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1822 Born in Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Robert was the eleventh of twelve children of a local woollen mill owner. His family wished him to study for the ministry but Robert refused, one reason being his inability to master Latin. He left school at the age of 14 and went to live with an uncle in Charleston, USA, where he was apprenticed to a merchant. Two years later he returned home and taught himself chemistry, electricity and astronomy with the help of a local weaver who had a knowledge of mathematics. Robert's father gave him a workshop and by the time he was 17 years old he had rebuilt his mother's mangle so that wet linen could be passed through the rollers in either direction, had successfully designed and built a ribbon saw, and had completed the first working model of his elliptic rotary steam engine which he was to perfect in later life. He served an engineering apprenticeship in Aberdeen and Dundee before joining a civil engineering company in Glasgow. He then went to work for an Edinburgh firm of civil engineers where he devised a new method of detonating explosive charges by the use of electricity, thus greatly reducing the loss of lives in mines throughout the world. Thomson next worked as a railway engineer and supervised the blasting of chalk cliffs near Dover for the South Eastern Railway. He set up his own railway consultancy business and proposed the line for the Eastern Counties Railway which was accepted by parliament and eventually developed. 1845 Thomson patented the pneumatic tyre. 1846 He was granted a patent in France in 1846 and in the USA in 1847. His tyre consisted of a hollow belt of India-rubber inflated with air so that the wheels presented "a cushion of air to the ground, rail or track on which they run". This elastic belt of rubberised canvas was enclosed within a strong outer casing of leather which was bolted to the wheel. 1847 Thomson's "Aerial Wheels" were demonstrated in London's Regent Park in March 1847 and were fitted to several horse-drawn carriages, greatly improving the comfort of travel and reducing noise. One set ran for 1,200 miles without sign of deterioration. 1847 Mentioned as Robert William Thomson, 18 Adam Street, Adelphi. Civil engineer. For many years Thomson was frustrated by the lack of thin rubber and he turned to the development of his solid rubber tyres. It was not until 43 years later that the pneumatic tyre returned, when it was developed as a bicycle tyre by John Boyd Dunlop. Dunlop was granted a patent in 1888 but two years later was officially informed that it was invalid as Thomson's patent preceded it. 1851 At the Great Exhibition Thomson demonstrated his self-filling fountain pen, and an invalid chair with solid rubber tyres. 1852 The following year he accepted a post in Java, where he designed new machinery for the production of sugar, thus greatly increasing profitability. During this time he invented the first portable steam crane but did not bother to patent it. 1862 Williams returned to Scotland and despite ill health, which latterly confined him to a couch, Thomson's genius was undiminished and some of his most significant work was done during the following ten years. In 1867 he patented solid India-rubber tyres for his road steamers. The Scotsman described this application of vulcanised India-rubber to the wheels of road steamers as "the greatest step which had ever been made in the use of steam on common roads". The resilience of the stout rubber tyres allowed his lightweight five ton steam engine to run on hard or soft, wet or dry surfaces, over obstacles, uphill or downhill. In addition, the thick rubber tyres did not damage the roads as did the iron wheels of heavy traction engines. Thomson's first road steamers, manufactured in his own small workshop in Leith, were fitted with three wheels, the small single wheel at the front being directly below the steering wheel. The tyres, which were 125 mm (5") thick, were corrugated internally and adhered to the wheel by friction. He designed a 6hp traction engine with a vertical boiler mounted amidships and weighing 5 tons which he had built by T. M. Tennant and Co of the Bowershall Works in Edinburgh. 1871 Designer of five road locomotives that were made in 1871 and these were shipped to India to the order of Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton. One was made by Thomson's own company prior to Tennants taking over manufacture. This was Prima. The other four were Chenab, Ravee, Hindus and Sutlej, these were essentially Thomson designs with a small bit of tinkering by Crompton (if that). These four were made by Ransomes, Sims and Head at Ipswich. Thomson's road steamers, often drawing four fully loaded coal wagons totalling 40 tons up and down steep gradients, excited great interest in the streets of Edinburgh. Soon the first omnibus was in service between Edinburgh and Leith. Engines were exported to Java, India, Canada and Australia, and by 1871 were being manufactured under licence in both the UK and the USA by companies such as Tennant and Co of Leith, Charles Burrell and Sons in Thetford and Robey and Co in Lincoln. 1873 Died at his home in Moray Place, Edinburgh, aged 50. His mind was active to the end and his last patent, for elastic belts, seats and cushions, was filed after his death by his wife, Clara. DEATH OF Mr. R. W. THOMSON.- We announce with regret the death of Mr. R. W. Thomson well known as the inventor of india-rubber tires for traction engines, or, as he loved to call them, road steamers. Mr. Thomson was born in Stonehaven, in 1822,and served his time in shops in Aberdeen and Dundee. At the age of nineteen he started for London, With a very few pounds in his pocket, to push the ideas which he had conceived of firing mines by electnc1ty. He took his invention to Faraday, who approved of it; and Cubitt, possibly on the strength of Faraday's opinion, gave young Thomson employment in carrying out blasting operations near Dover. He was next employed by the Stephensons. When not more than twenty-two he turned his attention to the use of india-rubber for tires, but the material was so scarce and dear that he made no progress with the invention. In 1852 he went out to Java to erect sugar machinery, and be there became partner with a manufacturer. Mr. Thomson visited England from time to time, and invented a steam crane and an hydraulic dock about 1860. In 1862 Mr. Thomson left Java and settled in Edinburgh. The history of the traction engine and tires with which his name is united is too well-known to need repetition here. Mr. Thomson was a great sufferer for several years, and his death was by no means unexpected. Mr. R. W. Thompson (sic) was born at Stonehaven in 1822. Early in life he was sent to the United States of America to be made a merchant of, but he disliked the calling, and returned to England when sixteen years of age. He spent two years of his life making experiments in chemistry and electricity, interspersed with engineering schemes. He was next apprenticed to engineering, at Aberdeen and Dundee, filling up his spare moments during this period in inventing a rotary engine, &c. After serving his apprenticeship during which he made rapid progress, he was employed by the Stephensons. In 1844 he commenced business on his own account. Two years later he conceived the idea of applying indiarubber tyres to ordinary conveyances. We read in volume xlv. of the Mechanics' Magazine that noiseless tyres had been applied to a brougham which was running in the London parks, the invention of Mr Thompson. Indiarubber at that time was scarce and badly made, so the invention brought in poor returns. Moreover, the powerful railway companies in due course adopted the tyres to the platform handcarts, and paid him no royalty. Thompson sent in a plan for the 1851 Exhibition, which received some attention; and a fountain pen of his invention was sold inside the exhibition. In 1862 he had settled in Edinburgh. The portable crane was one of his most useful inventions. A traction engine being required for use in Java, from whence Thompson had recently returned, he commenced to design one in harmony with his own ideas, which resulted in his invention of the indiarubber tyres for the wheels, and the "pot" boiler, in 1867, which made his name famous. Although numerous inventors had cherished the idea of applying indiarubber or other soft substances, covered with leather, &c., to the tyres of road locomotives, before 1867, they having no doubt received the inspiration from his noiseless tyres in 1846, yet he was the first to put the idea into practical shape. In December, 1867, a small road locomotive having a "pot" boiler and vulcanised rubber tyres to the wheels was being tested, and the newspapers pronounced the engine to be "in advance of everything which had preceded it." The steam cylinder was 5 in. diameter, and 8 in. stroke. The engine was mounted upon three wheels, all of which were fitted with rubber tyres, the driving wheel tyres being 12 in. wide and 5 in. thick. Numerous trials were run with this engine, drawing a large omnibus behind, at the rate of 10 to 12 miles an hour. It was said: "Mr. Thompson intends to run the engine over to Glasgow by the road, for shipment to Java, where it is to be used for travelling between two towns, about 40 miles apart, taking in tow a large omnibus full of passengers, or trains of wagons, at the speed which has already been acomplished in the trials which have been made in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. We illustrate by Fig. 64 one of Thompson's road steamers, made in 1868 by Messrs. Tennant and Co., of Leith, for use in the Island of Ceylon. From the illustration it will be seen, the horizontal engine and vertical pot boiler were mounted upon a wrought-iron frame of channel iron, presenting a neat and compact appearance. This engine was subjected to some severe trials previous to its shipment for Ceylon. We are unable to afford the space to give particulars of a tithe of the trips made by Mr. Thompson with his road steamers. However, in 1869 some trials were made with two 6-horse engines, under Mr. Thompson's directions, which exhibited their tractive power and speed in a remarkable manner. "One of the 6 ton road steamers was harnessed to four wagons of pig iron — weight of iron and wagons, 34 tons — which it drew without an effort or any stoppage from the foot to the top of Granton Road, a distance of a quarter of a mile, with inclines of one in eighteen. Arrived at the top, it turned with its train and ran back to its starting point It may be pointed out that the drawing of 34 tons, besides the engine's own weight, up one in twenty, is equal to drawing 100 tons or more on a level road. The other road steamer was attached to an omnibus which conveyed a party of gentlemen from Granton to Leith. The distance is two and three-quarter miles, and the journey was performed at the rate of over eight miles an hour, that being the highest speed at which it was deemed safe to run through a town." This road steamer had been built specially for omnibus traffic, and was exceedingly light and compact One morning a road steamer was taken down on to the sea sands at Portobello, and ran up and down there at the rate of ten miles an hour, the rain pouring all the time in torrents. A road steamer was employed at Aberdeen to draw a 15 ton boiler on a 5 ton wagon through some of the streets at three miles an hour. An engineer writes: "It is certainly a feat for a 5 ton engine to drag out a 20 ton load and climb gradients of one in twenty with single gear. We had all Aberdeen turned out as we passed. It was an unusual sight to see the infant 'Hercules' in front of the great boiler, 30 feet long and 7 feet in diameter, bowling along with it like a plaything at its tail, whilst the plaything itself shook the houses again as it danced over the rough causeway." It would be amusing to quote the foolish statements made respecting the unprotected vulcanised rubber tyres; indeed a great deal of harm was done to the cause of indiarubber tyres by the inconsistent statements of some of their promoters, who invested them with almost marvellous capabilities. One advocate remarked that because the soft tyres resembled the feet of the elephant and the camel, which have large soft cushions in hard hoofs, and as no other animal can bear so much walking over hard roads as they can accomplish, therefore these tyres would pass over newly- broken road metal, broken flints, and all kinds of sharp things without leaving a mark on the rubber. And we were repeatedly informed that the tyres were not affected by heat, cold, or moisture, and were durable beyond all conception; and yet, in the face of all this claimed durability, no end of schemes were being proposed and patented for protecting the surface of the tyres from injury. As one writer nicely puts it, when noticing one of the methods of attaching metal shoes round the tyres: "Considering how much has been said concerning the everlasting properties of the indiarubber tyres, it is curious that so much ingenuity should be expended in affording them protection." In January, 1870, Mr. Thompson sent out an eight horse road steamer to India, which, though not a success (says Mr. Crompton), proved that the rubber tyres were not affected by climate, and that the engine was handy and manageable. Four larger engines were eventually Ordered by the Indian Government of which particulars follow. At the Royal Show at Oxford, July, 1870, two road steamers with indiarubber tyres were shown, running about the ground, "twisting, turning — we are inclined to say waltzing — and disporting themselves generally in a manner suggestive of what a pair of gigantic steam kittens or other frolicsome animals might do. One engine was tried without the steel chain armour around the wheel tyre, and on the strain being thrown on one wheel the tyre on that wheel snapped right across." Fig. 65 shows a section of Thompson's original rubber tyred wheel, which was constructed of wrought iron plates, strengthened by angle iron and diagonal stays, with low flanges on each side to keep the tyres in place. The periphery of the wheel was polished, and then drilled all over with 0.625in. holes. The elastic tyre was made a little less in diameter than the wheel, and being stretched in order to get it on the wheel, had a tendency to contract, which helped to keep it in its place. The boss or nave of the wheel was made of cast iron. The wheel ran with the indiarubber in contact with the ground. To prevent the wheels from slipping on soft and damp roads, the chain armour was introduced. Fig. 66 shows a part side elevation of a rubber-tyred wheel with the chain armour applied. Fig. 67 shows a section of the same wheel. This species of armour consisted of steel plates or shoes, joined together by flat links of malleable cast iron, and was a constant source of annoyance in practice, owing to the breakage of the link pins, and the difficulty of keeping the tyre in its place unless the shoes were very tight. When an indiarubber tyre is working without shoes, at a speed of 8 miles per hour, there is a much greater amount of indiarubber on the leading side than on the following side of the wheel. On the leading side the excess of indiarubber accommodates itself by 'bagging out' as shown by Fig. 68 while in the rear it is in a state of tension, and tightly grips the iron wheel. From this action the indiarubber tyre is continuously working round with a reverse motion to that of the drum. The rate of this motion depends upon the tightness with which it was originally stretched, its density, its thickness, and the weight of the wheel. If the wheel is lightly loaded, the tyre will scarcely move, while if it is heavily compressed, a great portion of it is rolled out towards the front," and the amount of the reverse action becomes very great. Under ordinary circumstances the tyre will move once round the drum in from 30 to 40 revolutions. It is evident that friction must take place in the indiarubber tyre, from its contrary rotation round the iron drum, and also from the continuous change of form it undergoes. It is self evident from the above remarks that indiarubber tyres, to be successful, should be relieved of all driving strain. In spite of the bad name, and whatever drawbacks the indiarubber tyres may possess, it is impossible to ignore the following facts, which must be placed to their credit. They act as an excellent spring, and are placed where the spring should be situated — that is, in the nearest point to the road, thus saving the engine from a great amount of wear and tear and rough usage. They are perfectly noiseless. Owing to their flexibility they always possess a regular amount of sur- face of adhesion, which on paved roads is almost indispensable. The injury to the road may be said to be nil, for there has never been any complaint from the road authorities of any damage done by them ; and they are one of the means devised for enabling a road locomotive to travel over the highway at a sensible speed, say 7 to 10 miles an hour. Another advantage of the rubber tyre is mentioned by Mr. John Head. "On good macadam its resistance is more than that of the rigid wheel, and on a rough or newly-metalled road, owing to its great surface, it does not sink below the tops of the stones, while the rigid wheel consumes a great amount of power from sinking into the surface of the road with a crushing and grinding action." The great cost of the rubber tyres had, no doubt, much to do with their ultimate disuse. The failure of the indiarubber tyre at the trials at the Royal Show, at Wolverhampton, in 1871, owing to the slippery state of the land after the excessive rains, is very well known. "The clay was spurted up from under the wheels, and entered between the indiarubber and the rim of the drums, and so lubricated the parts that there was a revolution of the iron rim within the indiarubber." Thompson's tyres answered well for regular road purposes. The experiments carried out by Mr. Crompton, in India, proved: "(i) That upon the level roads of India, traction engines can be relied on to work a service of trains with great regularity and at a fair speed, and that passengers can be conveyed at eight miles an hour. (2) That the rubber tyres, as used in such running, are of great service in reducing the cost of the ordinary engine repairs, and in giving uniformity of adhesion, without in the least degree damaging the surface of the roads." Such was the demand for Thompson's road steamers between 1870 and 1873, that Messrs. Tennant and Co., of Leith, could not make them fast enough. Engines of this type were made by Messrs. Robey and Co., of Lincoln ; Messrs. Ransomes, Sims and Head, of Ipswich; Messrs. Charles Burrell and Sons, of Thetford; and others, particulars of which follow. Thompson's pot boiler was not a success; it was abandoned in favour of the Field vertical, or locomotive multitubular type of boiler. The indiarubber tyres, with suitable protection, continued to be used until the time of Mr. Thompson's death, which occurred on the 8th of March, 1873, he being in his 51st year. Although his two chief inventions were not a thorough success, yet he paved the way for other schemers, and by his efforts steam locomotion on common roads was rapidly advanced. 1922 The centenary of an event which has had a far-reaching effect on mechanical transport was celebrated on June 29th, when a memorial tablet was placed on the house in Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, where R. W. Thomson, the inventor of the pneumatic tire, was born. This page was last edited on 2 January 2019, at 15:31.

