Similar to the human-in-the-loop framework, the C-HIP model begins with a source delivering a warning to a receiver, who receives it along with other environmental stimuli that may distract from the message. The receiver goes through several information processing steps, which ultimately determine whether the warning results in any change in behavior. This model is directly applicable to computer security warnings. However, we have added some components to address failures that are typical in a computer security context. We have added a capabilities component because we have observed that human security failures are sometimes attributed to humans being asked to complete tasks that they are not capable of completing. We have also added an interference component because computer security communications may be impeded by an active attacker or technology failures. We have modified C-HIP to apply more generally to the five types of computer security communications outlined in Section 2.1. The knowledge acquisition, knowledge retention, and knowledge transfer steps are especially applicable to training and policy communications. Finally, we have explicitly called out two types of personal variables and restructured the human receiver representation to emphasize related concepts over temporal flow. In his seminal book, The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman proposed a seven-stage �action cycle� to describe how humans proceed from formulating a goal, through executing an action, to evaluating whether or not the action achieved the intended goal. He described how the action cycle can be used as a check-list for design so as to avoid the gulfs of execution and evaluation . Norman�s focus was on the design of physical objects such as radios and film projectors, but his seven stages of action are applicable to software user interfaces as well. The human-in-the-loop framework incorporates concepts from Norman�s action cycle, as well as James Reasons� Generic-Error Modeling System (GEMS) . Brostoff and Sasse have also applied concepts from GEMS to systematically identify and address human security failures. They focus on the distinction between the active failures described by GEMS and latent failures that predispose a system to failures. They propose a model that represents errors in five areas: decision-makers, line managers, preconditions, productive activities, and defenses . Brostoff and Sasse�s approach is more organization-centric, while the human-in-the-loop framework is more user-centric. There are three high-level strategies for building secure systems that humans can use. The first strategy is to find ways to get humans out of the loop and build systems that �just work� without involving humans in security-critical functions. Secure systems designers should consider what functions performed by humans might be automated, and what configuration choices might be replaced by default settings that are generally appropriate. The second strategy is to build systems that are intuitive and find ways of making them easy to use. Secure systems designers should engineer human tasks to maximize the chances that humans will perform them successfully. The third strategy is to teach humans how to perform security-critical tasks. Here we must find effective ways of teaching complicated concepts to humans who may not be all that receptive to learning them. In most cases we are unable to rely on just one of these strategies and must adopt a multi-pronged approach to secure system usability. We have proposed a framework for reasoning about the human in the loop in secure systems that is intended to help secure systems designers and operators reduce the occurrence of human security failures. Whenever it is not possible to get humans completely out of the loop in a secure system, it is important that the human�s role in performing security-critical functions be considered in any security analysis, and that potential failure modes be identified. The human-in-the loop security framework provides a systematic approach to identifying these failure modes and identifying their root causes. It can be applied as part of a human threat identification and mitigation process during system design to identify potential problem areas so that they can be addressed prior to implementation. The framework can also be used to analyze deployed systems to gain insights into why they are failing and to determine where corrective actions should be taken. Future work is needed to validate the usefulness of the human-in-the-loop framework to security engineers, and to provide more concrete guidance on how to operationalize the human threat identification and mitigation process. So far we have focused on the identification of failure modes. Future work should develop more specific guidelines and design patterns for mitigating human threats by automating security-critical human tasks and better supporting humans as they perform these tasks. Thanks to Serge Egelman, Jason Hong, Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Rob Reeder and the other members of the CMU Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory for providing feedback on this framework. A. Adams and M. A. Sasse, 1999 Users are not the enemy: why users compromise security mechanisms and how to take remedial measures. Communicaitons of the ACM 42(12), 40-46. A. Adelsbach, S. Gajek, and J. Schwenk. Visual spoofing of SSL protected web sites and effective countermeasures. In Proceedings of the 1st Information Security Practice and Experience Conference (Singapore, 11-14 April, 2005). ISPEC2005. LNCS, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg. S. Brostaff and M. A. Sasse. Safe and sound: a safety-critical approach to security. In Proceedings of the 2001 Workshop on New Security Paradigms (Cloudcroft, New Mexico, September 10 - 13, 2001). NSPW '01. ACM, New York, NY, 41-50. K. Cameron and D. DeJoy, 2006. The Persuasive Functions of Warnings: Theory and Models. In M. S. Wogalter, ed., Handbook of Warnings. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 301-312. R. M. Conlan and P. Tarasewich. 2006. Improving interface designs to help users choose better passwords. In CHI '06 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Montr�al, Qu�bec, Canada, April 22 - 27, 2006). CHI '06. ACM, New York, NY, 652-657. D. Davis, F. Monrose, and M. K. Reiter, On User Choice in Graphical Password Schemes, Proceedings of the 13th USENIX Security Symposium (Aug. 2004), 151-164. D. DeJoy, K. Cameron, and L. Della, 2006. Postexposure Evaluation of Warning Effectiveness: A Review of Field Studies and Population-based research. In M. S. Wogalter, ed., Handbook of Warnings. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 35-48. R. Dhamija, J. D. Tygar, and M. Hearst, 2006. Why phishing works. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Montr�al, Qu�bec, Canada, April 22 - 27, 2006). R. Grinter, T. Rodden, P. Aoki, E. Cutrell, R. Jeffries, and G. Olson, Eds. CHI '06. ACM Press, New York, NY, 581-590. J. S. Downs, M. B. Holbrook, and L. F. Cranor, 2006. Decision strategies and susceptibility to phishing. In Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 12 - 14, 2006). SOUPS '06, vol. 149. ACM Press, New York, NY, 79-90. W. K. Edwards, E. S. Poole, and J. Stoll, 2007. Security Automation Considered Harmful? Proceedings of the IEEE New Security Paradigms Workshop (NSPW 2007). White Mountain, New Hampshire. September 18-21, 2007. S. Egelman, L. Cranor, and J. Hong. You�ve Been Warned: An Empirical Study of the Effectiveness of Web Browser Phishing Warnings. ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '08). 2008. D. Egilman and S. Bohme, 2006. A Brief History of Warnings. In Wogalter, M., ed., Handbook of Warnings. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ,35-48. I. Flechais, J. Riegelsberger, and M. A. Sasse, 2005. Divide and conquer: the role of trust and assurance in the design of secure socio-technical systems. In Proceedings of the 2005 Workshop on New Security Paradigms (Lake Arrowhead, California, September 20 - 23, 2005). NSPW '05. ACM, New York, NY, 33-41. B. Friedman, P. Lin, and J. K. Miller, 2005. Informed consent by design. In L. Cranor and S. Garfinkel, eds. Security and Usability. O�Reilly, 477-504. S. Gaw and E. W. Felten, 2006. Password management strategies for online accounts. In Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 12 - 14, 2006). SOUPS '06, vol. 149. ACM, New York, NY, 44-55. J. B. Gross and M. B. Rosson, 2007. Looking for trouble: understanding end-user security management. In Proceedings of the 2007 Symposium on Computer Human interaction For the Management of information Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 30 - 31, 2007). CHIMIT '07. ACM, New York, NY, 10. H. E. Hancock, C. T. Bowles, W. A. Rogers, and A. D. Fisk. 2006. Comprehension and Retention of Warning Information. In M. S. Wogalter, ed., Handbook of Warnings. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 267-277. R. L. Heath and J. Bryant. Human Communication Theory and Research: Concepts, Contexts, and Challenges. 2nd edition. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2000. C. Kaufman, R. Perlman, and M. Speciner. Network Security: PRIVATE Communication in a PUBLIC World. 2nd edition. Prentice Hall, page 237, 2002. M. J. Kalsher and K. J. Williams. Behavioral Compliance: Theory, Methodology, and Results. 2006. In M. S. Wogalter, ed., Handbook of Warnings. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 313-331. C. Kuo, S. Romanosky, and L. F. Cranor, 2006. Human selection of mnemonic phrase-based passwords. In Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 12 - 14, 2006). SOUPS '06, vol. 149. ACM, New York, NY, 67-78. R. A. Maxion and R. W. Reeder. Improving User-Interface Dependability through Mitigation of Human Error. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 63 (1-2):25-50. 2005. D. A. Norman. The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books, 1988. U. Piazzalunga, P. Salvaneschi, and P. Coffetti. The Usability of Security Devices. In Security and Usability: Designing Secure Systems that People Can use, L. Cranor and S. Garfinkel, eds., O�Reilly, pages 221-242, 2005. J. Reason. Human Error. Cambridge University Press, 1990. B. Ross. Firefox and the Worry-Free Web. In Security and Usability: Designing Secure Systems that People Can use, L. Cranor and S. Garfinkel, eds., O�Reilly, pages 577-587, 2005. B. Schneier. Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World. Springer-Verlag, 2003. B. Schneier. Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World. John Wiley and Sons, 2000. B. Schneier, 2000. Semantic Attacks: The Third Wave of Network Attacks. Cryptogram Newsletter (October 15). http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0010.html#1. S. Sheng, B. Magnien, P. Kumaraguru, A. Acquisti, L. Cranor, J. Hong, and E. Nunge. Anti-Phishing Phil: The Design and Evaluation of a Game That Teaches People Not to Fall for Phish. In Proceedings of the 2007 Symposium On Usable Privacy and Security, Pittsburgh, PA, July 18-20, 2007. J. Thorpe and P.C. van Oorschot. Human-Seeded Attacks and Exploiting Hot-Spots in Graphical Passwords. In Proceedings of the 16th USENIX Security Symposium, August 6-10, 2007, Boston, MA, USA. T. Whalen and K. M. Inkpen, 2005. Gathering evidence: use of visual security cues in web browsers. In Proceedings of the 2005 Conference on Graphics interface (Victoria, British Columbia, May 09 - 11, 2005). ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, vol. 112. Canadian Human-Computer Communications Society, School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, 137-144. M. S. Wogalter, 2006. Purposes and Scope of Warnings. In M. S. Wogalter, ed., Handbook of Warnings. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 3-9. M. S. Wogalter, 2006. Communication-Human Information Processing (C-HIP) Model. In M. S.Wogalter, ed., Handbook of Warnings. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 51-61. M. S. Wogalter and W. J. Vigilate, Jr., 2006. Attention Switch and Maintenance. In M. S.Wogalter, ed., Handbook of Warnings. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 245-265. M. Wu, R. C. Miller, and S. L. Garfinkel, 2006. Do security toolbars actually prevent phishing attacks?. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Montr�al, Qu�bec, Canada, April 22 - 27, 2006). R. Grinter, T. Rodden, P. Aoki, E. Cutrell, R. Jeffries, and G. Olson, Eds. CHI '06. ACM Press, New York, NY, 601-610. M. Wu, R. C. Miller, and G. Little, 2006. Web wallet: preventing phishing attacks by revealing user intentions. In Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 12 - 14, 2006). SOUPS '06, vol. 149. ACM, New York, NY, 102-113. Z. Ye, S. Smith, and D. Anthony, 2005. Trusted paths for browsers. ACM Trans. Inf. Syst. Secur. 8, 2 (May 2005), 153-186. What type of communication is it (warning, notice, status indicator, policy, training)? Is communication active or passive? Is this the best type of communication for this situation? What other environmental stimuli are likely to be present? Will anything interfere with the communication being delivered as intended? Who are the users? What do their personal characteristics suggest about how they are likely to behave? What relevant knowledge or experience do the users or recipients have? Do users believe the communication is accurate? Do they believe they should pay attention to it? Do they have a positive attitude about it? Are users motivated to take the appropriate action? Are thy motivated to do it carefully or properly? Are users capable of taking the appropriate action? Do users notice the communication? Are they aware of rules, procedures, or training messages? Do users pay attention to the communication long enough to process it? Do they read, watch, or listen to it fully? Do users understand what the communication means? Have users learned how to apply it in practice? Do they know what they are supposed to do? Do users remember the communication when a situation arises in which they need to apply it? Do they recognize and recall the meaning of symbols or instructions? Can users recognize situations where the communication is applicable and figure out how to apply it? Does behavior result in successful completion of desired action? Does behavior follow predictable patterns that an attacker might exploit? Anti-phishing tools that provide passive warning indicators in web browser toolbars have been found to be largely ineffective at preventing users from accessing phishing web sites . Recent versions of Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox browsers include more active anti-phishing warnings that block access to suspicious web sites unless a user explicitly chooses to override the warning. When Firefox suspects a site is fraudulent it greys out the page and displays a pop-up warning that does not look similar to other browser warnings. When IE suspects a site is fraudulent it can either load the page and display a passive warning that will be dismissed if the user types anything into the browser, or it can display an active warning instead of loading the page. Users can choose to ignore any of these warnings and proceed to the suspicious site. We will apply the human threat identification and mitigation process and the human-in-the-loop security framework to help us determine whether the new anti-phishing warnings effectively protect users from phishing attacks and how they can be improved. Empirical evidence from user studies provides insights into the failure modes. Task identification. The IE and Firefox anti-phishing tools rely on human users to decide whether to heed the warning and leave a suspicious site or ignore the warning and proceed to visit that site. Task automation. This human decision could be eliminated by blocking access to suspicious sites without offering an override option. Arguably, if the false positive rate associated with the automated phishing detection tool is sufficiently low and the risk associated with visiting a phishing site is significant, it would be better to completely block users from visiting suspicious sites rather than presenting them with warnings and letting them decide what to do. However, for the time being browser vendors believe they must offer users the override option. � Communication impediments: Environmental stimuli can include other browser warnings, the user�s email client and/or other applications related to the user�s primary task, and other ambient conditions that may distract the user. We are not aware of attacks that interfere with the display of IE and Firefox anti-phishing warnings; however, the IE passive warning usually loads a few seconds after the page loads, and if users start filling out a web form they can inadvertently dismiss the passive warning before they notice it is there . � Personal variables: Web browser anti-phishing tools are used by people with a wide range of knowledge, abilities, and other personal characteristics, many of whom have little or no knowledge about phishing. � Intentions: A user study found that most users who read the warnings believed they should heed them and were motivated to heed them. However, a few users did not believe the warnings were important, generally because they confused them with other warnings, they did not trust them, or they did not believe the risk was severe. One user commented �since it gave me the option of still proceeding to the website, I figured it couldn�t be that bad� . � Capabilities: A user study found that users are capable of taking the appropriate action, closing the browser window or navigating to a different web site. However, those with inaccurate mental models may be incapable of making an informed decision about whether to take this action . � Communication delivery: A user study found that users noticed the Firefox warning and active IE warning. Many users did not notice the passive IE warning. Some users in the study did not fully read the warnings. Some users erroneously believed that the IE warning was one of the frequently-encountered browser warnings such as a 404 page not found warning . In another user study of three simulated passive anti-phishing warnings that displayed symbols in a browser toolbar, 25% of participants claimed they had not noticed the warnings, even after being explicitly instructed to look for them . � Communication processing: Most of the users in the Egelman et al study understood the warnings and knew what they were supposed to do. Firefox users were more likely to correctly understand the warnings than IE users. Some users who were not previously aware of phishing attacks appeared to have erroneous mental models of the situation and thus misinterpreted the warnings. These users assumed that the email containing the link to the suspicious web site was legitimate and that the warning indicated that there was a transient problem with the web site. They clicked on the link in the email repeatedly in an attempt to reach the web site without triggering the warning . � Behavior: All users in the study who understood the warnings and decided to heed them were able to do so successfully. Although users who clicked on the link in the email repeatedly were actually making a mistake, it ultimately resulted in the users not accessing the suspicious web sites, which was the desired outcome. Thus it appears that the Firefox and active IE warnings tend to fail safely . Predictability of behavior is not relevant to this situation. Failure mitigation. This analysis suggests that the Firefox and active IE warning are much more effective than the passive IE warning, and that the passive IE warning should be replaced with an active warning. The active IE warning could be made more effective by making it look less similar to non-critical warnings. A number of studies suggest that many users have formed inaccurate mental models related to phishing, and that these faulty models lead to mistakes , , , . The warnings include links to educational materials about phishing, but we don�t have empirical evidence about how frequently users consult this material and whether they understand it (the human-in-the-loop framework could be applied to analyze the effectiveness of these educational materials). Additional anti-phishing training delivered through other channels might be helpful for educating users with inaccurate mental models , . It might also be useful to provide users with information they can use to decide whether to heed or ignore the warning, as the IE and Firefox warnings did not explain to users why they were being presented with this choice. The warning might provide additional explanations about why the site is suspicious and offer users the option of visiting the real site that the suspicious site appears to be spoofing . The human threat identification and mitigation process suggested a possible approach to getting the human out of the loop altogether in this case, and a number of ways anti-phishing warnings could be improved. The failure identification step highlighted the need to find ways to correct users� inaccurate mental models about phishing and suggested that it would be useful to study the use and effectiveness of links to educational materials in anti-phishing warnings. Many organizations have policies that specify how users should select their passwords. Typical password policies specify minimum password lengths, mandate a combination of different types of characters, and require that users select different passwords for each system they use and remember these passwords without writing them down. Some policies also require users to change their password frequently. Password policies generally prohibit users from sharing their passwords with other people. In practice, people tend not to comply fully with password policies . For example, Gaw and Felten found evidence of widespread password reuse . We will apply the human threat identification and mitigation process and the human-in-the-loop security framework to help us determine how an organization might improve compliance with their password policy. Task identification. Users must select passwords that comply with the policy, remember them without writing them down, recall them when needed, and refrain from sharing them. Task automation. To simplify the password creation task, the system might generate random passwords and assign them to users. However, these passwords are likely to be too difficult for users to remember. Alternatively, tools might provide feedback to users on the quality of their passwords and suggest improvements . Single sign-on systems or secure password vaults might be deployed to reduce the number of passwords that must be remembered. Alternative authentication mechanisms might also be considered . � Communication impediments: Environmental stimuli combined with the desire of users to create their password quickly so they can access a system may interfere with policy communication. � Personal variables: Most organizations have users with a wide range of demographics, knowledge, and experience (complete novice through security expert); however, this will depend on the organization. � Intentions: Users tend to find password policies inconvenient and may not appreciate the importance of protecting their password, especially if they do not believe it protects a resource that an attacker would value. Thus, they may have little motivation to comply with a password policy. The policy may also conflict with users� goals when users view password sharing as necessary to facilitate tasks that require multiple people to edit a document. � Capabilities: User studies suggest that people are capable of following typical password security guidance to create compliant passwords [Kuo et al]. However, people are not good at remembering random-looking passwords. Most people are incapable of memorizing the numerous passwords they must typically use . This problem is exacerbated when people are required to change their passwords frequently . � Communication delivery: Most computer users appear to be aware of the typical password security guidance, indicating they have read it at least once, and likely multiple times. � Communication processing: Recent user studies suggest that most people now understand typical password security guidance and know what they are supposed to do to apply it . � Application: Users appear to be generally familiar with password security policies and know how to apply them. It is likely that they are fully aware of when they are violating these policies, although this should be verified with a user study. � Behavior: Users who intend to follow policies on password creation are generally able to do so without error. However, the passwords users create may still be somewhat predictable, despite adherence to policy. For example, Kuo et al found that users advised to select passwords based on mnemonic phrases often selected well-known phrases on which to base their passwords . Failure mitigation. The most critical failure appears to be a capabilities failure: people are not capable of remembering large numbers of policy-compliant passwords. This can be addressed by reducing the number of passwords people must remember through single sign-on and alternative authentication mechanisms. Organizations should also consider whether the security benefits associated with frequent, mandatory password changes make up for the tendency of users to violate other parts of the password policy because they cannot remember frequently-changed passwords. Motivation failures may become less of an issue if the capability failure can be addressed in a way that is consistent with employee workflows. Training communications that explain the rationale behind password policies may also mitigate motivation failures. Finally, the problem of users creating passwords that are not random enough can be addressed through better guidance at password creation time and software tools that support users in the password creation process.