2019-04-22T08:59:59Z

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Robert_William_Thomson

Yak farming is the main livelihood source for the high altitude communities in the eastern Himalaya. With increasing access to modern facilities, market opportunities and changes in the legal framework, pastoral systems in the Himalaya are undergoing an unprecedented change. Questionnaire-based qualitative surveys were conducted in five villages of northern Bhutan, to understand how the recent changes in the legal framework for Cordyceps (known as caterpillar fungus) collection have caused specific changes in yak farming practices. Survey results revealed that women were increasingly involved in yak husbandry and household work, after the legalization of Cordyceps collection in 2004. After legalization, the Cordyceps business overtook yak farming as the main income-earning activity. Post-legalization saw a decline in the overall grassland condition and most herders migrated a month earlier to the summer grazing land. Legalization also led to increase in the number of households buying commercial feeds for yaks. Yak mortality increased and fodder scarcity became more acute, which is a major constraint to yak farming. Despite the good income from the Cordyceps business, yak farming was the preferred earning activity over Cordyceps due to herders’ confidence in yak farming as a reliable source of livelihood. Of several measures proposed by yak herders to improve yak farming, increasing grassland productivity and providing subsidies for feed purchases were the most important measures. The study concluded that yak farming practices have undergone a few positive but more undesirable changes after the legalization of Cordyceps collection in 2004. The results suggest multi-disciplinary approaches to address adequately the emerging issues of yak farming e.g. introducing schemes to make yak farming attractive to the mountain youth. The paper suggests interventions to strengthen yak farming and help herders make informed choices in the high altitude rangelands of Bhutan. Essentially, yak farming is at a crossroads where a firm decision is needed to either encourage and strengthen the farming practices or witness the gradual extinction of the age-old tradition. Mountains occupy one fifth of the earth’s surface and are home to at least 1.2 billion people (Körner and Ohsawa 2005). Inaccessibility and marginality make mountains one of the toughest environments for agriculture in terms of diversification of farm activities, resulting in a higher prevalence of vulnerability and warranting particular attention for sustainability of the overall mountain systems (Körner and Ohsawa 2005). In spite of the complex challenges, pastoralists adopt suitable strategies to sustain their livelihoods, with their ability to transform the extensive marginal rangelands into economically productive areas (Mishra et al. 2010). Pastoralists have sustained their economies through efficient utilization of grassland resources by high altitude livestock species, ranging from camelids in the Andes to yak (Bos grunniens) in the Himalayan mountains. However, pastoralism is evolving more rapidly due to changes in the socio-economic, institutional and policy environments (Shreshtha 1994). Several authors (Roder et al. 2002; Tulachan and Neupane 1999; Wangchuk et al. 2014) note that socio-economic development is the main driver of change in the Himalayan farming systems. To deepen our understanding of transitions in mountain farming in modern times, we investigated the case of yak farming in the Bhutan Himalaya, where farming practices have undergone an unprecedented change after the legalization of Cordyceps (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) collection for medicinal purposes. Yak farming is predominant and a major livelihood source for the high altitude communities in Bhutan. However, recently yak farming has become marginalized and overtaken by the market demand for Cordyceps or the caterpillar fungus. Cordyceps, a restricted species until 2003, was legalized for collection in 2004, and has become a major source of income for the high altitude communities (Wangmo and Wangchuk 2008). Cordyceps are found in the remote northern parts of Bhutan, at an altitude of 3,400-4,100 m above sea level (Wangmo and Wangchuk 2008). The sale of Cordyceps fetches herding households a good annual income of up to US$ 24,500 (Wangchuk et al. 2012). Internationally, the value of Cordyceps was reported to have increased by over 1,000% between 1997 and 2012 (Winkler 2013). However, economic development has taken place in the mountains at a price. Environmental pollution through littering and grassland degradation are rampant (Wangchuk et al. 2012; Wangmo and Wangchuk 2008), and may consequently degrade the ecosystem services. Economic development in the mountains is also an indirect factor that weakens traditional cultures (Körner and Ohsawa 2005). To date, empirical studies on Cordyceps have focused mainly on the medicinal properties (Boesi and Cardi 2009; Miller 2009; Panda and Swain 2011), sustainable management (Cannon et al. 2009; Tenzin 2009; Wangmo and Wangchuk 2008) and impacts on livelihood and environment (Wangchuk et al. 2012). A study investigating the effects of legalization of Cordyceps collection on yak farming practices was therefore needed. Wangmo and Wangchuk (2008) provide anecdotal evidence suggesting that Cordyceps collection may compete with yak farming, change yak farming practices and transform the lifestyle of herding communities. Despite these concerns, the changes remain unacknowledged and herding communities do not raise the issue for fear of inviting government policies banning the Cordyceps collection. Hence, there is little understanding of the long-term consequences of indiscriminate and unsustainable collection of Cordyceps to an age-old culture and farming environment of these rangeland communities. Policies to promote livestock farming require sufficient knowledge of the existing production systems and changing practices, without which there could be highly diverse consequences on farm management and future evolution. Without this knowledge, it is highly likely that policy decisions will become difficult and impending conflicts more complex to resolve. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to understand how changes in the legal framework for Cordyceps collection have caused changes in yak farming practices in the high altitude rangelands of Bhutan, and to suggest future interventions for harmonious development of yak herding communities in view of Cordyceps collection activities. The paper unravels the consequences arising from Cordyceps collection activities, contributes to our understandings of the farming scenario and provides insights to policy decisions to benefit the yak herding communities in the longer run. The main Cordyceps collection areas are found in north eastern and western Bhutan. The villages of Naro, Lingzhi, SoiYaksa, Sephu and Khangdang were selected for the study (Figure 1). Study sites in northern Bhutan where Cordyceps collection and yak farming are predominant. The villages are far flung and about two days’ walk from the nearest motor-able roads. The topography of study villages is rugged and the mean maximum temperature of 20°C is recorded in summer and the mean minimum of −10°C in winter. Summer is moderately warm and wet followed by freezing cold and dry winters. The annual rainfall shows a unimodal distribution pattern, with the maximum precipitation from June to September. Every year, huge numbers of people spend about a month from mid-May to mid-June, collecting Cordyceps in the high altitude environment. Collection is banned in other months of the year. To prevent overexploitation of resource, the collection rules were revised within short intervals. Until 2007, only one person from a household was allowed to collect Cordyceps, however, in 2008, the revised rule allowed all members from a household to collect (Cannon et al. 2009; Gould 2007; Wangchuk 2008). From 2009 to date, a new rule was enforced, allowing only three persons from each household to collect. Many of the Cordyceps growing sites in Bhutan are near the border areas of Tibet. This makes easier for the people from the other side of the border to trespass and illegally collect Cordyceps in Bhutan. The practice continues unabated, even with the strict monitoring by the forestry and security personnel. The study was conducted in the summer of 2014 in selected high altitude areas of Thimphu, Paro, Wangdue and Bumthang districts (Figure 1), where yak farming and Cordyceps collection are major income generating activities. For selecting villages and respondents, we employed the snowball sampling technique (Biernacki and Waldorf 1981) at two stages. In the first stage, researchers, development workers and local government bodies were consulted who provided a list of villages actively involved in Cordyceps business and yak farming. In the second stage, village leaders were consulted who recommended households and elderly herders as potential respondents of survey interviews. Using the snowball sampling technique (Biernacki and Waldorf 1981), a total of 100 older herders were identified, of who 60% were male. Both male (50–70 years of age) and female (50–65 years) herders from five villages were recruited as key informants since they were actively involved in yak farming over the last three decades and were able to provide farming details of the past, present and changes likely in the future. The selection criteria included: the herder engaged in yak farming for the past 30 years, have witnessed change in farming practices overtime, be a permanent resident of the village, and be willing to cooperate with the interviewer. The survey was administered through questionnaires with open- and closed-ended questions. The survey questionnaire was divided into two parts. The first part consisted of questions on the overall situation 10 years before the legalization of Cordyceps collection. The same questions were repeated in the second part of the questionnaire in order to track changes in farming practices10 years after the legalization. Information, missed by the questionnaire was captured through informal interviews and discussions during tea breaks and mealtimes after survey interviews. Topics and questions during informal discussions and interviews included hardships of yak farming, rural out-migration, incomes from yak farming and the Cordyceps business, and migratory and feeding practices for yaks. Informal discussions and interviews lasted from 30 minutes to one hour. The first subpart of the questionnaire solicited information on the role of gender and socioeconomics of the herding community. The key informants were asked about the role of gender in yak husbandry. To better understand the changes in the population of the younger generation, the key informants were asked to provide opinions on population size before and after the legalization of Cordyceps collection. Questions were also asked to quantify changes in the number of households and herds. The key informants were requested to rank the income sources before and after the legalization of Cordyceps collection. The second part of the questionnaire delved into grazing site condition and yak feeding practices. To simplify information, we used a three-point Likert scale (Likert 1932) against the commonly used five-point scale, since reliability and validity of information was found to be independent of the scale points employed by Likert-type items (Jacoby and Miichael 1971). The scale was used to gather information on whether the informants agreed, disagreed or did not know about the changes in grazing site condition, extent of forage oat cultivation and feeding of commercial animal feeds to yak, before and after the legalization of Cordyceps collection. We requested information on migratory practices, mainly on the time of migration to summer and winter grazing lands. This part of the questionnaire captured information on the yak mortality rate and its main causes, before and after the legalization of Cordyceps collection. The third part of the questionnaire included questions aimed at identifying the major constraints to yak farming. The constraints before and after the legalization of Cordyceps collection were compared. The final part of the questionnaire sought general opinions on whether the herdsmen preferred yak farming or Cordyceps business. Accordingly, reasons were gathered to explain the preference for particular income-generating activities. The key informants were requested to opine on whether yak farming would decline in the future, followed by questions requesting to substantiate their opinions. Finally, the key informants were asked to put forward their important requests to the government, in order to improve and encourage yak farming in the high altitude rangeland. Depending on the type of data, both parametric and nonparametric tests were performed. The paired-samples t tests were performed on quantitative data. Opinions were displayed by percentages and the chi-square tests were conducted to evaluate differences in opinions before and after the legalization of Cordyceps collection. Ranks for income sources were analyzed with Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The entire dataset was analyzed with SPSS 22 (Landau and Everitt 2004). Comparisons were not made between villages since our interest was to understand the overall changes in yak farming practices before and after the legalization of Cordyceps collection. The percentage of family heads, yak herders by gender and the population size of younger generation, before and after the legalization of Cordyceps collection, are presented in Table 1. The results showed a significant decline in the proportion of men heading the family and herding yaks to and from the grazing fields, whereas the proportion of women as head of family and involvement in yak herding increased significantly after the legalization of Cordyceps collection. The proportion of family heads and yak herders differed by gender, which is consistent with the finding of Joshi et al. (2013) that women are increasingly involved in rangeland resource management in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Following legalization of Cordyceps collection, women are being increasingly involved in animal husbandry and household work, suggesting the growing leadership of women in domestic affairs. This is a positive development, indicating considerable improvement in women’s role at the family level, suggesting that women might have more control over yak farming in the future. It would also mean that such positive developments may overcome gender-based constraints hindering women as farmers and managers of natural resources, particularly from the perspective of the future of yak farming. However, the bigger role of women would also mean increase in responsibilities and labour burden of women. Although, this study was unable to generate evidence on how men devote most of their time to off-farm activities such as Cordyceps collection, tourism and market related activities, Joshi et al. (2013) reported that men’s roles in the Himalayan region are limited to their involvement in the wage labour and marketing of agricultural products and they spend less time on pastoral activities, as compared with women. Therefore, the results suggest that men shall have a greater role in off-farm income generating activities in the future. The findings of this study on the changing role of gender should not be considered as a general trend but mainly a phenomenon in yak farming and Cordyceps growing regions in the Bhutan Himalaya. *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ns-non-significant. The population size of the younger generation was significantly smaller after the legalization of Cordyceps collection (Table 1), showing a decline in the population of rural youth. This is likely to result in acute shortage of farm labourers and may impede yak farming in the future. Informal discussions with both young and old villagers revealed that yak farming is becoming increasingly difficult. The younger generation are aware of the hardship of yak husbandry in remote and inaccessible areas and the low return on investment as compared to the off-farm businesses such as tourism and Cordyceps collection. Thus, yak farming is becoming less popular with the younger generation. Although, the causes of rural youth decline are multiple and complex, Wangchuk et al. (2014) attributed rural–urban migration to the rising tendency of young and literate people to migrate to urban areas seeking better economic opportunities. Relating the current trend of declining number of youth to the future population structure, our study suggests that the future herding community will most likely be comprised of elderly people. This cautions the need for the herding communities to adapt to the generational change. Accordingly, it sends out an important signal for the government agencies to step up efforts to address the issue, if yak farming is not to face extinction. Although non-significant, we detected an increase in the number of households by 152 over the last two decades and a decline in the number of herds by 75 after Cordyceps collection (Table 1). The increase in household numbers and decline in herd numbers may not necessarily be due to legalization but can be attributed to two other possible reasons. Firstly, the increase in household numbers is probably attributable to the customary practice of traditional rural families in Bhutan of dividing land between the family members, with each generation inheriting consecutively smaller patches of land (Wangchuk et al. 2014). The new houses built on inherited land results in the increase in number of households over the years. Secondly, informal discussions revealed that, due to better economic opportunities elsewhere and increasing difficulty in yak farming, there are cases of some herding families giving up yak farming and migrating to urban areas in the recent years. The herds were often sold to fellow herders, which might explain the consequent decline in the total number of herds without a decline in overall yak numbers, while individual herd sizes may have increased. About 77 percent of respondents ranked yak farming as the main source of income for the herding families before legalizing collection of Cordyceps (Figure 2). However, after 2004, with herding families legally authorized to collect Cordyceps, about 70 percent of respondents mentioned the collection and sale of Cordyceps as the main source of income, followed by yak farming. Herdsmen often claim that the income obtained from a month- long collection of Cordyceps is by many folds greater than the income earned from year-long yak farming. This is probably the main reason why the numbers of Cordyceps collectors are on the rise in the recent years (Wangchuk et al. 2012). Main income sources before (1993–2003) and after (2004–2014) the legalization of Cordyceps collection. Grazing land was said to have degraded after the legalization of Cordyceps collection, according to over 70 percent of the respondents (Figure 3). The results highlight the perception of increased degradation of the grasslands arising from continued intensive collection of Cordyceps and overgrazing by yaks and horses. Amongst the causes of grazing land degradation, Cordyceps collection activity was stated as the main cause by over 50 percent of respondents. According to herdsmen during the informal discussions, the number of illegal collectors from across the Bhutan-Tibet border is unaccounted for, and was said to outnumber the Bhutanese collectors, which contributes to grazing land degradation. Wangmo and Wangchuk (2008) reported that Cordyceps collection involved digging up soil, which is often left unattended, exposing the bare soil to erosion by monsoonal rain. Similarly to findings by Wangchuk et al. (2012), key informants mentioned littering of non-degradable plastic food wrappers and bottles by Cordyceps collectors and lack of proper garbage management as one of the causes of environmental degradation. Occurrence and causes of poor grazing site condition before (1993–2003) and after (2004–2014) the legalization of Cordyceps collection. According to a quarter of respondents, overgrazing is another cause of grassland degradation. Herders mentioned that, the Cordyceps collection has led to an increase in the number of horses grazing the grasslands. With the rising number of collectors over recent years, a large number of horses are used to transport basic necessities to the collection sites in order to support a month-long collection of Cordyceps in a difficult terrain. Furthermore, in the informal discussions, the herdsmen described the situation being aggravated by grazing pressure from horses used for tourism activities. Wangchuk et al. (2006) equated grazing by one horse to grazing by ten adult cattle for one day in the same area. Further, the carrying capacity of high altitude grassland is low, with one livestock unit requiring about 4.5 ha of well-managed grassland (Wangchuk et al. 2013). Thus, overstocking on less productive grassland explains the overgrazing and consequent degradation of grassland. The yak herders migrate to summer grazing pastures in April and May, located in the high altitude region between 3,800-4,500 m above sea level; these are also the sites for Cordyceps collection. Although, there was no significant change in timing of migration to the winter grazing land, we detected a significant difference in migration timing to the summer grazing land, before and after the legalization of Cordyceps collection (Figure 4). The proportion of herders migrating to the summer grazing land in April increased by about 20 percent after the legalization. On the contrary, we detected a significant drop of about 25 percent in the proportion of herders migrating to the summer grazing land in May. The shift in time of migration suggests that most herders are spending more time in the summer grazing land, after the legalization. Since herders found that summer grazing lands are increasingly degraded by Cordyceps collection activities with consequent decrease in the productivity of grasslands, to ensure sufficient forage for their yaks, most herders migrate to the summer grazing land a month earlier, after legalization of Cordyceps collection, as opposed to the migration time followed before legalization. Month of migration to summer and winter grazing lands before (1993–2003) and after (2004–2014) the legalization of Cordyceps collection. Our study showed improvements in yak feeding practices after the legalization. We detected a fivefold increase in the proportion of respondents feeding commercial feed (oil cakes and pellets) to yaks (Table 2). This practice reflects the greater purchasing power from the Cordyceps business, which was the main income source after the legalization. This is a positive trend, indicating that yaks are receiving better nutrition. However, about 77 percent of respondents agreed that yak mortality has increased after the legalization. Of the several reasons outlined, forage scarcity featured as the most important cause of yak mortality and a major constraint to yak farming, followed by wildlife predation and disease (Coenurus multiceps multiceps) (Table 2). This means that legalization and escalating pasture forage shortages have contributed to the deteriorating situation of yak farming in the Bhutan Himalaya. *p ≤ 0.05, ***p ≤ 0.001, ns-non-significant. About 63 percent of respondents preferred yak farming over the Cordyceps business in the long term (Table 3). This finding suggests that yak farming is an assured source of steady income for a large number of respondents, in spite of the Cordyceps being a lucrative business venture. When probed on the main reason for respondents’ preferences, yak farming was mentioned to be sustainable and resilient at the time of food scarcity. Yaks have been reared for centuries and are strongly linked to the herders’ identity and culture, which instils more confidence for yak farming. The yaks survive the harsh conditions and the herders have an intuitive ability to sustainably derive their livelihood from yak farming (Khan 1995). On the contrary, most respondents viewed Cordyceps collection as an uncertain future, due to overexploitation of the resource, fluctuation in market price and greater risks involved in collection activities in the difficult terrain under harsh weather conditions. This reiterates the prediction of Wangchuk et al. (2006) that the price of Cordyceps would fluctuate in the future. Cordyceps, a resource of immense commercial value, runs the risk of over-exploitation and the issue of sustainability looms large (Winkler 2013). Reports from some parts of the Cordyceps growing region in China indicate a sharp decline in Cordyceps production due to over-harvesting (Stone 2008; Winkler 2013). Winkler (2013) fears that the overly intense collection could lead to extinction of the Cordyceps resource. In Bhutan, without adequate monitoring of the Cordyceps sites, the illegal harvesting by the poachers from across the border with Tibet will threaten the sustainability of the resource. Which income generating activity would you prefer in the long run? Why do you prefer the particular activity? Will the yak farming decline in future? What are the main reasons likely to cause decline in yak farming in future? Despite the fact that yak farming is preferred over the Cordyceps business, about 88 percent of respondents felt that yak farming will decline in the future (Table 3). This was linked to yak farming becoming difficult, mainly because of the increased forage shortage and yak mortality due to disease. The second important reason put forward for the likely decline in yak farming was rural out-migration. According to respondents during the informal discussions, the migration trend is on the rise and the younger generation seemed to show less interest to take up yak farming. Rural–urban migration is not only a Bhutanese phenomenon; it has been reported in most rural regions around the world due to better economic opportunities elsewhere, causing damage to rural communities in terms of skewed demographic profiles, reductions in services and loss of local culture (Stockdale 2004). Rural out-migration is becoming common in most Asian countries, where the exit of younger family members is leaving more labour burdens on elderly people and children in rural areas, leading to rise in child farm labour (Meerza 2010). The present scenario highlights the need to consider introducing better rural schemes and opportunities to retain rural youth and encourage yak farming. The growing interest in Cordyceps business shall also contribute to a decline in yak farming. This is because the income from the sale of Cordyceps is invested in land and infrastructure in the urban areas, where the herdsmen and their families are spending more time per year. The measures proposed by respondents to improve and encourage yak farming are presented in Table 4. Over half of the respondents felt that the improvement in yak farming can be possible through an increase in forage production, in terms of both quantity and quality, at subsidized rates. Improvements in forage production and availability may be beneficial for yak enterprises, but our study shows that the viability of yak farming will be threatened by the increasing farm labour shortage resulting from rural out-migration. The need to improve the breed of yaks was the second most important request, by 15% herders who thought the yak breed is on the decline. More importance placed on the Cordyceps business could probably have led to less attention on improving yak breed. The decline in breed could also be explained by the repeated and traditional pure breeding practices common in the yak herding community which are reported to have harmful effects on yak performance (Wiener et al. 2003). Inbreeding in yaks is a particular problem in Bhutan, Nepal and India (Cai and Wiener 1995) and the lack of an efficient yak breeding program to maintain the genetic diversity in yaks is reported as a major problem in Nepal (Shaha 2000). The need for rules and regulations to prevent degradation of grazing land by Cordyceps collection activities was the third most important request to the government. The high altitude communities are fully aware of the ill effects of Cordyceps collection on grazing land and they expressed concern to prevent decline in grazing land productivity. Our findings confirm the apprehension of Wangmo and Wangchuk (2008) who found the collection techniques used by Cordyceps collectors destructive to grasslands. Our study highlights a series of changes in yak farming practices after the legalization of Cordyceps collection. Legalization has resulted in a few positive but more undesirable changes in overall yak farming. Positive changes included more income from Cordyceps business and better nutrition for yaks. Undesirable changes were the increased role of women in household chores, deteriorated grassland condition, and increased yak mortality due to acute pasture shortage. Legislation has partly contributed to rural–urban migration. The escalating competition between yak farming and Cordyceps business may lead to a decline in yak farming in the long run. This may accelerate the rural out-migration and aggravate the farming situation in the mountains. Yak farming is becoming increasingly vulnerable as the population of younger rural people is reduced and productivity of grasslands declines. Although difficult to achieve, appropriate schemes are needed to make yak farming attractive to the mountain youth. The high altitude communities shall continue to benefit substantially from the Cordyceps business. However, it is of paramount importance to invent and promote suitable harvesting techniques to ensure minimum damage to the grassland. It is hoped that the future government interventions will focus on increasing the productivity of grasslands, improving the breed of yaks and regulating Cordyceps collection to avoid grassland degradation. The government also needs to put in place a levy mechanism, whereby a small percentage of income from Cordyceps is invested in grassland renovation. In essence, yak farming is at a crossroads where a firm decision is needed to either strengthen the age-old tradition or witness its gradual extinction. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Royal Government of Bhutan. We also thank Mr. Thubten, Mr. Samten Nidup, Mr. Harilal Nirola and Mr. Karma Dorji for their valuable assistance during the field surveys. Both authors contributed to development of the concept and survey questionnaire, field interviews and data collection, data analysis and drafting of the manuscript. The final manuscript was approved by both authors. KW (Ph.D.) is Pasture Ecologist and Deputy Chief Research Officer at the Renewable Natural Resources Research and Development Center (RNRRDC) in Bumthang, Bhutan and carries out research on rural livelihood, poverty alleviation, climate change and grasslands. JW is a Principal Livestock Health Officer at RNRRDC, Bumthang and conducts research on poverty alleviation and rural dairy development. Miller, RA. 2009. The Cordyceps sinensis medicinal mushroom. www.nexusmagazine.com/products/the-cordyceps-sinensis-medicinal-mushroom-detail. Accesed 20 September, 2014.

2019-04-25T18:44:27Z

https://pastoralismjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13570-015-0025-x

Lien Claimants attempted to collect on valid judgments they hold against Iran for their injuries arising out of terrorism sponsored by Iran. Lien Claimants seek to attach a $2.8 million judgment that the Ministry obtained in an underlying arbitration with an American company, Cubic. The district court granted Lien Claimants’ motion to attach the Cubic Judgment. The court held that the United States does not violate its obligations under the Algiers Accords by permitting Lien Claimants to attach the Cubic Judgment. The court also held that the Cubic Judgment is a blocked asset pursuant to President Obama’s 2012 Executive Order No. 13359 subject to attachment and execution under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), 28 U.S.C. 1610 note. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. Court Description: Attachment of Judgments. The panel affirmed the district court’s grant of lien claimants’ motion to attach a judgment that the Ministry of Defense of Iran obtained in an underlying arbitration with an American company. The lien claimants moved to attach the judgment, known as the “Cubic Judgment,” in order to collect on judgments they hold against the Islamic Republic of Iran for their injuries arising out of terrorism sponsored by Iran. The panel held that the Algiers Accords, by which the United States and Iran resolved the Iranian Hostage Crisis, did not prevent the lien claimants from attaching the Cubic Judgment. The panel also held that the Cubic Judgment was a blocked asset pursuant to President Obama’s 2012 MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM 3 Executive Order No. 13359, subject to attachment and execution under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE AND SUPPORT FOR THE ARMED FORCES OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, as Successor in Interest to the Ministry of War of the Government of Iran, Petitioner-Appellant, v. No. 13-57182 D.C. No. 3:98-CV-01165B-DHB OPINION RENAY FRYM; STUART E. HERSH; ABRAHAM MENDELSON; DANIEL J. MILLER; FRANCE MOKHATEB RAFII; ELENA ROZENMAN; NOAM ROZENMAN; TZVI ROZENMAN; DEBORAH RUBIN; JENNY RUBIN, Claimants-Appellees, and CUBIC DEFENSE SYSTEMS, INC., as Successor in Interest to Cubic International Sales Corporation, Respondent. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Barry Ted Moskowitz, Chief District Judge, Presiding 2 MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM Argued and Submitted February 2, 2016—Pasadena, California Filed February 26, 2016 Before: Dorothy W. Nelson, Consuelo M. Callahan, and N. Randy Smith, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge D.W. Nelson SUMMARY* Attachment of Judgments The panel affirmed the district court’s grant of lien claimants’ motion to attach a judgment that the Ministry of Defense of Iran obtained in an underlying arbitration with an American company. The lien claimants moved to attach the judgment, known as the “Cubic Judgment,” in order to collect on judgments they hold against the Islamic Republic of Iran for their injuries arising out of terrorism sponsored by Iran. The panel held that the Algiers Accords, by which the United States and Iran resolved the Iranian Hostage Crisis, did not prevent the lien claimants from attaching the Cubic Judgment. The panel also held that the Cubic Judgment was a blocked asset pursuant to President Obama’s 2012 * This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM 3 Executive Order No. 13359, subject to attachment and execution under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. COUNSEL Steven W. Kerekes (argued), Pasadena, California, for Petitioner-Appellant. Jonathan R. Mook (argued), DimuroGinsberg, P.C., Alexandria, Virginia; Philip J. Hirschkop, Hirschkop & Associates, Lorton, Virginia, for Claimant-Appellee France M. Rafii. David J. Strachman (argued), McIntyre Tate LLP, Providence, Rhode Island, for Claimants-Appellees Jenny Rubin, Deborah Rubin, Daniel Miller, Abraham Mendelson, Stuart E. Hersh, Renay Frym, Noam Rozenman, Elena Rozenman, and Tzvi Rozenman. Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General; Laura E. Duffy, United States Attorney; Sharon Swingle and Benjamin M. Schultz (argued), Attorneys, Appellate Staff Civil Division, United States Department of Justice; Lisa. J. Grosh, Assistant Legal Advisor, Department of State; Bradley T. Smith, Chief Counsel, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of the Treasury, Washington D.C, for Amicus Curiae United States. 4 MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM OPINION D.W. NELSON, Senior Circuit Judge: This case involves an attempt by ten American citizens (hereinafter Lien Claimants) to collect on valid judgments they hold against the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) for their injuries arising out of terrorism sponsored by Iran. The Lien Claimants seek to attach a $2.8 million judgment1 that the Ministry of Defense of Iran (the Ministry) obtained in an underlying arbitration with an American company, Cubic Defense Systems, Inc (Cubic). The district court granted Lien Claimants’ motion to attach the Cubic Judgment. The Ministry timely appealed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.2 1 With accrued interest and the addition of attorneys’ fees, over $9.4 million is available. We refer to the underlying judgment as the “Cubic Judgment.” 2 The district court stayed disbursement of funds to Lien Claimants pending the outcome of the Ministry’s appeal. At oral argument, the Ministry requested that this Court maintain the stay of disbursement pending the Ministry’s petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court. We decline the Ministry’s request. The Ministry has not shown “both a probability of success on the merits and the possibility of irreparable injury,” or “that serious legal questions are raised and that the balance of hardships tips sharply in its favor.” Cf. Lopez v. Heckler, 713 F.2d 1432, 1435 (9th Cir. 1983). MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM 5 I. Background Like all foreign states, Iran is protected by sovereign immunity. See Saudi Arabia v. Nelson, 507 U.S. 349, 355 (1993) (“A foreign state is presumptively immune from suit in United States’ courts.”). Absent an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1602–1611, a foreign state cannot be sued nor can its assets be attached to satisfy a judgment.3 Saudi Arabia, 507 U.S. at 355. One such exception is for claims arising out of state-sponsored terrorism. 28 U.S.C. § 1605A. The Lien Claimants hold judgments against Iran based on terrorist activity that Iran sponsored. Claimant France M. Rafii’s father, Dr. Shapoir Bakhtiar, was a former prime minister of Iran. In 1991, Iranian agents murdered Dr. Bakhtiar in his home in Paris, France, because of his political opposition to the Islamic regime. In 2001, Rafii sued Iran under the state-sponsored terrorism exception to the FSIA. Iran did not appear. The district court conducted a two-day bench trial and entered default judgment against Iran for $5 million in compensatory damages (after making the necessary factual, jurisdictional, and statutory findings). The Ministry does not dispute the validity of the judgment. 3 The Ministry of Defense is an inseparable part of the Republic of Iran, and it therefore qualifies as a “foreign state” within the meaning of the FSIA. Ministry of Def. & Support for Armed Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran v. Cubic Def. Sys., Inc., 495 F.3d 1024, 1034–36 (9th Cir. 2007), rev'd on other grounds sub nom. Ministry of Def. & Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran v. Elahi, 556 U.S. 366 (2009). 6 MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM In 1997, Hamas detonated a suicide bomb at a pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, injuring many American citizens. The Rubin Claimants are a group of nine individuals who either were themselves injured in the bombing, or whose relatives were injured. In 2001, the Rubin Claimants sued Iran for its part in the bombing under the state-sponsored terrorism exception to the FSIA. Iran did not appear. The district court conducted a four-day evidentiary hearing and concluded that Iran provided terrorist training and other material assistance to the bombers. After evaluating all of the Rubin Claimants’ compensatory damages, based on each plaintiff’s injuries, the district court entered default judgment against Iran and ordered Iran to pay the damages ranging from $2.5 million to $15 million. The Ministry does not dispute the validity of the judgment. Despite these valid judgments against Iran, Lien Claimants initially lacked any means to collect because the state-sponsored terrorism exception to the FSIA created an anomaly. While the exception abrogated a foreign sovereign’s immunity from judgment, it left in place the foreign sovereign’s immunity from attachment of its assets. In 2002, Congress addressed this problem, enacting the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), Pub. L. No. 107–297, § 201, 116 Stat. 2322, 2337 (codified in relevant part at 28 U.S.C. § 1610 note). As originally enacted, section 201(a) provides: Notwithstanding any other provision of law . . . , in every case in which a person has obtained a judgment against a terrorist party on a claim based upon an act of terrorism, or for which a terrorist party is not immune MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM 7 under [28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7) (2000)], the blocked assets of that terrorist party (including the blocked assets of any agency or instrumentality of that terrorist party) shall be subject to execution or attachment in aid of execution in order to satisfy such judgment to the extent any compensatory damages for which such terrorist party has been adjudged liable. “Blocked” assets include assets “seized or frozen by the United States” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. §§ 1701–1706. See TRIA § 201(d)(2). The TRIA therefore permits attachment when it might have otherwise been barred by the FSIA.4 In 1977, Cubic agreed to sell the Ministry an air combat maneuvering range system (ACMR) for $17 million. Additionally, under a separate service contract, Cubic agreed to maintain the ACMR for Iran. By October 1978, Iran had paid over $12 million of the purchase price and modest sums on the service contract. By February 1979, Cubic obtained export permits and was poised to transfer the equipment to Iran. 4 Congress amended the FSIA as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, Pub. L. No. 110–181, 122 Stat. 3 (2008). Specifically, Congress replaced the terrorism exception to sovereign immunity that had been codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7) with a new terrorism exception codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1605A. The new exception provides an explicit private right of action for U.S. citizens injured by state sponsors of terrorism. In addition, Congress created a special attachment provision for plaintiffs holding a Section 1605A judgment against a foreign state. See 28 U.S.C. §1610(g). 8 MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM But, by November 1979, the Iranian revolution had disrupted relations between Iran and the United States. The revolution permanently prevented full performance of the sales and maintenance contracts. Iran and Cubic eventually entered into a modified agreement, under which Cubic would attempt to sell the ACMR to another country. Depending on the result of Cubic’s attempt to resell the ACMR, either Iran would be entitled to partial reimbursement for payments it made to Cubic, or Cubic would be entitled to additional payment from Iran. In the Fall of 1982, Cubic sold the equipment to Canada but ignored Iran’s requests for an accounting. In 1991, pursuant to its contracts with Cubic, Iran initiated arbitration proceedings with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). In 1997, the ICC found that Iran and Cubic agreed to discontinue the acquisition and maintenance contracts in light of the revolution, and that they had reached a modified agreement permitting Cubic to sell the equipment to another country. The ICC held that Cubic owed Iran $2.8 million plus interest and costs. In 1998, the Ministry filed a petition to confirm the arbitration award. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California confirmed the award. It entered the Cubic Judgment in August 1999. After the final resolution of this dispute, Cubic deposited funds covering the Cubic Judgment with the Southern District of California. The Lien Claimants moved to attach the Cubic Judgment. The Ministry opposed Lien Claimants’ attempts, arguing: (1) that the Algiers Accords, by which the United States and Iran resolved the Iranian Hostage Crisis, required the United MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM 9 States to protect the Cubic Judgment from attachment; and (2) that the Cubic Judgment was in any event not attachable under the TRIA or any other statute. The district court granted Lien Claimants’ motion to attach. It held that allowing attachment would not violate the United States’ obligations under the Algiers Accords because the United States committed only to restore Iran to its preNovember 1979 position. As of 1979, the district court explained, Iran did not have an interest in the confirmed arbitration award. The district court further held that the Cubic Judgment was a “blocked asset” within the meaning of the TRIA. The court reasoned that the Cubic Judgment was blocked pursuant to President Obama’s 2012 Executive Order No. 13359, as well as pursuant to President Bush’s 2005 Executive Order No. 13382. It therefore found that the Cubic Judgment was subject to attachment under the TRIA. In the alternative, the district court held that the Rubin Claimants could attach the Cubic Judgment under 28 U.S.C. § 1610(g), the special attachment provision of the FSIA for creditors holding a Section 1605A terrorism-related judgment against a foreign state. II. Standard of Review We review the district court’s interpretation of treaties, statutes, regulations, and executive orders de novo. See Motorola, Inc. v. Fed. Express Corp., 308 F.3d 995, 999, n.5 (9th Cir. 2002) (treaties); City of Los Angeles v. United States Dep’t of Commerce, 307 F.3d 859, 868 (9th Cir. 2002) (statutes); United States v. Willfong, 274 F.3d 1297, 1300 (9th 10 MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM Cir. 2001) (regulations); United States v. Washington, 969 F.2d 752, 754–55 (9th Cir. 1992) (executive orders). III. Discussion We hold that the United States does not violate its obligations under the Algiers Accords by permitting Lien Claimants to attach the Cubic Judgment. We also hold that the Cubic Judgment is a blocked asset pursuant to President Obama’s 2012 Executive Order No. 13359 subject to attachment and execution under the TRIA. Because it is not necessary to our decision, we do not address whether the Cubic Judgment is also a blocked asset pursuant to President Bush’s 2005 Executive Order No. 13382. Similarly, we decline to address the district court’s alternative holding that the Rubin Claimants can attach the Cubic Judgment under 28 U.S.C. § 1610(g). 1. Permitting Lien Claimants to attach the Cubic Judgment does not violate the United States’ obligations under the Algiers Accords. The Algiers Accords do not prevent Lien Claimants from attaching the Cubic Judgment because the Ministry’s interest in the Cubic Judgment did not arise until after November 14, 1979. As the Supreme Court specifically held in Ministry of Defense & Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran v. Elahi, the appropriate property interest to consider is Iran’s interest in the Cubic Judgment, which did not arise until 1998. 556 U.S. 366, 376–77 (2009). In November 1979, Iran took hostages at the American Embassy in Tehran. Invoking the International Emergency MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM 11 Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), President Carter responded by issuing Executive Order 12170, which “blocked all property and interests in property of the Government of Iran.” Exec. Order 12170, 44 Fed. Reg. 65729 (Nov. 14, 1979).5 The Department of Treasury promulgated the Iranian Assets Control Regulations to execute President Carter’s Executive Order. 31 C.F.R. pt. 535, 44 Fed. Reg. 65279–01 (Nov. 15, 1979). The Regulations provide that “[n]o property subject to the jurisdiction of the United States or which is in the possession or control of persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States in which on or after the effective date Iran has any interest of any nature whatsoever may be transferred, paid, exported, or withdrawn or otherwise dealt in except as authorized.” 31 C.F.R. § 535.201 (2013). The freeze took effect on November 14, 1979. On January 19, 1981, the United States and Iran settled the hostage crisis and entered into the Algiers Accords. The United States agreed to “restore the financial position of Iran, in so far as possible, to that which existed prior to November 14, 1979.” The purpose of the Algiers Accords was to return Iran to the position it was in before President Carter froze Iran’s assets in response to the taking of hostages at the American Embassy. In essence, the Ministry argues that based on a number of factors—most importantly, $12 million in payments Iran made to Cubic on the $17 million sales contract—Iran had a 5 Under the IEEPA, the President can impose economic sanctions to respond to “unusual and extraordinary” international threats. 50 U.S.C. §§ 1701, 1702(a). These sanctions are administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). 12 MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM property interest in the ACMR before November 14, 1979. Therefore, according to the Ministry, for the United States to honor its commitments under the Algiers Accords, it must protect the Cubic Judgment from attachment. But, under the Supreme Court’s decision in Elahi, when Iran gained a property interest in the ACMR is irrelevant to our inquiry. Elahi involved an attempt by a different lien claimant to attach the Cubic Judgment under the TRIA.6 The Supreme Court rejected this Court’s determination that the ACMR was the relevant asset at issue. In so holding, the Court explained that the lien claimants in that case did not seek to attach the ACMR, but instead tried to attach the “judgment enforcing [the] arbitration award based upon Cubic’s failure to account to Iran for Iran’s share of the proceeds of that system’s sale.” Elahi, 556 U.S. at 376. The Court explained that Iran’s interest in the Cubic Judgment did not arise until 1998, when the district court confirmed the arbitration award. Id. Further, the Supreme Court explained, even Iran’s property interest underlying the Cubic Judgment—the proceeds from the sale to Canada—did not arise until October 1982 at the earliest. Only after Cubic sold the equipment could it “reasonably, comprehensively, and precisely account” for the result of its resale attempts. Id. at 376–77 (internal quotations omitted). 6 We note that, before the Supreme Court in Elahi, the Ministry made a contrary argument to the one it makes here. There, the Ministry asserted that Iran’s interest in the Cubic Judgment could not be “backdated” to 1981. MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM 13 Under Elahi, Iran did not have an interest in the Cubic Judgment or in the property underlying the judgment until well after the Algiers Accords were consummated. Permitting Lien Claimants to attach the Cubic Judgment would therefore not cause the United States to run afoul of its obligations under the Algiers Accords.7 2. The Cubic Judgment is a blocked asset subject to attachment and execution under the TRIA. The Cubic Judgment is a “blocked asset” pursuant to President Obama’s 2012 Executive Order No. 13539. It is therefore subject to attachment and execution pursuant to the TRIA. In 2012, President Obama invoked the IEEPA to block “[a]ll property and interests in property of the Government of Iran . . . that are in the United States.”8 Exec. Order No. 13359, 77 Fed. Reg. 6659, 6659 (Feb. 5, 2012). However, 7 The United States agrees with this conclusion. In its amicus brief, the United States contends that its “longstanding position . . . is that the [Algiers Accords] simply required the United States to return, as directed by Iran, specified Iranian properties that were in existence and subject to jurisdiction as of January 19, 1981 (the date of the Accords). The United States has no transfer obligation with respect to property that Iran acquired after the date of the Accords.” Brief of the United States as Amicus Curiae at 18–19. The government’s interpretation of its own agreement is entitled to “great weight.” Sumitomo Shoji Am., Inc. v. Avagliano, 457 U.S. 176, 184–85 & n.10 (1982). 8 This Court has already found that the Ministry is “an inherent part of the state of Iran.” Ministry of Defense, 495 F.3d at 1036, rev’d on other grounds by Elahi, 556 U.S. 366 (2009). Therefore, the Ministry’s ownership of the Cubic Judgment—rather than Iran’s—does not foreclose the application of President Obama’s blocking order. 14 MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM President Obama’s blocking order exempted Iranian property and interests in property that had been blocked in 1979, and that were then unblocked in 1981. 77 Fed. Reg. at 6660. The Ministry argues that Iran held a property interest in the ACMR that was blocked in 1979 then unblocked in 1981. The Ministry therefore contends that the Cubic Judgment falls within the exemption to President Obama’s 2012 Executive Order. We reject this argument, which just like the Ministry’s argument that the Algiers Accords prevent attachment, relies on misidentifying the asset actually at issue in this case. Under Elahi, the key asset is the one the Lien Claimants seek to attach: the Cubic Judgment, not the ACMR as the Ministry now argues. And the Cubic Judgment does not fall within the exemption to President Obama’s blocking order. Iran did not gain a property interest in the Cubic Judgment until 1998, when the district court confirmed the underlying arbitration award. Elahi, 556 U.S. at 376. Accordingly, Iran’s property interest in the Cubic Judgment existed neither in 1979, when Iran’s assets were blocked, nor in 1981 when those assets were unblocked. Whether and when Iran gained MINISTRY OF DEFENSE V. FRYM 15 a property interest in the ACMR is simply not relevant to this case.9 AFFIRMED. 9 The Ministry’s contention that 31 C.F.R. § 535.540(f) governed the proceeds of Cubic’s sale to Canada is irrelevant for the same reason. The relevant asset is not the proceeds of the sale, but rather the judgment confirming the arbitral award. Elahi, 556 U.S. at 376. Even if it were relevant, the district court correctly found that Section 535.540(f) would not apply. The regulation only requires sale proceeds to be transferred to Iran when the sale of otherwise blocked property is made pursuant to a specific type of OFAC license. The ACMR was not blocked after January 1981, and there is no evidence that Cubic’s sale of the ACMR involved any such license.

2019-04-20T13:04:02Z

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/13-57182/13-57182-2016-02-26.html

A new report explores the factors contributing to suboptimal direct spend management, and what to actually do about them. It provides a starting point for enterprises to begin changing their approach to direct spend management — helping them realize the untapped potential in direct procurement by leveraging external expertise and adopting the latest technology. This new white paper — Change Management in Procurement: Doing It Right in the Digital Era — addresses the biggest challenges facing change management efforts, and also guides procurement leaders to more effectively manage change as a component of digital transformation. The annual GEP Outlook for Procurement and Supply Chain Management is an indispensable report reflecting views of the industry’s best thought leaders and category experts — equipping you with procurement strategies and other essential tools to prepare you for a successful year ahead. It’s known as one of the most anticipated, most comprehensive and most useful annual trend reports available. This definitive white paper covers the essentials of AI and showcases the game-changing applications that will be most relevant in procurement and the supply chain. This new eGuide, Procurement’s Five Steps for Achieving True Digital Workplace Benefits, explains how a digital workplace can get procurement teams to the next level in performance and productivity by eliminating complexity, enabling collaboration, and better utilizing data. Does your team have a plan for dealing with the new tariffs? This timely paper from GEP, The Trade War: Procurement’s Winning Strategies for Contending With Tariffs, explores the main issues that business leaders must consider to minimize the impact of the trade war. Enterprises rely upon thousands of suppliers to keep their operation running and to bring products and services to market. But each supplier relationship represents a potential point of weakness that can bring disruption, reputational damage or unexpected loss to the company. This paper from GEP’s INSIGHT IT series presents three crucial technology-related considerations for early identification and management of risks presented by vendors and suppliers. For procurement, which actively engages with multiple third-party supply partners and contractors, the threat of fraudulent activity emanates as much from within the enterprise as from outside it. So how can procurement be proactive in detecting and preventing enterprise fraud and corruption? A new paper from GEP discusses specific scenarios that lead to risk exposure, and the steps to take to mitigate those risks. This paper will be helpful to procurement teams that want to forge effective partnerships with IT to green-light digital procurement transformation. IT executives need procurement’s expert guidance to understand what’s really at stake when they make decisions about procurement technology. This knowledge will enable IT and procurement to support each other in identifying the right platform to deliver the greatest benefit to the business. Automating and streamlining complex processes can better position CPOs to function as strategic thinkers and trusted advisors to the C-suite. This new white paper, The Strategic CPO: Redefining Leadership Priorities in the Transformed Procurement Organization, advises CPOs on how they can free themselves to focus on three critical priorities: managing risk, creating value, and being agile enough to respond to threats and opportunities. Two years after the Brexit vote, the terms of the deal with the EU are still undefined, but procurement and supply chains will surely feel major impacts. In this timely paper, GEP’s experts highlight key implications of Brexit for global enterprises and share five proactive steps for minimizing risks, optimizing costs, and preparing for the new geopolitical reality. Profound technology innovations are redefining the boundaries and expectations for procurement. We see it every day in the growing use of digital technologies to generate revenue, improve partnerships, and replace/evolve processes. Now, more than ever, purchasing and procurement are essential to helping companies refine their competitive edge and to thrive in this new digital age. In this paper, we seek to clear up confusion and misconceptions with a careful, no-nonsense examination of what blockchain is and isn’t, what it does and doesn’t do, where it is actually being applied today, and what it may offer - in the short and long term - to procurement and supply chain teams. "A Four-Step Formula for Better IT-Procurement Collaboration," lays out four proven strategies that will take the CIO and CPO a long way toward achieving the results and value both teams are aiming for. This paper is the final part of a 3-part series on digital procurement transformation. This new report, Intelligent Procurement: How Artificial Intelligence Can Expand Value, looks at the AI opportunity and presents several use cases for intelligent procurement solutions that can help procurement teams make smarter decisions and deliver extended value. For the sixth consecutive year, GEP has compiled its latest market insights, observations and predictions into its annual Procurement Outlook Report. The Future of Procurement in the Digital Age looks at the shifting value proposition and the next-generation value creation levers that will change procurement’s model from arbitrage-first to digital-first. The massive technological advance known as the Internet of Things (IoT) is permanently changing the relationship between people and machines and creating new opportunities for businesses. But what exactly is IoT? And what are the benefits for procurement and supply chain? This concise, engaging guide lays it all out. Digital technology gives CPOs - and procurement functions - the chance to start afresh. Status quos are often unsatisfactory, with processes and technologies representing an imperfect compromise between past investment, present practice and future needs. Emerging markets hold enormous potential for global enterprises looking to launch capital projects. But without a holistic understanding of the critical factors that can make or break projects in emerging markets, your prospects for success are seriously compromised. This white paper contains practical suggestions for effective project execution, including the importance of understanding geographical nuances that can impact successful collaboration with local stakeholders. CFO Magazine and GEP have published a new eBook that takes a fresh look at the relationship between finance and procurement and the benefits of having these functions properly synched. Specifically, this paper will expand your understanding of just how an effective finance-procurement collaboration can lift EBITDA, the key indicator of a company’s health and competitiveness. While regional or local strategic sourcing programs help to realize savings and reduce costs, the stakes for procurement have gotten much higher. To really push the boundaries of what’s possible and deliver strategic value in global enterprises, you need a more focused and effective approach — category management. A new white paper from GEP and the Hackett Group discusses how a category management strategy can optimize value, minimize risk and catalyze innovation. In a new white paper, experts from GEP advise on identifying and capturing value beyond hard-dollar savings. They also share tips to help you effectively communicate the enterprise-wide impact of your procurement team. Increasing competition, disruptive innovation, and rapid changes in market dynamics - businesses today face volatility and uncertainty like never before. Add to that the pressures of succeeding in a digital-first economy and things get tricky. Dedicated vs Shared Resources: Which Procurement Outsourcing Model Is Right for You? Outsourcing procurement operations is a lot more than just finding the right partner. Data security is one of the biggest challenges for enterprises today, across industries and geographies. “Cloud computing” and “security” often find mention in the same sentence and these feature on top of the priority list of today’s CIOs. For many enterprises, the number one procurement performance metric is still cost savings. And without a doubt, it will remain key. Brexit is done. What now? How will it impact your sourcing and procurement? What about supply chain? Procurement Lessons from a CPG Legend. No matter the vertical, procurement leaders share a lot of similar concerns and challenges. The GEP Procurement Outlook Report 2016 features global economic and business supertrends that will impact the procurement function in 2016 and beyond. The Next Frontier in Procurement Transformation. 10 Things Every Procurement Leader Needs to Know. Few people know more about procurement than Rick Hughes. An industry heavyweight who has witnessed first-hand the impact of globalization on enterprise procurement organizations, the shift toward outsourcing, and the evolution of the procurement function over the last three decades — Rick has been there, done that. We all agree - strategic sourcing can bring impressive bottom-line benefits to the enterprise. But why are some procurement organizations able to realize long-term, sustainable results, while others see them leak away? Compliance. In a new white paper, Ending Gain Drain: Strategic Sourcing Programs & Compliance, GEP explains why many enterprises fail to achieve the desired outcomes from their strategic sourcing initiatives and how compliance can help them achieve sustainable results. In a new white paper, IT Services Sourcing in Continental Europe: Changing Preferences and New Directions, GEP’s category experts discuss the shift in the regional IT services supplier landscape and its impact on IT services outsourcing. The paper also talks about the emergence of India as the new IT services outsourcing destination for European companies. In a new insightful paper, Promote This: How Procurement Can Deliver Big Savings and Better ROI on Branded Promotional Merchandise, GEP’s experts break down the inner workings of the promotional merchandise industry and the unique dynamics that drive the pricing in this category. The paper also offers practical tips and advice to optimize your spend and get the most value from your branded merchandise suppliers. Next-Gen Spend: Accelerating Procurement Performance with Data-Driven Strategies. In Next-Gen Spend: Accelerating Procurement Performance with Data-Driven Strategies, industry wiseman Andrew Bartolini of Ardent Partners demonstrates how procurement organizations can leverage next-gen spend analysis tools to drive insight-driven decision making for the enterprise. Bartolini also details how advanced spend analytics tools can help produce strategic intelligence for sourcing and supply risk management. Procure-to-Pay (P2P) technology can, no doubt, drive some truly significant gains in productivity. But if procurement and finance are not on the same page, your P2P solution can do more harm than good. In a new white paper, Perfect Alignment: How Procurement and Finance Can Work Together to Achieve P2P Excellence, GEP shows you how enterprises can execute P2P initiatives that boost collaboration between procurement and finance teams, delivering far higher productivity gains across the board. The devil is in the details. More so, in an agency contract. Many enterprises fail to identify the hidden costs in agency compensation and end up paying more than the fair value to their agencies. In a new white paper, Agency Compensation: Identifying, Measuring and Mitigating Hidden Costs, GEP explains how enterprises can uncover and manage hidden costs in agency remuneration, and optimize their marketing spend. In a new white paper, Track & Trace in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Serialization Strategies and a Roadmap for Procurement, GEP discusses what pharmaceutical companies need to know about T&T, and how procurement can drive and support its adoption. The paper also recommends a six-step process that procurement organizations can follow to ensure a smooth and effective rollout. Epic Fail: 5 Proven Ways to Botch Your Supplier Relationship Management Program. More than half of leading global enterprises do not have an effective supplier relationship management (SRM) program in place, studies say. Why do so many otherwise successful organizations founder on SRM? And how can your team avoid the same fate? In a new white paper, Epic Fail: 5 Proven Ways to Botch Your Supplier Relationship Management Program, GEP alerts you to the five key reasons why many enterprise SRM initiatives fizzle out or fade into ignominy. New year, new goals, new challenges. What should procurement leaders be focusing on in 2015? What should be on their agenda? In a timely new report, Sourcing and Procurement Outlook 2015, GEP shares key global economic and business trends that will shape and drive procurement strategies in 2015 and beyond. In this whitepaper, we outline a step-by-step ’Make-or-Buy’ process - right from identifying opportunities to implementing them successfully - to help procurement organizations inform and enhance enterprise strategy. Finding Greener Pastures: A Strategic Approach to Sourcing Suppliers in Emerging Markets. High-growth, emerging markets promise big savings. How do you capture that value without spiking your risk? In “Finding Greener Pastures: A Strategic Approach to Sourcing Suppliers in Emerging Markets”, GEP outlines five essential steps for success in these high yield, but sometimes volatile markets. A must-read for any procurement professional looking to understand and succeed in any emerging market. GEP is a leading global provider of procurement services, procurement software and end-to-end procurement outsourcing, focused exclusively on sourcing and procurement. Today GEP helps enterprise procurement teams at more than 200 Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies maximize their impact on business operations, strategy and financial performance. With the broadest procurement solutions mix available anywhere, we serve a wide range of industries, including consumer packaged goods and services, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, heathcare and life sciences, information technology and telecom, financial services, professional and business services, energy and utilities, travel and hospitality, government and non-profit organizations. With more than 10 offices and operation centers in Europe, Asia and the Americas, GEP brings together local, regional and global market expertise in a talent-rich team of more 1000 professionals. GEP procurement services include spend analysis, strategic sourcing, category management, procurement transformation, procurement outsourcing, tail-spend management, transactions management, procurement operations, source-to-contract and sourcing support services as well as end-to-end procurement outsourcing. GEP also offer procurement advisory and consulting services, such as opportunity identification, procurement strategy, organizational design and low-cost country sourcing. We have extensive expertise in direct and indirect categories, including MRO/CAPEX, logistics, energy, IT & telecom, packaging, marketing, business & professional services, commodities and a wide range of direct materials, including plastics, metals, electronic components, manufacturing equipment and food ingredients. SMART by GEP – innovative procurement software native to cloud, touch and mobile technologies – is a comprehensive Source-to-Pay (S2P) eProcurement platform, delivering spend analysis, sourcing, contract management, supplier performance management and procure-to-pay (P2P) functionality a unified digital workspace, native to mobile, touch and cloud technologies. Easy to use and deploy on any backend ERP or F&A system, GEP software requires no extensive training. Results-driven GEP has earned a worldwide reputation for flexibility, effectiveness and a passionately client-centered culture. Because at GEP, we measure our success the same way you do – by the actual savings you realize and sustain over time.