2019-04-24T22:14:54Z

https://www.usenix.org/legacy/events/upsec08/tech/full_papers/cranor/cranor_html/

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The number of Qantas Points required for Classic Upgrade Rewards is increasing for some fare types. When is the increase effective? - For Classic Upgrade Rewards requested prior to 16 November 2016 the Qantas Points required will not change regardless of the upgrade confirmation date. - For Classic Upgrade Rewards requested after 16 November 2016 and confirmed before 20 February 2017 the Qantas Points required will not change. - For Classic Upgrade Rewards requested after 16 November 2016 and confirmed after 20 February 2017 the new Qantas Points levels will apply. Are all Classic Upgrade Rewards increasing? Will On Departure Upgrade Rewards be affected? On Departure Upgrade Rewards can be requested for Domestic Classic Upgrade Rewards at the airport by Gold and Platinum Frequent Flyers and Qantas Club members between 3 hours and 20 minutes before your scheduled flight (excluding flight numbers from 1-199). The number of Qantas Points required is the same as Classic Upgrade Rewards. The Qantas Points required for domestic Classic Upgrade Rewards are increasing when upgrading from Discount Economy to Business Class on flights greater than 600 miles (zones 2 & 3). Will the changes affect the Qantas Points required for Points Plus Pay - Flights? No. The number of Qantas Points required to redeem a Points Plus Pay - Flight (and the Fare Conditions applicable to them) vary. The number of Points required for and the Fare Conditions applicable to a Points Plus Pay - Flight are those described at the time of booking. Will there be any changes to Qantas Frequent Flyer earn rates as a result of these changes? No. The number of Qantas Points and Status Credits earned will not change as a part of these program changes. Will there be a change to the number of Qantas Points required for Classic Flight Reward bookings? No. The number of Qantas Points required for Reward bookings will not change. Further information about the program can be found at qantas.com. You must be a member of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program to earn Qantas Points and Status Credits. A joining fee may apply. Membership, Status Credits and the earning and redemption of Qantas Points are subject to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program terms and conditions. + Classic Flight Rewards are available on Qantas, Jetstar and partner airlines. Classic Flight Reward seats are subject to capacity controls and availability is limited. The number of seats available depends on the flight, date, season and destination and some flights may not have any Classic Flight Rewards available. # Points Plus Pay - Flights are available on any flight with a QF or JQ, 3K, GK or BL flight number. A limited number of seats on selected partner airlines (as offered by Qantas at the time of booking on qantas.com) may be combined with Qantas orJetstar flights in Points Plus Pay - Flights. Partner airline flights which may be combined with Jetstar flights in Points Plus Pay - Flights are more limited than those which may be combined with Qantas flights. See the Points Plus Pay - Flights section for more details. ~ Classic Upgrade Rewards are available on Classic Flight Rewards in Economy and Premium Economy and eligible paid and confirmed Qantas domestic and international flights, with a QF flight number on your ticket and from time to time on codeshare flights operated by another carrier that have a Qantas (QF) flight number on your ticket. Classic Upgrade Rewards are subject to capacity controls and availability is limited. Classic Upgrade Rewards are not available from all fare types. See tables for details. Classic Upgrade Rewards are subject to capacity controls and availability (which is limited). a) Discount Economy includes Red e-Deal fares booked in L, V, S, N, Q, O and E classes, and Group fares booked in G class; and b) Flexible Economy includes Flex fares booked in Y, B, H, K and M classes. ≠ SMS notification of a confirmed international Classic Upgrade Reward is available only to Qantas Frequent Flyers who are travelling on the upgraded segment, and who have a valid mobile telephone number in their membership profile. Some members may not receive SMS notification due to operational reasons. ~~~ For international flights: a) Economy includes classes G, K, L, M, S and V; and b) Flexible Economy includes classes B, H and Y. ₪ Classic Upgrade Rewards from selected discount Economy classes which are not normally eligible (for example N, Q and O class) may be offered on a selected basis for limited periods at the discretion of Qantas. The points required for a Classic Upgrade Reward from these discount Economy classes may be higher than the points quoted in these tables, will be advised at the time of the promotion during the Classic Upgrade Reward registration process on qantas.com and are subject to change between promotions. π Premium Economy is available on all Qantas A380 aircraft and selected B747-400 aircraft. † Points Plus Pay is a facility on qantas.com which allows you to choose the number of Qantas Points you redeem above a specified minimum level and pay the remainder with an Accepted Payment Card to obtain your Points Plus Pay - Flight. Minimum points levels apply, are subject to change and will be quoted at the time of booking. * Qantas Points and Status Credits (where applicable) are earned on eligible flights with a Qantas or applicable oneworld® Alliance Airline or Airline Partner flight number on your ticket. Qantas Points and Status Credits may not be earned on some fare types and booking classes. See terms and conditions and the Airline Earning Tables for details on the conditions for the applicable airline. ^ Available on domestic segments of international flights that offer a Premium Economy cabin.

2019-04-19T02:40:58Z

https://www.qantas.com/fflyer/dyn/flying/using-points-qantas-jetstar?int_cam=th%253Amanage-booking%253Aarticle%253Arequesting-an-upgrade%253Aen%253Ann

Alright, so I’ve spent a ton of time doing these online traffic school reviews and getting together some discount codes and coupons. I’m not sure of anybody else who is crazy enough to review online traffic schools, but as a certified driving instructor and long-haul trucker, driving is a passion for me. I’ve gone through some of the major online traffic schools out there and narrowed it down to the best. Of course, for each driving school I recommend below, there is also an extremely detailed review of the course so you know exactly what to expect. I just want to prepare you real quick. There is no such thing as a fun or exciting traffic school. These online traffic school reviews aren’t meant to tell you which one is the most exciting. It’s going to be boring no matter who you go with. However, these are the most bearable online traffic schools around. These are also the only schools that I can personally vouch for as I’ve gone through them myself. There are probably other options out there that are just as good, but being one guy, I can’t review them all. Believe it or not, there are hundreds of “state certified” online traffic schools out there and most of them are very low quality. Good luck! It’ll all be over soon! Aceable is one of the best online traffic schools right now. Up until March of 2017 you would not have seen them listed here at all. That’s because they were only certified in a small handful of states, but as they now cover all of the major states, I feel comfortable listing them among my top choices. Check out this page to see if they are certified in your state. While Aceable is one of the newer online traffic schools and I usually say that’s a bad thing, in this case, it means the opposite. For starters, this is the ONLY online traffic school that was built from the ground up for each individual mobile device you might use (and yes, you can switch between devices anytime as you take the course). While most online traffic schools have “mobile-friendly” versions (usually crap), Aceable has dedicated apps and platforms for each device. They also provide audio, video, graphics, animations, and they even have a cool robot mascot named Ace, who I promise you’ll actually miss when it’s all over. Their customer service, based out of Austin, Texas, is second to none. If you have any problems, tell them I referred you, and I promise they will take care of you (if not, contact me!). It’s fast, it’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s modern, they have a money-back guarantee, and it’s the course I would personally use if I had to sign up. While I have a detailed review of the Aceable online driver’s ed course, I don’t have a review of their traffic school or defensive driving courses yet. I’m working on it!! Use This Exclusive Link For The Best Price On Aceable! iDriveSafely is one of the largest and oldest online traffic schools with more than 5 million customers having already completed the course (although I prefer to call them guinea pigs). They’ve been at this for decades now and have kept a very good reputation. This was the very first online traffic school I ever reviewed and as of this writing, they are still among my favorites. The school also has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and their system will check to verify you are eligible for their course. Before online traffic school became available, iDriveSafely was one of the few companies that had a home based course through workbooks and VHS tapes. Now that technology has advanced into awesomeness, they have continued their home based online traffic school courses with state of the art videos, animations, and tracking software so you can use the course whenever, from wherever, using virtually any device with an internet connection. Improv Traffic School was created by the famous chain of Improv Comedy Clubs. Many years ago, a bunch of Hollywood Comedians began giving classroom based traffic school but focused on making it fun and easy. Their traffic school courses were a huge hit, since it was more like entertainment than anything. Thankfully, Improv decided to take this same approach to online traffic school. While most online traffic schools consist of boring full length pages to read, Improv Traffic School is full of hilarious videos, pictures, animations, and even games. Plus, when you sign up, they also give you 2 free tickets to one of their Improv Comedy Clubs. The tickets have a market value greater than the actual course you’re paying for. Whether you decide to use those tickets or not, chances are you’ll have a few laughs taking their online traffic school. This is one of my favorite courses and my top recommendation for those with a good sense of humor. Oh, and don’t forget to use the coupon link they gave me (posted below) so you can save 5 bucks! GoToTrafficSchool is the best option for one person in particular… The bargain hunter! While GoToTrafficSchool isn’t exactly the most advanced traffic school in terms of engaging videos and animations, they have been around for well over a decade with millions of people having completed their course already. The main thing that sets this online traffic school apart from the rest is their lowest price guarantee. If you are able to find a price anywhere else that is cheaper than GoToTrafficSchool, they will match or beat that price. Most states set a mandatory minimum price for all online traffic schools and GoToTrafficSchool.com normally prices their course at the minimum. If you are simply looking for the lowest possible price to complete your ticket dismissal requirements, this is the course you want to sign up for. And don’t worry, you can start taking the course for free just to make sure you like it. While many people enjoy an interactive course filled with games, videos, and animations, other people just like the most bare bones course available. This is where Traffic School 101 comes in handy. This course has no frills, no thrills, and no attempts at using cheesy humor. Instead, the course is set up very similar to a standard ebook. They simply present you with the info, provide the testing platform to complete your required quizzes, and you’re done. But don’t worry, you still get the benefits of most other online traffic schools. You can still log in and out whenever you want and you get access to 24/7/365 technical and customer support. Unfortunately, some reports have come in that certain parts of this course requires a “flash plugin” so this will not work well on many mobile devices / tablets including all Apple devices. If you want a straight forward course without all the extra bells and whistles, this is definitely the course for you. DriversEd.com is a school I normally recommend for online drivers ed courses, although they are approved in a few states for online traffic school including what I call “the big two” – California and Texas. This company is huge with drivers ed programs and repackages the material from drivers ed courses into an online traffic school. The advantage to this is, the quality is very high because there are more quality checks for drivers ed programs. The graphics and animations they use are very high quality and have a cool 3D look that’s easy on the eyes. Really impressive stuff. So this is another good option for you. Comedy Traffic School, located at ComedyTrafficSchool.com, is a course I only recently got around to reviewing. I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty darn impressed! I’m still a huge fan of my highest rated online traffic schools, Improv Traffic School and iDriveSafely, but this is definitely another great option to look into. If you are a fan of comedy based traffic schools, do yourself a favor and take a look at this one. The type of comedy they use might not be very well received by everyone, so be sure to check out their course demos and videos before you sign up. NOTE: As of this review, Comedy Traffic School is only approved in the state of California. I decided to include this school for one main reason – they also guarantee to have the cheapest pricing. This course is very similar to GoToTrafficSchool and the school is actually operated by the same owners. However, the course is set up slightly different. Since you are allowed to start taking the course for free, you might want to go through a chapter or two and see how it compares with some of the other online traffic schools listed here. The last time I took this course, it appeared they had updated some sections and made it a bit more modern compared to their GoToTrafficSchool course. It really comes down to personal preference, so sign up for free and see what you think. Review #: The Online Traffic School, Inc. The Online Traffic School, Inc. is another well known online traffic school. They’ve been around for so long that they have had over 4 million people graduate from their course so far. That’s a lot of traffic violators! You get everything you’d expect from a good online traffic school like 24/7/365 support and a money back guarantee. They also have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and a good online reputation. Since they were founded in 1996, they have become certified in over two dozen states. Chances are, if your state allows online traffic school for ticket dismissal or point reduction, The Online Traffic School, Inc. will be approved. Just in case, during the signup process, they will verify your eligibility. This is definitely a higher quality online traffic school. Traffic School To Go is operated by the American Safety Council. It was was one of the very first online traffic schools in the nation. They have maintained an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and have kept a good track record with millions of former students. The course is designed so you can complete it using any device with an internet connection. In addition, this course is also guaranteed to be the cheapest. I personally had a few issues with their customer service department, however. I had sent multiple emails and had trouble getting any response. However, I still decided to include this school since many people like that they are owned and operated by the American Safety Council. It is a name people trust and their school has been licensed for well over a decade. Traffic School Online has been around for about 15 years now and they have been able to maintain an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. When doing a Google search for online traffic schools, this is one of the very top schools that comes up. When I saw that, I knew I had to write a review for it. The course itself is pretty decent, but I do have some complaints about it. For starters, it isn’t exactly mobile friendly. Their main website is not mobile friendly at all and in fact, some portions of their site require the use of Flash Plugins which are not available on most apple devices like the iPhone or iPad. We wish they were keeping up with technology a bit better. Also, we noticed some very deceitful “customer reviews” on the site which we are unable to verify. We do know there are some strange things going on with those “reviews” though. Make sure you check out my full Traffic School Online review for more details. NOTE: This online traffic school is only approved for the state of California. No Stress Traffic School is one of the newer online traffic school on my review list. As the name of the school implies, they do everything they can to take all the stress out of your online traffic school experience. From an easy sign-up process to a lowest price guarantee and automatically sending your certification to the courts, you can rest assured this certified school will fulfill all of your court requirements in California. As with most other modern courses, you can log in and out at anytime using any device, so you truly can do this at your own pace and from anywhere. NOTE: This online traffic school is only approved for the states of Texas, Virginia, and Florida. TicketSchool.com caught my attention because I kept seeing it pop up during Google search results when searching for online traffic schools. What’s interesting is even though this course ranks highly in the search results, I can’t quite figure out why. There are no indications this is a higher quality online traffic school than many of the others who don’t show up highly in search results. With numerous “red flags”, I am very suspicious about the quality of this school or their ability to update their technology as we move into a mobile and tablet world (and whatever else comes along). While I was able to verify that this school is legitimate and approved in Texas, Virginia, and Florida, I am not able to fully recommend this school. I go into more detail in my detailed review. Should You Really Take Your Traffic School Online? What Is The Best Comedy Based Online Traffic School? I truly hope you find the above online traffic school reviews to be helpful. Be sure to check out the coupon codes and discount links I also listed above. I was able to contact many of these schools and get special referral codes that will save you some cash. While that wraps up the reviews of traffic schools, below I included a bit more information I thought you might be interested in. It’s pretty simple, really. First, I research the company who runs the online driving school. I make sure they are a real company and are legitimate. If the company isn’t legit, I don’t even take the course. Anytime I enter personal information, I only go with secure websites on secure servers with secure companies that are well established. So rest assured, these schools are safe in that aspect. Once I’ve determined the traffic school is legit, I take the course for myself. Yeah, it’s boring. But I’m happy to sacrifice my time and sanity for my fellow speeders and for the success of this website (I’m addicted to building websites – it’s fun!). After I complete the course, I write up my review. That’s it! I mean really, besides taking the course for you, there isn’t much more I can do to help, is there? If for whatever reason you don’t want to go with one of these driving courses, just be careful. Many online defensive driving schools are run by 3rd parties. In other words, you sign up for a course through one site, and they simply resell you a course from another site. Since they are acting as a “middle man” there is probably something in it for them. So before you fill in your personal information and sign up for the course, be 100% sure you are signing up for a driving school and not for some third party. Anymore Online Traffic School Reviews? I’ll try to get this updated, but I haven’t found any other online traffic school courses worth mentioning in a long time. Seriously, those are the best online driving schools out there. Don’t even bother with any other ones. Just stick with one of the above 4 and you’ll be good. I do, however, have some online driving school reviews listed by state. It’ll mostly be repeated information, but check it out if you’re interested. How Long Will Online Traffic School Take To Complete? This depends entirely on your state. Check out my online traffic school reviews by state for more detailed info. In some states, there are programs you can take with no course timers, and that’s awesome. What’s a course timer, you might ask? Each page of your online traffic school must be timed in most states. For example, if your state normally requires a classroom traffic school to last 6 hours, the online driving course alternative must take you 6 hours as well. To ensure it takes that amount of time, there are timers in the course to prevent you from skipping ahead and finishing the entire thing in 10 minutes. Sorry, no way around this one. Although sitting in front of the television while simultaneously “taking the course” seems to act as a nice remedy (you didn’t hear that from me). What Happens When I’m Finished Taking My Online Traffic School? Once again, this depends on the state you’re from. In some states, such as California, it is up to the traffic school themselves to electronically send your completion certificate directly to the courts for you. However, in other states such as Texas, you will need to receive a paper copy of your certificate in the mail, then personally deliver that to the court or, in some cases, mail it into the court yourself. Most online traffic schools require up to 7 days for “processing time” before your completion certificate is shipped. Then, they use the slowest mailing method possible with delivery times estimated at 7 to 10 days. In order to receive your certificate quicker, you have to pay ridiculous expedited processing fees. Do not procrastinate taking your online traffic school! If you do, you’ll pay for it in the way of overpriced shipping and handling fees. Just get it done. Question / Answer Format: At the beginning of the course, you may be asked several personal questions that only you should know (do you have a mortgage, what are the 3rd and 4th numbers of your social security number, what is your mothers maiden name, what year was your father born, etc.). Once you have answered these questions, you will be asked throughout the course randomly to answer those questions again. If you get too many wrong or don’t answer within the amount of time allowed, you get locked out of the course. In addition, they may ask you new questions throughout the course that only you should know the answer to. You are allowed to get some of these wrong, but get too many wrong and you are locked out. Voice Authentication: You may be required to authenticate your voice. This is usually done through the telephone. Basically, they call your phone number to get a “baseline” recording of your voice. After that, they will call you randomly throughout the course and ask you to give a secret code that is currently shown on the screen. If you do not get the code right or it is not your voice being used, you may get locked out of the course. Some courses require a microphone to be used and plugged in / active while taking the course. Webcam: In some cases, a court will require you to have webcam capabilities. The webcam will need to be on and active throughout the course and/or the cam will take pictures at random times. If you are not clearly visible and identifiable, you may be locked out of the course. Note that this is a rare form of authentication and voice authentication is much more widely used. What happens if you get “locked out” of a course? Normally, it’s a simple phone call to customer service. This is part of the reason why 24/7/365 customer support is necessary with online traffic schools. Most of the time when people get locked out of a course, it is due to a simple error and not due to any attempts at cheating. Keep in mind, if you do get caught cheating or having somebody else take your online traffic school for you, it is a criminal offense. Granted, I’ve never heard of anyone actually getting fined or going to jail over this, but it’s probably best to simply complete the course yourself and not risk it. This is just traffic school, not a prison sentence! Along the lines of state requirements, online traffic schools can only keep your account in “active” status for a certain period of time. Usually this is 3 to 9 months, depending on the state. If you have not completed the course in this timeframe, you will get locked out of your account. In order to re-activate, most online traffic schools we reviewed charged a fee to re-activate. Don’t sign up until you are ready to take and complete the course. Well, I hope you found these online traffic school reviews helpful and I hope this is the last time you ever have to take an online traffic school! But hey, at least you don’t have to waste your time sitting in a stuffy classroom with a bunch of other traffic law criminals (hey, technically you’re a criminal!). Online traffic school isn’t so bad in comparison. So take one last look through all of the online traffic school reviews listed above, feel free to use our coupon codes and discount links, and get it done! It’ll all be over soon!