2019-04-25T00:52:52Z

https://www.procurementleaders.com/partner/gep

This paper proposes a modified Genetic Programming method for forecasting the mobile telecommunications subscribers’ population. The method constitutes an expansion of the hybrid Genetic Programming (hGP) method improved by the introduction of diffusion models for technological forecasting purposes in the initial population, such as the Logistic, Gompertz, and Bass, as well as the Bi-Logistic and LogInLog. In addition, the aforementioned functions and models expand the function set of hGP. The application of the method in combination with macroeconomic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product per Capita (GDPpC) and Consumer Prices Index (CPI) leads to the creation of forecasting models and scenarios for medium- and long-term level of predictability. The forecasting module of the program has also been improved with the multi-levelled use of the statistical indices as fitness functions and model selection indices. The implementation of the modified-hGP in the datasets of mobile subscribers in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries shows very satisfactory forecasting performance. Forecasting is an endogenous process intertwined with the evolution of science. Forecasting methodology is divided into two categories: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative methods employ the judgment of experts group to produce forecasts . These procedures are mainly applied without using historical data. Quantitative forecasting methods are used when historical data are available as well as the assumption that some of the past patterns will be repeated in the future . There is a variation of quantitative methods such as the time series forecasting which use past trend to forecast the future values of the variable and causal methods that, besides the past trend assumption, also examine the correlation of the variable with other indicators. The adoption of innovative technologies by a society such as the mobile telecommunications adoption has been discussed and some widely used forecasting models have been proposed. The diffusion processes as well as the produced models are described in the literature [3–8]. The most commonly used diffusion models are Gompertz, Logistic, and Bass which are dynamic models and follow a sigmoid curve against time. In order to follow the overall diffusion process of the mobile wireless penetration in time, we also employ the Bi-Logistic and LogInLog models which are described in the next section of this paper. The parameters of the models have been estimated by regression analysis with the Least Squares Method . In addition to time response, we investigate the relationship of the produced models with some macroeconomic indicators such as GDPpC and CPI. The core work is an expansion, modification, and implementation of the hybrid Genetic Programming (hGP) method which was presented in in terms of the insertion of new diffusion models as well as the macroeconomic indicators dependence. The term Genetic Programming (GP) method is a generalization of the Genetic Algorithm (GA) which represents a heuristic method that employs the Darwinian principle of natural selection in finding an appropriate solution of a well-defined problem and every produced solution corresponds to a new program [10, 11]. The basic structure of the paper follows. Firstly, a brief reference to the GP method and the diffusion models are presented. The hGP technique analysis follows as well as the description of the modifications and expansion on it. The next section analyses the results of the hGP implementation. After that, we discuss the forecasting results, and, finally, the conclusion is presented. GP was introduced by Koza in . In his work, the solution of a problem corresponds to a chromosome-program. The main difference between GP and GA is the representation of solutions. The tree-based representation is adopted by GP method, while a string of numbers represents the solution in GA methodology. The tree-based representation consists of nodes. The nodes represent functions or leaves which correspond to the terminals of the solution, such as variables or constants [12, 13]. The steps for the GP construction are generally the following. Firstly, GP produces an initial population of random programs-solutions composed of the functions and terminals of the problem. The next step iteratively performs the following substeps until a termination criterion will be satisfied: execution of each program and assignment of fitness value according to the precision of each solution . Then, GP generates a new generation of solutions by applying the operations of reproduction, crossover, and mutation. The selection of the candidate solution is performed by probability-based criteria on the fitness value. Reproduction refers to the copy of a solution to the new population. In crossover operation, the selected chromosomes are randomly combined per two and, recombining its chosen parts, generate new chromosomes (offspring) . The mutation changes a function in a chromosome structure with another function. The chromosomes of the new generation have better overall fitness value. The whole process is repeated until a termination criterion is satisfied [9, 11, 12]. Rogers considers that the adoption of an innovative product by a society follows the diffusion process and it has the sigmoid curve format. In this paper, besides the well-known Logistic, Gompertz, and Bass models, we investigate the Bi-Logistic [14, 15] and the LogInLog which is inspired by the solution of the Dodd model in [16, 17]. A diffusion process is described by dynamic or nondynamic models according to whether the level of saturation is changing over time (“carrying capacity”) or constant, respectively. The differential equation which describes the fundamental diffusion model follows the following formulation: where is the estimated diffusion saturation level for time and is the diffusion penetration and function is the diffusion coefficient. The Logistic model is the solution of the differential equation (1) which describes the diffusion process. The Logistic model is described by where is the diffusion of a new product in a society, at time . Also, is a time dependent function and are constant parameters. The constant is the upper limit of the function , known as the saturation level. When time , then . Also, a variation of (3) format is the following Gompertz II format with constant, in where, in both formats, is a time dependent function and are constant parameters . Bass proposes that the adoption of a new product by a market consists of two major categories: innovators and imitators. The overall diffusion process starts with the innovators adoption of the new product or the innovative technology and then the imitators follow. In (5), parameter corresponds to initial purchasers of the new technology product. Parameter is the sum of the innovators and imitators coefficients, and , respectively, . Parameter is , where is a constant and parameter is [6, 9]. In some cases, the overall life of a product, like mobile telecommunications, has many phases-generations. For this purpose we employ the Bi-Logistic curve which is the sum of two Logistic curves . So, where and . In the first generation, saturation is constant as well as of the second generation. Parameters , , , and are constants and and are the introduction time of the first and second generation, respectively [15, 17]. In this case, the saturation level is time dependent and it follows the Logistic diffusion model until the upper saturation of [15–17]. The whole diffusion process follows the Logistic model , as where and ; parameters are constants. The saturation level follows in where parameter is a constant. This model describes the diffusion process when an innovative technology has created generations which are not clearly separated . It should be noted that this model is derived by the generalization of the solution of the Dodd model in [16, 17]. The parameters of the model are optimized by the least square regression. The hybrid Genetic Programming method in fitting and forecasting was presented in a previous work . In this paper, the modified-hGP is presented extensively. The modified hGP implements a strategy which consists of three parts, the nonlinear regression analysis, the genetic algorithm part, and the final model selection. The flowchart of Figure 1 shows the parts of the modified hGP. Figure 1: Flowchart of the modified hGP. This stage of the method contains the preparation steps for the program execution process [11, 12, 18]. The first step is the function set definition. In the modified hGP, the set has two subsets for the arithmetic and mathematical functions, and , respectively, . So, , where and . It should be noted that division is zero protected for the denominator and is the natural logarithm. In the second step, the terminal set of the variables and constants sets is defined. The variables set and , where , GDPpC, and PCIn are the variables for time, GDP per Capita, and normalized CPI, respectively, and is the randomly generated constants with domain in . The next step is to define the fitness function for each solution. Various statistical indicators can be used for the fitness function during the evaluation process. Following the previous implementation of the hGP , two different fitness functions are used as follows. In (9), the sum is over the time period . Also, is the real data for time and is the model’s value . In this function, a weight is used, in order to give greater weight at the time interval near the last training data . Finally, the maximum number of generations is defined to end the execution of the GP. As mentioned before, the function set of the modified hGP is extended compared to hGP. Apart from the primary arithmetic functions set , a mathematical functions set has been inserted; . So, the modified hGP has simplified the chromosomes structure, Figures 2 and 3, while, at the same time, their mathematical efficiency has been improved. Figure 2: Representation of chromosomes in modified hGP as strings. Figure 3: Representation of chromosomes in modified hGP as parse trees. The expressions of the randomly created solutions combine the following primary block format, whereas each part is randomly chosen. Block: . The solutions of the initial population are the combination of random chosen functions, variables, constants, and primary blocks. Also, the optimized Logistic, Gompertz I, Gompertz II, Bass, Bi-Logistic, and LogInLog diffusion models are being inserted in the population. The parameters of the diffusion models are optimized by nonlinear regression analysis and the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm has been used . In modified hGP, each chromosome is a string of characters and corresponds to a program that is a possible solution to the problem . The inner representation of a string of characters is considered as a parse tree using the abstract syntax trees of Python Programming Language. For example, the chromosomes and are presented in Figures 2 and 3 as strings and parse trees, respectively . The parse tree consists of nodes. There are two types of nodes, the terminal and nonterminal nodes. The terminal nodes (leaves) of the tree contain the variables or the constants. In contrast, the nonterminal nodes of the tree consist of the modified-hGP functions . As stated above, the best solution is selected according to (9) for fitting and (10) for forecasting purposes. The evaluated solutions are inserted into a sorted Python’s list. The solutions that are not satisfying a precision limit criterion are removed. The remaining accepted solutions of the list are sorted according to their fitness value and they are candidates to become parents for the crossover operation or to be chosen in mutation. In Figure 4, the structure of the list is depicted. It should be noted that the problem of the solutions trapping into local optimum is solved keeping one of all the individuals having the same fitness value in the list. Figure 4: Representation of the solutions’ sorted list in the selection operation of the modified-hGP. In tournament selection, a number of solutions from the sorted solutions’ list are selected at random and, then, the best is chosen for the crossover or mutation operation. In the crossover operation, two parents are randomly selected, according to the tournament selection process, from the sorted by the best fitness value solutions’ list. In each parent solution, a crossover point is randomly chosen. The substring of each parent beginning at the crossover point is interchanged between two parents’ solutions and the children (offspring) are generated. The crossover operation is presented in Figures 5 and 6. Figure 5: Crossover of the modified-hybrid Genetic Programming method (string representation). Figure 6: Crossover of the modified-hybrid Genetic Programming method (parse tree representation). In the mutation process, a solution is chosen by tournament selection from the tournament list. Once again, a string’s point, which depicts a function, is randomly chosen. The mutation replaces the chosen function from the , set, with a new random function in the solution. The mutation operation is presented in Figures 7 and 8. Figure 7: Mutation of the modified-hybrid Genetic Programming method (string representation). Figure 8: Mutation of the modified-hybrid Genetic Programming method (parse tree representation). The fitness function of each individual in the modified hGP method is the Sum of Squared Error (SSE) for the fitting process, as in (9), and the Weighted Sum of Squared Error (wSSE), as (10) presents. The statistical indices in the modified hGP are the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), the Mean Square Error (MSE), the Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). In (15), , , and correspond to Fitness Function Value (wSSE for forecasting), parameters of the model, and the number of data points, respectively. It should be noted that in the final selection process of the appropriate forecasting model we use the half of dataset before the last observed data point. In this section, the macroeconomic indicators of Gross Domestic Product per Capita (GDPpC) and normalized Consumer Prices Index (CPI) will be presented. The GDPpC is a macroeconomic index for the productivity of a country and it could not be considered as index of personal income. According to , the basic index of the value of the goods and services produced by a country is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDPpC indicates the living standards of the economy in a country. In general, CPI indicates a weighted average of basic consumer goods prices. Moreover, in this study, the CPI relies on the individual consumption expenditure of households, less energy, and food consumption . It should be noted that CPI is normalized on the CPI of the year 2005. In Figure 9, the yearly GDPpC and CPI for the time period between the years 1997 and 2009 are presented. Figure 9: Yearly growth of the GDPpC (in 100000$) and CPI (normalized on the year 2005). It should be noted that, after the year 2008 (“economic crisis year”), the OECD’s GDPpC is decreased for 2009, but, on the other hand, the CPI has bigger tolerance. According to , the first mobile telecommunications were introduced with analogue networks in the early 1980s, for voice transmission. The second generation (2G) mobile network (Global System for Mobile Communication, GSM) followed in the early 1990s and digital mobile networks were born with the first SMS service. In the late 1990s, enhanced digital generation (2.5G) was introduced for data services. The data services were changed from circuit switched transport (GSM) to packet data transport with General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) and, later, data rates grew with enhanced digital technologies such as Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE). Also, in 2003, the next generation (3G) of mobile networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), emerged with the first video-calls and, later, (around 2006) was upgraded to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) with data rates of 14 Mbps in the downlink and 5.76 Mbps in the uplink. Then, HSPA was upgraded to HSPA+ with theoretically 168 Mbps and 22 Mbps for downlink and uplink, respectively, and data services as videos, mobile email, and music. In 2009, Long-Term Evolution (LTE) was launched for commercial usage, while a new generation (4G) of technology is coming . Figure 10 depicts the evolution of mobile technologies generations in parallel with the overall OECD mobile subscribers, contract, prepay, and 3G subscribers, from the year 1997 to 2009 . Figure 10: OECD mobile subscribers (in billions). It should be noted that the number of the mobile subscribers is growing through the technology generations evolution. The results will be analysed in order to provide a satisfactory prediction for mobile subscribers which consist of mobile contract subscribers and mobile prepay subscribers in OECD countries, as well as mobile 3G subscribers. This study investigates the implementation of modified hGP on four different datasets. The datasets present the total yearly number of OECD mobile subscribers, the yearly number of mobile contract subscribers, the yearly number of mobile prepay subscribers, and finally the yearly number of mobile 3G subscribers. The observation period begins from the year 1997 to 2009, which is comprised of 13 data points. Table 1 contains the initialization parameters for the execution of the modified-hGP concerning the data sets in OECD countries. Table 1: Initialization parameters of the modified-hGP. The fitting performance of the first modified-hGP model for the total number of OECD subscribers, according to its fitness value (SSE), is presented in Figure 11. Also, Figure 12 presents the errors of the models in time (residuals). The relative statistical indices SSE, MAPE, MSE, RMSE, and MAE of the modified-hGP models are presented in Table 2. Table 2: Statistical indices in fitting process of the modified-hGP model for the total number of OECD subscribers. Figure 11: The fitting performance of the modified-hGP model for the total number of OECD subscribers. Figure 12: Residuals of the modified-hGP model in fitting of the total number of OECD subscribers. As one can see, this method combines different variables like GDPpC or CPI with the independent variable of time. In Table 2, the modified-hGP method achieves excellent statistical performance, showing an SSE value of . The fitting performance and the residuals for the remaining data sets are presented in Figures 13 and 14 for contract subscribers, Figures 14 and 15 for prepay subscribers, and Figures 16 and 17 for 3G users, respectively. The relative statistical indices SSE, MAPE, MSE, RMSE, and MAE of the produced modified-hGP models are presented in Table 3 for contract, Table 4 for prepay, and Table 5 for 3G subscribers. Table 3: Statistical indices in fitting process of the modified-hGP model for the OECD mobile contract subscribers. Table 4: Statistical indices in fitting process of the modified-hGP model for the OECD mobile prepay subscribers. Table 5: Statistical indices in fitting process of the modified-hGP model for the OECD 3G mobile subscribers. Figure 13: The fitting performance of the modified-hGP model for the OECD mobile contract subscribers. Figure 14: Residuals of the modified-hGP model in fitting for the OECD mobile contract subscribers. Figure 15: The fitting performance of the modified-hGP model for the OECD mobile prepay subscribers. Figure 16: Residuals of the modified-hGP model in fitting for the OECD mobile prepay subscribers. Figure 17: The fitting performance of the modified-hGP model for the OECD 3G mobile subscribers. It should be noted that this method combines different variables like GDPpC or CPI with the independent variable of time and a variation of diffusion models’ blocks. The performance of the model corresponds to a good enough behavior in fitting process. The error performance in fitting is depicted in Figure 14. Finally, the modified-hGP model yields a satisfactory fitting performance. The error performance in fitting is depicted in Figure 18. Figure 18: Residuals of the modified-hGP model in fitting for the OECD 3G mobile subscribers. The forecasting results of the generated models by the modified-hGP method are presented in this section, as well as the combined diffusion models with the modified-hGP models. As mentioned before, the statistic indicator wSSE has been used for the forecasting process. The initialization parameters for the execution of hGP are presented in Table 6, for the forecasting process. The forecasting method for a 2-year prediction uses 11 data points as training set of the GP method, except for the 3G training set which consists of 7 points. The forecasting performance of the modified-hGP models concerning total OECD mobile subscribers, contract, prepay, and 3G is depicted in Figures 19, 22, 24, and 25, respectively. In every graph, the forecast period window is presented in the blue rectangle. Table 6: Initialization parameters of modified-hGP. Figure 19: The forecasting performance of modified-hGP (forecast period—2 years ahead). The forecasting performance of the optimized diffusion models, according to their fitness value (wSSE) for the 11 training points, is presented in Figure 20. Also, the relative statistical indices, concerning the whole dataset, of the produced forecasting modified-hGP and diffusion models are presented in Table 7. Table 7: Statistical indices in forecasting process of the modified-hGP and diffusion models for the total number of OECD subscribers. Figure 20: The forecasting performance of the diffusion models (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the total number of OECD subscribers. Considering Table 7, it can be concluded that the modified-hGP method achieves good statistical indices combining some optimized diffusion models. We can see that the first hGP model achieves a wSSE value of 0.000226, while the best of diffusion models, Bi-Logistic, has a similar 0.000281. It should be noted that modified-hGP model residuals against time (data points), especially for the 2 last data points (the forecast period), show the error response of the GP model (see Figure 21). Figure 21: Residuals of the modified-hGP model in forecasting (2 years window period) of the total number of OECD subscribers. Figure 22: The forecasting performance of the modified-hGP (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the number of OECD mobile contract subscribers. The forecasting performance of the diffusion models is presented in Figure 23. Also, the statistical indices of the produced forecasting modified-hGP and diffusion models are presented in Table 8. Table 8: Statistical indices in forecasting process of the modified-hGP and diffusion models for the number of OECD mobile contract subscribers. Figure 23: The forecasting performance of the diffusion models (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the number of OECD mobile contract subscribers. Figure 24: Residuals of the modified-hGP model in forecasting (2 years window period) of the number of OECD mobile contract subscribers. Figure 25: The forecasting performance of the modified-hGP (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the number of OECD mobile contract subscribers. From Table 8, one can conclude that the modified-hGP method as well as diffusion models achieves good statistical indices. We can see that the hGP model achieves a wSSE value of and the Bi-Logistic 0.000116. Once again, the modified-hGP model residuals against time (data points), especially for the 2 last data points (the forecast period), show the error response of the GP model (see Figure 24). The forecasting performance of the diffusion models is presented in Figure 26. Also, the statistical indices of the produced forecasting modified-hGP and diffusion models are presented in Table 9. Table 9: Statistical indices in forecasting process of the modified-hGP and diffusion models for the number of OECD mobile prepay subscribers. Figure 26: The forecasting performance of the diffusion models (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the number of OECD mobile prepay subscribers. Table 9 shows that the modified-hGP method achieves a satisfactory performance. The modified-hGP model achieves a wSSE value of 0.000725 and the Bi-Logistic 0.000938. Once again, the modified-hGP model residuals against time (data points), especially for the 2 last data points (the forecast period), show the error response of the modified-hGP model, as Figure 27 depicts. Figure 27: Residuals of the modified-hGP model in forecasting (2 years window period) of the number of OECD mobile prepay subscribers. Figure 28: The forecasting performance of the modified-hGP (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the number of OECD mobile 3G subscribers. The forecasting performance of the diffusion models is presented in Figure 29. Also, the statistical indices of the produced forecasting modified-hGP and diffusion models are presented in Table 10. Table 10: Statistical indices in forecasting process of the modified-hGP and diffusion models for the number of OECD mobile 3G subscribers. Figure 29: The forecasting performance of the diffusion models (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the number of OECD mobile 3G subscribers. Table 10 shows that the modified-hGP method achieves a good performance. The modified-hGP model achieves a wSSE value of similar to the Logistic and LogInLog. The MAPE indicator has the specific performance cause of the initial error at the first data point. As Figure 30 depicts, the modified-hGP model residuals against time (data points), especially for the 2 last data points (the forecast period), show the error response of the modified-hGP model. Figure 30: Residuals of the modified-hGP model in forecasting (2 years window period) of the number of OECD mobile 3G subscribers. The forecasting results of the generated models by the modified-hGP method are compared with those of the ARIMA method derived. As mentioned before, the statistic indicator wSSE has been used for the forecasting process. The operator stands for the order of the autoregressive part and operator for the degree of the derivative of part and the is order of the moving average part of (16). The are the parameters of the autoregressive part of the model, the are the parameters of the moving average part, and are the errors . The ARIMA models that are derived by the implementation of the “Gretl, Gnu Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library” for the aforementioned datasets are depicted below. The forecasting performance of the same modified-hGP models and ARIMA models concerning total OECD mobile subscribers, contract, prepay, and 3G, is depicted in Figures 31, 32, 33, and 34, respectively. In every graph, the forecast period window is presented in the blue rectangle. In Tables 11, 12, 13, and 14, the comparison results of the statistical indices MAPE, MSE, RMSE, and MAE for the two predicted points are presented. Table 11: Statistical indices in forecasting process of the modified-hGP and ARIMA model for the total number of OECD subscribers. Table 12: Statistical indices in forecasting process of the modified-hGP and ARIMA model for the total number of OECD contract mobile subscribers. Table 13: Statistical indices in forecasting process of the modified-hGP and ARIMA model for the total number of OECD prepay mobile subscribers. Table 14: Statistical indices in forecasting process of the modified-hGP and ARIMA model for the total number of OECD 3G mobile subscribers. Figure 31: Comparison of the forecasting performances of modified-hGP with ARIMA model (forecast period—2 years ahead). Figure 32: Comparison of the forecasting performances of modified-hGP with ARIMA model (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the number of OECD mobile contract subscribers. Figure 33: Comparison of the forecasting performances of modified-hGP with ARIMA model (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the number of OECD mobile prepay subscribers. Figure 34: Comparison of the forecasting performances of modified-hGP with ARIMA model (forecast window—2 years ahead) for the number of OECD 3G mobile subscribers. Considering Table 11, it can be concluded that the modified-hGP method achieves better forecasting performance than ARIMA model. From Table 12, one realizes that the hGP method presents better performance than ARIMA model. Also, in Tables 13 and 14, the modified-hGP method achieves better forecasting statistics than ARIMA model. It could be concluded that the overall performance of the modified-hGP achieves better statistic indices than ARIMA model for the predicted data points. The proposed method has been tested for the stability and the robustness. The program was executed 20 times in the same dataset of the mobile subscribers. The mean gap between the best and worst solutions was decreasing as the generation was increasing. Also, the curve of the total average of fitness value per generation was decreasing. It should be noted that in Table 15 the program parameters for the testing process are presented. In Figure 35, the mean value for the fitness value for the best and worst solutions (mean gap) per generation of the testing modified-hGP and the average fitness value per generation for the program executions are presented. Table 15: The hGP parameters for the testing process. Figure 35: Testing the robustness of the forecasting modified-hGP. The difference between the worst and the best solutions is decreasing. In particular, after the 25th generation, the indices above are converging. The mean gap of wSSE for the worst-best solution begins from value 0.004146752 and ends up to 0.000165101. The introduction of GDPpC and CPI outside the time variable leads to the creation of causal forecasting models. This method provides a scenario based approach to forecasting. In order to study the future of mobile subscription in OECD countries, three scenarios are presented, according the GDPpC and CPI growth. The pessimistic one concerns a continuing crisis scenario, so that the GDPpC and CPI growth rates are not increased. The second is a moderate growth scenario and the last one is the optimistic scenario, with GDPpC and CPI getting increased. A variation of models is generated by the implementation of the modified-hGP method. According to Bayesian’s criterion as well as the wSSE criterion, two models which combine all the variables, GDPpC, CPI, and time, are chosen. Figures 36, 37, and 38 depict the pessimistic, moderate, and optimistic scenario, respectively. Figure 36: The forecasting performance (5 years ahead) of modified-hGP models—the pessimistic scenario. Figure 37: The forecasting performance (5 years ahead) of modified-hGP models—the moderate scenario. Figure 38: The forecasting performance (5 years ahead) of modified-hGP models—the optimistic scenario. In Table 16, the selected models and their statistics are presented. Table 16: Models’ expression and statistical indices of two modified-hGP models in forecasting the total number of OECD subscribers. The BIC depends on the number of the parameters. The generated models with one variable, like time dependent models, in many cases, have better BIC performance, but not always better forecasting performance. In contrary, multivariable models, with good enough BIC, yield a good enough forecasting performance. In the pessimistic scenario, the first model (most likely) achieves 1.538472 billion of OECD mobile subscribers, in the year 2014. The second has a total number of 1.415613 billion subscribers. It should be noted that the GDPpC and CPI growths are unchanged. In the moderate scenario (the most likely scenario), the first model achieves 1.8 billion of OECD mobile subscribers, in the year 2014. The second has a total number of 1.58 billion subscribers. It should be noted that the average GDPpC rate is 2.5% and average CPI rate growth 1.7%. In the optimistic scenario, the first model achieves 1.948 billion of OECD mobile subscribers, in the year 2014. The second has a total number of 1.686 billion subscribers. It should be noted that the average GDPpC rate is about 4.4% and average CPI rate growth 2.2%. This paper is a modification of our previous work where the dataset was bigger, but in different area of interest. In this paper, an improved-hGP method was presented. The improved program achieved interesting forecasting models with more variables than one. This GP method was implemented in dataset concerning the mobile subscribers of the OECD countries. The forecasting performance of the modified-hGP as well as the diffusion and ARIMA models was presented and the method presented satisfactory statistical indices. The proposed method differs from the hGP in some points. Firstly, the diffusion models’ set is extended with Bi-Logistic and LogInLog except for Logistic, Gompertz, and Bass so that the forecast horizon is improved, for long-term forecasting. Also, the functions’ set of the method is extended by the insertion of new functions and function blocks. According to this technique, chromosomes with complicated syntax expressions can be presented with short length expression stings. The tournament selection is implemented for the crossover and mutation operations in order to maximize the algorithm’s efficiency. Finally, a Bayesian inspired criterion has been implemented which, in combination with wSSE, improves the final selection of the forecasting models. In general, the method could be considered as a forecasting tool that produces time dependent models and causal models for long-term forecasting with more variables than one. It should be noted that this method is compared with ARIMA model and achieved satisfactory performance. Also, the robustness of the proposed method has been analyzed. The implementation of the method is going to be continued on more datasets and it will be compared with other prediction methods in future work. The authors wish to express their acknowledgments to Professor Imed Kacem, University of Lorraine, France, for his constructive comments and suggestions, which helped to improve the quality of this paper.