2019-04-24T10:25:42Z

https://www.drive-safely.net/online-traffic-school-reviews/

Let me congratulate on you on taking charge of the ministries of finance, corporate affairs and defence. I submit that as finance minister you are inheriting the legacy of Shri James Wilson, a fee trade activist who became British India's first finance minister (called finance member then) who introduced Income Tax in India in 1860 to overcome the losses on account of the ‘Military Mutiny’ of 1857 by Indian revolutionary soldiers and after British Government realized that it cannot govern India indirectly through the fiction of the East India Company. I wish to draw your attention towards your article “My Call Detail Records and A Citizen’s Right to Privacy” as the Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha which was published in Urdu, Gujarati, Hindi and English. Your reading about the adverse implications of the disease called biometric identification syndrome spread by automatic identification and intelligence companies through likes of Shri Nandan Nilekani is quite accurate. I submit that your comprehension is in sync with former intelligence contractor, Shri Edward Snowden’s disclosures. General Keith Alexander, as director of USA’s National Security Agency (NSA) had instructed information gathering saying, "sniff it all, know it all, collect it all, process it all and exploit it all”. This came to light when Russia Today made available some crucial pieces of information which was edited out NBC News broadcasted interview of Shri Snowden on the night of May 28, 2014. Shri Snowden observed, “The problem with mass surveillance is that we’re piling more hay on a haystack we already don’t understand.” This is what has been attempted by Shri Nilekani and people like Shri Sam Pitroda through Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations (PIII) who headed it in the rank of a cabinet minister. It must be noted that by Notification No. A-43011/02/2009-Adm.1 (Vol II) dated 02.07.2009 appointment of Shri Nilekani as Chairperson of UIDAI in the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister was approved for an initial tenure 5 years. On March 5, 2014, Lok Sabha election dates were announced. On 09.03.2014, Shri Nilekani officially joined Indian National Congress without resigning from the post of Chairman, UIDAI. He wrote a letter to the Prime Minister relinquishing the post of Chairman, UIDAI vide ref.no. Chairman / 34/2013-UIDAI on 13.03.2014 but his resignation as accepted on 18.03.2014 by the ‘competent authority’ in Planning Commission, Government of India vide Notification no. F.6 /2009-Adm.I, with retrospective effect from March 13, 2014. I submit that Shri Nilekani has been caught red handed in violation of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1964. Under Rule 5 of the Rules regarding “Taking part in politics and elections” reads: “No Government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or activity.” While implicitly and informally Shri Nilekani functioned as a member of the Indian National Congress from July 2, 2009 but between March 9, 2014 and March 18, 2014, he functioned totally illegally and illegitimately by throwing all norms to the dustbin with impunity so far. I wish to submit how biometric aadhhar is linked to Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). It may be noted that the sovereign function of the tax administration is being transferred to Goods and Services Tax Network, a private body. This approach appears to have no parallel anywhere in the world. I submit that a New Indian Express story ‘Aadhar cut down to size, data mining projects raise concerns’ (Sept 29, 2013) underlined how NIUs like GSTN are linked to biometric UID/aadhaar number. Supreme Court’s verdict on the legitimacy, legality and constitutionality of this identifier is likely to impact NIUs as well. I submit that no taxation without political representation was the battle cry of the American Revolution. The issue is how GST can be imposed when there is no political representation in the GSTN. Chief Ministers of all non-Congress States and all the non-Congress parties be vigilant against the subversion of hard earned rights of true political representation in matters of taxation. Amidst opposition from Chief Ministers and officials from the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), GSTN is meant for controlling all new indirect tax data from the Centre and states. It is noteworthy that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr J Jayalalithaa had sent a letter dated August 18, 2011 to non-Congress Chief Ministers urging them to stridently oppose the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST). She argued that it would affect the fiscal autonomy of States. In the light of the proposal for GSTN, Dr Jayalalithaa’s opposition has been proven right because as per the plan, entire individual data—direct and indirect taxes—including registration, return and payment by taxpayers will be in custody of a NIU. It is a case of handing over of public data to a private entity. It is akin to day light robbery. I submit that your predecessors have at the Finance Ministry have compelled the CBEC and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to sign MoU for the sharing of data. This is to ensure that GSTN will be able to access and process the entire tax data-both direct and indirect taxes. It has asked the CBEC to hand over the processing of data for tax surveillance to GSTN. This has been done without any security or privacy safeguards. I submit that such initiatives will lead to handing over the control over indirect and direct tax data to GSTN for tax profiling and surveillance without any legislation passed by Parliament, the personal sensitive information like biometric data is being handed over to UIDAI and its partner companies like Accenture from USA and Safran from France. This undermines citizens’ sovereignty, states’ autonomy and national security for good. I submit that in April 2013, a number of news reports announced that the Government has ‘decided to set up a special purpose vehicle to provide information technology support to various stakeholders under the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST)’. The Goods and Services Tax is a value-added tax that is expected to replace all indirect taxes on goods and services imposed by the Centre and Indian states. The special purpose vehicle has been named the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), is seen as an important step in ushering in a little understood but much touted reform, because it will make it possible to bring together taxation data from the Centre and states that was so far processed separately. The GSTN is already in place as a private limited company despite strong opposition by senior officials of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), and Shri Naveen Kumar, former chief secretary of Bihar, has been appointed chairman. This body will control all new indirect tax data from the Centre and states and will have access to past data as well. The charges it will impose for processing this data will be the revenue that sustains its operations. I submit that since the Finance Ministry headed by your predecessors directed the CBEC and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to sign MoU for the sharing of data, Goods and Services Tax Network will be able to access and process the entire tax data of the country, both of direct and indirect taxes. Obviously, this should have been a matter for far more public debate than it has evoked, but the actual process of setting up Goods and Services Tax Network is far more alarming than this broad outline. Since it will have to be in place before the Goods and Services Tax is rolled out, the Finance Ministry has asked the CBEC to hand over the processing of data for tax surveillance to Goods and Services Tax Network, which would ensure it a revenue stream as soon as it takes over these functions. As a result, Goods and Services Tax Network body will be the sole information hub for linking and processing all of India’s tax data, something that has never been attempted by the Government, leave alone a private entity. This is being done in the absence of any security or privacy provisions in place. I submit that in January 2011, the Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP) headed by Shri Nilekani recommended the setting up of five infotech intensive financial projects—for the Income Tax Department, National Pension Scheme, Reserve Bank of India, and for tracking government expenditure and Goods and Services Tax Network for the Goods and Services Tax. A similar structure for each of the five was proposed, a not-for-profit Section 25 company, with a self-sustaining revenue model, where the Government’s holding would be restricted to 49 per cent and private institutional holding set at 51 per cent. Having gone through relevant documents, I submit that the not-for-profit structure of GSTN means that before the company can sustain itself by levying user fees, it needs funds to hire the staff. Private investors—Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, LIC Housing Finance Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd and NSE Strategic Investment Corp Ltd—have no incentive to provide the necessary money. Therefore, GSTN has been set up on equity of just Rs 10 crore and the Government has provided it a one-time grant of Rs 315 crore. In effect, the government has funded a start-up that it does not even have majority control of. I submit that despite the issue of money required, since GSTN is already in place as a self-sustaining body, it needs sources of revenue other than those that would be eventually generated from receiving and processing Goods and Services Tax data. This is unfolding as a result of the recommendations of the Empowered Group on IT Infrastructure for Goods and Services Tax headed by Shri Nilekani. I submit that in November 2011, when the CBEC was brought fully into the picture, Ms Sheila Sangwan, then Member had summarised the problems with the Empowered Group’s proposals: ‘…a meeting was held wherein ‘There was unanimity amongst the officers present that the sovereign function to be performed by the tax administration should be kept out of the purview of the GST’ and GSTN, a private body. Ms Sangwan had pointed out that much the same could be done through a government-controlled body that would outsource computing requirements but would not lose control over the data. This has the advantage of retaining the security and privacy safeguards and legal controls that already exist for such data. I submit that these apprehensions of senior officers of the CBEC have been set aside. In fact security at GSTN due to private control is worrisome. It is clear that tax profiling and surveillance has been handed over to GSTN without any legal mandate, the way biometric aadhaar unfolded. I submit that this signals movement towards a regime where the country’s entire tax data will be accessible through a body which will be in no position to guarantee security standards. I submit that likes of Shri Nilekani have been allowed to distort language and commit linguistic corruption to take away the sovereign function of tax collection from the Government and hand it over to National Information Utilities (NIUs) which is purported to be a private company with public purpose and which has profit making as motive but not profit maximizing. I submit that in his book which was first published in 2008, Shri Nilekani is deeply worried because “zeroing in on a definite identity for each citizen particularly difficult, since each government department works as a different turf and with different groups of people.” He argues that “Our databases are in these disconnected silos” and states that “NIUs would be databases that amass information…” which will connect all these “disconnected silos”. I submit that in this unprecedented move country’s most sensitive financial data -entire tax data of Indians has been turned over to a private firm, set up as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) named GSTN, an IT company on the recommendations of Shri Nilekani headed panel. GSTN is supposed to provide information technology support under the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST). There is no provision for data security in it. As you are aware GST is a value-added tax which is expected to replace all indirect taxes on goods and services imposed by the Centre and Indian states. GST will replace the State VAT, Central Excise, Service Tax and a few other indirect taxes will be a broad-based, single, comprehensive tax levied on goods and services. It will be levied at every stage of the production-distribution chain by giving the benefit of Input Tax Credit (ITC) of the tax remitted at previous stages. GST is based on a destination-based taxation system, where tax is levied on final consumption. It is expected to broaden the tax base, foster a common market across the country, reduce compliance costs, and promote exports. The GST will be a dual tax with levy by both Central and State tax administrations on the same base. The GST demands a well-designed and robust IT system for realizing its potential in reforming indirect taxation in India. The IT system for GST would be a unique project, which will integrate the Central and State tax administration. I submit that while presenting the Union Budget in 2011-12, the then Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee informed the Lok Sabha that Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP) headed by Shri Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which submitted its report dated January 31, 2011 and its recommendations have been accepted in principle. Other members of the TAG UP included Shri C. B. Bhave Chairman, SEBIR, Shri Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Shri Dhirendra Swarup, Former Chairman, PFRDAS, Shri S. Khan Former Member, CBDTP. Shri R. V. Ramanan Former Member, CBEC and Dr. Nachiket Mor Chairman, IFMR Trust. I wish to reiterate that NIU is manifestly an exercise in linguistic corruption with the aim of ‘building a coalition for change’. The TAG UP report reveals, “GSTN is an NIU that is being set up to serve multiple levels of Governments (Central and State) in GST”. It also states that “The IT Strategy for GST was defined and accepted within Government even before the NIU was selected.” It is noteworthy that IT Strategy for GST was also defined by Shri Nilekani. I submit that in November 2011, Ms Sheila Sangwan, Member (Budget and Computerisation), had summarised the problems with the GSTN related proposals: ‘…a meeting was held on 14/15 November 2011 in the Chairman’s office (Shri S K Goel) to discuss the structure and functions of the proposed GSTN… Dr Nandan Nilekani has mentioned as minuted that there is need to go in for the SPV even without GST being introduced. ..There was unanimity amongst the officers present that the sovereign function to be performed by the tax administration should be kept out of the purview of the GST.’ It was noted that ‘Across the tax administration in the world, the privacy of taxpayer data is accorded utmost priority and it is the practice to house this data in Government hands…’ So far Chairman of CBEC has not addressed the essential question of who would be the repository of the data. The question is why is CBEC made to hurry to comply with the whims and fancies of Shri Nilekani and his coalition partners given the fact that Nilekani has never taken oath of office and secrecy? I submit that Shri Naveen Kumar, the head of GSTN when was asked about control of the data said, “We will start from scratch with our own servers and beginning with a list of dealers we will start building a database of transactions on our system. For this, we do not need additional data from the Customs or any other department.” It is quite evident that servers of GSTN, a private company will be stored in a Grid of sort. I submit that as Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee announced that India has “voluntarily sought a full-fledged Financial Sector Assessment Programme” from International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in January, 2011. This is similar to the voluntariness displayed in the drafting of Sixth Plan (1980-1985) after secret negotiations with the Bank. I wish to draw your attention towards a chapter ‘Extended and Specialized Lending,’ in Silent Revolution The International Monetary Fund 1979–1989 by James M. Boughton published by IMF in October 2001, it is revealed that Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi “gave the go-ahead to enter into secret negotiations” with IMF, following which on November 25, 1980, Shri R.N. Malhotra, Secretary, Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance “visited the Managing Director at the Fund to signal his country’s interest in obtaining a credit arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) that offered the option of longer-term credits. The first negotiating mission went to New Delhi in January 1981, led by Tun Thin, Director of the Asian Department. The then Finance Minister, Shri R. Venkataraman, met with IMF’s Managing Director in Washington and subsequently signed and submitted the Letter of Intent on September 28, 1981. Following the IMF’s approval for EFF, Indian National Congress led government faced massive criticism for subjecting itself to IMF’s conditionality. I submit that in an exercise of sophistry, this Congress led government argued that “the EFF arrangement did not impose conditionality at all, because it was fully consistent with the policies that were already incorporated in the Sixth Five-Year Plan” and after having internalized the conditionality imposed by IMF, Mrs Indira Gandhi informed the Parliament that “the arrangement does not force us to borrow, nor shall we borrow unless it is for the national interest. There is absolutely no question of our accepting any programme which is incompatible with our policy, declared and accepted by Parliament. It is inconceivable that anybody should think that we would accept assistance from any external agency which dictates terms which are not in consonance with such policies.” This IMF publication unequivocally establishes that Mrs Indira Gandhi lied to the Parliament and misled the nation. I submit that GSTN is being created with an ulterior motive to bring it under the financial sector surveillance program of the IMF, World Bank Group in continuation of the policies pursued since the days of Mrs Indira Gandhi. These policies have made India servile to the dictates of the Bank. GSTN helps the World Bank Group to make deeper inroads and erode the financial sovereignty of the country in complicity with the ministers of the Congress party. The new government must reverse this trend in national interest. I submit that Foreign Policy magazine of the Washington Post Company listed Shri Nilekani, apparently a protégé of Shri Mukherjee as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2010. This was prior to disclosures about invasion of privacy by intelligence agencies of USA and UK by monitoring emails, web searches, and telephone records. And the disclosures by Wikileaks about the keen interest of US administration in the aadhaar project. It appears that Shri Nilekani undertook their task by collating biometric data of India. It is admitted his well wishers like the President of World Bank have volunteered his services to other developing countries as well. This was done in April 2013 at World Bank in Washington. I submit that in October 2012, in an interview with McKinsey & Company, Shri Nilekani said, “Our goal, our vision, is by 2014 to have at least half a billion people on the system, which will make it one of the world’s largest online ID infrastructures. So that’s one metric of success. The second is we’d like to see two or three major applications that use this ID infrastructure. One of them is electronic benefit transfer, where governments will pay pensions, scholarships, or whatever entitlements by cash. And the third is [that] the mobile industry will use [the ID infrastructure] for verification”. He added, “In the US, to me, the two big examples are the Internet, which was originally conceived as a defense project, and GPS. Again, it was a defense project. Both these things, though they began as [part of] a government defense infrastructure, today are the basis for huge innovation.” Shri Nilekani was/is aware that the substratum of the “world’s largest online ID infrastructures” is Internet which is in total control of US Government and US companies. b) Copy of contract of UIDAI with M/s Accenture for Biometric Technology" After examining these documents I wrote to UIDAI submitting that with regard to the M/s Accenture for Biometric Technology, I noticed that the first 237 pages appear to be in order but after that there is a one pager titled Annexure J Technical Bid Technical Bid as submitted by M/s Accenture Services Pvt Ltd. The Technical Bid document is missing. After that there is a one pager titled Annexure K Commercial Bid as submitted by M/s Accenture Services Pvt Ltd. The Commercial Bid document is missing. Company Private Limited. The Commercial Bid document is missing. These very pages were missing from the contract agreement of Ernst and Young as well. Also its pagination was not in order. I also wrote to CIC responding to their letter dated September 10, 2013 stating that their reasoning for sharing the document due to "contractual obligation in respect of BSP (Biometric Solution Provider) contracts" having expired is flawed in the light of the previous judgment of Central Information Commission (CIC). Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Public Information Officer (PIO) cannot deny information citing commercial confidence for agreements between a public authority and private party. While giving this judgment, CIC said “The claim of 'commercial confidence' in denying access to agreements between private parties and the masters of the public authorities—citizens—runs counter to the principles of the Right to Information. “Any agreement entered into by the government is an agreement deemed to have been entered into on behalf of and in the interest of ‘We the people’. Hence if any citizen wants to know the contents of such an agreement he is in the position of a principal asking his agent to disclose to him the terms of the agreement entered into by the agent on behalf of the principal. No agent can refuse to disclose any such information to his principal,” the CIC said in its order dated 27 July 2009. An appeal for getting the missing pages has been filed by Col. Mathew Thomas and Qaneez Sukhrani who had filed the RTI applications, the former had asked me to appear on his behalf. I submit that there is a need to examine the minutes of the admitted meeting between Mongo DB and UIDAI. It was evident from one of the RTI replies that UIDAI had given tasks to some company with whom it had no contract agreement. Its sounds like the R&D Centre of Bhopal which was operated by Union Carbide Corporation without permission based on "recognition" I urge you to set up an inquiry commission to ascertain whether or not Internet that remains a defense project deeply allied with USA’s National Security Agency (NSA) is structurally linked to biometric aadhaar, National Population Register (NPR), PIII and GSTN. It is not without reason that Shri Nilekani maintained a deafening silence amidst NSA’s surveillance on Indian ministers and officialdom. In such a backdrop, it does not seem strange that PMO under the previous regime has withheld the correspondence it had with Shri Nilekani all through his tenure. The commission must unearth the players who wish to create and function through a fiction of private company with public purpose and profit making as the motive but not profit maximizing called NIU like GSTN. Let me take the opportunity to submit that the Ministry of Defense must order a probe into the circumstances under which Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma who as the Chief of the Naval Staff of Indian Navy, from 31 August 2009 to 31 August 2012 and as Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee got himself biometrically profiled on 18 August 2011 for aadhaar number. It must be examined whether he took the permission of Ministry of Defence before subjecting himself to the ignominy of being biometrically profiled. It is noteworthy that in November 2012, Admiral Verma was appointed as the High Commissioner to Canada. The probe must examine whether or not Admiral Verma’s biometric profile is available with Canada’s Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), which is part of the intelligence sharing alliance comprising of US, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and France. In a seemingly unrelated development, Shri Nilekani was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, Canada on 31 May 2011. I submit that Shri Nilekani was given ID Limelight Award at the global summit on automatic identification ID WORLD International Congress, 2010 in Milan, Italy on November 16, 2010 wherein Safran Morpho (Safran group) was a key sponsor of the ID Congress. Its subsidiary, Sagem Morpho Security Pvt Ltd has been awarded contract for the purchase of Biometric Authentication Devices on 2 February 2011 by the UIDAI. Earlier, on 30 July 2010, in a joint press release, it was announced that “the Mahindra Satyam and Morpho led consortium has been selected as one of the key partners to implement and deliver the Aadhaar program by UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India).” This means that at least two contracts have been awarded to the French conglomerate led consortium. Is it a coincidence that Morpho (Safran group) sponsored the award to chairman, UIDAI and the former got a contract from the latter? It is noteworthy that Shri Tariq Malik, the then Deputy Chairman of Pakistan’s National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) was given the ID Outstanding Achievement Award on November 3, 2009 in Milan at the eighth ID WORLD International Congress. In an interview, Shri Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks informed Imran Khan, a noted politician from Pakistan about the grave act of omission and commission. Shri Assange said, “…we discovered a cable in 2009 from the Islamabad Embassy. Prime minister Gilani and interior minister Malik went into the (US) embassy and offered to share National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) – and NADRA is the national data and registration agency database. The system is currently connected through passport data but the government of Pakistan is adding voice and facial recognition capability and has installed a pilot biometric system as the Chennai border crossing, where 30,000 to 35,000 people cross each day. This NADRA system is the voting record system for all voters in Pakistan. A front company was set up in the United Kingdom – International Identity Services, which was hired as the consultants for NADRA to squirrel out the NADRA data for all of Pakistan. What do you think about that? Is that a…? It seems to me that that is a theft of some national treasure of Pakistan, the entire Pakistani database registry of its people.” The interview is available here. It must be noted that NPR is being prepared by Shri C Chandramouli, census commissioner & registrar general of India, is meant to create resident identity cards is exactly like Pakistan’s version of biometric exercise for citizens’ identity card which was completed by NADRA, ministry of interior, Government of Pakistan and their database has been handed over to US Government. I submit that Dr M Vijayanunni, former Census Commissioner and Registrar General of India underlined had explained reasons for China giving up a similar exercise on Rajya Sabha TV on 2 February 2013. In view of the above, if Shri Nilekani’s initiatives including GSTN are not reversed and he is not held liable and accountable in an exemplary manner for his illegal and illegitimate conduct and creation of questionable institutional entities, it will set a very bad precedent for ever. I will be happy to share documents and references which have been cited above. Thanks to inform us about tax statements and know your pan card detail to take benefit of pan card.

2019-04-19T20:54:01Z

http://www.toxicswatch.org/2014/05/biometric-aadhaar-linked-private-gstn.html

Just over a decade ago, Simaudio introduced their Moon Evolution series: a no-holds-barred line of products representing the pinnacle of what this highly regarded Canadian company has to offer. Within the year, Jeff Fritz had reviewed three Moon Evolution models -- the P8 preamplifier, the Andromeda CD player, and the W8 stereo amplifier -- and awarded each what was then Ultra Audio’s Select Component status (now Reviewers’ Choice). And he kept the P8 as his reference preamp. Shortly thereafter, our founder, Doug Schneider, reviewed the Moon SuperNova CD player, gave it a Reviewers’ Choice award, and made it his disc spinner of choice. Since then, the Moon Evolution line has expanded threefold, into a plethora of highly reviewed integrated amps, phono stages, line stages, DACs, and a supplemental power supply designed to drive any of the aforementioned components apart from the integrated amplifiers and flagship 850P preamplifier. There are also five Moon Evolution power amplifiers: a colossally powerful monoblock, a highly configurable multichannel amp, and three stereo models, the most modest of which, the 760A, is the topic of this review. Out of its packaging, the Moon Evolution 760A ($8000 USD) is a visual playground embodying much of the original Evolution aesthetic, with some subtle differences. Take, for example, its stature: the 760A stands just 4” tall, stretches 18.8” wide, and displaces 18.1” of depth -- it will easily fit on most cabinet shelves or amp stands. Its solid aluminum case is exquisite in its assembly, and is offered in three color schemes: all silver, all black, or black faceplate between silver “cheeks,” as Simaudio calls them. When I lifted the 760A, I was immediately made aware of its density: it weighs a hefty 45 pounds. As in a high-end automobile, there’s been no faking of quality materials: no plastics painted to look like aluminum, no cheap metals finished to imitate expensive ones. If something on the 760A looks expensive, it is. An exploded view of the 760A’s slim Evolution case would reveal that most of the parts comprising the exterior are machined from solid aluminum; this was done in Simaudio’s own five-axis CNC machining center. The top plate, perhaps the sexiest panel on this amplifier, is hewn from a solid slab of aluminum and is chamfered at the edges to give it an elevated appearance. Generously vented toward the rear, toward the front this top plate is adorned with an embedded plaque showcasing an engraved Moon logo and name. Running the length of the 760A’s sides are lateral heatsink fins extruded from solid aircraft-grade aluminum. Much like the top plate, the heatsinks are bead-blasted, anodized, covered with heat-resistant paint, then clear-coated off-site by local suppliers before being sent back to Simaudio for final assembly -- as are the 3/8”-thick faceplate, cheeks, bottom plate, and rear panel. The 760A is a provocative-looking amplifier. Positioned top center on the faceplate is another polished Moon logo, “Moon” printed directly below it. Below that, a single blue LED indicates the status, On or Standby, of the matte-finished pushbutton directly below it. The model name is silkscreened in small letters in the faceplate’s lower left corner. On the bottom plate are four newly designed, conical, screw-in feet of chrome-plated steel; their flat bottoms, thankfully, do away with the spike-and-puck design of yesteryear. As you face the rear panel, at the far left are the RS-232 communication and 12V trigger in/out ports; at far right are a fuse bay, hard On/Off power toggle, and IEC power inlet. The center of the rear panel is home to two pairs of symmetrically placed, gold-plated, high-quality WBT output terminals designed to enable biwiring and accept banana plugs, spades, or bare wire. Between these are single pairs of gold-plated unbalanced inputs (RCA) flanked by balanced inputs (XLR). For a look under the 760A’s hood, I removed its top panel. But to better understand what I was looking at, I enlisted the help of Simaudio’s manager of public relations and marketing, Lionel Goodfield. He began by explaining that the Moon Evolution 760A is a “no overall feedback” design largely based on the amplification section of the Moon Evolution 600i integrated amplifier. A fully balanced differential design from input to output, the 760A has a unique pair of 0.5kVA toroidal transformers. These transformers are said to have a very low regulation factor, which, Simaudio claims, results in minimal voltage drop with increasing current draw. Each transformer supplies enough juice to power four of Simaudio’s proprietary, ideally matched (so they say) bipolar output transistors to produce 130Wpc into 8 ohms, or 260Wpc into 4 ohms, or 500Wpc into 2 ohms. In bridged mode, the 760A can be used as a monoblock to produce a stout 500W of power into 8 ohms. Its power-supply capacitance is said to be 80,000µF. Goodfield mentioned something intriguing: Both the 760A’s transformer design and output transistors are shared by all Moon Evolution amplifiers, including the flagship 880M monoblocks ($48,000/pair). Other than the cases, the only significant changes among all Moon Evolution two-channel amplifiers are the size of the transformers, and the number of output transistors used in each application. This explains why the specifications of total harmonic distortion (THD) of less than 0.015% from 20Hz to 20kHz at 1W and 0.04% at full power remain consistent throughout the line. It also partially explains why the intermodulation distortion of all Moon Evolution amps is claimed to be “unmeasurable.” Other pertinent differences between the 760A and its bigger brothers are that the 760A has a slightly lower signal/noise ratio -- 104 instead of 106dB -- and a slightly higher output impedance of 0.03 ohm, which correlates with its lower damping factor of 267. Goodfield noted that the marginal difference in noise is due to the fact that the 760A’s case is roughly half the size of the larger models’, which means that its component parts are packed much more closely together. Designed to be left powered up at all times, the 760A’s circuitry is fully symmetrical, and uses four-layer printed circuit boards with heavy tracings of pure copper and short signal paths, to minimize noise in the signal path. The signal path itself is capacitor free, which is said to aid transient response. The 760A is designed to provide pure class-A power for the first 5W of output, then switch to class-A/B as power demands increase. To help protect against such problems as a fault or overheating, Simaudio has included a self-diagnosis system to detect the presence of any DC in the input signal and, when it does, to shut the amplifier down. Throughout this review, and despite the 760A’s protective circuitry, I made sure to turn everything off when swapping it with my Classé Audio CAM-300 monoblocks. I have my two-channel system integrated into a home-theater system using the bypass feature of my Moon Evolution P8 preamplifier, and accordingly segregated from my Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player, Simaudio MiND streamer, and Calyx Femto DAC, each connected via the latest Analysis Plus Silver Oval interconnects. The same balanced cables feed all amplifiers, and my Rockport Technologies Atria speakers are connected using Kimber Kable Select 6063 speaker cables. All electronics are fed power via Cardas Clear Beyond power cables by a Torus AVR20 power conditioner hooked up to a dedicated 20A line. When all of this was set up, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn’t have to rerun Audyssey’s room-optimization software through my Marantz AV8801 preamplifier-processor to correct for the negligible difference in output when watching movies. Listening to the Moon Evolution 760A straight out of its box, I thought it sounded a bit sterile -- but I knew that my review sample was brand new, and had not been broken in at all. So I set the Moon Evolution P8’s volume at a moderate level and let rip the Simaudio MiND streamer on continuous playback for about a week before sitting down to hear what the 760A had to offer. First observation: The 760A was just lukewarm to the touch. With roughly 175 hours of continuous play under its belt, any signs of sterility were things of the past. What remained was an amplifier that had matured into a refined little powerhouse -- it reminded me of stories my father used to tell about his adventures in the muscle-car era. He’d owned several iterations of highly underrated Detroit muscle himself, and the usual topics of these tales were his victories in quarter-mile races. It was the way he described the looks of astonishment on his opponents’ faces that tied these stories to the Simaudio -- their bewilderment was akin to what I felt as I listened to the audible results of the muscle under the 760A’s hood. Out of the gate, the Simaudio had me locked in my chair. The extent of the 760A’s resolve, in combination with its ability to extend the boundaries of my room farther than ever before, was jaw dropping, and exceeded that of even my reference Classé CAM-300s ($11,000/pair). With all genres of music, soundstaging was consistently massive yet clean, neutral, and full of tonal shadings. Instruments, images, and nuances were delineated with mesmerizing levels of clarity and focus. These observations were driven home by the live recording of “Hotel California” on the Eagles’ Hell Freezes Over (16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC, Geffen) -- I was able to appreciate the nuances of each instrument more easily than I’m accustomed to. Plucks of each string of Glenn Frey’s acoustic guitar were conveyed with truthful singularity, possessing precise leading-edge definition without sounding analytical. Even more alluring was the tightrope the 760A consistently walked between offering snappy transients and focused images while retaining the natural golden hue of the acoustic’s strings. As the intro went on, the 760A continued to excel at resolving minutiae I typically have to be careful to listen for. Slidings of Frey’s pick, for example, sounded marginally larger and sharper. The beads in the maracas had more presence, which allowed me to differentiate them within their gourds that much more easily. When Don Henley’s kick drum entered, I was so elated with the sheer levels of slam, density, and control with which the 760A delineated each kick of skin that I had to temporarily halt my listening session to swap in my Classé CAM-300s for a quick baseline reminder. Side by side, the sounds of the two -- er, three -- amps were almost indistinguishable. Impressive, considering that the Classés are collectively almost three times the size, weight, and power output of the Simaudio, not to mention $3000 dearer. There were subtle differences, though; the 760A’s slightly warmer, fuller sound consistently translated into images and voices drawn with greater depths of tonal color and naturalness. The Simaudio also painted images with a hint more grandeur, giving me somewhat of a front-row vantage on the sound, as opposed to the Classés’ slightly recessed and drier character. Henley’s kick drum proved a perfect example of this -- through the Simaudio, it sounded larger and more organic, while the Classés struggled to balance their punchy authority with the same level of scale. Supplementing Henley’s kick drum was Randy Meisner’s bass, which, again, was now easier to hear due to the Simaudio’s slightly fuller, rounder bottom end. This isn’t to say that the 760A lacked control, or sounded bloated or tubby in any way -- just the opposite. The fine balance between suppleness, control, and detail enunciated by the Simaudio allowed Meisner’s bass to sound more alive, organic, and, ultimately, more enjoyable. The 760A also did a remarkable job of defining the listening space. Not only could I hear images being formed beyond the confines of my side and front walls, I could hear people clapping beside me as I sat in my listening position. In fact, no matter what genre I listened to -- rock, jazz, pop, or electronic -- the 760A consistently excelled at projecting music into my room. This not only created the impression of a vaster soundstage, it provided an addictive sense of realism for each instrument and voice on stage. I found this particularly advantageous when listening to live recordings, or music in which the ability to hear the recording environment was clearly the engineer’s intent. Changing gears and digging deeper into the individual constituents of a few tracks proved a revealing and thought-provoking exercise. I began with “What a Shame,” from Patricia Barber’s Café Blue (24/88.2 FLAC, Premonition) -- a very well-recorded track with numerous instrumental nuances to focus on. This time, I focused predominantly on the thrashing of the brass during the instrumental break, as the dynamics can prove challenging for some amplifiers to convey convincingly. The 760A handled this passage with aplomb. Cymbals leapt out of the Atrias with impressive transient speed, impact, shimmer, and precision, sounding highly dynamic yet distinctly refined and finessed. While the Classés exhibited even greater levels of dynamic panache and equal levels of decay, they couldn’t quite match the Simaudio’s naturalness in depicting each cymbal in space. This balance of spatial prowess, tonal accuracy, and lack of pretension was quickly proving to be a dependable trademark of the 760A. I liked it. Later, while listening to Diana Krall’s cover of Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” from her latest, Wallflower (CD, Verve B0020989-02), I bore witness to a seductively realistic and transparent portrayal of her voice. The track begins with a brief, melodic piano solo that saturated my room, ostensibly erasing my speakers from existence. As the sound of Krall’s piano seamlessly integrated with that of an articulately plucked acoustic guitar, her voice emerged center stage with remarkable image specificity and textural detail. Other amplifiers, including the Classés, have communicated similar levels of transparency and microlevel detail, but few, if any, have been able to so convincingly balance the rasp, breath, and depth of Krall’s voice. This sensitivity to voices was also present when I listened to “I Only Want to Be with You,” from Shelby Lynne’s Just a Little Lovin’ (16/44.1 FLAC, Lost Highway). Lynne’s voice can have a somewhat dense or even faintly buried character through less-resolving amplifiers, masking the much-needed microlevel details required to preserve a sense of liveliness. The inherent transparency of the 760A allowed these details to be heard with ease, and in doing so laid bare the velvetiness of her voice. The nearly inaudible noise floor out of which emerged Lynne’s subtle tonal fluctuations and dynamic variations of vocal intensity allowed me to hear deeper into this recording as well. It was here that I began to understand why, the more I listened to music through the 760A, the more endearing I found it. Many amplifiers, good or bad, can be somewhat predictable in their sound, their consistent sonic characters enabling one to expect or predict what specific musical facets might sound like based on how others have been presented. For example, if an amplifier can convincingly communicate deep, powerful bass, one might also expect that amplifier to be able to easily handle dynamic swings. Likewise, if an amplifier sounds particularly transparent in the midrange, even bright, one might expect this quality to aid it in resolving microlevel details. The 760A proved the antithesis of this analogy, throwing me curveballs every chance it got. For starters, I never would have guessed that the 760A would be able to tango as well as it did with a pair of monoblocks almost three times its size and might. The balance of transparency and liquidity exuded by the Simaudio could also easily fool one into thinking one was listening to a high-quality tube amplifier, if it weren’t for the silence of the noise floor reminding one that this is, in fact, a solid-state design. But none of this compares to how this diminutive amplifier could, with commanding authority, project into space three-dimensional images of a scale appropriate to the recording. I tried to get the 760A to clip as it drove my Rockport Atrias (sensitivity: 87dB) to levels I’m sure designer Andy Payor never thought probable, but I failed. Dismally. Instead, I heard from the system a highly controlled yet refined portrayal of whatever I had the guts to throw at it. The 760A deserves respect. During my time with Simaudio’s Moon Evolution 760A, I was reminded of what an exceptionally well-engineered and -constructed amplifier can provide, aesthetically and sonically. The finesse with which the 760A consistently balanced power, transparency, dynamics, tonal colors, and dimensionality, all against near-silent backgrounds, was spellbinding. It may strike some as being a tad pricey, considering its modest size and power rating, but its sound, flexibility, and ten-year warranty put this amplifier in an elite crowd of products that can serve as benchmarks for what the rest of the industry offers. Heck, even if you’re not in the market for a new reference amplifier, go hear firsthand what the 760A has to offer -- it’s the best-sounding standalone power amplifier I’ve heard for anywhere near its price of $8000. Recommending it is a no-brainer.

2019-04-26T01:07:18Z

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What risks do women face when seeking advice during pregnancy from pharmacies and natural health retailers? Natural health products are popular among pregnant women in Australasia,1,2 yet potential risks of exposure to teratogenic herbs, vitamins and other substances raise concerns regarding the present lack of effective regulation of the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) industry in New Zealand. Natural health (or CAM) products, including herb, mineral and vitamin supplements, are marketed for pregnancy on the basis of health promotion as well as to remedy pregnancy-associated ailments such as nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP). The key issue that this study sought to investigate was the risks which a woman may face when seeking advice regarding NVP, and vitamin supplementation during pregnancy from pharmacies and health food stores (HFS) in Greater Wellington. A search of The Yellow Pages telephone directory in February 2010 identified 26 Health Food Stores (HFS) in the Greater Wellington region. Of these, 5 were excluded: 3 were no longer in operation, 1 was a residential property, and 1 specialised in sports supplements. Twenty-one HFS and 21 geographically-matched pharmacies (on the basis of closest location to the HFS) were visited by the same researcher between the months of February to July 2010. With each visit, the researcher commenced a conversation with a retail assistant by saying she was 6–8 weeks pregnant, having problems with morning sickness, and enquiring about any herbal products which the retail assistant could recommend to help reduce nausea. The researcher would then ask what the retail assistant could recommend with regards to vitamin supplementation. Finally she asked which vitamins were important during pregnancy and if there were any to avoid. If questioned by the retail assistant, the researcher would reply, as appropriate, saying she was: 30 years old, married, excited about her first pregnancy, currently working in a clerical office job, and otherwise fit and healthy with no previous medical history. During each interaction, the researcher would take note of the products recommended and their prices, and upon leaving immediately complete a standardised data collection form to document the advice received. The ingredients of each recommended product were later confirmed by searching for the product on the Internet. The NZ MOH Food and Nutrition Guidelines of Healthy Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women (revised 2008) was the standard against which all advice was compared. For ingredients not noted therein, a database search using Medline was performed for evidence of safety during the first trimester of pregnancy. Safe—Product contains ingredients which are not absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy or their daily dose does not exceed the upper limit recommended by NZ MOH guidelines, or, if the ingredient is unknown, there is no evidence that it may be unsafe by Medline search of the literature. Unsafe—Product contains ingredients which are absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy or the daily dose exceeds the upper limit recommended by NZ MOH guidelines, or, if the ingredient is unknown, there is evidence that it may be unsafe by Medline search of the literature. Correct—Dose advised corresponds with NZ MOH guidelines for supplementation with 800 mcg/day in low-risk pregnancy. Incorrect—Folic acid not recommended or dose advised was less than 800 mcg/day. Advice regarding vitamin supplementation in early pregnancy – Vitamin A overdose risk. Safe—Advice given did not pose risk of vitamin A overdose. This includes recommendation of a multivitamin product marketed for pregnancy which did not contain doses of vitamin A exceeding 3000mcg/day of retinol, even without demonstrating explicit vitamin A overdose awareness. Unsafe—Advised that there is no limit to vitamin dosing during pregnancy or recommended a product containing >3000 mcg/day of retinol or advised to take any generic multivitamin. A statistically significant McNemar's test means the marginal proportions of the contingency table are different. In the analysis McNemar’s test is based on an exact test whereas the confidence interval is based on asymptotic (large sample) assumptions. Where more than one product was recommended for nausea, the primary recommended products were compared in one analysis, and then the secondarily recommended products compared separately. The number of matched pharmacies/HFS was based on an earlier study comparing the advice from HFS assistants with that of pharmacy assistants given to an individual presenting with symptoms suggestive of moderate to severe asthma who should be referred to a medical practitioner18 Based on this, it was calculated that the study would need to have 19 store/pharmacy pairs to have 80% power to detect the difference. The study was approved by the Central Regional Ethics Committee. Data was collected from 21 HFS and 21 geographically-matched pharmacies in the Greater Wellington region. The investigator was advised by retail assistants in all the HFS, with 6/21 (28.6%) HFS advising further discussion with a naturopath (n=2) or GP (n=4). In 7/21 pharmacies, advice was indirectly (n=3) or directly (n=4) from the pharmacist. 9/21 (42.9%) of pharmacies referred the researcher to a GP (n=7) and/or midwife (n=2) during the interaction. Table 1 lists the products recommended for nausea and Table 2 summarises other recommendations made, including multivitamin supplementation. In brackets = Number of HPS and P recommendations for the product. *Also contains herb mixture called cardiodoron 250mg/15 drops = Digestion, equiv. fresh plant juice: Hyoscyamus niger, herb 1mg; onopordon acanthium, flower 25mg; Primula veris, flower 25mg. Nausyn is licensed by Medsafe as a Medicine. Advice given for nausea in the first trimester of pregnancy—5/21 (23.8%) of pharmacies and 1/21 (4.8%) of HFS made primary recommendations for nausea which were supported by the NZ MOH guidelines, with a non significant difference in marginal proportions of 19.1% (95%CI -2.3% to 40.4%), p=0.10. Both pharmacies (14/21, 66.7%) and HFS (7/21, 33.3%), made primary recommendations which were contrary to NZ MOH safety guidance. The difference in marginal proportions was 33.4% (95%CI 5.9% to 60.8%), p= 0.07. With regards to recommendations of second-line products which were contrary to MOH safety guidance, this occurred in 7/21 (33.3%) of pharmacies and 10/21 (47.6%) of HFS with a non significant difference in marginal proportions of -14.3% (95%CI -41.6% to 13.0%), p=0.51. The most common reason for a product being considered unsafe was that it provided >1g ginger ± >50 mg pyridoxine in the maximum daily dose as directed (Table 1). 7/21 (33.3%) of pharmacies and 0/21 (0%) of HFS advised GP consultation if nausea did not settle. Due to two zero cell counts in the paired contingency table, it was not possible to calculate McNemar’s test or a confidence interval for the difference in paired proportions. Advice promoting a balanced diet with folic acid supplementation—1/21 (4.8%) of HFS and 0/21 (0%) of pharmacies correctly advised that a balanced diet, along with folic acid supplementation, was recommended during pregnancy in otherwise healthy young women. However, 0/21 of HFS and 18/21 (85.7%) of pharmacies primarily recommended Elevit by Bayer, a multivitamin product which is licensed by Medsafe. Due to zero cell counts in the paired contingency tables, it was not possible to calculate McNemar’s test or a confidence interval for the difference in these paired proportions. Advice regarding folic acid—The majority of those promoting folic acid supplementation advised that this was for the prevention of neural tube defects (14/20 pharmacies and 13/17 HFS). 20/21 (95.2%) of pharmacies and 10/21 (47.6%) of HFS correctly gave dosing recommendations on the basis of national standards, with a difference in marginal proportions of 47.6% (95%CI 22.5% to 72.7%), p=0.006. 1/21 (4.8%) of pharmacies and 4/21 (19.0%) of HFS did not actively recommend taking folic acid supplementation. Advice regarding Vitamin A overdose risk—2/21 (9.5%) of pharmacies and 4/21 (19.0%) of HFS vitamin recommendations were unsafe due to the potential risk of vitamin A overdose, with a non significant difference in marginal proportions of -9.5%, p=0.69. Both pharmacies and HFS recommended products for nausea in early pregnancy which did not adhere with NZ MOH safety guidance. A minority also provided potentially unsafe advice regarding vitamin supplementation. There were no statistically significant differences between stores in the majority of recommendations made, except pharmacies were more likely than matched HFS to advise correctly regarding folic acid dosing. While this difference is unsurprising taking into consideration that pharmacies promote Medsafe-approved folic acid products which only they can sell, it does demonstrate the positive influence of product approval. This study supports the urgent introduction of regulatory reform of the CAM industry and the businesses which sell these products. This study is the fourth in a series of surveys in New Zealand looking at the appropriateness of advice given by pharmacies and HFS for a range of medical conditions. Previous surveys have all raised concerns regarding the advice provided by HFS when compared with pharmacies.18–20 This is the first scenario to find that the standard of advice was, on the whole, similarly matched between both types of store. In fact there was a trend towards the primary promotion of potentially unsafe products for NVP by pharmacies when compared with matched HFS. This is largely due to the primary promotion of homeopathy by HFS, which although only able to offer a placebo effect at best, is inherently safe. There were several limitations of this study. One of these is the possibility of recall bias although advice was entered into a data collection sheet immediately following the interaction to minimize this. The study was limited by the sample size available to the researchers in the greater Wellington region and although no statistically significant differences were found the confidence intervals for the comparisons were quite wide. While this is the first study in New Zealand examining advice given by CAM retailers for a scenario of pregnancy, the closest comparative is a survey carried out in 2003 in North America.21 In this study, advice was sought from HFS via telephone for the treatment of nausea and migraines in early pregnancy. They found that HFS readily made recommendations, 5% of which were for products contraindicated in pregnancy, and most stores primarily promoted ginger for NVP giving incorrect dosing instructions. Since the 1990s the use of CAM has surged worldwide and the World Health Organization actively recommends the regulation of all complementary and herbal medicine products and practitioners.22 This is particularly so in situations where the practice of complementary medicine brings economic benefit. This is to ensure the quality of the service received and thus to protect the public from potential harm. This study supports the introduction of the Natural Health Products Bill in New Zealand (currently before the Health Committee) which is aimed at improving regulation by making pre-marketing ‘product approval’ mandatory, establishing a database of permitted CAM ingredients, requiring product labeling and licensing of CAM product manufacturers.6 This proposed legislation would ensure that commercially available CAM products complied with national guidelines prior to appearing on the shelves. Furthermore it would help ensure the quality of the ingredients used. Analysis of the contents of the recommended products was outside the scope of this study, but it would have been interesting to assess the accuracy of the listed ingredients. Research has demonstrated a wide variation in the constituents of ginger present in commercially available ginger supplements.23 This not only has implications for the rights of the consumer, but lack of standardisation of the products used in research, as exemplified by the variety of preparations used in ginger studies, may create misleading results. Further monitoring of the therapeutic claims made on product labeling is also appropriate; a number of products not registered as medicines by Medsafe, and therefore not permitted to make therapeutic claims, were found to do so. Unfortunately the proposed bill will not address the issue of setting minimum staff training requirements for the promotion of health food goods. Although only a minority provided unsafe advice regarding vitamin supplementation (e.g. 4.8% of pharmacies and 19.0% of HFS did not recommend folic acid) in the context of a retailer presenting themselves as a source of health advice to the public, any unsafe practice is unacceptable. In conclusion, this study found that both HFS and pharmacy staff made potentially unsafe recommendations for nausea and vitamin supplementation in early pregnancy. Many of the pregnancy promoted products recommended often did not adhere to the safety guidance set out by the NZ MOH. This study supports the call for legislative change and high quality research to guide the practice of health care professionals and retailers who sell natural products which may exert both beneficial and harmful effects. There are potential risks to mothers and their unborn babies with the incorrect use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) products during pregnancy. 21 Health Food Stores (HFS) and 21 geographically matched pharmacies were visited by a researcher who sought advice regarding vitamin supplementation and nausea in early pregnancy. A minority of pharmacies and HFS made primary recommendations for nausea which were supported by Ministry of Health guidelines, and both pharmacies and HFS recommended products contrary to these guidelines. Pharmacies were more likely to give advice consistent with MOH recommendations for folic acid. Regulatory reform of CAM products and those who sell them is called for in NZ. Potential risks to mother and foetus exist with the incorrect use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) products during pregnancy. This study aimed to identify the risks that a woman may face when seeking advice during pregnancy from pharmacies and health food stores (HFS) in Greater Wellington (New Zealand). 21 HFS and 21 geographically-matched pharmacies were visited by a researcher who sought advice regarding vitamin supplementation and nausea in early pregnancy using a standardised scenario. Any advice given, including details of recommended products, was documented immediately upon leaving the premises. Proportions were obtained and paired contingency table analysis was used to examine the agreement between the matched pairs. A minority of pharmacies (5/21, 23.8%) and HFS (1/21, 4.8%) made primary recommendations for nausea which were supported by Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines, and both pharmacies (14/21, 66.7%) and HFS (7/21, 33.3%) recommended products contrary to these guidelines. A greater proportion of pharmacies gave advice consistent with MOH recommended dosage of folic acid supplementation than HFS (20/21, 95.2% vs 10/21, 47.6%). 2/21 (9.5%) of pharmacies and 4/21 (19%) of HFS gave advice with a potential risk of vitamin A overdose. Pharmacies and HFS in Greater Wellington provided potentially hazardous advice, recommending products, often branded for pregnancy, which contradicted NZ MOH guidelines. Regulatory reform of CAM products and those who sell them is called for in New Zealand. Allen T, Thomson WM, Emmerton LM, Poulton R. Nutritional supplement use among 26-year-olds. N Z Med J 2000;113:274-7. Maats FH, Crowther CA. Patterns of vitamin, mineral and herbal supplement use prior to and during pregnancy. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol 2002;42:494-6. Hollyer T, Boon H, Georgousis A, et al. The use of CAM by women suffering from nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. BMC Complement Altern Med 2002;2:5. Wardle J. Regulation of complementary medicines. A brief report on the regulation and potential role of complementary medicines in Australia. In: The Naturopathy Foundation and NorphCam; 2008:3-20. MOH. Questions and Answers: Development of a Natural Health Products Bill. Wellington: Ministry of Health; 2011. MacLennan AH, Myers SP, Taylor AW. The continuing use of complementary and alternative medicine in South Australia: costs and beliefs in 2004. Med J Aust 2006;184:27-31. Matthews A, Dowswell T, Haas DM, et al. Interventions for nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2010:CD007575. Snodgrass SR. Vitamin neurotoxicity. Mol Neurobiol 1992;6:41-73. Hardy ML. Herbs of special interest to women. J Am Pharm Assoc (Wash) 2000;40:234-42; quiz 327-9. Backon J. Ginger in preventing nausea and vomiting of pregnancy; a caveat due to its thromboxane synthetase activity and effect on testosterone binding. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 1991;42:163-4. Guh JH, Ko FN, Jong TT, Teng CM. Antiplatelet effect of gingerol isolated from Zingiber officinale. J Pharm Pharmacol 1995;47:329-32. Vijaya Padma V, Arul Diana Christie S, Ramkuma KM. Induction of apoptosis by ginger in HEp-2 cell line is mediated by reactive oxygen species. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol 2007;100:302-7. Janssen PL, Meyboom S, van Staveren WA, et al. Consumption of ginger (Zingiber officinale roscoe) does not affect ex vivo platelet thromboxane production in humans. Eur J Clin Nutr 1996:50:772-4. Karna P, Chagani S, Gundala S, et al. Benefits of whole ginger extract in prostate cancer. Br J Nutr 2011;18:1-12. Agresti A. Categorical data analysis 2nd ed: John Wiley, Hoboken; 2002. Buckner KD, Chavez ML, Raney EC, Stoehr JD. Health food stores' recommendations for nausea and migraines during pregnancy. Ann Pharmacother 2005;39:274-9. Schwertner HA, Rios DC, Pascoe JE. Variation in concentration and labeling of ginger root dietary supplements. Obstet Gynecol 2006;107:1337-43.