2019-04-21T00:22:52Z

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/aor/2014/568478/

Koenigsegg Agera is a stunning and expensive Swedish car named after the verb “to act”. Koenigsegg Agera is celebrating the company’s 15th anniversary. The Koenigsegg Agera features a V8 910 horse power engine that can reach 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3 seconds or less. Agera is a successor to the Koenigsegg CCX/CCXR. Although sharing the same values and philosophies as previous Koenigsegg models, the Agera takes the Koenigsegg experience to a completely new level. Similar to all previous Koenigsegg hypercars, the new Agera is the brainchild of Christian von Koenigsegg. The Koenigsegg Agera has come to life in order to set new benchmarks for hypercars when it comes to control, handling, speed, comfort, practicality and sheer driving enjoyment, while combining these features with clean, efficient and beautiful design. The name Agera set the tone for the new project. Agera means “to take action” in Swedish. It is also short for the ancient Greek word Ageratos which means “ageless”. These two are very suitable meanings, for the car building the future of Koenigsegg. The Koenigsegg Agera is designed with the minimalistic “less is more” philosophy in mind. This philosophy means that the shape of the car has to be purely functional with no added features except those purely needed to meet regulation, added safety, ergonomics, practicality and aerodynamics. We believe that if this philosophy is followed, the car will also be beautiful as it is purely purposeful. A good analogy is the evolution of a dolphin that has had to meet similar criteria in order to reach their present configuration through the evolution of nature. The Agera is proportionate, compact and muscular. Its timeless, efficient and distinctive shape is truly a testament to time. The original shape and concept of the Koenigsegg CC, created 15 years ago, is still valid, fresh and highly competitive today. The Agera manage to stay true to the original philosophy, shape and size of the original CC. At the same time, it looks, feels and performs like something belonging to the future. Koenigsegg differs from other low volume hypercar manufacturers by the fact that Koenigsegg develops and produces its own engine in-house. This is, by most observers and competitors, deemed as more or less impossible or way too expensive to even consider. However, year after year Koenigsegg has proved them wrong. Not only are the engines developed in-house, they also have class leading characteristics in many important areas. To mention a few: Lightest and most compact hypercar engine in the world, weighing only 197 kg complete with flywheel, clutch, dry sump system, Inconel exhaust manifold with turbo. The low engine weight is quite astonishing, as the Agera engine also has class leading power and torque characteristics. To give an example, the Koenigsegg 5 litre V8 bi-turbo engine develops more 940 hp on 95 octane regular fuel. The Agera has over 1000 Nm of torque from 2500 rpm and 1100 nm from 3500 to 6000 rpm, showing great flexibility. These are extraordinary numbers considering the size and reliability of the engine and they are obtained without forsaking drivability or flexibility. This is truly downsizing, without drawbacks. These characteristics make it one of the most flexible and easy to use hypercar engines in the world. To give a hint of how different the Koenigsegg Agera engine is compared to other production car engines, it is easy to look at the BMEP value (Brake Mean Effective Pressure) in the cylinders during maximum power output. The best production diesel and petrol engines from other leading manufacturers have a maximum BMEP of around 22 bar. The Koenigsegg engines also meet all the required emission standards in the world. This is nothing short of astounding, given their size and power output. Furthermore no other production engine in the world, regardless of car type, has the same amount of power potential compared to its EU cycle average CO2 emission(310g of CO2) or cycle fuel consumption( 14,7 litre per 100 km / 16MPG). However, what makes Koenigsegg most proud is how drivable, smooth, responsive, torquey and reliable the Agera engine is – especially given its extreme performance. The Agera engine complies with the most stringent environmental regulations in the world, EU5 and LEV2, and delivers a significant power increase compared to previous Koenigsegg engines. Fuel consumption, and thus CO2 emissions, has been lowered. This is an astonishing feat for a 900+ hp hypercar. Turbo response is of vital importance when it comes to driving pleasure and the possibility to control massive amounts of power. Koenigsegg has coupled the latest generation turbo technology with patent pending and proprietary response/back pressure reduction system, invented by Christian von Koenigsegg to really give the Agera engine a competitive edge when combining maximum power while complying with the strictest emission regulations in the world. Furthermore the large air to air intercooler on the left side of the engine exchanges enormous amounts of fresh air, eliminating the need for water in the intercooling system, thereby saving weight and avoiding heat soak issues, during extended performance driving. Following the Koenigsegg tradition the engine has a dry sump lubrication in order to lower the engine as far as possible in the chassis and have full control of the crankcase oil even given the massive g-forces involved. The large 80-litre fuel tank ensures long driving range, due to the relatively low average consumption. The Agera follows the previous generation Koenigsegg and has its fuel tank well protected, built-in centrally into the carbon fibre monocoque chassis. Since the fuel is centrally placed in the car, the weight distribution does not change regardless if the tank is full or empty. Thanks to the safe fuel tank position, the challenging US high-speed rear impact test, was passed at first trial. The Koenigsegg Agera has four intelligent return-less fuel pumps in order to deliver the correct amount of fuel at any given time. This reduces the energy needed to operate the fuel pumps and eliminates the waste of excessive fuel transport. The Inconel/Titanium patent pending exhaust system is key in order for the Agera to achieve its remarkable emission and power levels. The exhaust system uses a completely new principle created by Christian von Koenigsegg. The new technology drastically reduces back pressure and gives earlier catalytic light off than any other turbo exhaust system. At the same time the acoustics of the exhaust has been examined carefully in order to maintain the typical Koenigsegg thunderous growl. The newly developed 7 speed gearbox for the Agera features a world’s first dual clutch system for a single input shaft gearbox. In order to keep the gearbox light, compact strong and reliable, Koenigsegg together with Cima chose to develop a new gearbox type that enables the use of a combination of a dry and wet clutch system, in order to get class leading shift times. First there is the normal twin disc dry clutch that operates in a traditional fashion. Then there is a hydraulically operated wet clutch-brake inside the gearbox that is engaged during each up shift in order to slow down the input shaft, simultaneously as the gears are changed and prior to the normal synchronisation. This cuts the synchronisation time by two thirds, as the gear is pre-synchronized. The result is a very sporty, smooth and extremely fast shift. Compared to a traditional DCT system, this gearbox is lighter, smaller, has less moving parts and gives a more distinct shift feel, with almost no interruption to the acceleration. Furthermore, the electro hydraulic shift mechanism actuates the shift forks directly with no intermediate mechanical parts. This brings down the inertia of the shift mechanism and any potential slack is minimized since the shortest possible path of engagement is achieved. The entire transmission weighs only 81 kg, which is by far the lightest 7 speed hypercar transmission in the world. The transmission can also be set in full auto mode. The small size and very low weight, considering the longitudinal 7 speed layout, made it possible to maintain the shortest in class rear overhang, and thereby excellent central mass position and neutral behaviour in extreme conditions. The Koenigsegg Electronic Differential (E-Diff) is lighter and faster, compared to traditional E-Diff solutions. The difference lies in the fact that Koenigsegg has retained a limited slip differential with plates and ramps with a built-in amount of analogue limited slip functionality. This means that the active hydraulic element can be smaller, more compact and therefore faster and lighter compared to traditional E-Diff solutions. The analogue part of the functionality also has zero processing time as it reacts directly. The analogue system is supplemented by a digital active system. This way Koenigsegg has obtained one of the lightest and fastest E-Diff solution on the market. Furthermore the Koenigsegg developed algorithms that control the E-Diff, takes input from; throttle angle, g-force, steering wheel angle, yaw angle, car speed, engine rpm, selected gear, plus weather condition. The way all this data is analysed and how the car reacts to this data also makes the Koenigsegg E-Diff unique and that makes the Agera very safe on the limit and improves performance and feel. The Koenigsegg E-diff works in harmony with the new traction control system that is the fastest reacting in the industry, with auto adapt functionality to different road conditions and driving styles as well as several manual settings. The Koenigsegg Agera´s unique carbon fibre monocoque chassis is designed to achieve its maximum stiffness without a roof, as the roof is detachable and stow-able in the front of the car. This in itself is an unusual feature for such a compact hypercar. The Koenigsegg carbon monocoque chassis has an astonishing stiffness of 65.000 Nm/deg and only weighs 70 kg including the integrated fuel tanks. The result of constant weight saving exercises is a dry weight of only 1330 kg making the Koenigsegg Agera the lightest fully homologated hypercar presently in production. The suspension geometry of the Agera was designed to further enhance the award winning behaviour of the CCX. The Agera track is wider at the front compared to the rear of the car, compensating for the narrower front tires and giving the car a square stance of 2 meters in both the front and the rear. In typical Koenigsegg tradition, the Agera has the longest wishbones of all hypercars presently in production. Long wishbones have several advantages – for example: less track width deviation during wheel movement or cornering and improved geometry over a longer wheel stroke. This is one of the reason why F1 cars have very long wishbones. The wishbones are produced from seamless aeronautical chrome-molybdenum tubing, in order to minimise weight in combination with maximum strength and stiffness. The extremely strong and light uprights are machined from 7075-T6 aeronautical grade aluminium, and contains 240 mm SKF dual angle contact bearings, normally only found on Lemans prototype cars. The very large bearings contribute to the overall stiffness of the wheel assembly and therefore give better control, handling and comfort. The uprights have large 4.5″ diameter carbon fibre cooling ducts for the brake discs in order to maximise brake cooling. The Agera is equipped with the absolutely latest ABS technology and is based upon, a very lightweight and performance oriented, racing ABS system. The system makes it possible for the ABS function to react to differently depending on performance mode. Furthermore the ABS braking system operates on massive 392×36 mm and 380×34 mm ventilated and drilled ceramic discs, for unparalleled braking performance and zero fade regardless of track or road condition. Koenigsegg continued its long standing partnership with Michelin in the tire development for the Agera. Hence the Agera features specially developed, latest generation Michelin Super sport tires. Due to the tires, advanced suspension and aerodynamics, the Agera achieves lateral accelerations up to 1.6 g in dry conditions with improved handling in wet. The new tires were developed for the Koenigsegg Agera through testing at the Michelin Ladoux test centre in France. The tires fitted to the Agera are rated for speeds over 420 km/h making it the highest top speed rated tire in the world, whilst offering cup tire levels of grip and outstanding wet performance , all in one package. The Koenigsegg VGR wheels are not only for looks. They are real air turbines, increasing the down force of the car by measurable amounts and improve brake cooling. All four wheels are individual so that turbine blades always face the correct direction for extraction. Given that the offset and width is different front to rear, all four wheels have their unique design. The VGR wheels are forged and then fully machined to the final shape. Due to the forging and machining process all excess material has been removed minimising weight, whilst displaying outstanding levels of stiffness. The Aerodynamics of the Agera has been honed and perfected over many years in CFD and wind tunnel in order ensure best possible outcome. Even with the massive dynamic rear wing, the drag of the Agera is only Cd 0.33, in high speed mode and Cd 0.37 in track mode. Even though the Agera is a full 2 meters wide, it only has a frontal area of 1.87 m². This results in a Cd*A value of only 0.62 and thus a theoretical top speed of around 440 km/h (Agera R), given the gear ratio and power available. All Agera models are limited to 375 km/h in standard mode, but can be unlocked by Koenigsegg for shorter periods of time, if all necessary conditions are met, such as road condition, tire wear, service level of car etc. The car is set in full speed mode by unlocking the top speed mode in the Infotainment system. The two large side air intakes greatly add to the Agera´s high speed stability as they ensure that the pressure point of the car is behind the mass centre of the car. This makes the car more directionally stable with increasing speed. This is a crucial safety feature when it comes to driving at extreme speeds. Great care has been taken that the car also is stable under high speed braking. The front splitter and rear diffuser has been designed and optimized with this in mind. For maximum performance and safety it is important that the down force stays as constant as possible even in yaw situations. Therefore the rear diffuser was developed and evaluated specifically to give substantial down force even at wide yaw angles. The interior of the Koenigsegg Agera is like no other car. No other materials than those deemed worthy by Koenigsegg are allowed in the interior. This means that what you get to touch and see inside the Agera is only aluminium, carbon fibre, precious metals, alcantara and aniline leather. All switch gear is highly bespoke and features wonderfully unique solutions, as for example the Koenigsegg Ghost light, that make solid aluminium buttons gleam with LED powered symbols appearing out of nowhere. A world first in the car industry. The illumination shines through the billet aluminium buttons and surfaces by way of almost invisible micro holes, creating excellent visibility of the symbols as well as a very clean and stylish appearance, framed by an all-new carbon fibre centre console and tunnel assembly. The new super light full carbon airbag steering wheel incorporates many vital functions directly in front of the driver. Similarly to the CCX, the shifting paddles are mounted directly on the steering wheel to enable shifting without taking your hands off the steering wheel during hard cornering. The central high-definition touch screen infotainment system controls the audio functions, satellite navigation, Bluetooth phone and secondary functions such as performance meters and car telemetrical data. The very comfortable and optionally heated carbon seats are great for long journeys but also give excellent lateral support when needed. The Interior of the Koenigsegg Ageraa is truly minimalistic and efficient in the purest Swedish sense. Nothing in the interior is there only to add visual drama; instead everything is there for a functional purpose. According to Koenigsegg, this is the essence of beauty, as it follows a less is more philosophy that embodies every engineering aspect of the Agera. The CI is specifically developed for the Agera by Koenigsegg. It features a unique and configurable interface that can be adapted to driver specific demands. As it is connected to the cars CAN bus system it freely communicates with the infotainment screen and all other functions in the car. By pushing the left stalk button, different priority graphics can be chosen, depending on need. For example in track driving mode, there is a focus on; RPM, pressures, temperatures, lap times, and g-forces. Compared to GT mode, where: car speed, auto shift, satnav, power, music etc is prioritized. The luggage space is something Koenigsegg is very proud of. It is the largest luggage compartment in the hypercar world, with a space of over 120 litres. It is so well shaped that it actually can fit the one piece Agera roof/hardtop, meaning the driver can choose to go open or closed at any given time during a longer trip. Given the fact that Koenigsegg has engineered the roof to fit the car, it is actually also possible fit a set of golf clubs. This is unheard of in the hypercar world. Given the high comfort level and the large luggage space, the Agera can truly been seen as one of the first GT hypercars. Not only does Koenigsegg develop their own engines, but also many of the electronic control units, CAN protocols, and management strategies are developed in-house. If you would look closely at many of the circuit boards in the car, inside the control units, you will find the name Koenigsegg in scripted directly on the circuit boards. Of course there is no self fulfilling need to develop so many critical items in-house, unless it gives the car a competitive edge doing so. This is actually the main reason for Koenigsegg doing it. This, for example, gave Koenigsegg the possibility to pioneer the CCXR and Agera R – the two first environmentally conscious hypercars in the world. An example of this development is In the Semiconductor Electric Control Central. The ECC controls most of the electronic functions in the car. Most physical fuses or relays have been replaced by software controlled semiconductors which are configurable in function and enable monitoring all power and threshold values. The ECC communicates via CAN with the infotainment system in order to display necessary information to the driver. For example if a door is open, a lamp is broken, or not all roof locks are tight in place, information will appear on the instruments as all electrical functions are controlled and monitored by the ECC. The Koenigsegg Agera is the first combustion engine powered production car in the world, with an intelligent Lithium Iron battery as standard equipment. First of all, this battery type saves significant weight and is more compact compared to traditional led acid batteries. Secondly Lithium Iron cells cannot reach thermal runway, unlike Li-ion batteries, which makes them very safe for automotive use. Furthermore, the ILB carries many intelligent functions, developed by Koenigsegg together with the battery supplier. hypercars tend to be parked long periods of time and therefore their batteries can be drained if the car is not hooked up to a trickle charger. Even though all Koenigsegg cars come as standard with a trickle charger it is not always easy to remember, or even possible depending on location, to use it. It is also possible that a driver sometime forgets to turn off all consumers, like parking lights etc causing early battery drainage. Koenigsegg has therefore implemented a minimum current protection mode, to make the above issues something of the past. The new ILB therefore has an intelligent circuit built into it, so if the car is left on or standing for a long time, the battery shuts down when the voltage drops below a certain threshold. The shut down does not occur sooner than a traditional battery would have been left depleted and useless, so it does not take away any expected battery capacity. Then, if any essential buttons or a door knob is touched, the battery kicks back into life for 5 minutes and has enough power to operate all the functionalities in the car and start the engine and thereby giving charge back to the battery. Given this strategy, battery concerns are a thing of the past. No matter of the behaviour of the car user. To prove a point you can leave the car with the high beam on and the stereo at full blast in the evening, without the engine running. Wake up in the morning, open the car door, start the engine and drive away. Alternatively, leave the car for a couple of months, open the door, start the car and drive away.

2019-04-21T16:42:38Z

https://www.topexpensivecar.com/koenigsegg/koenigsegg-agera

In-vivo images including three-dimensional or surface orientation information may be captured and viewed An in-vivo site is illuminated by a plurality of sources, and the resulting reflected images may be used to provide three-dimensional or surface orientation information on the in-vivo site. The system may include a swallowable capsule. In one embodiment, a method for presenting images includes: accepting a series of images from an in-vivo imager, the series of images including surface orientation information; and outputting graphics images displaying such images to a user such that the user may perceive surface orientation aspects of the images. The in-vivo imager may be contained in a capsule. For each image the surface orientation information may be recorded by at least a plurality of sub-images, each sub-image including an image of a site using a different lighting perspective. FIG. 6 depicts a portion of a filter used with an embodiment of the present invention. Reference is made to FIG. 1, which depicts an in-vivo image capture device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In an exemplary embodiment, the in-vivo image capture device is a capsule 1 which comprises a plurality of illumination sources 12 and 12′, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), for illuminating the body lumen, and an imager 14, such as a CMOS imager, for obtaining images of an in-vivo site 100. In an embodiment where the image capture device is a capsule 1 which moves through the GI tract, the view of the in-vivo site 100 captured changes with the movement of the image capture device. Preferably, periodically, a representation of a view of the site 100 is captured including stereoscopic, three-dimensional, surface orientation or image depth information. The illumination sources 12 and 12′ and the imager 14 are preferably positioned behind an optical window 8. An optical system, including, for example, lenses or mirrors (not shown), or including optical window 8, may aid in focusing reflected electromagnetic energy onto the imager. A control unit 5 is connected to each of the illumination sources 12 and 12′ and to imager 14, to synchronize the preferably non-overlapping periodic illumination of the in-vivo site by each of illumination sources 12 and 12′ with the capturing of images by imager 14. The capsule preferably includes a power source 16, such as a battery, which provides power to elements of the capsule 1, and a transmitter and antenna 18 for transmitting images obtained by imager 14 and possibly other information to a receiving device (FIG. 2) via a wireless link. The control unit 5 may be any sort of device or controller enabling the control of components. For example, a microchip, a microcontroller, or a device acting on remote commands may be used. While in an exemplary embodiment, the illumination produced by the illumination sources 12 and 12′ is substantially white light, in alternate embodiments different illumination may be produced. For example, infra-red, red, blue or green light may be produced. Furthermore, while in one embodiment illumination sources 12 and 12′ produce the same spectrum of illumination, in alternate embodiments each may produce different spectra. Each of illumination sources 12 and 12′ may be, for example, individual sources, such as lamps or LEDs, may be sets of sources, such as certain LEDs in a ring of LEDs, or may be overlapping sets of sources. Preferably, the capsule 1 is swallowed by a patient and traverses the patient's GI tract. Preferably, the capsule 1 is a swallowable capsule capturing images, but may be another sort of device and may collect information in addition to image information. For example, system and method according to an embodiment of the present invention may employ a device implanted within a patient's abdomen. Furthermore, in an embodiment including a capsule different configurations of components and systems may be included the capsule. For example, the control unit may be incorporated in the transmitter, and an imager other than a CMOS imager may be used. In an exemplary embodiment, while the capsule 1 traverses a patient's GI tract, the capsule 1 transmits image and possibly other data to components located outside the patient's body which receive and process the data. Preferably, two images using different illumination sources are captured 20 milliseconds apart, stored in the capsule 1, and transmitted as one burst of information; one second later another two images are captured. Other time differentials may be used. The two images may be transmitted as two separate images or, alternately, processed and interlaced or combined into one image before transmission. The images may be combined by interleaving by bit or by pixel before transmission, or otherwise interleaved or combined. Alternately, the images may be multiplexed through known methods. In alternate embodiments, other rates of imaging and other timing schemes may be used. Since the capsule 1 moves through the GI tract (with possibly stationary periods), typically each image frame is different; thus successive images of the in-vivo site 100 differ. Reference is made to FIG. 2, which depicts a schematic diagram of an in-vivo imaging system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Located outside the patient's body in one or more locations are an image receiver 20, for receiving image information from an image capture device, an image receiver storage unit 22, for storing image data at the image receiver 20, a data processor 24 for processing image data, a data processor storage unit 26, for storing image data used by the data processor 24, and an image monitor 28, for displaying, inter alia, the images transmitted by the capsule 1 and recorded by the image receiver 20. The image receiver 20 preferably includes an antenna or antenna array 15. Preferably, the image receiver 20 and image receiver storage unit 22 are small and portable, and are worn on the patient's body during recording of the images. Preferably, the data processor 24, data processor storage unit 26 and monitor 28 are part of a personal computer or workstation which includes standard components such as processor 24, a memory, a disk drive, and input-output devices, although alternate configurations are possible. Other systems for capturing, processing and recording image and other data from the in-vivo image capture device according to embodiments of the invention may be used. For example, an in-vivo image capture device may be attached by a wire to a recording device. Preferably, for each view or site, information is gathered which includes a plurality of sub-images, each sub-image including an image of a site using a different lighting perspective. Referring to FIG. 1, in-vivo site 100 includes irregularities 110 and may include pathologies, such as polyp 120. Irregularities 110 and polyp 120 have three-dimensional characteristics. During operation, electromagnetic radiation from the illumination source 12, such as visible light rays, illuminates the in-vivo site 100 during a first period at a first angle. The imager 14 is synchronized to obtain an image of the in-vivo site during the period of illumination by illumination source 12. Preferably, the illumination sources 12 and 12′ and the imager 14 are under the control of control unit 5. The image obtained by imager 14 depicts the in-vivo site 100 as illuminated from the first angle, including shadows. The image captured by imager 14 is transmitted by way of the transmitter and antenna 18 to the receiver 20. Electromagnetic radiation from the illumination source 12′ illuminates the in-vivo site 100 during a second period, preferably not overlapping with the first period, at a second angle. Since the illumination sources 12′ and 12 are preferably spaced from one another and separated by a certain distance the first angle is different from the second angle and the orientation of the illumination beams differs. In an exemplary embodiment, the illumination sources are 1.5 to 3 millimeters apart, in another embodiment the illumination sources are approximately 1 centimeter apart; in alternate embodiments other distances may be used. In general, the greater the distance, the more three dimensional or surface orientation information captured. When used herein, that the illumination sources are spaced from one another indicates that the sources of the illumination at the point the illumination is projected from the device are spaced from one another. The imager 14 is synchronized to obtain an image of the in-vivo site during the second period of illumination. The image obtained by imager 14 depicts the in-vivo site 100 as illuminated from the second angle, including shadows. In one embodiment, the illumination of illumination source 12 and illumination source 12′ is sequential, and occurs with a brief separation of time, in order that the view captured by imager 14 does not change significantly in between the capture of the two images. Preferably, there is a separation of approximately 10 to 20 milliseconds between the capture of the two images. In alternate embodiments, the illumination periods of illumination sources 12 and 12′ may overlap. Data representing the images captured by imager 14 are transmitted by way of the transmitter and antenna 18 to image receiver 20 using, for example, electromagnetic radio waves. For each view of an in-vivo site a set of images (where the set may include only one image) are captured and transmitted. In one embodiment the set of images includes multiple images, each based on illumination from one of multiple illumination sources, are captured and transmitted. In other embodiments, the set of images may include only one image. In one embodiment, each of illumination source 12 and 12′ are individual electromagnetic radiation sources; in further embodiments, each of illumination source 12 and 12′ may include multiple electromagnetic radiation sources; for example, multiple lamps. For example, each of illumination source 12 and 12′ may comprise half of a ring of illumination sources. In further embodiments, more than two illumination sources may be used, and in addition more than two views per in-vivo site may be generated. In certain embodiments, illumination sources 12 and 12′ may be positions close together, but may project electromagnetic energy in different angles. In alternate embodiments other devices for illumination may be used; for example, other types of lamps, fiber optic cables, or individual illumination devices capable of altering the direction of illumination. Image receiver 20 transfers the image data to image receiver storage unit 22. After a certain period of time of data collection, the image data stored in storage unit 22 is sent to data processor 24 or data processor storage unit 26. For example, the image receiver storage unit 22 may be taken off the patient's body and connected, via a standard data link, e.g. a serial or parallel interface of known construction, to the personal computer or workstation which includes the data processor 24 and data processor storage unit 26. The image data is then transferred from the image receiver storage unit 22 to the data processor storage unit 26. Data processor 24 analyzes the data and provides the analyzed data to the image monitor 28, where a health professional views, for example, the image data and possibly other information. In alternate embodiments, the image data need not be stored, but may be transferred directly to a data processor, or may be displayed immediately. The image data collected and stored may be stored indefinitely, transferred to other locations, or manipulated or analyzed. A health professional may use the images to diagnose pathological conditions of the GI tract, and, in addition, the system may provide information about the location of these pathologies. While, using a system where the data processor storage unit 26 first collects data and then transfers data to the data processor 24, the image data is not viewed in real time, other configurations allow for real time viewing. The image monitor 28 presents the image data, preferably in the form of still and moving pictures, and in addition may present other information. In an exemplary embodiment, the various categories of information are displayed in windows. Multiple monitors may be used to display image and other data. Preferably, the image data recorded and transmitted by the capsule 40 is digital color image data, although in alternate embodiments other image formats may be used. In an exemplary embodiment, each frame of image data includes 256 rows of 256 pixels each, each pixel including data for color and brightness, according to known methods. For example, in each pixel, color may be represented by a mosaic of four sub-pixels, each sub-pixel corresponding to primaries such as red, green, or blue (where one primary is represented twice). The brightness of the overall pixel is recorded by a one byte (i.e., 0-255) brightness value. Preferably, images are stored sequentially in data processor storage unit 26. The stored data is comprised of one or more pixel properties, including color and brightness. In alternate embodiments, the data processor 24 or another data processing unit may process the image data to create from each image pair a two-dimensional or stereoscopic image portraying the three-dimensional and surface orientation information. The data processor may, for example, subtract aspects one image from another image to highlight differences between the images; other types of processing may be performed. The user may view the resulting images as two-dimensional images, or may view the images as stereoscopic or three-dimensional images. For example, known methods may be used, such as switched glasses, polarized glasses, or colored glasses, or any other suitable manner of delivering distinct images to the left eye and right eye of a viewer. Using switched glasses, a data processor controls which lens is opaque and which is clear at different times, allowing image data from one screen to be sent to different eyes. Using polarized or colored glasses, different image data may be sent to each eye. In some embodiments, data processor 24 may process the image using, for example, known shape from shadow methods such as that described in 3-D Stereo Using Photeinetic Ratios, Lawrence B. Wolff and Elli Angelopoulou, SPIE Vol. 2065 pp. 194-209. In such embodiments, data processor 24 compares the shadows depicted in each image pair to generate data surface orientation of the in-vivo site 100. The data processor 24 may process the images according to other methods. Referring to FIG. 3, in step 300, an imaging device illuminates a site to be imaged from a first perspective. Preferably, the imaging device is a swallowable capsule; in alternate embodiments other imaging devices, such as endoscopes, may be used. In step 310, an image is captured by the imaging device while the site is being illuminated from the first perspective. In step 320, an imaging device illuminates a site to be imaged from a second perspective. Preferably, the illumination from the first and second perspective is provided by two illumination devices separated spatially. In alternate embodiments other methods of illumination may be used; for example, fiber optic cables, illumination devices which are co-located but which project illumination at different angles, or individual illumination devices capable of altering the direction of illumination. In step 330, an image is captured by the imaging device while the site is being illuminated from the second perspective. In alternate embodiments more than two images may be captured for each site. In step 340, the images are transferred from the image capture device. Preferably the images are transmitted after each set corresponding to a view of an in-vivo site are captured. In alternate embodiments, each image may be transferred after each is captured, or in other manners. In step 350, the image data may be viewed by a user in a manner allowing the user to see the three-dimensional and surface orientation aspects of the in-vivo site. Reference is made to FIG. 4, which depicts an in-vivo image capture device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The capsule 1 functions in a similar manner to that depicted in FIG. 1, and includes a plurality of illumination sources 12 and 12′, an imager 14, and an optical window 8. The capsule includes a control unit 5, a power source 16, and a transmitter and antenna 18. Each of illumination source 12 and illumination source 12′ generate electromagnetic radiation of different wavelengths. The imager 14 is fitted with a filter such as a mosaic filter 122 divided into alternating segments that are sensitive to the designated bandwidths of the electromagnetic spectrum generated by the each of illumination source 12 and illumination source 12′. Each alternating segment of the mosaic filter 122 permits electromagnetic energy to reach the imager 14 only in the designated bandwidth of the electromagnetic spectrum for which it is sensitive. Each of illumination source 12 and illumination source 12′ is operated simultaneously. Each image obtained by the imager 14 is composed of a plurality of segments, each segment including information from either illumination source 12 or illumination source 12′. One image containing three dimensional or surface orientation information is transmitted per view, rather than multiple images. In alternate embodiments other types of filters may be used, and the mosaic filter shown may be of a different configuration. For example, a mosaic filter with different colors or a different pattern may be used. For example, illumination source 12 may emit red light and illumination source 12′ may emit green light. In such an embodiment, the filter 22 on the imager 14 is sensitive in alternating segments to red and green light. The segments on the mosaic filter that are sensitive to red will permit red light emitted by the red illumination source during its period of illumination and reflected by the in-vivo site 100 to reach the imager. Likewise, the segments on the imager's mosaic filter that are sensitive to green will permit green light emitted by the green illumination source during its period of illumination and reflected by the in-vivo site 100 to reach the imager. The images obtained by the imager during the respective periods of illumination may be processed (for example, by data processor 24) and displayed to the user in various manners. For example, the user may view three-dimensional images using red-green glasses. In alternate embodiments, the multiple perspective image data in the image may be used to create three-dimensional images or two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional images, such as those as described above. In further embodiments, information on surface orientation or three-dimensional aspects may be presented to the user in other manners, for example in textual form or in graph form. For example, a graph may be created which presents the user with a depiction of the depth (positive or negative, relative to the surface of the in-vivo site 100) at various points. Such indication may be numerical, for example, a −10 to 10 scale depicting indentation or protrusion at various points, or color, with each of various colors depicting indentation or protrusion. In alternate embodiments, a view of the in-vivo site 100 may be depicted, labeled at various points with depth data (e.g., numbers on a −10 to 10 scale depicting indentation or protrusion data). Further embodiments may describe the orientation of a view or various sections of a view as categories such as, for example, concave, convex, smooth or rough according to pre-defined criteria. Such data may be generated from, for example, known shape from shadow algorithms. Reference is made to FIG. 5, which depicts an in-vivo image capture device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The capsule 1 functions in a similar manner to that depicted in FIG. 1, and includes a plurality of illumination sources 12 and 12′, an imager 14, and an optical window 8. The capsule includes a control unit 5, a power source 16, and a transmitter and antenna 18. Preferably, each of illumination source 12 and illumination source 12′ generate electromagnetic radiation of the same wavelength. Capsule 1 includes additional source 13, providing marker illumination from a position and angle substantially similar to that of illumination source 12; in effect additional source 13 adds marker illumination to illumination source 12. Rays 200 represent electromagnetic radiation produced by illumination source 12, rays 210 represent electromagnetic radiation produced by illumination source 12′, and rays 220 represent electromagnetic radiation produced by source 13. Preferably, rays 220 are projected onto the in-vivo site 100 at substantially the same angle and from substantially the same position as rays 200. In one embodiment, illumination sources 12, 12′ and 13 are operated simultaneously and one image is captured and transmitted. The image may be separated into different views, providing three dimensional and surface orientation information. The imager 14 is fitted with a filter such as a mosaic filter 122 divided into alternating segments that are sensitive to different bandwidths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Certain segments allow the passage of electromagnetic radiation generated by source 13. Other segments allow the passage of electromagnetic radiation generated by illumination sources 12 and 12′. In certain embodiments segments may filter the illumination generated by sources 12 and 12′ into different spectral bands, such as the red, green and blue spectra; in other embodiments segments may allow substantially the entire spectrum generated by sources 12 and 12′ to pass. Each alternating segment of the mosaic filter 122 permits electromagnetic energy to reach the imager 14 only in the designated bandwidth of the electromagnetic spectrum for which it is sensitive. Preferably, each of illumination source 12 and illumination source 12′ is operated simultaneously. Each image obtained by the imager 14 is composed of a plurality of segments, each segment including information from either illumination source 12 and source 12′ (or a portion thereof) or source 13. In one embodiment, source 13 produces electromagnetic radiation of a certain frequency which is used to mark a perspective, such as infra-red radiation, and illumination sources 12 and 12′ produce other illumination, such as visible light. In alternate embodiments, the illumination sources may produce different spectra, and thus a separate marker source may not be needed. The marker illumination may include spectra other than infra-red radiation, for example UV radiation. Reference is made to FIG. 6, which depicts a portion of a filter used with an embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, the filter 22 includes a repetitive pattern of sections, each section including a plurality of cells. Each cell allows a certain spectrum of electromagnetic radiation to pass to the imager 14. For example, cells 230 allow red light to pass, cells 240 allow blue light to pass, cells 250 allow green light to pass, and cells 260 allow infra-red radiation to pass. Preferably, the filter 22 includes many sections and cells; in one embodiment one section is included for each pixel recorded by the imager 14. After capture, the images obtained may be displayed to the user in various manners, for example using the methods described above. In one embodiment, electromagnetic energy from one section, including all cells of the section, is recorded by each pixel of the imager 14. During the processing of the image, the known frequency of the source 13 is used along with the information provided by cells 260 to produce different pixel representations for each of the two views desired. For example, the intensity of the source 13 for each pixel may be used as a marker for percentage of the electromagnetic energy for that pixel which is produced by illumination source 12. In a further embodiment, electromagnetic energy from each cell is recorded by one pixel of the imager 14. During the processing of the image, the known frequency of the illumination source 13 is used along with the information provided by cells 260 to produce different pixel representations for each of the two views desired. For example, the intensity of the source 13 for each pixel may be used as a marker for percentage of the electromagnetic energy for certain associated pixels gathering light in the frequency of the source (e.g., source 12) associated with source 13. a plurality of illumination sources, wherein each of the plurality of illumination sources are operated in a separate time period. 2. The system according to claim 1 wherein at least two of the plurality of illumination sources are configured to illuminate an in vivo site from different angles. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of illumination sources produces an illumination level which differs from the illumination level produced by a different one of the plurality of illumination sources. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of illumination sources produces illumination of the same spectrum. 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the capsule comprises a transmitter for transmitting image data. 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the capsule comprises a battery. 7. The system of claim 1 comprising a controller configured to control the illumination sources in a selective manner. 8. The system of claim 1 comprising a receiving unit configured to receive transmitted image data. 9. The system of claim 8 comprising a processor configured to create from an image pair a single image portraying three-dimensional and surface orientation information. a plurality of illumination sources, wherein each of the plurality of illumination sources is capable of producing a different spectrum. 11. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the illumination sources produces illumination in the infra-red spectrum. 12. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the illumination sources produces illumination in the UV spectrum. 13. The system of claim 10 wherein the capsule comprises a transmitter. 14. The system according to claim 10 wherein the capsule comprises a mosaic filter. 15. The system of claim 10 comprising a receiving unit configured to receive transmitted image data. 16. The system of claim 15 comprising a processor configured to create from an image pair a single image portraying three-dimensional and surface orientation information. capturing a set images of the site using an imager contained within a swallowable capsule, at least two images in the set illuminated using different subsets of illumination sources. 18. The method of claim 17 comprising transmitting the images via a wireless link. 19. The method of claim 17 comprising passing light through a segmented filter. 20. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of illuminating an in vivo site comprises illuminating in at least two different illumination levels. capturing a set of images of the site using an imager contained within a swallowable capsule. 22. The method of claim 21 comprising transmitting the images via a wireless link. 23. The method of claim 21 wherein at least one of the illumination sources produces illumination in the infra-red spectrum. 24. The method of claim 21, wherein at least one of the illumination sources produces illumination in the UV spectrum. 25. The method of claim 21, wherein at least one of the illumination sources produces substantially white light. when capturing a first image using a first of the illumination sources, providing illumination from a third illumination source, wherein the illumination from the third illumination source differs in its spectral content from that of a second of the illumination sources. a plurality of illumination sources, wherein the plurality of illumination sources are spaced from one another and selectively operable, such that the combination of the plurality of reflected images produced by illumination from the plurality of illumination sources provides information on the three-dimensional aspects of the in-vivo site. 28. The system of claim 27, wherein each of the plurality of illumination sources are operated in a separate time period. at least one of the plurality of illumination sources produces illumination in a spectrum which differs from the spectrum of illumination produced by a different one of the plurality of illumination sources. 30. The system of claim 27, wherein each of the plurality of illumination sources produces illumination of the same spectrum. 31. The system of claim 27 wherein the capsule comprises a transmitter. 32. The system of claim 27, wherein at least one of the illumination sources produces illumination in the infra-red spectrum. 33. The system of claim 27, wherein at least one of the illumination sources produces substantially white light illumination. a plurality of illumination sources, wherein at least one of the plurality of illumination sources produces illumination in a spectrum which differs from the illumination produced by at least a second one of the plurality of illumination sources. a plurality of illumination sources, wherein each illumination source provides light from a different angle, each illumination source being selectively operable. 36. The system of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of illumination sources are operated in a separate time period. a processor accepting a series of images from an in-vivo imager, the series of images including surface orientation information, and outputting graphics images displaying such images to a user such that the user may perceive surface orientation aspects of the images. 38. The system of claim 37, wherein the in-vivo imager is contained in a capsule. 39. The system of claim 38, wherein for each image the surface orientation information is recorded by at least a plurality of sub-images, each sub-image including an image of a site using a different lighting perspective. a processor means accepting a series of images from an in-vivo imager, the series of images including surface orientation information, and outputting graphics images displaying such images to a user such that the user may perceive stereoscopic information. outputting graphics images displaying such images to a user such that the user may perceive surface orientation aspects of the images. 42. The method of claim 41, wherein the in-vivo imager is contained in a capsule. 43. The method of claim 41, wherein for each image the surface orientation information is recorded by at least a plurality of sub-images, each sub-image including an image of a site using a different lighting perspective. a plurality of illumination sources, wherein each of the plurality of illumination sources are operated in a separate time period; wherein at least two of the plurality of illumination sources are configured to illuminate an in vivo site from different angles. a controller means for operating the illumination sources so that the imager captures three dimensional information. a plurality of illumination sources, at least two of the illumination sources producing light of a different spectrum, at least one illumination source producing UV light. capturing a set images of the site using an imager contained within a swallowable capsule, at least two images in the set illuminated using different subsets of illumination sources, the imager including a segmented filter. a processor capable of accepting a series of sets of images from an in-vivo imager, each set including of images taken using different lighting, and capable of outputting graphics images displaying such images to a user such that the user may perceive surface orientation aspects of the images. a processor means for accepting a series of images from an in-vivo imager, the series of images including surface orientation information, and for outputting graphics images displaying such images to a user such that the user may perceive surface orientation aspects of the images.