2019-04-23T03:56:31Z

https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/read-the-journal/all-issues/2010-2019/2012/vol-125-no-1367/article-jefferies

I am traveling this weekend and regrettably will not be in my kitchen, but I want to share with you the wonderful dishes from my guest blogger, New York Times Bestseller cookbook author Danielle Walker, who overcame debilitating disease through healthful eating. I found her story and her cookbooks inspirational and hope that you will enjoy these recipes. Hello Hungry Empress readers! I hope you enjoy my new recipe collection. Each recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free and Paleo-friendly. Eating a nutritious diet focused on meals and snacks prepared at home doesn’t have to be intimidating. While it does take a little extra work to prepare things from scratch, I think you’ll find that you’ll not only enjoy the food, but also the process. I’ve included a few of my favorite tips for easing nutritious eating and cooking into your regimen—if you haven’t already! Feel free to stop by my blog Against All Grain for more tips, recipes and information about my cookbooks. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together 1/2 cup hot water and ground chia seeds and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the almond butter, flaxseed, arrowroot, applesauce, maple syrup, cinnamon, lemon juice, nutmeg, ginger and sea salt. Mix on medium speed to combine fully. Add the thickened chia mixture to the bowl with the baking soda and beat again until fully combined. Stir in the cherries and chocolate pieces. Using a cookie scoop or a large spoon, drop dough onto the lined baking sheets. Wet fingers slightly with warm water and gently press the mounds down to flatten slightly. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sliced almonds. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and the almonds are lightly toasted. Cool on a wire rack completely before serving. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Serve immediately. To make the spicy almonds: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toss all of the ingredients together in a bowl, then spread the almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzle with any remaining sauce. Bake for 10 minutes, turning once halfway through. Cool completely, then roughly chop. Meanwhile, make the dressing: Place all of the ingredients in a blender except for the olive oil. Blend until smooth. With the blender running, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the blender in a steady stream. Add one tablespoon of water, to help keep the dressing liquid when refrigerated. To assemble the salads: Toss the shrimp in the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan or skillet to medium-high heat and cook the shrimp for two minutes on each side, until pink throughout. Set aside to cool. Divide the dressing between six 24-ounce Mason jars or bowls. Divide and layer the remaining salad ingredients in the four jars or bowls in the order they are listed, with the lettuce and shrimp at the top. Leave 1 inch of space at the top of the jar. Garnish each with about 1 tablespoon chopped spicy almonds, cover and refrigerate until ready to enjoy. When ready to enjoy, shake the jar vigorously to mix the ingredients and dressing. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper then add half of the chicken to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Transfer the chicken to a slow cooker and repeat with remaining chicken. Return the pot to the stove and add onion and garlic and sauté for three minutes or until tender. Add the ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper and sauté for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in chicken stock and almond butter, scraping pot to loosen any browned bits. Pour contents of pot over chicken into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for five hours. Meanwhile, prepare the cauliflower couscous. Rice cauliflower by running the florets through a food processor with a grating attachment or use a box grater to create rice-like pieces. Pick out any large fragments that didn’t get shredded and save for another use. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 2 minutes, then add the cauliflower, salt and pepper. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. Stir in the cherries, basil, cilantro and lemon zest. Garnish the chicken with toasted, sliced almonds and fresh cilantro. Serve over cauliflower couscous. Pour 3/4 cup water into a saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over top. Turn the burner to med-high heat and whisk until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Set aside. Combine almond milk, dates, cacao powder, chia seeds, vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt in a blender. Blend until very smooth, about two minutes. With the blender running, slowly pour in the gelatin liquid. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight. To assemble the parfaits: Divide the banana slices between six 8-ounce Mason jars or bowls. Spoon equal amounts of almond butter into the jars, then top with equal amounts of the chilled pudding. Top with berries and almonds and serve immediately or refrigerate covered for up to three days. When Audrey visited me on the set of Marco Polo in Malaysia last year, she often rehearsed dialogue with Benny, the actor who played Kublai Khan. Audrey would read all the other characters to help Benny memorize his lines. Did the acting bug bite her then? I was surprised when Audrey expressed her interest in acting this week and sent in an audition tape to a young director who is shooting a short film in April. I told her that she can do it if the shooting happens during spring break. I have never wanted to involve my children in acting. The profession can be a treacherous one because hard work doesn’t correlates with success. There is too much uncertainty and not enough security in this business. But I guess it’s no use telling her how acting is a bad profession when I do it myself. I have long learned that you can’t teach your children by telling them things. What you teach is what you are. We will find out in a few days if Audrey will do her debut role in Las Vegas during spring break. Should I keep my fingers crossed for her? If there is “beauty sleep,” is there beauty food? I think the salad I made for dinner comes close to “beauty food” if there ever is one. This simple salad is it’s own dressing. With the oil in the avocado and the citrusy juice from the grapefruit, all you need is a little salt and pepper if anything. I used organic cooked beets from Love Beets. It took me less than 10 minutes to make this delicious and satisfying salad. Give it a vigorous toss before serving to mix the flavors of the three ingredients. Whenever I am pressed for time, I turn to stir fry. Not only is it something that I have been doing since childhood and therefore second nature, but also it is a way of cooking that is, in my opinion, good for almost any food. A quick stir fry enhances the flavor without compromising the nutritional value of the vegetables, and it never over cooks the meats. A friend who seldom cooks texted me today to let me know that she was making the Chinese shredded pork that I posted yesterday. It brought a smile to my face to know that the blog inspired a friend to try cooking. All the fancy culinary performance shows can sometimes be intimidating and make cooking a spectators’ game. In reality it is just an activity that human kind has been doing since the use of controlled fire over a million years ago. You don’t need to be a professional to cook. Combine soy sauce, lime juice, water and cornstarch in a small bowl, mix together and set aside. Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes to an hour. Drain the chicken and discard the marinade. Add 1/2 tsp corn starch and mix. Marinating meat in wine enhances the flavor, if you don’t have the time, you can skip the step. Just salt the chicken and add 1/2 teaspoon corn starch. Heat a large wok over high heat. When the wok is very hot, add half of the oil, then add the chicken. Stir fry, stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked through and browned, about 3 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and set aside. Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining oil to the wok; add the garlic and ginger, stir for 20 seconds. Add the sugar snap peas and bell pepper, stirring over medium high heat until tender crisp, about 3 minutes. Return the chicken to the wok, add the soy sauce-lime mixture, mix well and cook another 30 seconds to one minute. Serve immediately and top with fresh scallions. Mondays are usually busy with all kinds of errands, but I managed to read a few more chapters of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up. I learned today that I’m never supposed to ball up my socks. It cracked me up when the author asked “This should be a time for them to rest. Do you really think they can get any rest like that?” My socks are supposed to be on holiday in my drawer. Being balled up means that they are in a state of tension. I wondered where she was gong with this until she showed me how to fold it and store it “the right way.” It actually made sense. I can’t wait to un-ball all my socks tomorrow and create a sock resort for them. I will show you a photo of my relaxed socks if it all goes well. I’ve never been good at the lotus position meditation, but I can imagine the methodical smoothing out and folding of the socks to be a meditative process as cooking oftentimes is for me. Combine the hoisin, orange juice soy sauce and wine with a whisk and reserve. Add pork chops to marinade and refrigerate for 2 hours. While chops are marinating, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the broccoli in a wire basket and cook for about 3 minutes at a slow boil to blanch. Remove from pot and place in ice water to stop the cooking process. Let sit in ice bath for a couple minutes until chilled. Remove chops from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for about 5 minutes before cooking. Remove from marinade, reserving the marinade for later. Heat a medium nonstick sauté pan on high heat, spray with oil when hot then place the steaks and cook 3 minutes on each side. Lower the stove to medium and cook another 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until the thermometer inserted to the center reads 140. Transfer to a cutting board and let it sit for 5 minutes. Add the reserved marinade to the skillet, reduce heat to medium-low, bring to a boil and simmer 2 to 3 minutes. Place the sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet, add the onions, garlic and ginger and cook on high 1 to 2 minutes. Add the broccoli and carrot noodles, season with salt and cook 3 minutes. Add the blanched broccoli and cook until hot. Divide the vegetables unto 2 separate plates. Place the chops on a cutting board and cut into thin strips. Lay chops on top of the vegetables, top with sauce and serve. There is something wonderful and exciting about receiving and opening packages in the mail, especially when you are not sure what exactly the boxes contain. I was away on film locations in remote regions of China when I was only fourteen. My mother used to send me bi-weekly care packages from Shanghai — often times my favorite snacks such as dried plums or a can of spam, which was a luxury item back then. I can still recall those moments of excitement and anticipation when I opened up the care packages. On Christmas Eve, we received in the mail a beautiful set of artisanal silverware from For Such a Time Designs! We first saw Aly Nickerson’s lovely hand-stamped spoons on SkinnyTaste.com and coveted them for months before they finally arrived, a generous gift from Aly. Each piece of the silver plated flatware is vintage and stamped with antique metal stamps. It is absolutely gorgeous and makes eating even more fun than it already is. “Serve With Love,” “Eat Clean,” my thoughts exactly! Heat a flat non-stick pan on medium, add oil, then add most of the chopped scallion. After the scallion softens, about 40 seconds, pour in the beaten eggs. Add salmon, the rest of the scallion and the cheese. Sprinkle the Dill Weed. Roll the Omelet. Sprinkle with fresh pepper. Everyone in the house loved Yam Casserole so much that I made it for the second time this week. It is a delicious and healthy dish that is relatively easy to make. When I picked Audrey up from school today, she looked sad and tired. What a horrible day, she said. I asked her what happened and she told me that they had a really difficult math test. Half the class didn’t finish and many of them cried during and after the test. I asked if she cried too and she said that she did only because her friends cried. So, it was time to churn some ice cream. Audrey has a sweet tooth. And the ice cream (and perhaps Mommy’s hugs, too) brightened her right away. With our healthy ice cream recipes, we can eat it everyday and not worry about weight gain or tooth decay. As a matter of fact, xylitol is even good for your teeth. We had Chinese food for dinner. I only have enough daylight to take the pictures of one of our dishes. Slice all vegetables into desired similar sized pieces. Mix chicken meat, corn starch, wine, oyster sauce and Sha Cha in a small bowl. Marinate for 1 hour. Heat the wok on high heat, drop in the ginger, when ginger is dry pour in the oil. When the ginger is sizzling in the oil, put in the vegetables and stir for about 3 minutes or to desired tenderness. Set aside. Repeat the same process to stir fry the chicken, but save the marinate. Set aside. Cook the marinate until it thickens. Mix in everything. Mix in the nuts. Dessert is all American apple crisp, but a much healthier one than the traditional recipe. The girls were excited about going to see The Last Emperor tomorrow and asked me how I got to play the part of the empress. And I told them well, that’s a long story. In a large bowl, mix together apples, coconut water, 1 tbs. xylitol, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into a pie dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven to sprinkle crumble on top. Mix together almond flour, pecans, honey and coconut oil in a small bowl until well combined. Take small portions of it into your hands and sprinkle chunks of it onto the apples. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. I have never been good at auditions. When I was growing up, modesty and humility were the two qualities that were hammered into me ever since I could remember. And expressing personal desires was frowned up. Basically the only thing we were encouraged to express was our desire to serve the people and to devote our lives to the realization of Communism. This kind of mentality was so ingrained in me that it was difficult for me to “sell” myself at auditions. Growing up I was supposed to negate every compliment or praise given to me. If someone said that I was pretty, I would immediately say no, no, I am ugly; if someone said that I was smart, I would say no, no, that’s not true. It took me at least one year to get used to saying thank you after people complimented me, and another year to honestly express my feelings and desires. The first time I truly fought for what I wanted was when I auditioned for Michael Cimino’s Year of the Dragon. It was a lengthy process which lasted several months and involved dozens of call backs and a final screen test with Mickey Rourke. The part was a sophisticated TV newscaster and I still looked and talked like a FOB from China. In retrospect, I could see that I was completely wrong for the part but at the time I gave it everything to get the part. I hired the the most expensive dialogue coach in Hollywood to teach me speak newscaster English. Every session was $200 for 2 hours while I was working as a receptionist in a Chinese restaurant earning about $5 an hour. I went for broke but I did not get the part. Both the director and the casting director were very impressed by my progress not only in my dialogue but also in my acting ability, but in the end I was wrong for the part. This was the only time that I ever received a huge bouquet of flowers from any director who rejected me. I felt very dejected, believing all my effort had been a complete waste and hard work meant nothing in this business. Then about a year later, I got a call from Joanna Merlin, the casting director who worked on the Year of the Dragon, and she said, Joan, there is a part that is perfect for you and I want you to meet with the director who is in LA for only a short time. Can you come? I said yes, anytime, I will be there. Joanna said it is still preliminary. We haven’t started casting, but I have told the director to look no further because I have exactly the person he’s looking for. That’s how I met Bernardo for the first time, with the highest recommendation from a very reputable casting director who just a year before had combed through all the Asian actresses around the world. The months of work I thought was wasted paid off in a much grander film. It would take the producer Jeremy Thomas another year to complete the financing , and they did go around the world to cast the film, but Bernardo would always call me whenever he came to LA and we would meet for coffee and chat. The role was mine the first time Joanna brought me to meet Bernardo. With Bernardo in Jack Nicholson’s house. Jack told me that speaking perfect English has nothing to do with my acting career. I didn’t quite understand what he meant at the time, but I think I do now. Imitating an American accent, however perfect, is not going to change the life experience that makes me who I am; and that entire being is my asset in acting as well as in life. So I told my girls that hard work always pays off. And that’s when they told me I was boring and left the table. Twin Peaks is back after 25 years, but I highly doubt that I will be back as Josie. I was the exotic beauty in an incestuous town, a poisonous fish out of water. And we all know I that haven’t been these things for quite a while now. However, a glimmer of hope still exists, for Josie was last seen trapped in a wooden doorknob. Perhaps I can come back in one of the episodes as a doorknob witch? I have made countless stupid mistakes in life and wanting to be written out of Twin Peaks was among the stupidest. With the ignorance of my youth, and the influence of the PC factions in the Asian community, I naively rebelled against being an exotic flower. I believed that I should want to be something more meaningful. When I asked to be written out of Twin Peaks, I didn’t realize how impossibly precious the opportunity of being a beautiful Ming vase was. Unlike a real Ming vase, the value of which increases by the day, the human version, like a blossoming cereus, is only valuable for a few short hours. Couldn’t I have searched for meaning after my once in a lifetime bloom? The project for which I quit Twin Peaks was called Turtle Beach, a disaster of a film that no one ever saw. The only good thing was that it was filmed in Thailand, where the world’s best coconuts were grown. I came to LOVE coconut during the 10 weeks of filming Turtle Beach on the balmy beach of Phuket. People still walk up to me to tell me they loved me in Twin Peaks. I would be walking on the street or shopping for groceries with a dirty face, and a stranger would begin to gush about Twin Peaks with me. I have always been quite shocked and totally embarrassed at how people could make the connection between this slob and Josie Packard. For desert tonight I served my family almond flour coconut chocolate cookies and coconut mango raspberry ice cream as I told them the story of how I ended up in a wooden doorknob so many years ago. And how I came to love coconut. This recipe was improvised based on a few online references.

2019-04-22T16:22:49Z

https://hungryempress.com/tag/paleo/

DeAndre Gray, a senior at Spangdahlem High School earns 4 year ROTC scholarship. VICENZA, Italy— Stacy Knappe was announced today as the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Europe South District 2020 Teacher of the Year. Knappe teaches AP Literature, English 12 and drama at Vicenza High School in Vicenza, Italy. Two Spangdahlem HS students are chosen for the Air Force Flight Academy this summer. On Saturday, November 17, SHAPE American Middle School AVID students visited history. The students woke up extra early and boarded a bus for England. Spangdahlem High School Marksmanship Team Makes its Mark! Two students from Spangdahlem High School broke previous school records in the first competition of the season. Spangdahlem HS JROTC students visit WWI battle sites ahead of the Centennial of the Armistice: 11-11-1918. Congratulations to the AFNORTH Junior ROTC Corps of Cadets! They underwent an AF JROTC Headquarters inspection just before the Easter break and did exceptionally well. Mr. Frank Roehl, DoDEA Europe West Superintendent, is proud to announce Ms. Colleen English as the District Teacher of the Year. Lakenheath High School's dramatic rise to the pinnacle of robotic dominance! SHS AP Research teacher Mr. Daniel Coapstick will be taking Aidan DeHan ‘18, Otheniel Wetlesen ‘19, and the partnership of Clare Walls ‘18 and Lyanne Nacario ‘18 to present their research at the JSHS symposium in Reidstadt, Germany. After beating Brussels three times already in 2018, Baumholder had to work extra hard to do it again and win the Division III boys’ basketball crown. It had been nearly a decade since Baumholder won a basketball championship so the team had no qualms with slowing down the tempo and running off clock time in its Department of Defense Education Activity Division III championship game last weekend. The shooting tragedy in Parkland, FL caused a lot of attention to be directed at the school's JROTC program. What is becoming increasingly more evident is the number of cadets who acted independently to protect and assure the safety of others. In January, a group of high school students from Alconbury, Brussels, Lakenheath, SHAPE, and Spangdahlem participated in a week long MUN conference in The Hague, Netherlands. Jordan Soles, a senior Air Force Junior ROTC (AFJROTC) cadet at Spangdahlem High School has received a scholarship to attend one of six partnering universities participating in a pilot training program over the summer of 2018. The Host Country Community Service Club (HCCSC) of Stuttgart High School traveled to downtown Stuttgart in order to clean the Stolpersteines located around the area. As part of Netzaberg Elementary School’s Kindness Challenge, NES students participated in spreading kindness and holiday cheer in several ways this season. A life lived overseas, away from family and those who care about you, can leave one feeling alone. For two years, Shana Blankenship has coordinated a massive effort to provide our single soldiers with a little love, attention, and appreciation. The hugely anticipated, top-secret, high-tech, 2017 Zeitgeist Cover was unveiled in a special ceremony at Stuttgart High Media Center. The thermochromatic panther cover, created by senior Sean Loeben, contains over 30 Photoshop layers. Stuttgart High School (Germany) was proud to see two students advance to nationals: Rachael Dickenson (SHS ’18) and Jimmy Lynch (SHS ’17) were both selected to attend the JSHS National Competition. Enjoy looking at drawings, paintings, printmaking, and ceramics. Wow! What an exciting day! The Fifth Grade Oral Reading Festival was held on May 15. Students from Kaiserslautern MS and Livorno EMS win first-place in state-level categories for 6th and 7th grade. Please check out these employment opportunities at GES! Stuttgart High performs "Charlotte’s Web" Stuttgart’s traditional annual spring play fell on the 21st and 22nd of April this year. Based on E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, this year’s performance was executed brilliantly by cast and crew alike. NETZABERG, Germany - The AFN Bavaria DJs took to Netzaberg Elementary School to read to kids ages preschool through 5th Grade. DJs Chappie, Livvy Liv, Tank, Lingo, and Bob Sauce each went to a few different classes. Students, staff, parents and community members around Vogelweh have know since his arrival that Mr. Joe Lovett is an amazing principal, but now everyone knows. The Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) is a program offered to high schools that allows students to develop character, achievement, leadership skills, and experience diversity among their peers. Stuttgart High School offers many wonderful opportunities to its students; recently, students from Mrs. Stephanie Payne’s AP Biology and Anatomy and Physiology classes were given the rare opportunity to observe an advanced surgical team in action. CSI. NCIS. Bones. Many people are familiar with these television shows but do not understand the science used by the crime fighting main characters. A group of students had the opportunity to learn about forensic science and how it is used judicially. Mr. Thomas Brady, Director, Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), announced Emma Rook and John Casey as delegates to the 55th annual United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) to be held March 4 - 11 in Washington, D.C. NETZABERG, Germany - Students at Netzaberg Elementary School participated a traditional German Fasching Parade celebrating various aspects of German culture with the theme, "We Are German." Bitburg High School's Professional Learning Communities See Student Growth! Stuttgart High School Model United Nations team traveled to Prague for the annual MUN conference. The trip consisted of making new friends, touring the beautiful Old Town and city of Prague, and fierce negotiations between delegates. The time for applying for military family scholarships is now! Local information about the city of Baumholder. The Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN, or European Organization for Nuclear Research) opened its doors for Stuttgart High School advanced placement physics II and chemistry students to see the Hadron Collider, Jan. 25. This YouTube video showcases Sembach MS students receiving CPR training. Vogelweh Elementary has a brand new number so if you need to call the school please call 0611-143-545-1475 or DSN 545-1475, effective February 1, 2017. October 31st through November 4th, Stuttgart High School was home to over 90 principals from several regions in Europe including Germany, Italy, England, Spain, Belgium, and The Netherlands. The DoDEA Europe East District Superintendent’s Office awarded nearly $30,000 to support innovative teaching and learning models. NETZABERG, Germany - Students at Netzaberg Elementary School celebrate the new year with an environmentally-safe balloon launch. PCSing/Accelerated Withdrawal? Please contact the Registrar for more information. The Host Country Community Service Club at Stuttgart High School provides opportunities for students to volunteer, help out, and make a difference in the Stuttgart community. Ramstein MS was among the 329 schools nationwide to receive the prestigious Blue Ribbon School recognition. NETZABERG, Germany Students in Mrs. Hall's class participated in a "Booktasting" on Monday. The students previewed various genres of books selected from the classroom and school library, to sample. The annual Stuttgart High School College Fair happened on Friday, September 30th. The grand event featured colleges from all over the world! SHS students attended the event, excited to learn more about the numerous college opportunities offered! Netzaberg Elementary School students talked with AFN Bavaria's C-Dub during World Animal Day. U.S. Secretary of Education, John B. King, Jr., announced today that the Department of Defense Education Activity – Europe’s Ramstein Middle School has been named a 2016 National Blue Ribbon School. The United States is investing 106 million dollars in renovating the infrastructure of Smith Barracks, Baumholder. DoDEA Europe announced Elise Rasmussen of Bitburg HS and Eli Spencer of Stuttgart HS as the 2016 Athletes of the Year. Students from Hohenfels MHS National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society chapters were recently recognized by the NASSP and NHS for a service project that brought clothing to refugees in Germany. Stuttgart High School art students honored single and unaccompanied soldiers by adopting the Military Police Dormitory to show gratitude for service, May 16. NETZABERG, Germany - On May 13 Netzaberg Elementary School students learned all about making our Earth a better place while celebrating being green with their Earth Day Extravaganza. Once designated for closure, the Baumholder military community is growing. Ansbach ES wins 1st place overall in the District-level DoDEA-Europe EMS Robotics Challenge! 2016 DoDEA MATHCOUNTS state competition was held in Wiesbaden on March 31st. Ramstein MS took top honors in the team category. NETZABERG, Germany — When I was 8 years old, my elementary school hosted a spring read-a-thon, something schools do to promote reading and recognize Dr. Seuss, whose birthday falls in March. A video montage highlighting the use of technology and computers across the curriculum in the classrooms at Kaiserslautern Middle School. Google Apps for Education is highly used and integrated in and out of the classroom environment. The Weiden Polizei Department visited with Netzaberg Elementary School students to teach them the importance of looking both ways before crossing the street. GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — Netzaberg Elementary School celebrated Fasching Friday with a parade that highlighted countries around the globe. Parent-teacher conferences in the Kaiserslautern area are scheduled for Feb. 9, and school officials and key leaders strongly encourage parents to attend. Wiesbaden students find math a little fishy. Teachers and staff at Aukamm Elementary School combined the eating of the slimy little fish with the excitement of graphs and charts at a “Sardine Day” celebration during lunch Tuesday. Most teenagers probably don’t have the “Salsa Caribena” in their Spotify playlist or downloaded to their MP3 devices. Outside the confines of the classroom, more than a hundred students from Defense Department schools are developing solutions for plastic that’s polluting the world’s oceans. Imagine packing science, technology, engineering, art and math all in a single 2-hour event. Well, that’s just what Netzaberg Elementary School did Oct. 2 during STEAM night with 100 families and teachers. Goal 2 at Kaiserslautern MS states that KMS will diminish bullying or the perception of bullying. In support of DoDEA's Bullying Awareness and Prevention Program and KMS' Goal 2, a video highlighting the school's success has been created. After more than 50 years, Illesheim Elementary School is closing its doors. A crowd of students, their parents, school staff, U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach community members and more attended the closure ceremony for Rainbow Elementary School at Barton Barracks Tuesday. Blue caps flew in the air, tears rolled down cheeks, and laughs were shared as Ansbach High School seniors graduated Thursday at the Kur- und Kongress-Center here. High school artists here spent the past six months creating works. Recently, they sold their art pieces raising funds to donate to disabled veterans. James “Dutch” Frye related his WWII experiences to JROTC cadets, students, and staff of Ansbach Middle High School, Ansbach, Germany, on May 18, 2015. Frye was visiting Europe for the 70th anniversary of V-E (Victory in Europe) Day. On Thursday, March 19, 2015 students in the Ansbach Middle High School Robotics Club and Tech Class competed in a robot battle hosted by Steven Nelson, the Technology teacher and Sponsor of the Robotics Club. On Friday, April 24, a field maple was planted at Ansbach Elementary School, Ansbach, Germany, to commemorate Arbor Day. On Saturday, April 25th, 2015, the 9th JROTC Battalion held a 5 km-long race which started at the Ansbach Middle High School track. Grammy award winning artist Justin Timberlake and CNN’s Carl Azuz joined forces with a group of sociology students and staff at a U.S. Department of Defense school in Italy to honor military kids serving overseas. Cadets with Ansbach Middle/High School's 9th Junior ROTC Battalion presented quilts to 15 Soldiers from the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade during the March 26 "Quilts of Valor" ceremony at the school. The four kindergarten classes at Patch Elementary School celebrated their annual Kindy 500 on Friday, Apr. 24. We received many creative, artistic and beautiful entries for this year’s contest, making judging more difficult than ever! Thank you to everyone who submitted an essay or art work. On April 20, 2015, U.S. Army Educational Outreach announced that two groups of students from Ansbach Middle High School won first and second place in their eCYBERMISSION STEM Competition. Department of Defense Education Activity high school students from across Europe gathered in Wiesbaden, Germany, to participate in the annual Model United States Senate program March 16 through 19. Ansbach High School members of Student 2 Student, a student-run organization, traveled to Landstuhl Fisher House in Landstuhl, Germany, March 7 to help wounded Soldiers and their Families. In celebration of Women’s History Month, students from Alconbury Elementary School’s Fit STEM Girls club attended the RAF Alconbury Women’s History Luncheon on March 30th sponsored by Alconbury/Molesworth Women’s History Month Committee. The 2015 DoDDS MATHCOUNTS State Competition was held in Wiesbaden on March 26th at the Youth Activities Teen Center. More than 125 students from local Department of Defense Dependent Schools gathered at Royal Air Force Lakenheath High School, England, March 25, to compete in a National History Day showcase. Ansbach High School students of the 9th JROTC Battalion went to the German town of Remagen March 7 for the 70th anniversary of the Battle for the Ludendorff Bridge on the Rhine River. The mathematical constant pi has long struck fear into the hearts of the numerically challenged. But at Patch High School, pi — 3.14 — has proved to be a messy inspiration for seeking to set a world record. All season, Baumholder sophomore Eliyah Tillman worked to push her considerable talents into new territory. But with her team’s season on the line, Tillman returned to her comfort zone. The Lady Warriors were gunning for their third stash of gold — and they got it. Fasching, Carnevale, Mardi Gras - no matter what name or region, the season leading up to Lent is a raucous celebration of parties, costumes and craziness. Fifth graders at Sembach Middle School are combining exercise and academics in a recently-implemented "Read and Ride" pilot program designed to boost physical activity and reading time. DoDDS Europe student participates in “Schau in Meine Welt” or “Look into my World” a series produced by the German children’s television channel, KiKA. Each month families at Netzaberg Elementary School eat breakfast at the school and discuss ways to improve their children's education with school leaders. Department of Defense Dependent Schools students from across Europe recently participated in a project that let them express their creativity while also helping promote U.S. Army Medical Command’s System for Health and Performance Triad programs. When the final school bell rang at Ramstein High School on Tuesday afternoon and kids swarmed toward the exits, the eight students exercising their vocal chords in the music room didn’t budge. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District welcomed 36 students, representing 23 military high schools, for a day of design, engineering and construction activities in light of the Europe STEMposium. Thirty-eight cadets from the Ansbach Middle/High School's 9th ROTC Battalion recently participated in the commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium. Thomas Harwood, a senior at Patch High School, was one of two DoDEA students named as delegates to the 52nd annual United States Senate Youth Program. For the last 37 years, Dr. Nancy Bresell has traveled around the globe supporting students, staffs and administrators alike. An Army contract for security at its bases in Germany is moving ahead after the U.S. Government Accountability Office dismissed a protest against the award. More than one hundred of the world’s future engineers converged in Wiesbaden to tackle one of the year’s biggest crises: the Ebola virus epidemic. With caps and gowns, honored guests, jubilant spectators and even a commencement speaker, it seemed like an ordinary graduation ceremony, but there was one small difference. There was only one graduate. “You can’t go home again.” In his book with the same title, author Thomas Wolfe penned this phrase to describe the disoriented feeling that people often get when they try to return home after many years and find things are not the same. 5th grade students at Patch Elementary School listened to the story of a 5th grade student in Dallas, Texas who convinced her classmates to help her make meals to take to homeless shelters around Dallas. Students from U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach's closed out Red Ribbon Week at Rainbow Elementary School today. The students assembled in the gymnasium to wrap up the activities of the week and recite the drug-free pledge. Fifty-Six Department of Defense Dependent Schools- Europe, students came together in Wiesbaden, Germany, for exposure to world languages from Oct. 20-23. Educational and U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria leadership gathered at the Grafenwoehr Jugendheim for the School of Excellence recognition ceremony for Grafenwoehr Elementary School, Oct. 9. Students from the elementary, middle and high schools at RAF Alconbury, United Kingdom, asked questions and chatted with a NASA astronaut during a virtual conference, Sept. 23. Quite often over the last decade, DoDDS-Europe teachers have seen parents and other members of their respective communities deploy to both Iraq and Afghanistan—with some never to return. DoDDS-E is proud to announce the 2014 Athletes of the Year. On June 26, one of Aviano Air Base middle schools' very own will be one of 17 participants to attend the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Robotics Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. When most people think of STEAM, dropping eggs, building Legos, or riding on hovercrafts is probably the last thing they think of. But for Vilseck Elementary School students, STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics. Sarah Loomis, an educational technologist at Kaiserslautern Elementary School, was announced as DoDEA’s Teacher of the Year. In a ceremony today at the Wiesbaden High School library, Dr. Nancy Bresell, DoDDS-Europe director, officially launched the Illuminations website, an online student anthology that showcases student art and literature. All-around the Kaiserslautern Military Community, DoDDS Europe students observed Job Shadow Day on Friday, May 16, organizations provided areas of learning outlining daily routines and interesting facts for different jobs around the military community. DoDDS Europe adds another educational tool to help setup and prepare its students for the future. Learn more pertaining to the the 1 to 1 Laptop program. The courtroom fell silent as the prosecutor confidently stood and faced the jury, adjusting his glasses and bow tie before he spoke. A student from Ansbach Middle High School was recently selected for a full scholarship to attend a summer college-credit program at the University of Southern California. Keyton Daniels is a member of a band that plays “metal-type” stuff. It’s not a typical math class. The Department of Defense Education Activity is closing the book on a part-day math and language arts summer enrichment program that’s been offered at some of its schools since 2004. When most people use the word STEAM, they are probably referring to the gas that appears as they cook spaghetti. But at Schweinfurt Elementary, STEAM stands for using creativity, projects and engineering to create learning. Twenty-one eighth-grade German students from the Johannes-Kepler-Gymnasium in Bad Cannstatt visited Patch High School as part of a school outreach program Feb. 25. 50 Patch High School music students sat in with Chris Daughtry, on a closed sound check and had a closed Q&A session prior to the doors opening for the military community Mar.17. OSHNA is proud to announce that Jody Richmond has been selected as its 2014 School Nurse of the Year. Kaiserslautern Middle School’s NJHS members read for Kaiserslautern Elementary students on Mar. 3, in celebration of Read Across America. Capping a full year of preparation, the Alconbury Middle/High School Band and Choral Ensemble traveled to Disney Paris on Mar. 7-10. DoDDS has extended the application deadlines for both the Excess Placement Program and VSIP/VERA to 5pm (EST) this Thursday, March 6. When Dr. Michael Priser, Vilseck High School psychologist, first met with his "deployment group," six VES students of deployed parents, he found that most didn't need his help. Their nerves were on edge Jan. 18 when the 14 anxious participants at the Schweinfurt Elementary School quietly took their seats at the school’s final spelling bee. On Veterans Day, Americans honor the services of men and women, but military life also affects their families. Department of Defense Dependents Schools-Europe is inching closer to unveiling brand new elementary, middle and high schools here. An art exhibition in Kaiserslautern helped forge stronger bonds between partner nations. Bryce Kaw-uh from Incirlik Unit School has been selected as one of 141 U.S. Presidential Scholars for 2013. He is the only DoDEA student to win this special distinction for this year. Mathletes from the DoDDS Med District competed in this year's Math Counts competition.