2019-04-20T03:37:57Z

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20030174208A1/en

Baum, L. Frank. 1996. THE WIZARD OF OZ. Ill. by Lisbeth Zwerger. New York: North-South Books. ISBN: 1558586385. This is an abridged version of Baum's The Wizard of Oz complete with rich illustrations by Lisbeth Zwerger. I have never read the original version by Baum, so I cannot describe the differences between the versions. While there are similarities to the movie version, there are also a great many differences. I read about many events and characters that were never featured in the movie. The main characters are the same, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. What was new for me was reading about the Queen of the Field Mice, the Hammer-Heads, and the land and people made of China. In this version, the Wicked Witch sends wolves, crows, and bees against Dorothy and her companions before sending the flying monkeys to bring the Cowardly Lion and Dorothy back to her castle. Some parts are actually quite violent such as the Tin Man decapitating the wolves that attack them and the Cowardly Lion takes the head off of an enormous spider. The water color illustrations by Zwerger are done in rich, vibrant colors and feature full page art as well as small cameos on pages. The characters are not depicted as most of us in the United States are used to seeing them. The Scarecrow is very fat, Dorothy does not wear the famous blue and white checked dress for very long in the book, but instead is pictured mostly in white, and the Cowardly Lion looks like a wild lion and not like a cute stuffed animal. "Viennese illustrator and Hans Christian Andersen Medalist Lisbeth Zwerger takes a fresh look at L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz in a large-format edition. Zwerger's fantastical, delicate, eccentric illustrations bear no resemblance to the vision of the movie." (Publisher's Weekly, 1996). Zwerger includes a note at the end of the book that states that she was intimidated by the need to paint the scenes set in the Emerald City in green. In order to solve this problem, the book comes with a pair of green glasses that can be slipped on by the reader to get an enhancement of the illustrations by tinting everything various shades of green. My favorite illustration in the story is also used on the front cover of the book. The illustration is of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man carrying Dorothy and Toto through the infamous poppy field. The poppies are oversized, much taller that the characters, and are a vivid red against a grayish-blue background. The poppies shadows are also shown, adding dimension to the illustration. I also enjoyed the illustration of the Wizard after it has been revealed that he is not a powerful wizard after all. The Wizard looks very small, and more like an elderly professor than a great wizard. The strengths of the book are the illustrations. They are bright and colorful and add dimension to the book. I think one of the main weaknesses of the book is that it is abridged. "The deletion of some descriptive and transitional phrases and of various events creates a text that is much flatter and less engaging than the original." (School Library Journal, 1991). Cultural markers in the book were not obvious to me. I do not have a background in art, so I can only go by what I have found in reviews which say that there is a European influence. "The art, naturally, has a European flavor, here translated into fey paintings that catch the lighter elements of the story." (Booklist, 1996). I enjoyed reading the "new for me" elements of the story that are not included in the movie version, but I still found the language rather flat and sometimes uninteresting. "All this time Dorothy and her companions had been walking through the thick woods. The road was still paved with yellow bricks, but these were much covered by dried branches and dead leaves from the trees, and the walking was not at all good." (Baum 1996, p. 27) It just seems that the language should be more descriptive and lively than what this abridged version has. Lindgren, Astrid. 1985. THE DRAGON WITH RED EYES. Ill. by Ilon Wikland. New York: Viking Penguin Inc. ISBN: 0670816205. This is an interesting story about a brother and sister who go out to the pigsty to see the new piglets that were born during the night. To their surprise, in addition to ten piglets, in a corner by himself is a baby green dragon. After a while, the sow refuses to feed the dragon (he bites!), and the children take over the chore of feeding the dragon. They feed the dragon candle ends, string, and cork, but the dragon is still not happy. The dragon is both mischievous and lovable and on one October evening he lays his paw against the girl's cheek as his eyes are full of tears and then flies away, never to be heard from again. I enjoyed the story and I thought it had a realistic ending that many children can relate to, especially if they have ever raised a wild animal from a baby and then had to let it go back into the wild. I also thought it interesting that the dragon was never really accepted by the mother pig nor the piglets. I think this demonstrates to children that even though they may not be accepted by the crowd, they still have good qualities of their own that should be valued. Lindgren writes in such a way that will hold the interest of children. "It was true, though I suppose no one will ever discover how it happened. I think the sow was as surprised as we were. She was not particularly fond of her dragon baby, but she got used to him in time - except for his biting her every time she fed him, that is." (Lindgren, 1985). The illustrations use realistic colors for the pigsty, straw, barn, and outdoors, but the illustrator uses brilliant greens and yellows in illustrating the dragon. This technique really makes the dragon stand out and demonstrate how different he is from the piglets. The most touching illustration shows the little dragon saying goodbye to the little girl. The setting sun is a large ball of blazing orange and the little green dragon really stands out. The book has been translated into English from the original Swedish and I could not really tell that it did not take place in the United States. There are a few clues in the illustrations, but not in the text itself. In the illustrations, the little girl has blond hair that is worn in braids. This could be a cultural marker indicating Swedish heritage, but it is not an obvious clue. Another illustration shows a scene from a meadow that includes tall evergreen trees. These trees can also be found in areas of the U.S. as well. Another possible clue in the illustrations is in the picture showing the children's beds. The boy's bed has the typical headboard and footboard we are used to, but his bed also includes high sides with boards and his mattress fits down in it like a box. The girl's bed looks like it is a wooden daybed, again not quite the style we are used to seeing in the United States. Otherwise, it is not obvious where the story takes place. I could not find a review of this book anywhere. I could only find one review by a reader on Amazon.com. The reviewer did not agree with the reading level that is posted on the site. The site says the book is appropriate for babies through pre-school. I find I agree with the reviewer that the book is more appropriate for slightly older children from ages pre-school through second grade. My overall opinion of the book is positive. It is a story that children will relate to in spite of a somewhat sad but yet realistic ending. Bjork, Christina. 1985. LINNEA IN MONET'S GARDEN. Ill. by Lena Anderson. New York: R & S Books. ISBN: 9129583144. This is a unique book that blends fiction, art history, and biography together into a seamless whole. The book is told from the point of view of Linnea, a young girl who travels with her elderly friend, Mr. Bloom, to Paris to see Monet's garden. Mr. Bloom takes Linnea to visit a museum so they can view Impressionist paintings before going to visit Monet's house and garden in Giverny, France. After her visit to the museum, Linnea now understands what it means for a painter to have been called an Impressionist. Linnea and Mr. Bloom picnic in Monet's garden and enjoy the famous water lilies that Monet painted. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think it is one of the best children's books I have read. It mixes the fictional story of Linnea while teaching children about art history and presenting a short biography of Monet and his family. The book presents the information in a fun, interesting way without being didactic or stilted. The following is an example that demonstrates this point, "But Monet practiced capturing impressions. Every day, he studied his bridge. He discovered that it looked different depending on the time of day and the weather. It was sunlight that made the difference." (Bjork 1985, p. 28). What a great way for children to learn how important sunlight was to an Impressionist painter. The language used in the book does not talk down to children, but explains the concept in language that is easily understood and yet entertaining. The ink and watercolor illustrations by Anderson are bright and colorful and often reflect the colors used in Monet's paintings. My favorite illustration shows Linnea on a path in the garden with the different varieties of flowers on either side, nasturtiums overflowing and almost covering the walk, and a black and white cat playing with Linnea and a vine. The colors used really make the flowers stand out and the different shades of green can help the reader get the feel of what it would be like to actually be in the garden. "But, it is the sense of being there, and Linnea's own enthusiasm, that carries the book." (Publisher's Weekly, 1987). The book also includes actual photographs of several of Monet's paintings as well as photographs of Monet and his family. The book jacket says that many of the photographs were previously unpublished. The book contains many cultural markers. The book describes a hotel in Paris, the Esmerelda, that is on the River Seine in the Left Bank. Linnea describes her view from her hotel window which includes the Notre Dame Cathedral. Linnea also points out that the book The Hunchback of Notre Dame takes place there. The name of the hotel takes its name from the character Esmeralda from the book. Linnea describes taking the Metro, the underground train in Paris, to the Marmottan, the art museum. Linnea also describes the food that she and Mr. Bloom buy for their picnic lunch at Monet's garden. They buy bread called a baguette, a goat cheese and a cow's milk cheese, pate`, tomatoes, nectarines, mineral water, and cider. The book also tells the reader that Monet's biggest pictures that cover the walls of a big round room are called the Water Lily Rooms and are located in the Orangerie in Paris. The Orangerie used to be the King's greenhouse but is now a museum. The book has amazing illustrations and photographs of artworks and of Monet and his family. The book also includes a section at the end that lists more things to do in Paris and a timeline of Monet's life. I like the small illustration at the very end in the bottom corner that has Linnea smiling and saying Au Revoir! Publisher's Weekly. 30 October, 1987. Books in Print. [database online]. Available from http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2066/merge_shared/details/details.asp?item_uid=937497&viewItemIndex=0&navPage=1&FullText=&BipAlertQueryString=&BipAlertDisplayQText=. Stolz, Joelle. 2004. THE SHADOWS OF GHADAMES. New York: Delacourte Press. ISBN: 0385731043. This story takes place in the Libyan city of Ghadames in the late 19th century. The women in Ghadames are segregated from the men and lead a quiet life confined to their homes and rooftops. Malika is approaching her twelfth birthday, a time when she is approaching adulthood, and according to her family's Berber custom, a time when she is close to marriageable age and will be confined to the world of women. Malika is not looking forward to this as she yearns for more. She wants to learn how to read and dreams of visiting far off places which she knows will never happen once she is confined to the world of women. Her world does get expanded slightly when her mother and her father's second wife secretly take in a wounded stranger and nurse him to health. He teaches Malika how to read Arabic and describes the places he has visited and widens Malika's world. The book is full of cultural markers since it describes the Muslim culture which many in the United States are not familiar with. The women are segregated from the men and must wear veils. The only men the women see or talk to are the men in their own family. When Malika and Bilkisu go to the women's baths, their servant must make noise in the street before them to alert any man on the street that there are women coming. If they hear a loud stamp on the ground they must go back and hide in a doorway for the man to pass before they can go on. Many of the women are tattooed and Malika is anxious for the time when the meanings of the tattoos will be explained to her. Her brother, Jasim, is working for their Uncle while their father is away. When their Uncle visits the women to tell them of a stranger and of his mysterious disappearance, he also describes how grown up Jasim has become and Jasim's mother then tells Jasim and their Uncle that Jasim can no longer come to the rooftops to visit the women. He must go to work each day now; his childhood has ended. Another cultural distinction is that when Malika's father leaves on a trading journey, his wives do not wear any jewelry while he is absent. Malika also describes the custom of the oil lamp. "Papa has been careful to place the oil lamp pointing inward in the niche. This way, if a visitor looks in through the hole in the door, he will immediately know that my father is off on a trip. Placed another way, or unlit, the lamp conveys a completely different message. For example, The master is in the palm grove. Or, There has been a death in the house. The men know not to knock at the door when, thanks to the little lamp in the entryway, they see that the women are alone in the house." (Stolz 2004, p. 9) Jasim loves to torment Malika with the fact that she is a girl and will someday be confined to the world of women. "He never leaves me in peace, always harping on the fact that I am "just a girl." It is his favorite refrain, and he whistles it between his teeth with a mocking air as soon as our mothers are out of earshot. "I am going to travel, I am going to drive caravans, I'll be going to Kano and Timbuktu, and all the way to Mecca and Istanbul! While you, you're going to stay right here and never go anywhere!" (Stolz 2004, p. 7). The author also describes the use of camels in the caravans and desert sandstorms. The practice of slavery and servants customs are also described. The book has been translated from the original French and I found the book to be very enjoyable to read. The author and translator give the reader a very realilstic glimpse of what it was like to have been a girl in a 19th century Muslim city. The reader also experiences Malika's jealousy of her brother and her confusion about becoming a woman and following their customs. "This quiet story is notable for the intimate picture of the traditional Muslim world that it conveys; unfortunately, not until the author's note at the end is the time period made evident. The imprecise use of language may make it difficult for readers to visualize this distant world and to understand the characters' motivations." (School Library Journal, 2004). I found that I did not quite agree with the second portion of this critique. There are clues within the story that indicate that the story is not set in modern times. There is no mention of electricity or cars. Oil lamps are used for light and camels are the main form of transportation. I also did not find the language to be imprecise and thoroughly understood the character's motivations. Malika was struggling against being confined to centuries of Muslim custom and wishing she could have more freedom. I found this to be a great learning experience of what it would have been like to have lived as a young Muslim girl during this time period. School Library Journal. 1 November, 2005. Books in Print. [database online]. Available from http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2066/merge_shared/details/details.asp?item_uid=55556689&viewItemIndex=0&navPage=1&FullText=&BipAlertQueryString=&BipAlertDisplayQText=.

2019-04-25T08:57:26Z

http://rrrs120.tripod.com/internationalchildrensliteraturereneeschneider/id11.html

1. What are some of the consequences of fluoroquinolone overuse? 2. Which antimicrobial resistance rates are issues in your health region? 3. Is there opportunity to influence prescribing habits through educational intervention? Other CSHP 2015 "winning" success stories will also be highlighted at the end of the session. Management and Leadership Best Practices Award, sponsored by Apotex Inc. Given the often limited human and financial resources, managers should consider the best evidence available on a profession’s impact to plan healthcare services within an organization. Data are few on ranking healthcare programs in order to prioritize which healthcare program would mostly benefit from the delivery of pharmaceutical care by decentralised pharmacists. The aim of this project was to establish a consensual and coherent ranking of healthcare programs that involve the presence of decentralized pharmacists, based on health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. This descriptive study was derived from a structured dialogue (Delphi technique) among directors of pharmacy department. We established a quantitative profile of healthcare programs of five sites that involved the provision of decentralised pharmaceutical care. A summary table of evidence established a unique quality rating per inpatient or outpatient healthcare program. Each director rated the perceived impact of pharmaceutical care per inpatient or outpatient healthcare program on three fields: health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. Directors agreed by consensus on the final ranking of healthcare programs. A ranking was assigned for each of the 18 healthcare programs for outpatient care and the 17 healthcare programs for inpatient care involving the presence of pharmacists, based on health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. There was a good correlation between ranking based on data from the 2007–2008 Canadian report on hospital pharmacy practice and the ranking proposed by directors of pharmacy department. The use of strength of evidence quality rating combined with Delphi technique allowed our panel experts to propose a final consensual ranking of which healthcare programs would need to benefit from pharmaceutical care. Our study suggested that the ranking by the panellists was influenced by the quality of the evidences available and by current allocation of pharmacists in healthcare programs in Canada. A novel approach used to rank healthcare programs that include the provision of pharmaceutical care by decentralised pharmacists was described. This ranking approach was based on the perceived impact of pharmaceutical care healthcare program on three fields: health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. The impact of clinical pharmacists on improving the quality of patient care in surgery is not well described. The objective was to prospectively evaluate clinical and economic outcomes after clinical pharmacist services were added to two general surgery wards in an adult tertiary care centre. This was a prospective, observational study. All clinical interventions were documented and assessed for severity, value and the probability of preventing adverse drug events (ADE). Cost avoidance was calculated using two methods: by avoiding additional days in hospital ($3593/ADE) or additional hospital costs ($7215/ADE). Two pharmacists independently categorized the interventions; disagreements were resolved by consensus. The pharmacists made 1097 interventions in six months with a 98% acceptance rate by surgical staff. Half of the interventions were rated significant for severity (561, 51.1%) and value (559, 51.0%). One-quarter of the interventions had a 40% or greater probability of preventing an ADE (270, 24.6%). Cost avoidance was estimated to be $0.68 – 1.36 million or $617 to $1239 per intervention. The importance of having pharmacists manage the drug therapy needs of the post-surgical patient was demonstrated. Investments in a clinical pharmacist position in surgery may yield a benefit to cost ratio of 7:1. Patient Care Enhancement Award, sponsored by TEVA Canada Ltd. Opioid analgesics are high alert medications that are known to cause adverse drug events. To determine the cause of opioid incidents that require the administration of naloxone (opioid reversal agent). A retrospective chart review of inpatients who received naloxone for reversal of toxicity resulting from licit, in-hospital opioid use was conducted. Cases were analyzed to determine preventability, and preventable cases were assessed to determine the phase of the medication process where incident occurred, as well as the type of incident that occurred (determined through thematic grouping). The drug responsible for toxicity was determined, and the proportion of cases documented by occurrence reporting was noted. Thirty-six cases were identified, 29 (80.6%) of which were preventable. The primary medication incident occurred most frequently in the prescribing phase, but multiple phases were often involved. Six types of incidents were identified thematically. Morphine was the drug that most frequently resulted in toxicity. Two (5.6%) cases were documented by occurrence reports. Opioid incidents occurred in the acute care centres under study. Targeted educational initiatives or policy changes are required to decrease the frequency of these incidents and better document their occurrence. Critically ill children require sedation for comfort and to facilitate interventions. Dexmedetomidine is a newer sedative with little safety data in pediatrics, particularly with durations of therapy greater than 48 hours. To quantify the frequency of adverse events and withdrawal syndromes associated with dexmedetomidine and describe its use for continuous sedation in critically ill children. A retrospective medical record review of patients who received dexmedetomidine for sedation in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Adverse events were assessed using a Naranjo Score to determine the likelihood of an association with dexmedetomidine. Included were 144 patients (median age 34 months (range 0 to 17.7 years)) with 153 treatment courses. Mean infusion rate was 0.42 (SD 0.17; range 0.05 to 2) mcg/kg/h. Median therapy duration was 20.5 (range 0.75 to 854.75) hours. Hypotension (N=81 (52.9%)) and bradycardia (N=38 (24.8%)) were the most common adverse events, and were “probably” attributable to dexmedetomidine in 17 (11%) and 9 (6%) of treatment courses, respectively. Agitation and hypertension were the most common withdrawal symptoms observed. Dexmedetomidine is commonly administered for greater than 24 hours in our institution and is generally well tolerated. Patients receiving dexmedetomidine for over 24 hours should be monitored for withdrawal following discontinuation. Secondary prevention medications, including acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), statins, ß-blockers and angiotensin-modulating agents (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers), are recommended in patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. To evaluate the rate of secondary prevention medication utilization from discharge to one-year post-CABG surgery for a cohort of adult patients at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute in Edmonton, Alberta. A retrospective analysis was performed using a clinical patient registry. A randomly selected subset of patients was invited to evaluate medication utilization at one-year post-surgery using community pharmacy records. The registry identified 1,031 patients. The mean age was 66 years and 80% were male. The proportion of patients discharged on all four medications post-CABG surgery was 35%. The individual utilization rates for ASA, statins, ß-blockers and angiotensin-modulating agents were 96%, 94%, 92% and 42%, respectively. Of the patients invited to participate in the one-year evaluation, 151 (39%) provided consent. The proportion of patients on all four medications at one-year was 48%. Individual utilization rates for ASA, statins, ß-blockers and angiotensin-modulating agents were 95%, 84%, 84% and 65%, respectively. The rate of utilization of four secondary prevention medications was 35% at discharge and 48% at one-year post-CABG surgery. These rates were primarily limited by the low use of angiotensin-modulating agents. Maintenance of an up-to-date medication list, using medication reconciliation (MedRec) to identify discrepancies, has been shown to reduce adverse drug events in hemodialysis patients. Develop and implement a renal program-wide, sustainable MedRec program primarily using nurses. The project team worked with the hemodialysis nurses to develop a standardized MedRec process utilizing the provincial patient database and guidelines from Safer Healthcare Now. The nurses were educated and given tools to support them to gather a best possible medication history (BPMH). An Evaluation Analyst developed a Logic Model and Data Collection Plan to support the project. After one year, the percentage of medications with a discrepancy and the average number fell from 23% to 15% and 3.9 to 2.7 per patient, respectively. Over 85% of the staff surveyed stated that there were now clear processes and tools in place to conduct a BPMH, update the medication lists in the provincial renal database, and to communicate the medication information to the patient and other caregivers. A project team consisting of three hospital pharmacists with support from an Evaluation Analyst was able to successfully standardize a MedRec process in a regional outpatient HD program primarily using nurses. We sought to create an effective, accessible, sustainable, multi-faceted pharmacy staff training program for safe handling of hazardous drugs that could be easily adapted for other disciplines. We also wanted to design a program that would advise staff on an ongoing basis about known or reasonably foreseeable risks to safety and health arising from hazardous drugs used in pharmacy work areas. We conducted a needs assessment, then designed and evaluated a set of instructional materials that form a comprehensive training program for safe handling of hazardous drugs. The materials include a slide presentation intended for face-to-face inservices, a self-learning package in hard copy and on-line format, an annual refresher quiz, and a mock spill drill. Since inception of the training program in 2010, 335 pharmacy staff members have completed one or more training program components. Field tests of each component have improved content, enabled high success rates on refresher quizzes, and identified opportunities to improve the region’s Safe Medication Handling policy. The training program has been easy to sustain at a reasonable cost. Our experience has shown that improving staff safety requires not only a policy and associated procedures, job aides and work tools, but also a comprehensive training program to ensure initial and ongoing use of job aides and work tools by front line staff members. Adoption of the pharmacy hazardous drugs training program for training of nursing personnel region-wide attests to the quality of the program and to pharmacy’s medication safety leadership role. Training program materials will be available for viewing during the facilitated poster presentation. Since the publication of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Alert on hazardous drugs in 2004, many healthcare organizations have reviewed their guidelines and procedures for handling hazardous drugs. Occupational exposure may occur when handling, compounding or administering a drug considered to be hazardous, from storage to waste management. The aim of this project was to measure environmental contamination with cyclophosphamide (CP), ifosfamide (IF) and methotrexate (MTX) in pharmacy and patient care areas of hospitals. Twelve standardized measurement sites within pharmacy (6 sites) and patient care areas (6 sites) were selected. Sites were sampled mid-week at the end of the day. Samples were analyzed for the presence of CP, IF and MTX by UPLC-MS-MS technology. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.0015 ng/cm 2 for CP, 0.0012 ng/cm 2 for IF and 0.0060 ng/cm 2 for MTX. A total of 25 hospitals participated in the project (37% response rate). Overall, 259 samples were collected between April 2008 and January 2010 (147 samples from 25 pharmacy areas and 112 samples from 24 patient care areas). No hospital was using a closed system transfer device (CSTD) at the time of the study. The median[min-max] number of sites per center with at least one positive sample for at least one drug of the three hazardous drugs evaluated was 6[1–12]. A total of 135(52%) samples were positive for CP, 53(20%) were positive for IF and 7(3%) were positive for MTX. The median[min-max] concentration was of 0.0035[<LOD-28] ng/cm 2 for CP, <LOD [<LOD-8.6] ng/cm 2 for IF and <LOD [<LOD-0.58] ng/cm 2 for MTX. CP levels were a good indicator to estimate the level of hazardous drug contamination, considering that it is still largely used in most healthcare centers. It also allowed a good comparison with other studies. Our results from 25 hospitals indicated that it is feasible to have a similar (and in some cases, lower) proportion of CP positive surface samples without the use of a closed-system transfer device. Periodic surface contamination measurements are necessary to ensure that current practices limit healthcare workers occupational exposure to hazardous drugs. This project have helped participating centers identify their specific areas for improvement. The overall results from this project will also serve as an attainable goal that any Canadian hospital may refer to in order to reduce the risks to healthcare workers’ safety. Overuse of fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotics is associated with outbreaks of MRSA and C. difficile-associated diarrhea and increasing resistance to gram-negative organisms. The Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region (RQHR) has seen increasing E. coli resistance to ciprofloxacin over the last decade. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and optimize empiric treatment of Regina General Hospital (RGH) emergency department (ED) outpatients with uncomplicated UTIs, using antimicrobial stewardship principles to align prescribing with local resistance data and best practice. An educational strategy, aimed at ED physicians, presented the changes in RQHR antibiotic resistance patterns, principles of antimicrobial stewardship, the drivers of resistance, and a literature review of best practice for outpatient UTIs. An overview of baseline findings from a retrospective chart review, along with the suggested best practice was also presented. A post-intervention audit was conducted in the same manner as the baseline audit for comparison purposes. Adherence to best practice significantly increased from 40.6% pre-intervention, to 65.8% post-intervention (P<0.001; OR = 2.81, 95% CI 1.51–5.25). There was also a significant change in overall antibiotic selection from pre to post-intervention (P<0.001; OR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.11–0.58). Further statistical analysis suggests this significance was driven by a decrease in ciprofloxacin use from 32.3% in pre-intervention to 10.5% post-intervention. Future interventions may be required to further improve adherence and to determine what effect this may have on reducing resistance rates of E. coli to ciprofloxacin. To raise awareness of the potential antimicrobial stewardship interventions which exist in the treatment of a very common infection, outpatient urinary tract infections. To provide an example of a simply designed, pharmacist lead, inter-professional collaboration on an antimicrobial stewardship initiative in the emergency room setting. Teaching, Learning, and Education Award, sponsored by Eli Lilly Canada Inc. Recently discharged patients were surveyed about their preferences for pharmacy services as part of a phone questionnaire to determine the percentage of patients who recalled interacting with the pharmacist during their hospital admission (CSHP 2015 Objective 1.5). To analyse content of former patients’ open-ended survey responses to a telephone questionnaire. A telephone questionnaire was conducted with former inpatients randomly selected following discharge from hospitals in Horizon Health Network, New Brunswick. Responses were recorded to the question “what service or information would you like a pharmacist to provide in the hospital that would most help you in managing your medications?” Two raters established response categories, obtained acceptable inter-rater agreement, and independently scored the survey responses. Sixty-three percent (n=445) of all responses obtained were related to Information About Medication (e.g. purpose, adherence, side effects). Self-Disclosure (23.7%, n=167), detailing experiences with pharmacies, medication or hospital, was the second most common global category. Subjects’ responses were less frequently associated with Pharmacy Services (7.7%, n=54) and their Information Source for Medications (5.3%, n=37). Most patients would like a pharmacist to provide a general medication overview during their admission. Results suggest many patients are unaware of other clinical pharmacy services.