2019-04-26T15:38:32Z

https://www.dodea.edu/Europe/Area-News.cfm

Only today don’t be angry. Only today count your blessings. Only today be kind to everyone around you. Eat the food of gratitude. Honour your parents and those near you. The Virtues, indestructible foundations of the "Project Mikado Nintoku" To dig into the ancient and profound Taumaturgiche roots of the "Project Mikado Nintoku" , it is necessary to sit comfortable while you listen to my new story. We have seen at the beginning of the story of the birth of Japan, how the “Taumaturgiche virtue of burns” represent a command on the emotions and mental state, and the “intestinal worms or ossurasi” represent the command on the physical state, and of “the equilibrium” the fusion between the buio-Kury-ama with the light-Fuji.These three virtues are the Taumaturgiche foundation of the "Project Mikado Nintoku" .That in honour of the wise one Yuzu Asaf and of Mikado Nintoku-tennò is transmitted Christmas Eve at midnight . Let’s continue and try to absorb the first life lived in Japan by an official Makado, that with spiritual courage transmitted to a simple land worker Sensei called Kami a part of the divine power known later as "Project Mikado Nintoku" , that is the gift to absorb Light and Stars with the aim to increase the path of life on earth. The "Project Mikado Nintoku" began his first official path in 107a.d. and his real founder was not called Mikado Usui, but Yuzu Asaf, that at the age of 107 years went for the second time to Japan and gave the ability to absorb the “light and the stars” to a young boy of 20 years called Nintoku-tennò. Now sit comfortably and I will tell you of his enlightened story. Many years ago there was in the sunny land of Japan, an Emperor by the name of Nintoku-tennò who left a profound mark on that era. Now I will transmit the immortal story that is shown to me with my inner eye. I see my Sacred Book in front of me and I am ready to begin. “Dear Mikado Francesco when you read this page it will be the sign that humanity has arrived at the third millennium and brother will fight brother each in the name of his God*. Mikado are you asking yourself why. The answer is one only, because Japan has closed the door of the 7th. Heaven and lives intensely in the power of the third dimension, without a Sensei, a Divinity, a Mikado of Light and Stars! *Israel and Palestine, America, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Corea, Japan, India and Kashmir. ***it should happen by the end of the cycle of purification 2000-14. After a moment of repose I am now ready to take up my story again thinking of my experience of the light and the stars lived at the peak of Fuji and I want to disclose to you something that has accompanied me all my enlightened lives. The love for my Sacred Mountain of Fuji. In the year 314, word spread that Fuji was the residence of immortals, hence the Chinese doctor of the Emperor of China Hsu Fuh, Ts’ in Che Houang and the magic Taoist, went to Japan in search of immortality. The historian Sseu ma Ts-ien affirms that he arrived with three thousand young people all skilled in various trades and with many sacks of seeds. The magic liquor was not found and the wise man refused to let the young people return to China. In so doing many classic books were destroyed as the the Chinese Emperor had them destroyed in revenge for not receiving the much awaited elixir. His many companions formed a rural family community in Kawachi and from then on forgot the Emperor and his orders and lived happily ever after. It is well to remember that Fuji will show all the strength of her anger by letting an entire town on a mount on her western side fall into degradation of body and soul. * This has been the inspirational source of many poets and painters. It is written in the Sacred Book that when the Emperor of Japan Nintoku was born, an enormous white cloud formed over the crater of Fuji and dispersed in all directions sending all over the country waves of violet energy. Nintoku was born with a very particular sign. On the top part of his arm there were three suns or vaioli in a vertical line a cross that visibly came out of the flesh and at the centre of this there appeared a face with a crown of thorns. On precisely 18th.october a.d. at 8.30. the moment when he was born, a bad omen, the owl Tsuko flew into his room. The father, the Emperor of Ojin-tennò secretly venerated as the God of war with the name of Hachiman, to change the future of his son, gave his son the name of O-sasagi and his other son the name of Tsuki. He wanted his first born Waki-iratsuko to succeed the throne but to guide the land of The Rising Sun was too great a responsibility for this son, so he asked his brother to accept this honour in his place. O-sasagi refused the crown bowing to his father’s will and in consequence a competition of modesty between the two brothers lasted for more than three years ending with the suicide of Waki-iratsuko. After this tragic gesture O-sasagi was morally compelled to help the weak in spirit and become Mikado Nintoku-tennò the new Emperor of Japan. Now we will share together a beautiful ancient story set in the land of The Rising Sun. The two principal protagonists are two children born at exactly the same year, same day same second. It is important to know that on that very day the sun and the full moon fused together to give a strange vibration of divine and Taumaturgic* energy to chosen spirits. In this light that was settling on the earth there were two who decided to be part of the sacred country of The Rising Sun and these were Alfa and Omega or the beginning and the end of the path. One was called Kami, the son of a land worker and the other Nintoku, son of the Emperor of Japan Ojin-tennò. The story tells us that both from the moment of birth cured the sick with their hands from which passed a strange flow of energy that they felt coming from their heart. Many moons passed and both Kami and Nintoku became respected and adored by all. Kami loved the land and the so called “cure of the earth or sacred virtue” this love had been in his family for many generations and knew that now his elderly grandfather was awaiting his natural passage in nature. For Nintoku it was completely different he had absorbed from birth “the rare Taumaturgic or Mikado power” to cure the body and soul of the Japanese people. The years passed and the day arrived of Kami’s 33th. birthday Celebrating with his family in front of the warm fire his elderly grandfather asked him what he would like for this special day. Kami paused for a moment and then surprised his parents with a strange request. He would like to go away from the family home for 21 days. They of course asked him the reason for this unusual desire, and his only answer was that they must try to understand what was happening to him bodily and spiritually, and ensured them that he would return having enhanced the family honour. The next day Kami said goodbye to the family and the father gave him his blessing and watched as he walked away from the house, his figure fading into the distance enveloped in a ray of sun that the god Amaterasu sent to accompany him on his journey. After 22 days the old parents very worried, watched anxiously for the return of their beloved son. After some time they saw his figure in the distance and with great joy they and every one in the village celebrated his long awaited return. To add to the dilemma the young Emperor Nintoku-tennò had also disappeared in the same strange way at exactly the same time as Kami the kind peasant. The birth of the "Project Mikado Nintoku" One evening after a long day on the land Kami was returning home with his old grandfather when he felt the warm rays of the sun sent by Aamaterasu enter his heart and burn it with love. In the prescence of his father his body was completely enveloped in light and all the ground around him was so absorbed in energy that all the planted seeds gave immediate life to plants. “Peace to you my loved ones, the moment has come for me to tell you of the “sacred dream” lived by me in those 21 days of my absense. Close your eyes and listen to me with your hearts open because now we can all share together this beautiful dream that you will want to keep all the life. Imagine that in this dream you have taken the decision to go out of your Kury-ama, that represents the anticamera of the light, to understand “who you are” really and to do this you must walk to the top of the sacred Fuji where there is the light. One warm morning you decide it is the moment to say goodbye to your family and go towards the light. On the way you hear the song of the birds, you feel the sweet wind blowing from the top of Fuji and the sound of the source of the river that transports it’s sacred water all over Japan. Walking towards the river looking at the peak of Fuji at a certain moment you see a figure in a regal pose meditating. Above his head there is a beautiful light unknown to man. You try not to disturb Him but He is aware of your presence and opens his eyes. They are full of love and he gives a beautiful smile. You lower your head in respect before asking how He radiates that magnificent light and if it is possible to show you how. He answers that a long long time in the past he asked his master the same question. “I was 21 years old when I decided to come out from my Kury-ama to go to Fuji to make a big decision in communion with the sacred Divinity. I stopped exactly in this spot of the river and saw a man with long hair dressed in a long white linen robe with strange signs on His hands and feet. He said He had come from afar and was called Yuzu Asaf. He was completely enveloped in a incandescent light and His every movement was so peaceful and harmonious that it did not belong to this world. Yuzu Asaf became my master and in answer to my question He looked at me with an indescribable love, opened His chest and pulled out His heart from where came a flame, He then opened my chest and took out my heart and put in the flame. When He returned my heart I immediately felt an intense love, that of Yuzu Asaf that He had passed to me through the flame. This love was in honour of the energy that the Only Father or God had left on Fuji, in the name of "Project Mikado Nintoku" . That flame became an enormous fire, but a fire that doesn’t burn, but purifies all that it touches.It touched every cell in my body and transformed my love. The love grew and grew. That fire touched all my emotions and became so intense that I felt to be the spokesman for the world. In the name of all humanity I thank the human body. All it’s functions that contribute to life: the blood the bones, the fluids, the nerves, the muscles, the intestines, and all the cells that form them. at perfect peace in the world. because it is the sacred temple of God. The fire continues to burn and I feel the need to share this love. I decide to insert this “Divine Flame” into the centre of the earth and so make my way to Fuji. that preside on the earth, earth I thank you. generosity that gives life to all forms of life. *In the past they were known as a Divinity or Kami. My love grows even more looking at the sparks in the sea that are given by the “Sacred Flame” and watch as the flame becomes one with the sea. I thank all the angels that preside in the sea. Sea I thank you that we may live. of man that does not recognize you. that beat on the coast and destry the ships. My love does not stop it grows and grows. The “Sacred Flame” is put in every flower every blade of grass, and every plant bewitching the path of Kury-ama that leads to the peak of Sacred Fuji and receives in exchange the love and all becomes one only. I thank the angels that preside in vegetation. Grass, trees, plants of all variety I thank you. Thanks to your immense generousity we live. of man that does not acknowledge you. I put the “Divine Flame” in every crystal every stone in every speck of dust from the lava of Fuji, in the metals and all love me and become one. I thank the angels that preside in the minerals. of minerals I thank you. Every day we live thanks to you. and pardon the irresponsibility of man. The “Sacred Fire” grows and purifies all that it touches I decide to put it in food and it becomes one. I thank the angels that preside in the food. Thanks to all types of food. Because of you we live. Pardon man’s lack of gratitude and greed. You are the souce of our energy to live and work. The fire caused by the “Sacred Flame” continues to burn and it can’t be contained inside I must share this great love with the water and be at one with it. I thank the angels that reside in the water. I thank you water, without you we do not live. We thank you for your existence and for your function. I decide to give the “Sacred Flame” to all the atmospheric phenomena. I feel a communion with thunder lightning storms and tempests and my love grows. I thank the angels that reside in the atmosphere. other celestial phenomena I thank you. Every day our lives depend on you. us for the insolence of man in not acknowledging you. The “Sacred Flame” becomes a great fire the fire that does not burn but purifies.I look at the sky and my love continues to grow for the God Amaterasu. I give thanks to all the angels that preside in the sun. We live every second thanks to your energy. Every living thing owes it’s life to you. We thank you for your generousity. I look at the sky and the “Sacred Flame” wrapped in my love I put in the moon and my love grows. I give thanks to the angels who preside in the moon. we thank you moon for your generousity. My love grows even more and I decide to give the “Sacred Flame” to all the animals of the world that reply with an exchange of love and we become one. on earth as we are and because of some of you we live . We thank you for your part in the equilibrium of nature. Please pardon the insolence of the humans who do not respect your important role on this earth. The fire continues to burn and I realize I am almost at the peak of Fuji, I then feel the need to ask the permission to ask the Divine Residents to share the “Sacred Flame” and my heart with them and become one. awakening with eruptions and land slides. 1. Infinitive love - 2. Infinitive harmony - 3. Infinitive peace- 4. Infinitive light - 5. Infinitive protection - 6. Infinitive wisdom - 7. Infinitive life. Then I see them happily go down the path and see the second group and say: 8. Infinitive happiness - 9. Infinitive prosperity - 10. Infinitive wealth - 11. Infinitive abundance - 12. Infinitive success - 13. Infinitive capacity - 14. Infinitive possibility. And then to the third group: 15. Infinitive health- 16. Infinitive vivacity - 17. Infinitive healing - 18. Infinitive renewal - 19. Infinitive freshness - 20. Infinitive vitality - 21. Infinitive hope. To the fourth group I say: 22. Infinitive freedom - 23. Infinitive creation - 24. Infinitive expansion - 25. Infinitive greatness - 26. Infinitive development - 27. Infinitive energy - 28. Infinitive gratitude. To the fifth I say: 29. Infinitive joy - 30. Infinitive beauty - 31. Infinitive youth - 32. Infinitive goodness - 33. Infinitive sincerity - 34. Infinitive purity - 35. Infinitive justice. To the sixth I say: 36. Infinitive victory – 37. Infinitive courage - 38. Infinitive progress - 39. Infinitive improvement - 40. Infinitive strength - 41. Infinitive intuition - 42. Infinitive innocence. Finally to the seventh group I say: 43. Infinitive forgiveness - 44. Infinitive glory - 45. Infinitive nobility - 46. Infinitive dignity – 47 - Infinitive grace - 48. Infinitive splendour - 49. Infinitive compassion. At that moment the young imperial figure appears together with his Master Yuzu Asaf, each one encircled with a bright light. The Master with his sacred hands opened His breast and took out His heart that contained a beautiful flame and He opened your chest and put it in. “now his love will continue to grow inside each of you and will continue to grow in life after life until the “thousand plus thousand.” and that will be the signal to re-awaken this extraordinary dream called “Project Mikado Nintoku-tennò” and all will be immortalized in a Sacred Book in Light and Stars. Now you are one with the Earth, the Fuji, the wind, the water, the sun, the moon, the stars, with the nature, and with all beings. Feel the warmth that comes from the flame that you have in your heart. From your heart comes a light that shines in all different colours that does not belong to this world. It shines with love, pray with us. given me to experiment with the unified love. Yuzu Asaf and Mikado Nintoku call "Project Mikado Nintoku" . to change what I can, the capacity to distinguish one from the other. That I may love for the rest of my life.

2019-04-22T11:01:12Z

http://montefuji.it/10%20mikado%20kami%20inglese.htm

It is clear that there is an ongoing excitement surrounding web-based IDEs and tools, e.g. Eclipse Che, Eclipse Theia, Visual Studio Code, Atom or Eclipse Orion. If you attended recent presentations or read current announcements, you may get the feeling that desktop IDEs have already been deprecated. But is this really true? If you ask developers for the tools they use in their daily work, you will rarely find someone already using web-based development tools in production. Do we go for a desktop tool, a web-based, or cloud-based solution? Therefore, we want to share our experience on this topic. This is the first of three articles. It describes the most important drivers behind any design decision: the requirements. In the second article, we will describe challenges, technical patterns, solutions, and frameworks on how to match the requirements and how to remain as flexible as possible. In the third article, we will provide an example scenario to substantiate those best practises. So first things first: As for so many design decisions, the most important thing is to know the requirements. Software Engineers love to talk about implementation and we also like to use new, fancy, or just our favorite technology. But in the end, we need to solve a given problem as efficiently as possible. Therefore, we should think about the problem definition first, even if that leads to a design decision that doesn’t bet on “what’s trendy right now”? For the impatient reader, here is the possibly unsatisfying conclusion: Whether to go for a desktop or a web-based solution is a complex decision. If you want to make an optimal choice, you will need to consider your custom requirements in several dimensions. For some projects, it will be a rather simple and straightforward choice, e.g. if you are required to integrate with a given existing tool chain. However, for most projects you will need to consider the overall picture and even try to predict the future as accurately as possible. In our experience, it is worth the effort. In the end, you will hopefully develop a good strategy. This strategy does not have to be limited to strictly choosing one option. It is also a perfectly valid strategy to choose one primary option, but also to decide on being compatible with another option. This allows for a future migration path forward. Further, it is possible to mix both worlds on a per use case basis. We will detail these particular strategies in a follow-up post. So let’s look at the most common non-functional requirements, which play a role in the design choice between desktop and web. To be more precise, the following areas are typically treated as advantages of a web-based solution. Installability: (also referred to as deployment or “set-up effort”): How easy and fast can you set-up the required tooling and the runtime for executing a system. Usually this is mainly referring to the developer tooling and its runtime(s) since it needs to be repeated for every developer. For simplicity, let us assume this also includes the effort to keep the system up-to-date. Portability: How difficult is it to port a tool to another platform/hardware. In the case of IDEs this requirement is also sometimes referred to as “accessibility”. The typical use case is to access all development resources from any platform, e.g. also on your mobile device. Performance and responsiveness: How responsive is the tool or how responsive does it feel. How long do crucial operations take to run, e.g. a full rebuild. Besides those non-functional requirements, tools also need to fulfill functional requirements. As those are specific to a certain tool, we will only consider the cost requirement since typical projects are aimed at fulfilling their functional requirements at the lowest possible cost. As a first requirement, we will look at installability, because it is the most obvious distinction between a desktop-based and a cloud-based solution. For this requirement, we will also introduce some example scenarios and dimensions, that recur for other requirements later on, so the next section is the most comprehensive. Installability is probably the most prominent advantage that is advertised for web-based solutions. The vision is that you can simply log into a system via your Browser and you can directly start to code without installing anything, neither the IDE or tools, nor any runtime environment. Further, you do not need to install any updates anymore, as they are applied in a central way. So let us look at this obvious advantage more in detail. The first interesting dimension of this is how much time you can save with improving the installability. This is connected to the number of developers that you have on-board to use the tooling and the number of people who are occasionally using those tools. Further, it plays a role on how long a developer would use the tool after installation, the shorter the usage the more significant the set-up time would be. Let’s look at three example scenarios. First let’s consider a tutorial/training scenario, where participants should participate in completing exercises. A tutorial/training takes usually a couple of hours or days, so the set-up time is a crucial part here. Further, trainings/tutorials are typically conducted for a bigger number of developers. Anybody who ever had to deal with preparing a setup guide for a tutorial would agree that a browser-based solution would immediately pay off here. Even the simplest and best prepared desktop-based setup will take some time to install. So this scenario is a win for a web-based solution if, and only if, you can rely on a robust high-speed internet connection. Consequently, you can observe that a lot of online tutorials already embed web-based code editors and tooling. The second scenario is an open source project. Many OS project have a mix of different developer roles. Some developers (committers) are regularly contributing to a project. The second group of contributors typically uses a technology (“adopters”), but want to eventually contribute small enhancements and fixes. While for the regular committers, set-up is not that important compared to their time working on the project, occasional contributors are obviously often discouraged from contributing to a project by a complex set-up. Therefore, in this scenario, there is a mismatch between the requirements of two user roles that you need to balance. So is it worth to switch existing committers to a cloud-based solution to ease the life for contributors? Ed Merks has described this issue very well in his blog post in 2014. His conclusion was the creation of a tool called Oomph, which automates the set-up of a desktop IDE for projects. For the source code, Oomph even goes partly a little further than most cloud-based solutions, as it even allows you to automatically check-out the sources. Please see here for a tutorial regarding Oomph. While Oomph greatly improves the set-up process, it does not solve the issue completely. It will still take some time to materialize all project resources (i.e. download time). So for a very small contribution, it might still be too much of a burden. Further, it does not fully automate the creation of an appropriate runtime. If a project requires a lot of external tools (e.g. databases, applications servers, etc.), those have to be installed separately. In turn, it does not touch the regular committer user, as they just continue using their existing and well-proven solutions. In scenarios with such different roles, it is always a good idea to let all developers use the same set-up and tooling. Otherwise, there might be slight differences in their output and further, the committers will usually only maintain their solution well. The third scenario is not differentiated by the type of project, but by the use case: code review. In a scenario where a developer works on implementation within a project every day, she might not care about installability so much, at least other requirements might be more important. In turn, if you only review a code change and you do not implement something regularly, installing/updating all the required tooling plays a significant role. As a consequence, most reviews are already probably done in web interfaces (e.g. Gerrit or Pull Requests). Also the use case is focussed on reading and understanding code, rather than on changing or creating new code. Therefore, other requirements are not so important for a code review compared to a good installability. Like the three scenarios described here, you can categorize any arbitrary project and the according use cases based on the importance of a good installability. The result of this will be very specific to a custom project set-up. Those considerations are naturally already reflected in today’s toolchains, where parts of the tool chain more focussed on reading or browsing code are often web-based. There are some more considerations to make, which are related to installability. One is the updatability. While of course an update to the tooling is hopefully not the same as installing it from scratch, most considerations we had for the installability should be applied for the update case as well. This especially includes, how often updates to the tool are applied. Another obvious dimension is the complexity of the project set-up. The more difficult it is, the bigger the advantage of simplifying it via a cloud solution. For this, we need to differentiate of course between the IDE tooling itself and the necessary runtime environment. The environment is often much more complicated, e.g. if you need to set-up several services, databases and so on. If only the runtime set-up is very complicated, a cloud-based IDE might not be the only valuable solution. There are several ways to ease those setups, even without using a cloud- based IDE, e.g. with docker containers or workspace servers like Eclipse Che. Installability is one of the major advantages of a web-based solution. However, it will only provide a significant advantage, if the use case fits. Therefore, it is worth it to spend some time on defining the core users and use cases of your system and define the importance of installability for them. In a nutshell, installability pays off most in environments, where a lot of people need to and can be on-boarded very fast, and if they do not work continuously on a project. Unfortunately, when onboarding developers it is usually much more time consuming to transfer the required knowledge than to setup the IDE. Portability is the second very obvious advantage of a cloud and browser-based solution over a desktop-based tool. The ultimate goal is that you can access the tooling and runtime with any device which has a browser. As a consequence, you can ideally fulfil your development use case at any location, even from a mobile device. In some discussions, this is currently referred to as “accessibility”. While this strictly speaking means something different, we consider Portability as the ability to access the tool from anywhere on any device. A lot of the considerations we have described for installability can be shared when thinking about the advantage of Portability. Different project roles and different tooling use cases would benefit on a different level. Doing a code review or browsing a diagram on a tablet makes more sense than writing a lot of code. So, again, the detailed roles and use cases will need to be evaluated. We will not repeat that in detail, but focus on new dimensions, which are specific for portability. One additional scenario connected to portability is the ability to share a certain runtime set-up or project state. That means developers always have exactly the same environment. This obviously simplifies life as the typical phrase “I cannot reproduce this on my machine” would no longer occur. However, this only fully applies to the tooling. For the runtime, it plays a role if the runtime platform for a system is unified, too. If the system under development runs natively on different operating systems again, you still need to test different runtime environments. As a consequence, cloud-based tooling currently seems to get adapted in the area of cloud-based development, first. And like mentioned for installability, there are other ways to achieve a uniform setup, although not as unified as a cloud solution. A disadvantage of a pure cloud-based solution is that they often rely on constant internet connection. While this issue becomes less and less relevant, at least it must be considered. Some cloud-solutions already provide a good work-around, e.g. the offline mode of Google Mail. A final word about the dream to be able to contribute to a project from anywhere on any device: While this sounds appealing for certain use cases, do we really want to be called by a client and subsequently feel obligated to fix a bug on our smart phone while we are sitting in a ski lift? Performance is a very interesting requirement to consider. In contrast to installability and portability, there is no clear winner between desktop-based and cloud-based tooling. You will find valid arguments for both to be “more performant”, e.g. this article by Tom Radcliffe claims that desktop IDEs are the clear winner. The major reason for this tie is again that we have to consider the specific use case when talking about performance. While writing and browsing code, we want fast navigation, key bindings and coding features such as auto-completion. While web IDEs have caught up a lot in recent years, you can still claim that a desktop tool is typically more performant for those “local” use cases (as also claimed by Tom Radcliffe in the article referenced above). Things change, when looking at other use cases, e.g. compiling. A powerful cloud-instance can certainly compile a project faster than a typical laptop. Further, it is comparably cheaper and more scalable to gain more resources in a central way. However, when going for a cloud-based solution, scalability must be taken into account. Any advantage is obsolete, if developers have to wait 15 minutes for getting something compiled, because other build jobs are running on the central instance. So for performance, it is important to consider which development use cases are crucial and will benefit performance-wise from either solution. A follow-up decision of a cloud-based solution would be to strip down the hardware for participating developers to save costs (Chromebook scenario). While this sounds like a rational thing to do, not everybody will like the idea of giving away his or her powerful device. Usability also doesn’t have a clear winner in the comparison between desktop-based to web-based IDEs. While advocates of both platforms would claim a clear advantage, this is really a matter of personal taste. Web technologies have become incredibly powerful when it comes to styling, look, and feel. Therefore, you can achieve almost any visualization you would like. Further, there is much more innovation going on in the web area in comparison to, e.g. SWT. On the desktop, depending on the UI Toolkit you use, there might be more restrictions. JavaFX and Swing are powerful when it comes to styling, but Swing is kind of deprecated. SWT has limitations when it comes to styling. However, it probably provides most existing framework support when it comes to tooling (see also “cost vs. features”). Besides styling, native desktop applications have still some advantages in usability, e.g. by supporting native features such as application menus, tray icons, key bindings and such. Although, it is expectable that these advantages will shrink over time as browsers keep on evolving very fast. In any case, usability is not equal to the ability of supporting a dark theme as some browser advocats may try to make us believe. It is worth mentioning that there are platforms combining advantages of both worlds. Platforms such as Visual Studio Code, Atom or Eclipse Theia embed web technologies (HTML and Typescript) into a desktop application (using Electron). At the end of the day, for many projects a very important constraint is cost, meaning the required effort to satisfy your list of functional requirements. A comparison of the required effort on either platform is driven by several parameters. Second, cloud-based solutions usually add some complexity to the architecture due to the required encapsulation of client and server. Of course, you want to have encapsulation of components in a desktop-based tool, too. However, you typically do not have to deal with the fact that components are deployed in a distributed environment. Third, a very central aspect for implementing tooling is the availability of existing frameworks, tools and platforms to reuse. Ecosystems like Eclipse have grown over 17 years now and already provide a tool, framework or plugin for almost everything. Many requirements can be covered with very little effort, just by extending existing tools or by using the right framework. While there are frameworks for cloud-tools, too (such as Orion, Eclipse Che or Theia), they are arguably not as powerful as Eclipse/IntelliJ/NetBeans, yet. This might of course change over time. One mentionable trend is to reuse existing “desktop” components in web-tooling. As an example, Eclipse JDT provides an API to be used using the language server protocol (LSP). This allows you to reuse features such as auto-completion and syntax highlighting from another UI, typically a web-based IDE. While LSP does not yet cover the full feature set of the Eclipse desktop IDE, it is a great way of reusing existing efforts. Finally, powerful frameworks usually also carry the burden of complexity. The advantage of reusing existing stuff typically (or hopefully) justifies the effort of learning to use a framework. In turn, if you just use a tiny bit of a platform, you might be better off in using something slimmer, which covers your use cases just as well. As an example, if you need a plain code editor without any context, e.g. for a tutorial use case, a platform such as Eclipse might be overkill. So it is useful to evaluate the desired feature set and how well it is supported by existing frameworks on the respective technology stack (web vs. desktop). It is also worth it to investigate whether existing features on one stack can be adapted to be reused on the other (e.g. using LSP). This applies in both directions. Not only can you call existing frameworks in the background from a cloud-based solution, it is also possible to embed web-based UI components into desktop applications (see also conclusion). Finally, what makes the dimension of cost vs. features especially difficult is that you typically cannot know exactly what kind of features you need to provide with a tool in the mid-term future. There are obviously many other parameters to consider when comparing the costs of cloud vs. desktop-based tools. This article would go beyond scope if we were to spend a section on all of these, but let us at least mention some more important topics. One meta criterion in the decision for a platform, framework, or technology stack, is the long term availability as well as how actively it is maintained. Again, there is no clear winner, when comparing desktop and web stacks. While you can argue that there is more development going on in the web area, it is in turn extremely volatile. Platforms such as Eclipse have been successfully maintained for 17 years now. There are existing workflows for long-term support (LTS) and suppliers like us providing this as a service. Plus, the platform is very stable in terms of APIs. In turn, web frameworks provide major version updates with improvements almost every year. While this brings in innovation, it also often requires refactoring of an adopting project. As an example, there is currently a lot of variety emerging when it comes to web-based IDEs (e.g. Visual Studio Code, Theia, Eclipse Che, Orion, etc.). We will cover strategies to deal with this risk in a follow-up article. Another meta criterion is the availability of skilled resources. At the moment, you can probably find more Angular developers on the market than SWT experts. However, this may change very quickly – once Angular is not “hip” anymore. Another frequently discussed topic when it comes to cloud-based solutions is of course the security as well as tracing aspect. While it is certainly worth considering, it is probably not the key decision factor for most professional environments, but rather requires special attention. In this article, we have tried to cover the most important considerations when deciding between a cloud or web-based solution and a desktop tool. There are for sure many more things to consider. However, what all dimensions have in common is that it is most important to think about the users, their use cases and the frequency of those. Based on these criteria, you can evaluate the benefits of supporting them in the web or on the desktop. This is especially true, if you already have an existing tool and are considering a migration. In this case, there must be clear advantages justifying the cost. While this is already complex, it is even worth it to make this decision on a per use case basis. This is already happening naturally in our tool landscape, e.g. code reviews are very often conducted using web-interfaces. Identifying the use cases in your tool, which would benefit most from being available online, reduces the effort and risk to migrate everything at once. So it is often a good idea to pick the low hanging fruits first. Ultimately, it will almost never be possible to make a perfect decision. This is especially true, as important criteria, use cases, and technologies change over time and no one can perfectly predict the future. Therefore, the most important thing is to keep some flexibility. That means, even if you decide for a desktop solution, or vice versa, it should be as easy as possible to switch to the other option later on. Even mixtures of both technology stacks on a per use case basis often make sense. While this sounds ambiguous, there are some simple patterns to follow to make this true. We will highlight those strategies in a follow-up article. This strategy also allows an iterative migration, which is often the only viable way tackle the complexity and efforts of migrating existing tool projects. Some Frameworks even proactively support this strategy by supplying implementations based on web- and desktop technology at the same time, e.g. EMF Forms and JSON Forms. Some projects directly aim at a pure web-based solution, typically, if they benefit a lot from the advantages, if they implement something from scratch and if they have a pretty self-contained feature set (e.g. training). Few projects do not consider web-based tooling at all, mostly if they have a defined set of continuous users and a lot of existing investments in their desktop tools. Most projects plan to maintain their desktop solutions in the near future, but will migrate certain use cases to web technology. Therefore, those projects implement certain design patterns allowing this partial migration. We will highlight those patterns in a follow-up article. Follow us on Twitter to get notified about our blog posts. Stay tuned! Finally, if you are dealing with the designing decision in your project and want support, if you want an evaluation of a web-based version of your tools or if you want to make your current tools ready for the upcoming challenges and chances, please do not hesitate to contact us. A great article to compare these different options!