2019-04-24T19:27:07Z

https://cjhp-online.ca/index.php/cjhp/article/view/1218/1666

Rationalist Judaism: "Nu, So What Did You Think Of My Alps?" As I mentioned, I'm currently in the Italian Alps for a few days, giving some lectures, and today, I went horseback riding. It is bitterly cold, and I have a bitter cold, but I did not want to miss the opportunity. Now, riding a horse is not one of my skills (I’ve spent more time riding elephants), and the horse that I was given was a huge and feisty stallion who seemed as though he was auditioning for Tolkien’s Riders of Rohan; I was the only person in my group who was given a switch in order to impose discipline if necessary. However, he didn’t throw me off and he was obedient, at least for most of time. We made our way through the tiny, narrow streets of a rustic village, then up the hills through snow-encrusted countryside, with the gigantic white Alps looming around us. It was incredible. The experience reminded me of something that I wrote about fifteen years ago, back when I was Nosson Slifkin. At the time, I was grappling with two stories which appeared contradictory. The first concerned the late Manchester Rosh Yeshivah, Rabbi Yehudah Zev Segal (whose daughter was my elementary school teacher, so I guess that makes me an indirect talmid of his!). The story is told that Rav Segal was once traveling in Manhattan, and his companions suggested that they take a detour in order to see the famous Empire State Building. Fifteen years ago, these stories presented a contradiction that bothered me. In classical yeshivah fashion, I reasoned that the contradiction could be resolved. The Empire State Building is a man-made creation, and thus there is no reason to admire it. The Alps, on the other hand, are God’s own handiwork. Thus, there is no difference between Rav Segal and Rav Hirsch. Fifteen years later, I’m not dismissing the possibility that this resolution is valid, but I am more open to acknowledging the likelihood that the stories reflect a fundamental difference between these two great Torah scholars. I can think of two ways in which to explain the nature of this difference. One possibility is that these stories reflect two different approaches within Judaism. Rav Segal was of a particular ultra-Orthodox ideology in which Torah—the pursuit of God’s wisdom and commands—is of paramount interest, to the point where it is virtually of exclusive interest. Neglecting the pursuit of Torah and mitzvos, even for a short time, merely to appreciate a wondrous sight, would be inexcusable. Rav Hirsch, on the other hand, was of the Torah im derech eretz school of thought, in which a Jew’s life is enriched by appreciating the wonders of the world—be they God’s creations, or the creations of man, with his ingenious application of his God-given brain. Another possibility (perhaps related to the previous one) is that these stories reflect the different origins of Rav Segal and Rav Hirsch. There’s a hilarious satirical news story about a person in New York for whom all therapy had failed to cure his chronic miserable attitude, and he was about to undergo a lobotomy, when at the last moment the surgeon realized that there was nothing clinically wrong with the person; he was, in fact, from Manchester. I spent the first seventeen years of my life there, so I can see why it might have caused Rav Segal to have little interest in sightseeing. A miserable, grey, industrial and very provincial town, Manchester tends to produce cynical people who have little interest in the wider world. Rav Hirsch, on the other hand, was from a very different culture. So, there are three possible explanations for the differing attitudes of Rav Segal and Rav Hirsch. I’ll have to contemplate the matter further before deciding what my attitude should be with regard to man-made wonders. But meanwhile, I’m glad that I braved the cold and my cold to ride through the mountains. When God asks me what I thought of His alps, I’m going to tell Him that they are terrific. Horses are pretty awesome, too. Nu, So What Did You Think Of My Lord of The Rings? My La Boheme? My 5th Symphony in C Minor? My Mona Lisa? My Madame Bovary? My ... Lipa Concert? I'm sure that both Rav Segal and Rav Hirsch would agree that you make a bracha on seeing Alps and no bracha on seeing the ESB (unless you are an architecture nerd - shehecheyanu). Is there really a stira? I think that Rav Hirsch would have been interested to see the Empire State Building. We say a bracha Chonen Hadaas, which I always think of when I see a wonder of the world like the Empire State Building. Hashem gave the architects and engineers the wisdom to build them, didn't he? (Even more so the George Washington Bridge, which is breathtaking but unfortuately pedestrian to those of us who see it on a very regular basis. And read Robert Caro's biography of Robert Moses to find out just what miracles of engineering went into building the Cross Bronx Expressway). And Baruch Shechalak Mechachmaso Lebasar Vedam. "back when I was Nosson Slifkin" The Mishnah in Avos says that if you're travelling along and learning, and you see a tree or a ploughed field and stop learning to say "Wow, what a great tree" or "Wow, what a great ploughed field" you've done very badly. Why a ploughed field as opposed to just a field? Why a ploughed field as opposed to a nice mountain? The tree is natural, a product of God's handiwork. The ploughed field is a testament to the hard work of man to develop the natural world God gave us. Admiration of both the natural and the man-made must come second to Torah. Perhaps that's why the Manchester Rav had no interest in the ESB. But maybe Rav Shimshon Rafael Hirsch was riding through the Alps on the same horse as you and couldn't concentrate on his learning so he had time to look? "And Baruch Shechalak Mechachmaso Lebasar Vedam." You say that on the ESB?? Not to mention that some (most?) architectonic wonders were build in connection with avodah zarah. I wish I knew how to ride a horse. My mother tells me that my father was quite adept at riding horses. My personal take is that seeing a great man-made structure is an extension of seeing G-d-made structures since isn't it G-d who created man, his wisdom, and the potential to create such structures? R.NS: "And Baruch Shechalak Mechachmaso Lebasar Vedam." The הכרת הטוב: Manchester has given us many Nobel Laureates, including 2 physicists in 2010, as well as many other precious חכמי אומות העולם. I know one of Rav Hirsch's great-granddaughters who insists that Rav Hirsch's name is not Shimshon. She says it's Samson or Shamshon, but not Shimshon. Just thought I'd let you know. You say: "I think that Rav Hirsch would have been interested to see the Empire State Building." --Hagyan (or 'הגיין'), who is authenticated by his Google profile. A fourth option: Perhaps RSRH enjoyed sights like the Alps, and used his vort to justify going out of his way to see them, and perhaps Rabbi Yehudah Zev Segal wasn’t in the mood to take a detour that day, and used his vort to justify not going to see the Empire State Building. They don’t contradict each other because each is really a justification for a personal preference that may have been thought up on the spur of the moment rather than a well thought out articulation of a Torah principle. One of the major characters in the musical "Hair" is a guy from Flushing, Queens, who decides that it would be more interesting to be from Manchester, England! Six years ago I took my wife to the top of the Empire State Building and offered her an engagement ring. She accepted and we are still married :). Open a Hirsch Siddur and see Rav Hirsch's commentary to that Mishna. I was going to bring up that Mishna, but Garnel beat me to it! Rabbi Slifkin - Great post! A little different than your usual writing and I enjoyed it very much. Garnel – That mishnah in Pirkei Avos always bothered me, especially because I love nature and nature has a wonderful emotional effect on me. Stopping to appreciate nature enhances my life, and even enhances my learning (like when I was up in the beautiful mountains in the summertime). I take exception to your disparaging remarks about Manchester. I was born in Manchester and have lived all my life here, yet I have been very fortunate to have seen many of Hashem's great wonders of the world. Nevertheless, when I return from these travels, I always say "It's nice to be home" - in Manchester. Rav Mordechai Breuer, when teaching the pasuk "Vat'chash'vehu m`at me'Elokim," told the story of Rav Hirsch, and continued that in the spirit of the mizmor, one could continue with the question, "did you see my New York?" We get alot more snow nowadays R'Natan, makes Manchester a little brighter! Why complicate things? Two people had two different personalities and interests. My son once asked me if I allow him to be interested in beetles (he was six at the time, and I think a combination of seeking a large bug along with a nascent yet emerging sense of independence motivated the question). I told him it's not for me to decide what fascinates him, that's his department. And that's been our understanding since, even to my slight chagrin. He has no interest in Chazzanut or classical music, both of which I am passionate about, and would love share with him. C'est la vie. He's a great kid in almost every other way. The point is that many chareidim see the need to ape EVERY aspect of those great and venerable sages referred to as "Gedolim" If the Gadol eats breakfast at 7:42 a.m., so shall we. If the Gadol ties his necktie in a half windsor knot, so shall we and on and on and on. It's a silly practice. G-d made individuals to be individuals. It means nothing that R. Segal had no interest in seeing a tall building and couched it in Hashkafic terms. Likewise, it means nothing that R. S.R. Hirsch wanted to see the Alps and couched it in similar terms. The only significance of both stories is the message that is common between them: that everything one chooses to do, should be done in service of the Divine, or at least made to appear as such (mitoch shelo lishamh bah lishmah). People are allowed, nay are expected to stylize their lives, and should do so to His glory. I have a third plausible theory. That the story of Rav Hirsch is pretty well known story and Rav Segal was just being ironically witty. Welcome back. arn, absorb, follow and do, like nice little programmed androids. To me it means we will listen and we understand. I remember a discussion in a charedi baal tshuva circle with two talmidei chachomim present, what to do if your rebbe tells you to jump out the window. Guess what? The initial reaction was of course you jump like nice little programmed androids! Then they had a sofek that lechoira the rebbe is telling you to do a dvar aveira, so how can we do it? Some concluded that they have to do it af al pi ken because of emunas chachomim, others needed to be 'meayen'. I concluded that I was in the wrong company and threw the rebbe out the window. Lol. Poshuter, you change your name every time I out you. The Wizard, you very perceptively described the fundamental difference between Chareidi hashkafah and non-Chareidi hashkafah. Even assuming you are correct that only Chareidi hashkafah is lechatchila AND there is no bedeiavad, what does this do for most Jewish people who for various reasons cannot do what the Chareidi hashkafah requires? Is this a form of Protestant predestination, where only an elect have a change to be saved, all others predestined to perish? IIRC he actually sat on it - I have always wondered about that one (and the companion piece on the ir hanidachat) - shouldn't his testimony have ended the debate (just as one exception to a proposed theorom is enough to kill it)? G*# makes a good point, that it was probably just an off the cuff remark, not reflective of any grand philosophy. In shas we find many statements that were said "dechayeh madche", ie, just to get an annoying guy off one's back. This happens to many people on a daily basis. Agav, Charlie Hall's comment, that the Cross Bronx XPway caused so-called environmental damage, is a picture perfect example of liberal "thinking", and demonstrates quite nicely why America is in decline. Wizard, learn Horiyos and you will see that it is on fact forbidden to follow a teaching that know to be incorrect, even if the whole Sanhedrin tells you to do so. Your intellect (if any) is odif. Also, Manchester is the epitome is grimness. "Naaseh v'nishma means we listen, learn, absorb, follow and do, like nice little programmed androids." Who does the programming? This seems to be a very cogent argument for blaming G-d for one's heresy and misdeeds. shouldn't his testimony have ended the debate (just as one exception to a proposed theorom is enough to kill it)? No, he didn't mean literally. What he meant was that it's not drush ve kabel sachar but rather a halacha like other halachos. G*# makes a good point, that it was probably just an off the cuff remark, not reflective of any grand philosophy. Bad point - 'sichas chulin of talmidei chachomim tzricha talmud'. If those comments were not said in earnest they would be kalus rosh and leizonus. True talmidei chachomim don't speak lightly of Olam Habo or Yom Hadin. Charlie Hall, please tell us what environmental and socioeconomic damage was caused. >IIRC he actually sat on it - I have always wondered about that one (and the companion piece on the ir hanidachat) - shouldn't his testimony have ended the debate (just as one exception to a proposed theorom is enough to kill it)? Apart from the fact that the Torah says two or three witnesses establish a thing, not one, he was not testifying that he saw a ben sorer u-moreh case, only the grave (likewise 'ir ha-nidachas). Presumably there was a grave which people said was a ben sorer's grave. But how can he have know if it really was? We all know that there are many false graves. Most importantly, it could not have been an authentic grave if historically there never was a ben sorer. Maybe we can never know for sure eiether way, but surely this testimony alone should not have ended the debate. I don't know why people are bothering to respond to this "Wizard" guy, it's pointless. It's also obvious that it's "Poshiter Yid" with a new moniker. "Bad point - 'sichas chulin of talmidei chachomim tzricha talmud'. If those comments were not said in earnest they would be kalus rosh and leizonus. True talmidei chachomim don't speak lightly of Olam Habo or Yom Hadin." "ברוך ... שחלק/שנתן מחכמתו ליראיו" ? Or how Rambam mentions עונש in ספר המצוות on "את-ה' אלוקיך תירא"? Seems related to me but I'm not sure yet. I wonder also if carefully observing whether people "don't speak lightly of Olam Habo or Yom Hadin" is how to identify תלמידי חכמים? "Likewise, it means nothing that R. S.R. Hirsch wanted to see the Alps and couched it in similar terms." That's why I have always felt bad for yeshivish people who work. Nebech, they feel terrible that the whole day they must do something so mundane as working. When they get home and can learn, they're in heaven. An ideal MO person, however, is happy working since he sees his work as part of his avodas Hashem. I can't imagine what it must be like to spend eight hours every day of one's life thinking one is essentially wasting one's time or serving some secondary, non-ideal function in G-d's world. They were making a new psak on ben sorer, such that it became nearly impossible for it to occur. The question is asked: If it will never happen, why is it in the Torah (ie. how can you completely annul something in the Torah)? The response: To learn it and be mekabel schar (iow it can still serve an intellectual purpose). The testimony regarding the grave of a ben sorer would then be talking about a ben sorer who had been killed according to the previous definition of the halacha. It is probable that it was definitely a ben sorer as otherwise he wouldn't have disrespected the grave by sitting on it. Well, it seems that she is confused herself as to which one it is. I think that it was pronounced as Shamshon, I heard this pronunciation many times, but written Shimshon. It's a distortion similar to Yankev for Yakov. Just thought I'd let you know. Oh, I've heard this remark often. It's bizarre, because it automatically assumes that a yid mit a burd has special status or spiritual level. It makes me uncomfortable. But what does this mean when compared to nature? Seems like apples and oranges to me. Yes, true talmidei chachomim as it says if there is no reverence (for the Almighty) there is no wisdom. But someone other than talmid chochom can also poses it. This is a very good thought but I hope you agree that it's not the intend of the Mishna? I think Rabbi Yaakov comes to proclaim the supremacy of Torah. He is talking about hamafsik mimishnoso davka. He is not denying the outside world. This is the pshat imo. "...(a) peculiar comment in the Talmud Yerushalmi (end of Kiddushin): “A person will in the future [have to] make an accounting for everything that his eye beheld but he did not eat.” " Wizard: How did you decide whom you were going to mindlessly follow? How did you decide what subjects are beyond your comprehension? There are plenty of other problems with your comment, mainly that it does not represent Judaism as practiced and understood by virtually all of the Rishonim, but let's start with that question. see Sanhedrin 71a - ani ritiv vyashavti al kivro - I saw HIM and sat on his grave. sorer, such that it became nearly impossible for it to occur. I will have to put on my academic sheitl for this one. Sanhedrin moved out of lishkas hagozis 40 years before the Churban. Rabbi Yonasan was a talmid of Rabbi Akiva so he could not have seen HIM and set on his grave because there was no dinei nefoshos at that time. They were not makink a new psak because it was already impossible for it to occur. This was also the reason why the Jews could not execute Jesus. shouldn't his testimony have ended the debate (just as one exception to a proposed theorem is enough to kill it)? Correct conclusions. One has to feel the pulse of the Gemorah what is commonly known as the Svorah. The creative, artistic types have an easier time at it than the scientific types. To me this is the beauty of the Gemorah - the Svorah. Just my opinion fwiw. RS, the last few posts were excellent! However, being from the same area of Manchester myself (R' Natan and I were childhood friends) I must say that I also felt that way about the aforementioned "sunny" city until I brought a girl I was engaged to at the time to visit my parents. She looked around (actually we were just passing the Hazeldean Hotel) and said, Manchester is such a pretty place! And you know what, I looked around with new eyes and said, I've never noticed it before, but you're right! Especially Broughton Park (which is where we and Rav Segal grew up). There are some very quaint and pretty houses, nestling amongst abundant greenery. Arresting avenues of old Oaks leading to stately 19th century English buildings. And that's not to mention the English hills which surround Manchester (in which we spent a good amount of our childhood, collecting various creatures and getting rained upon copiously). I don't think I grew up as one of those "cynical people who have little interest in the wider world" to whom you refer. It's true that most peoples smiles have been eroded by years of constant drizzle, however I would not ascribe Rav Segals approach to the rain. The chareidi worldview runs deeper and longer than that in my opinion. Mordechai, the link doesn't work. One bein hazemanim (Yeshivah was in session in the Catskills) some fellows took off some days to do some sightseeing, canoeing, rappelling, whatever. They came back to the Yeshivah, and were hanging around, telling of their exploits. The Rosh Yeshivah walked in. They sheepishly explained where they had been,adding that Rav SRH had said that he wants to have an answer to HaShem's question "Have you seen My Alps?" The Rosh Yeshivah responded "I don't know if He will ask you if you saw His Alps or not; but one thing I do know for sure--He certainly will ask you if you saw His Masseches Eiruvin! I will have to put on my academic sheitl for this one. but even an academic (not that i accept academic study c"v :-)) would have to explain why such specific language was used. Max: It wasn't or isn't a conscious decision. It's a mesorah, just like Torah. Father to son, father to son. Makes it easier that way, too. Tatty says so and so is a gadol, ergo he's a gadol. I heard an audio yesterday of HaRav Gifter, zt"l. He said on the tape that HaRav Shach, zt"l was the Gadol HaDor. That's enough to convince me and the rest of Ortho Jews that he was. As far as what's beyond comprehension, that's obvious to the indivual, and to the Gedolim as well. When the Gemara says not to learn Kabbala until age 40, that means age 40, not when you decide it's time. And since age 40 at that time a person knew all of shas baal peh, today it should probably be age 80 or not at all. Even your precious Rambam says not to learn about the Mekava except with 1 Talmid Chacham. Yet everyone thinks they can just go ahead and do what they please, because they have reached such glorious heights in the secular world. A PhD in astrophysics in no way qualifies you to learn Kabbala. This is where feeling the pulse of the Gemorah comes in. Rabbi Yonathan objected to the concept of 'drosh vekabel sachar', and to drive across the point expressed himself in an exaggerated manner common to his period. Trying to explain 'specific language' brings you to being megale ponim shelo kihalocha. Since you were trying to apply mathematical logic to Talmudic text I am surprised by the c'v. Academic approach is useful for obtaining proper historical, cultural and linguistic understanding of a Talmudic text. If Chovos HaLevovos can use the words of 'amgushi' (a priest of idolatry in the context) to teach us emunah why cannot we learn from the academia? Kabel emes miomra, imo. This is the approach of the rationalist school of thought. "When the Gemara says not to learn Kabbala until age 40, that means age 40, not when you decide it's time." Where did you conjure up this quote? Where is Shas does it say this? Or did you hokus pokus it? Father to son, father to son. Makes it easier that way, too. Tatty says so and so is a gadol, ergo he's a gadol. Lech lecha ... Mibeis avicho. There is a nice machshova in Likutei Halochos of R. Nosson talmid of R. Nachman. He says that since Torah is eternal this commandment applies to each and every one of us. Every person is brought up with incorrect beliefs due to his environment and parental upbringing. The Torah commands us to abandon our preconceived notions and follow the path of G-d similar to Avraham Avinu. I dont know the exact daf. Exact sources are not as important to me as they are to you. We Haredim do not need chapter & verse. Someone said that someone said that the Gemara said is plenty good enough. Mibais avicha only works if you say my father or anyone's father worshipped idols like Avraham's did. But if my father and your father was a ben Torah, then you are not allowed to deviate from his teachings, as it violates kibud av. I'm sure the heilige R. Slifkin can tell you where it says about 40 years old. Even translating any kabbala sefer into English is a shande, if not a crime altogether. Just beczuse you can walk into the library and read any secular book, does not mean you can do the same with any Torah sefer. There are restrictions. Only a fool would think that if he reads the Artscroll version of Yechezkel that he can understand the Maaseh HaMerkava. Same with reading an English Zohar. Pretentious, chutzpahdik, and criminal. "We Haredim do not need chapter & verse. Someone said that someone said that the Gemara said is plenty good enough." You'll have to be a bit less over the top if you want to be convincing. Same with reading an English Zohar. Pretentious, chutzpahdik, and criminal. Criminal? No. Criminal is when someone does a crime. Rubashkin, for example, committed a crime when he lied on his collateral declarations to the bank for 10 years straight as was proved in court. Rubashkin also committed a crime when he perjured himself on the stand in court. The yeshivish world seems to get mixed up quite a lot about what is and what is not a crime. Someone said that someone said that the Gemara said is plenty good enough. talmid has this to say. As someone from Manchester and knowing the ROSH very well and Mrs Kupets your elementary teacher, I can only say I dont believe the story. If you read of the Chida travels in London he went to visit the tower. The ROSH was brought up in Manchester and went to a non-frum co-ed Jewish school. He was not the over frum person he is made out to be with no secular knowledge at all. He often went to the alps as well. I think one does a disservice to his great memory writing questionable stories about him. Then there is the third Alps story. Rav Kook was stuck in Europe when WW I broke out. His first safe haven was in Switzerland. The Nazir, attempting to cheer him up, took him for a trip in the mountains. When asked if the beauty of the mountains didn't move him, Rav Kook sadly responded "the mountains of Eretz Yisrael speak to me more..." I have a third plausible theory. That the story of Rav Hirsch is pretty well known story and Rav Segal was just being ironically witty. Agreed. But this could actually be a minor variation of the 2nd explanation: Rav Segal was negating Rav Hirsch's opinion by quoting him in a mildly sarcastic way. this system will also be duplicated to post Halloween masks or even fancy dress masks.When Mask my partner and i say mask That means so numerous things, considering that the You will find other kind connected with masks for some other occasions.