2019-04-20T00:55:47Z

https://eclipsesource.com/blogs/2018/06/19/web-based-vs-desktop-based-tools/

Posted on October 4, 2018 by garrytat Posted in affiliate marketing, Blogging, internet marketing, online marketing, work from home . Customers are essential to any business. Otherwise, even the best products or services will not keep it afloat. that you will be in business for years to come. Continue on for a great deal of useful information. Learn about the buying cycles related to your business when developing lead generation plans. and then decide on whether to buy it or not. Target your offers to this cycle and you will be successful. the more likely your new customer will make the purchase. Utilize customer reviews to help you generate leads. on the benefits of your goods or services. Use these studies to show the benefits of your products along with customer testimonials. You should take the time to understand the value of your leads. Some leads simply won't be what you need for your current campaign. Don't pursue leads that don't fall within your target audience. Getting the best leads is definitely the key to success. Get rid of any opt-out privacy issues people have. Keep track of the leads that you've had opt out of getting incentives and offers. and disrespectful of others' privacy. As you can now see, it is impossible to overstate how important lead generation is. Failing to take it seriously will have a detrimental impact on your endeavor. Using the above tips will help you attract lots of new prospects. Tags: affiliate marketing, Affiliate Marketing Made Simple, Affiliate Marketing Tips, blogging, lead generation, online business, Successful Online Business, work from home . Posted on September 28, 2018 by garrytat Posted in affiliate marketing, Blogging, internet marketing, online marketing . Every business owner needs to understand that Internet marketing is just as important as TV and radio ads. Follow these Internet marketing tips and see if they help to boost business. Whenever and wherever you use your signature online, make sure it appears with your website’s link. If you post to a forum, add your link to your signature so that it will be seen every time one of your posts is read. Include the link in your email signature, so that people will see it whenever you send a message. This will be a way to passively promote your website to everyone you come in contact with on the web and might affect your search engine rankings as well. Write a catchy sentence just before your link that makes people want to see your site. Ask for feedback often. This can be crucial to your success because your perception of how your site looks or how your pricing is may not be the perception of others. Get feedback from customers, relatives and even your competition. Take all of this information under advisement and make any necessary changes. Keep focused and have goals when you first start working with internet marketing. Don’t give up before you see success. For all you know, you will give up when you might’ve been on the brink of success. Make sure that you have everything ready before you launch your website. Endeavors such as this may take a great deal of effort. Always stay focused, and remember the work will pay off later. Internet marketing can really help out your business. It can be used to promote products and services instead of using traditional print and television methods. By keeping the tips in this article handy, you can make Internet marketing a successful business endeavor. Tags: affiliate marketing, Affiliate Marketing Tips, blogging, blogs, Helpful Tips For Using Email To Market, internet marketing, online business, work from home . Posted on September 14, 2018 by garrytat Posted in affiliate marketing, Blogging, internet marketing, online marketing, Successful Online Business, work from home . Tags: affiliate marketing, blogging, how to have success online, internet marketing, niche marketing, Successful Online Business, work from home . Posted on September 12, 2018 by garrytat Posted in affiliate marketing, Blogging, internet marketing, online marketing, work from home . It’s essential to not send your customers a large amount of unwanted emails. Always send out a message that is relevant to your products and target audience. If your readers have found previous messages interesting, they are more likely to open new ones. The following article will give you tips on how to maintain a great email campaign through information that is interesting. Ensure that your audience is targeted correctly. After you get a small list going, go a step further and find ways to get them to invite their friends on board. Always make sure there is “subscribe” link in the emails you send so that those who receive forwarded copies can easily sign themselves up if they are interested. You can use this method to make your list grow organically. You want to make sure that every client has chosen to receive your emails so they don’t feel like you are spamming them. If you do not get their permission, you will get a lot of spam complaints and perhaps lose customers all together. Do not send emails encouraging people to ‘buy now’. ” strategy. This approach appears like spam and you will lose your customers this way. They understand you want sales, but build a solid relationship and stay professional. You will be more likely to get a sale from them. All emails should be proofread before they are sent out. Be certain that anything you send out is grammatically correct. You should also test the layouts of your emails to make sure they are displayed properly on different browsers and devices. Don’t forget, if you have embedded links, to check the links to be sure they function properly. Remember that your email marketing campaigns should be interested to your customers. If your messages are no different than the fake Rolex and mortgage spam they receive every day, your customers will leave your list and tell their friends about that spamming email list they mistakenly signed up for. Use what you’ve just learned from the article above and your customers are sure to appreciate your quality content. Tags: 4 tips for attract visitors to your blog, affiliate marketing, Affiliate Marketing Made Simple, email marketing, Helpful Tips For Using Email To Market, internet marketing, work from home . When people think about email marketing they often consider it spam. You should always work towards changing their minds. It is your job to create an entertaining, informative and effective email campaign that people will look forward to being part of and patronize the business of. These are some great ideas you can try right away. If you plan to tackle email marketing, you need to know you have to have the permission from all those you wish to include on your email list. If you don’t get permission first, you may get lots of spam complaints and even lose otherwise loyal customers. Learn as much as you can, from a variety of sources, to become a master of email marketing. There are lots of great online books or even ones in libraries. There are a lot of classes that you may be able to enroll in to benefit you. Try many different email formats. New offers and the most crucial information should always be at the top. Vary email formats regularly to determine which ones generate the most sales. Once you determine the format that works for your customers, stick with it. This will help build consistency into your email marketing; your subscribers will be familiar with your style and more apt to open your email, as it is something they trust. Do not send any more than a single email message a week. Your customers are busy and don’t want to be bombarded by too many messages. If you send too many messages, your customers may begin deleting them unread. In addition to using what you’ve just read, think of your audience in order to be effective at email marketing. What are they hoping to see? Think about what they would like to read. Then, convert these interests into sales opportunities! Take these ideas and start making money. Tags: 4 tips for attract visitors to your blog, affiliate marketing, Affiliate Marketing Made Simple, affiliate programs, Helpful Tips For Using Email To Market, internet marketing, niche marketing, online business, work from home . Posted on August 21, 2018 by garrytat Posted in affiliate marketing, Blogging, internet marketing, online marketing, work from home . Tags: 25 Free Tips for Marketing your Blog, affiliate marketing, Affiliate Marketing Made Simple, Affiliate Marketing Tips, affiliate programs, blog marketing, blogging, blogs, how to have success online, online business, work from home . Posted on August 18, 2018 by garrytat Posted in affiliate marketing, Blogging, internet marketing, online marketing . You can use affiliate marketing to generate extra revenue for your online business. You need to have a good base of knowledge in order to be successful at affiliate marketing. This article discusses tips that other affiliates have found useful for their businesses. Be sure that you and your affiliate partners are not taking advantage of the process. This accomplishes very little, and many online users view it as an annoyance. In the worst examples, this can spread viruses to customers. Figure out how a company tracks the orders that weren’t done on their website when choosing a program in affiliate marketing. If you are responsible for one of their sales and you do not link them to you, it can cost you money. Once you are making a decent amount of money, you should think about asking for more money from the program that you joined. The affiliate marketing program will want to keep you aboard if you generate a lot of sales and would be more inclined to give you a pay raise. Tell your readers that you are an affiliate marketer from the outset. Your readers won’t hold it against you if you are up-front about it. Being upfront and truthful regarding your affiliate marketing is the best approach. When people understand that your affiliate marketing venture has a purpose and a goal, it will decrease their wariness of the links on your site, increasing the likelihood that they will use the links as intended. Tags: 13 Steps to Successful Blogging, 4 tips for attract visitors to your blog, affiliate marketing, Affiliate Marketing Made Simple, affiliate programs, blog marketing, blogging, blogs, internet marketing, work from home . Posted on June 10, 2018 by garrytat Posted in affiliate marketing, internet marketing, online marketing, Successful Online Business . This day and age everyone wants a successful online business, and why not? You can make your living online if you know how to get started. Here are three essential elements of a successful online business to help you get started. If you are contemplating starting an online business, you are joining one of the fastest growing communities in the history of commerce. Before you jump in you may want to give a little thought to what you need for your business to become successful. Some folks think that all they need is a product and a web site or store front and the world will stampede through their doors. In real life and even in e-life that is not the most likely scenario—in fact I can guarantee it won’t happen that way. To succeed with an online business you need to have a few basics down pat—no exceptions. The first thing that you must have to be successful is a plan. This must be a well thought out business plan not just a vague idea in the back of your head. You may have to pay someone to help you with this, but even so, it’s worth it. A business plan will look at what you have and what you propose to do with it. It will outline your money, inventory, sales goals, profits, losses, distribution, advertising, marketing, competition and even your possible expansion. Consider it the blueprint of your business. A well thought out business plan will combine your purpose, mission, goals and ideas into a comprehensive step by step guide that you can follow. If there are potential pitfalls or downsides to your plan they will be evident before you plunge into the deep end and lose your shirt. Promotion is a key element and without good promotion your business is never going to fly. You may have one of the best ideas and products to be found online but if people are not going to find out about it it may well be a lost cause. You will have to be a marketing and advertising genius or invest a little to get some professional help. Remember that if you cut too many corners to save a little money you are going to pay dearly in the long run. When you hire someone try for the best assistance you can afford. Customer service adds a lot to an online business. You need to treat your customers well because without them your business life is finished. You need to attract and build a supportive and loyal base of great customers with whom you interact. You can keep them on mailing lists and send them updates on a frequent schedule, offer them specials and bonuses. Tags: how to have success online, internet marketing, niche marketing, online business, Successful Online Business, work from home . Posted on April 12, 2018 by garrytat Posted in affiliate marketing, Blogging, internet marketing, online marketing, work from home . You should begin your blog with a free blog hosting service such as wordpress. A free blog host is very rewarding for a new blog. Starting with a free blog hosting service allows you to begin blogging instantly without having any advance knowledge of scripts, hosting, or programming. It allows you to build an audience and buzz for your blog. It allows you to focus on your content and not the internal maintenance of the blog. The best benefit of starting with a free service, is in the case your blog doesn’t become successful you do not lose any money or are you left holding the bill. The great thing about a blog is that they are organized in chronological order, your latest entry is displayed first. When your blog traffic grows greatly and you are ready to upgrade to your own domain then you can simply make your last blog entry the announcement of your “move”. Simply add a last entry stating that your blog has “moved” and type the new blog URL address. Which directs visitors to your new blog site, keeping your following, without a major inconvenience to anyone. Upgrade as you need to…but only when you need to! It’s no secret. You must have traffic to profit from blogs. There are numerous ways to build traffic. Paid advertising, free advertising, viral marketing, search engine marketing, RSS/XML feeds, and word-of-mouth. You should always use your blog URL address in the signature of your email, forum discussions, message boards, or any other communication media. You should submit your blog URL address to search engines and blog directories. You should submit your RSS/XML URL feed to blog ping services like Technorati, Ping-O-Matic, and Blogdigger. You should confidently share your blog with family, friends, co-workers, associates, and business professionals when it relates. Many blogs can be considered as a collection of articles, for this purpose you should submit your blog entries (those that are valuable and lengthy articles) to content syndicators like GoArticles.com. Once submitted your articles can be picked up and published by others. The trick is to make sure you include your Blog URL address in the “About the Author” passage. What this does is create link popularity and backlinks for your blog, when someone picks up your article from the syndication then publish the article on their website the “About the Author” passage is included with each publication and the link you included is followed, crawled, and indexed by search engines. Imagine if your article is popular enough or controversial enough to produce 10,000 publications across the web. The search engines is bound to find your blog in no time with that many publications and credit you a authority on the topic, in return increasing your rank on search engines. The small effort of writing a well written article is rewarding. You should try to write at least 1 full length article every week for syndication and submit your article to at least 10 article syndicators. Use multiple blogging accounts (free) to attract more people. This means you should have a blog with WORDPRESS, WEEBLY and others. The more blog accounts the better (be sure to read and adhere to the Terms of Service for each site). You can copy/paste from 1 blog to all others. Having different blog accounts is like having a publication in different newspapers. This enables you to attract more visitors and this also increases the chance that 1 of your blogs will be in the search engine results for your focused keywords. Once your blog has gained some real momentum and your blog traffic is increasing then it is time to start thinking about turning your traffic into profit. You should use contextual advertising, like Google Adsense or Chitika. Contextual advertising is usually text links which use the content of your blog to publish targeted ads on your blog. The payout is usually based on a pay-per-click model, meaning for ever click an ad receives you are paid a small percentage of the profits. In addition to contextual advertising it is good to also use graphical advertising such as: BlogAds.com, Amazon.com, or General Sponsored Advertising. Please leave a comment so I can improve or if you liked it. Tags: 13 Steps to Successful Blogging, blog, blogging, blogs, internet marketing, niche, niche marketing, weblogs, work from home . Posted on March 15, 2018 by garrytat Posted in affiliate marketing, Blogging, internet marketing . The world doesn’t really need another ‘vanity blog’ about what you had for breakfast. Unless you are a super-model good looking teenage girl who wants to put a lot of photos on your blog, then you are probably going to have a hard time getting noticed. If you already have a vanity blog and are wondering why you are not getting traffic, then you need to know that the vanity blog market is totally saturated. Consider starting or changing your blog to some other topic – an interest or a hobby for example. Next, you need to start posting to forums. Put the URL of the blog in your forum signature (don’t spam forums saying “look at my blog”). If you just join in the conversation naturally, then people will get curious and you will get a few more readers. If the forum you post in is also to do with a similar topic to your blog then you will probably get repeat readers from it! Try to find the most popular forums in the niche you are writing about. To find them, just go over to Google and search for your niche keyword plus ‘forum’ and you should get a list. Try to find forums with at least a few thousand active members. That you have linked to so that they know about you. When people find out that you have talked about them, they will come to see what you said. So will some of their readers. Talking about popular stories from popular blogs may get you more than just a few visitors too. As much as you can (without spamming). In most cases you can put a link back to your own blog and people do follow these links. It is also good to target blogs that talk about the same subject as you, because then you will get targeted readers who are more likely to continue reading your blog. (Avoid using “comment spam” programs as Google can track this and will penalize you). Nobody will return to a blog that is updated weekly or only occasionally. You need to add more content at least once per day, especially in the early stages of getting your blog noticed. This is hugely important. Get fit end up in above image why not check it out! Now if you follow these few rules, then you should be well on the way to getting a constant readership for your blog. Tags: blogging, blogs, internet marketing, niche marketing, online business, weblogs, work from home .

2019-04-23T05:15:41Z

http://garrysmarketingmastery.com/tag/work-from-home/page/2/