2019-04-19T07:25:34Z

http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2010/12/nu-so-what-did-you-think-of-my-alps.html

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif two weeks ago in a bid to salvage the 2015 nuclear agreement signed between Iran and world powers, according to the Boston Globe. Kerry reportedly met Zarif at the United Nations in New York for a second meeting in as many months amid threats by US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the agreement by May 12. According to the Globe, the Obama administration’s top diplomat has also met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeir, French President Emmanuel Macron on two occasions, and spoken on the phone with the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in an attempt to save the agreement that he spent years negotiating with other world leaders. Kerry refused to respond to the Globe report. Reuters reported last week that Trump has “all but decided” to withdraw from the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and to allow nuclear-related sanctions on Iran that were suspended under the nuclear deal to snap back into effect. Zarif insisted on Thursday that his government has implemented its 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers fully and in “good faith” – just days after Israel and the Trump administration accused the Iranians of lying about the nature of their nuclear work at its outset. It was like a scene out of the Mission: Impossible series. Two assassins on BMW motorbikes gunned down 34-year old Fradi Al-Batsh on the morning of April 21 in Kuala Lumpur. Al-Batsh was riddled with eight bullets before his attackers sped away. Al-Batsh was a 34-year-old electrical engineer, a PhD in power systems and energy efficiency, and a lecturer at the British Malaysian Institute. As it turns out, he was also a loyal and active member of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, working on the development of drones and rockets. He may also have been negotiating arms deals on behalf of Hamas with the North Koreans. Reports suggest that it was agents of the Israeli spy agency, the Mossad, who killed al-Batsh. This only seems logical. But less obvious is what a Hamas weapons developer was doing in Malaysia in the first place. As it turns out, Hamas has a significant presence in Malaysia. For years, the terrorist group has used Malaysia to engage in financial activities and even plan operations from outside Gaza, particularly as the group has been forced out of its traditional Middle East areas of operations, such as Syria. The problem is that Hamas operatives don’t come in peace. In 2012, at least ten members of Hamas traveled to Malaysia for training to prepare for a cross-border attack against Israel. The group reportedly trained for kidnapping soldiers, anti-tank ambushes, and sniper attacks. Malaysian police said Saturday that they had located the weapons and the getaway vehicle used by the assassins who gunned down a Hamas rocket and drone expert in Kuala Lumpur last month. Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun told reporters that authorities were currently attempting to locate the owner of the vehicle, according to the Malaysian newspaper the New Straits Times. Fadi al-Batsh, said to be a rocket and drone expert, was on his way to dawn prayers on April 21 when he was assassinated by motorbike-riding gunmen, a killing his family and the Hamas terror group have blamed on Israel’s Mossad spy agency. “After shooting the victim and fleeing on a high-powered motorcycle, the suspects immediately switched to a van and escaped,” Fuzi said, according to the New Straits Times. The motorbike the two suspects were allegedly riding was found abandoned not far from where the assassination took place. The police inspector-general also said that the two suspects had used fake passports from Serbia and Montenegro to enter Malaysia, “They are also believed to have passports from other countries,” he said. The infiltration of Palestinian demonstrators into the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom goods crossing on Friday evening caused damage estimated in the millions to infrastructure, mostly to pipes providing vital gas and fuel to the Strip. Dozens of Palestinians broke into the Gaza side crossing on Friday evening, setting fire to the gas pipeline that supplies fuel to the Strip. They did not get through to the Israeli side. These riled-up demonstrators first and foremost hurt themselves and the Gazan public. But despite Israeli army assessments that this was done with Hamas backing, from conversations with Palestinians in Gaza, a somewhat different picture emerges. One which suggests that the infiltration into the compound was initiated spontaneously by a mob that had no initial plans to do so. The moment the incident began, Hamas officials in charge of security at the site realized that trying to stop it could cause deaths and injuries, and so pulled back and allowed the demonstrators to do as they pleased. The Kerem Shalom crossing is the main entry point for merchandise entering Gaza. It’s difficult to think of a place more critical to the Strip’s own economy. In the past, 900 truckloads of merchandise entered through the crossing every day. Today that number is down to about 300 a day, due to the economic crisis in Gaza which has led to less demand. It is members of the Palestinian Authority that are in charge of operations at the crossing, not Hamas. And so the vandalism at the site wasn’t just an expression of rage against Israel but against the PA too. Hundreds of Palestinians set fire to and damaged the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Friday evening. The law-breakers damaged fuel and gas pipes that serve the people of Gaza, said the IDF. “This is a cynical act which damages the well-being of the people of Gaza and the humanitarian efforts carried out by Israel and other countries,” the IDF spokesperson stated. On the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, infrastructure was set on fire and damaged, reported Maariv. “The Kerem Shalom riot is happening on the Palestinian side of the crossing and includes causing damage to the infrastructure, I don’t see the Palestinian Authority paying for the damages soon”, said Maariv reporter Tal Lev-Ram. An Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post that, based on initial visual information, the office of the crossing management was looted and destroyed, the fuel tank which served the generator was set on fire and petrol pumps suffered damage. Around 10,000 Palestinians took part in protests on Friday along the Gaza-Israel border and violent clashes with the IDF were monitored in five locations. The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that the number of wounded protesters stands at around 430 people. After a short time the protesters are apparently spotted by Israeli troops, and can be seen running back into Gaza. The army said in a statement that the Gazans were identified by soldiers monitoring the border and a patrol was dispatched to the scene. Soldiers fired tear gas at the infiltrators and forced them back over the border. On Saturday, the army said troops identified several Palestinians who breached the border and placed Molotov cocktails near the security fence in the south of the Strip before returning to Gaza. In a second incident soldiers fired at a group of Palestinians who attempted to sabotage the fence in southern Gaza, and they retreated. Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said on Thursday that the “March of the Return” processions in Gaza sent a clear message to all sides that it was impossible to implement the “deal of the century”, a reference to the peace plan being put forward by the Trump administration. “The attempt to instill fear in the lives of the settlers has already done its part, and if we look at what is happening around us, we will find that they fled because they are thieves, and what happened to them will happen in the north of the country as well,” Zahar said. “The blood of the Palestinian people, spilled on this land, will go from here to Jerusalem,” he vowed. A large blast rocked the central Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least six people, witnesses and the Hamas-run health ministry said. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear, but Palestinian media reports said it was an “work accident,” a term usually used to describe the accidental detonation of explosives being prepared by one of the terror groups in the Strip. The Ynet news site, quoting sources in Gaza, said the men, including senior members of the Hamas military wing, had been trying to dismantle an old Israeli missile that had failed to explode. The health ministry said several bodies had been brought to a local hospital. The IDF said it was unaware of the cause of blast. The Palestinian Authority will use its recently-granted membership of Interpol — the global association of national police forces headquartered in the French city of Lyon — to both pursue its political war against Israel and harass domestic opponents of its policies, the author of a new report on the issue warned on Friday. The decision at Interpol’s General Assembly in September 2017 to grant membership to the PA was a “serious error,” Ted R. Bromund — a senior research fellow at the Washington, DC-based Heritage Foundation — told The Algemeiner. Israel withdrew on Friday from the election for one of two seats on the United Nations Security Council in 2019 and 2020. Ten days before the official opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli officials still do not know if US President Donald Trump will attend. Channel 10 news reported Friday night that a week later, neither the Prime Minister’s Office nor the Foreign Ministry knew whether the president was coming. The report said authorities were taking the possibility into account in their preparations for the May 14 event. The ceremony will be attended by 1,000 dignitaries, 250 of them American. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is set to lead the US delegation, which will include 40 members of Congress and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump. Richard Grenell, the newly confirmed US ambassador to Germany, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News on Thursday that German companies should stop trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran because Tehran sponsors terrorism. The European Union extended its human rights sanctions on Iran last month but declined to impose new penalties on the regime for widespread repression of civil liberties, according to human rights groups. Grenell slammed Iran for destabilizing Syria. Iran is the main financial sponsor of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Grenell, who was sworn in as ambassador to Germany on Thursday, is sharp critic of Iran’s nuclear program and a strong supporter of the Jewish state. “We had to address the issue of the increase in governments requesting boycotts of sport events for political reasons. Some governments abuse sport for their political purposes. This is against the mission of sport and of the Olympic Games, which bring people together and unify people regardless of any political differences,” he continued. “These boycotts are against our essential values. We are here to watch this carefully and to act,” added Bach. Police on Saturday arrested one of the organizers of a weekly demonstration against government corruption, after he tried to hang a sign protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along the route of the Giro d’Italia bicycle race in Tel Aviv. Police said he was held because he planned to interfere in the race. The Giro d’Italia, one of the most prestigious road cycling races in the world which is taking place in Israel for the first time. It entered the 167-kilometer (104-mile) second stage Saturday as competitors rode down the Mediterranean coast from Haifa to Tel Aviv. However, Israel Radio quoted Hadas’ lawyer as saying that it was to prevent the prime minister any embarrassment in the race, which has been billed as a public relations coup for Israel. The lawyer accused police of violating his client’s right to free speech. In his April 21, 2018 column in the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, titled “Hizbullah Resettling in Syria,” Ahmad ‘Ayyash referred to the policy of transfer and forced demographic change that the Bashar Al-Assad regime has been conducting in Syria over the past several years, with the assistance of Hizbullah and its other allies. According to ‘Ayyash, this is actually an Iranian “settlement project,” which involves expelling residents from various parts of the country and resettling these areas with Shi’ite members of Hizbullah and of other Iran-backed militias, who prevent the original residents from returning to their homes. He warned that the presence of these new settlers in Syria may not be temporary. “Hizbullah’s involvement in the Syria war is not confined to military action aimed at propping up the Syrian regime. [Its goals] extend much further than that, and have to do with an Iranian settlement project whose implementation began several years ago. The aim [of this project] is changing the demography [of Syria] by settling [it with members of] Iran-backed [Shi’ite] militias from Afghanistan, Lebanon and other countries in the region. “Marble grave headstones were damaged in the Jewish part of the Nikaia cemetery,” a police spokesman told AFP, without giving further details. The head of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS), Minos Moissis, said he was “very angry” about the desecration, in a Facebook post that included pictures of two broken headstones. Jewish graves and Holocaust memorials have been a recurring target of vandals in Greece, often by members of the far-right. The vandalism comes amid rising anti-Semitism in Europe, after a spate of recent incidents across the continent. State attorneys in the western German city of Dusseldorf are investigating a scandal-laden German rap duo for hate speech, a city spokesman said on Wednesday. Spokesman Ralf Herrenbrück told the regional daily Westdeutsche Zeitung that two hate speech charges had been made against Kollegah and Farid Bang. A Jewish person had pressed one of the charges, he said. Prosecutors are examining the duo’s lyrics from their latest album, “Junge, Brutal, Gutaussehend 3” (“Young, brutal, good looking 3”), and earlier songs as part of their investigation, Herrenbrück said. Both rappers have been at the center of an anti-Semitism scandal after they won a prize in April at Germany’s 2018 Echo music awards. The Echo awards’ organizers scrapped the event after German media, musicians and Holocaust survivor associations sharply criticized them for awarding the rap duo a prize. Some winners of previous Echos had also returned their Echo awards in protest. Pop superstar Shakira is to play her first ever concert in Israel this summer, Hadashot TV reported Saturday night. The show will be at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park on July 9, the report said. The Colombian-born singer, 41, whose father’s parents immigrated to the US from Lebanon, has sold over 140 million records in her career, making her the top selling South American singer ever and one of the best selling artists of all time. The TV report said she would likely come under pressure from the BDS movement that seeks to boycott Israel, but noted that she has been to Israel before: Shakira has never played in Israel, but she participated in Shimon Peres’s 2011 presidential conference. Shakira said on that trip that education was the best way to achieve global stability and peace. Speaking at a joint press conference with Peres, after meeting Israeli and Palestinian school children on her visit to Jerusalem, she said she had come to Israel to share some of her experience working in the field of education through her charity The Barefoot Foundation. Shooting “Schindler’s List” took an emotional toll on director Steven Spielberg, but he got by with a little help from a friend. Spielberg told a sold-out crowd at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that during the shoot, comedian Robin Williams would call him once a week from San Francisco. “He would do 15 minutes of stand-up on the phone, and I would laugh hysterically cause I had to release so much,” Spielberg said. “But with the way Robin is on the telephone, he’d always hang up on you on the loudest best laugh you’d give him,” without even saying goodbye. Spielberg, who was joined by other actors from the film in conversation with New York Times critic Janet Maslin — as part of The Tribeca Film Festival — responded to a recent survey showing that millennials didn’t know much about the Holocaust. Spielberg said that while he thinks a good amount of attention was paid to the Holocaust at the time of his film — and that he started the Shoah Foundation to disseminate the stories of survivors — it is up to schools to do more. As Spielberg and the cast gathered to mark the 25th anniversary of the film’s release, he said it was true that Martin Scorsese was at one point a possible director for the film — but said it was false that Mel Gibson was considered for the leading role. The role of Oskar Schindler, the man who saved 1,200 Jews from death, of course went to Liam Neeson. Kievian tourist sites proudly declare Golda Meir as “a true daughter of Kiev” with modern Ukrainians viewing her as a role model for heroism and nation building. “For us, she is an example of a person who made great changes in the country,” said Ukrainian-Jewish member of parliament Georgiy Logvinsky, who is also the head of the Ukrainian parliament Jewish committee. “I always use this line,” said Georgiy Logvinsky. Like many of the leaders, writers and poets of the Jewish pre-state community in the land of Israel, Golda Meir was born in Kiev, Ukraine. To mark her 120th birthday I went to look for her home in number 5 Basseyna street in Kiev. The original shack in which Meir lived is long gone, and modern offices and flats now stand there. Like most old houses in this beautiful city, the building is impressive and tasteful. One store offers expensive shoes of the sort Meir, who was raised in poverty, could only have dreamed of. A relief with her image was placed on the entrance of the building by the Jewish Agency and the city of Kiev and now adorns the entrance to the building.

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There is a verity of materials used n doors in today’s world. There are iron doors that are heavy and used especially in banks. There is stainless steel, glass, and, wooden doors etc. There are completely opaque doors. We also have see-through doors. The way a door opens is also up to us. How we want our doors and windows to open. We can get ourselves a door that opens only in one direction. It can be outward or inwards. We can get a door that opens up on both sides. We can push it or pull it’s our choice. Then we have sliding doors. These are mostly installed in the washroom, our sitting areas, our door to the garden or in our wardrobes and, offices etc. These types all go for our windows. We use mesh styled doors and window covers or doors to keep the atmosphere of our house fresh but protected from bugs. The increase in our demand for modified things for ourselves gave us today’s what we have. Sometimes we need it sometimes it’s just our wish to decorate our houses in a most beautiful way, but mostly to increase our security. Especially for our children. The lock system of doors used today is made in such a way that it is easy to lock but difficult to break or open without a key. For example, we can install a lock with triple locks system within a lock. Or we also have the door locks controlled by a remote or our cell phones and computers. These electronic locks cannot be open just like that. So surely we have much better doors for our houses and we not only install wooden doors, but we also install the second door on our front and back of the house. This is the requirement of today’s world. Without a proper security door and window covers we and our families are unsafe. Giving gifts has always been complicated. Especially during busy holidays. I’d say half the holiday related stress would disappear if there was no pressure to give out gifts and also just imagine how much richer you would be at the end of the holidays if you had no commitment to shower your nearest and dearests with presents? You never know what the best choice for a certain someone would be and the sea of choices to choose from does not help either but on the other hand while there is no denying that having many options can only add to the trouble of trying to figure if your mom has a mixer/ dicer already or if dad really needs that fancy tool box he claims to be in dire need of, the gentle nudge the Christmas brochures and commercials offer does help in the long run. Over the years I have moved to buy Christmas gifts online. Havingto pick from a drop down of items that are of similar genre is definitely so much easier than having to go in circles at the store. These optionsalso comes in handy when you want to go through that extra trouble to take your pick and get in somebody’s nice list for the coming year. Over the years, gift giving has done a complete 360 and now there are far more elements to it than there ever was. It is now not a simple gesture but a full-fledgedexperience and you can easily spend a small fortune trying to get the perfect gift for that special someone. While it is both amusing and exciting to observe how all this has turned out to be in the past decade, one cannot help but wonder what the future felicitation and gift giving in general has in store for us. Come holidays everybody is rushing to get their shopping done and get home intime for dinner. Then there is the pressure of having to buy corporate gifthampers so that your clients don’t feel unappreciated for all the business passed on to during the past year.The same dilemma applies on birthdays, anniversaries and office parties. There is a sea of people to please and so little time to cater to all their preferences. We have no time to commit to personally choosing a gift for our family or friendbecause of the constant need to be on the move and the need to multi task in many platforms.We’ll all I can say is, thank god all these come around just once a year! Are you trying to find a home that you can buy for you and your loved ones? Do you want to buy commercial property for other personal purposes? If this is something that you are trying to do, then you might want to make sure that you enter the process of buying property in the right way. Buying property and even selling property sounds very easy on the outside but in truth, it is hard to do. Most buyers, especially first time buyers do not know what to look out for and so, it is very easy to fall in to a trap and make a mistake that would end up costing them millions of dollars. This is why many people take weeks and even months to make sure that they have made the right decision about buying a property. If it is a home that you are hoping to buy, it is crucial to take your time and understand what you can do to make the right decision. Usually a big mistake many property buyers to is to find a home, look at it and then buy it without considering other options. It is easy to fall in love with the very first home that you see, but how do you know there isn’t something even more perfect for you in the market if you do not keep looking? You must never buy the first home you look at and instead, keep looking for a Maitland house for sale and create a list of what you love the most. This way, you can buy a home that you truly love with all the right details. A real estate agents Port Pirie is someone that you are really going to need by your side when you are looking for property. This is even more important if it is your first time buying property because it is harder to make a mistake when there is someone guiding your choices. An estate agent or broker has a wide knowledge about the property market and so, they are able to hunt down exactly what you are looking for. Not to mention, they are also great at negotiations too! It is easy to find a home that you fell in love with and decide to move away from your budget a little so that you can buy the home. This is something you must not to do because having a budget in place is going to help you in this process! Plus, an estate agent is someone with great negotiation skills! As an educated society we must not stereotype among people and among things, there are certain misconceptions regarding food items, fattening nonfattening milk, cream, butter, sugar items, chocolates and much more. Instead of misunderstanding the whole product one must read the ingredients behind the packing and try to eliminate those harmful ingredients out of the diet or that item simple. We all are educated but, ask this question; how often we check the writing on the back of the packaging (hardly right?) that’s what we are doing wrong. Problem is the nature of impulse buying and rapid decision making in buying food items, surprisingly we are so picky when buying shoes, dresses even undergarments but, when it comes to buying something to eat we just buy it simple (without noticing what we are buying). Here we will talk about not just an eating item but, a craving, a sensation a tempting experience which is known as ‘chocolate’. We have heard a lot about dark chocolate, look for more cocoa presence and less alkali presence. But there is another serious element present in a chocolate which is known as ‘gluten’ those who are unaware of this ingredient, chocolate is something which if naturally made; contains liquid cocoa (roasted liquid cocoa) and those unsweetened chocolates free from any gluten hence chocolates which are free from gluten are pure chocolates. Although gluten is not harmful it is present in wheat, rye and barley (it’s a protein) but if added in a chocolate makes a chocolate impure (those who are serious chocolate lovers know the difference between gluten free and with gluten). Why dark chocolate is so famous for health benefits because, dark chocolate is bitter (due to excessive quantity of cocoa), on the other hand chocolates contains wafers, biscuits and other wheat kind items are never free from gluten. Those who has IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and other immune disorders, anemia etc. are seriously gets effected with gluten, that’s why people with the before mentioned disorders avoid consuming wheat and other food items contains gluten. For those who has clearly identified gluten as toxic, no gluten means no taste. Usually this item is important and irreplaceable so to find food especially chocolate without gluten is like finding a black cat in a dark room. Imagine the famous brand Hershey’s which is a well-known name in chocolate industry, makes pure chocolates but only few healthy chocolate bars our of millions can be considered as gluten free (means pure in serious terms) which are plain milk and milk chocolate with almonds. Yes! Kisses are gluten free (just by the way). There are number of brands which cannot be bifurcated among with gluten and without gluten and cannot be discussed in a short span of time. Like always no matter what you eat in chocolate stay moderate! For What Reasons Will We Need An Electrical Handyman? Electrical handymen or basically electricians can be useful for a lot of reasons and they are generally a very good investment of money. The reason being that electrical appliances and electronics can be a very tricky thing to fix and fix right, unless you have the proper mechanical and technical know-how that goes with the industry and the field. Also sometimes the repairing of some electrical item may require a set of very specialized skills that you will most likely not have. So let’s look at some of the advantages of hiring professional help when it comes to setting up electrical and in going about their repairs. Like mentioned before most fixes unless it is something very basic, will require some proper technical smarts in order for the issue to be fixed. This is because electrical are very sensitive and doing something wrong or in the wrong way can end up costing you a lot, in terms of money and life. This is the biggest reason you would want to look around and hire electrical services company to do your repairs so that you do not end up in a worse situation. The second reason is that some of the work that you might end up having to do, would require a lot of very specific and highly trained set of skills. In these cases, even an ordinary electrician would not be enough. You will need someone who has plenty of experience of doing that particular kind of work or work with that particular kind of device. For example, if you needed a split system air conditioner installation set up or an air conditioning repairs. In this case it will be very much worth the money hiring a specialist for a little bit extra money than hiring a general electrician, who just might end up ruining the device.These are two of the main reasons to get professional help. However just getting help is not enough. You have to make sure that the help you get is of a proper standing and is well reputed. How you can check this is by checking online or asking friends and family who live in the area. In the case of specialists, you could ask the manufacturer or the agents of a particular device, as these people would most likely have contacts of people with the required skills. In most cases the agents themselves may even have the people to do the setup on hand, and all you would have to do is pay a little extra and get these specialists help. This will definitely help you reduce the risk of ruining you new equipment and also there will be then someone proper you can blame if they make a mess. As adults, we all understand the importance of money. Thus, that is why we go to work every day no matter how much we hate it. We know that we need to work in order to earn money and survive. Thus, this is another reason that people strive to save some of their salaries. They know that they need to save money if they want to have a good future. However, simply saving a part of your salary would not lead to a stable future. Instead, if you want to become financially comfortable you need to invest your money. In this day and age real estate would seem like a great investment. But we understand that you won’t take this step lightly. Instead, you would attend a property seminar investment or two before taking this step. Then you would be aware that it is not possible to make money from these investments within a short span of time. Furthermore, more often than not you would end up losing some money at the beginning. When this happens we know that you would feel like giving up altogether. But keep in mind that investment property is a long term plan. Therefore you need to take the time to look at the big picture. Furthermore, you need to have some confidence in your investments. Therefore make sure not to lose out hope at these short term volatilities. We can tell you right now that long term investment would not be everyone’s cup of tea. That is because you would not be able to enjoy and short term profits. This is enough to make many individuals feel disheartened. Therefore when this happens it is easy to feel enticed by short term investments. However, you need to keep in mind that long term investments can lead to greater benefits. But you need to be patient. Otherwise, you can end up losing some amazing benefit. When investing you need to trust your gut. That is because sometimes you would end up making decisions that others would not make. However, that does not mean you are wrong. Furthermore, sometimes in order to be successful, you would have to follow the less popular option. When such moments present itself you need to be open minded.Investing long term may sound like a challenging task to many of you. That is because it is an activity that would test your patience. But if you can ignore the short term profits then you can definitely succeed. There might have been times when you went to visit the beach with your family or gone on a fishing trip with your friends and ended up being badly sunburned. Living in Australia means that you have to be twice as careful as people who live in less warm countries because the temperatures around Australia is known to be rather harsh, especially at this time of the year. Since summer is here right now, this means there are more and more people who have plans on spending some relaxing time down at the beach or just head out to sea with a group of friends to get the catch of the day. Since summer is known to be the three hottest months of the year, it is important for you to protect yourself and the best way to do that is through sun protective clothing. Whenever you know you are about to head out in to the sun, protecting yourself by using something like sunscreen is recommended because it protects your body from harmful sun rays. When you are going to be spending all day under the bright, hot sun, you are going to need more than just sunscreen and that is when sun protective fishing clothes come in to play. By buying the clothes that fit you to go fishing or spend the day at the beach, you will be protected from the harmful ultra violet rays that might otherwise cause problems. Going out on a trip with family or your close friends mean that comfort must always be a priority. There is no way for you to enjoy your time with your loved ones if you are not comfortable in the clothing you are wearing. But with the right kind of adult and kids fishing shirts Australia to protect you from the harsh sun, comfort is not going to be questioned at all. The clothes are going to come in various ways so that you can choose what you think is best suitable for you, so comfort always follows you! Since there are a lot of kids and young children who would be playing down by the beach or going on fishing trips with their parents, you must make sure that they are protected with sun protective clothing. By checking for high quality clothing, you would be able to find UV protective clothing that is best for kids as well! If you are an entrepreneur we know that you want to run a profitable business. That is because at the end of the day earning a profit is the most important thing. Thus, that is why you conduct some research into various business ideas before settling on one. Well, if you are hard pressed to find one then we think that trucking business would be the ideal step for you to take. That is because despite the tough competition it is not impossible for you to succeed. However, even then there are some things that you need to know if you want to succeed. If you thought that truck repairs Brisbane Northside were costly you would be surprised to hear how much trucks cost. Furthermore, when starting a trucking company it would not be possible to start with only one truck. You would ideally need a fleet of vehicles. Thus, that is why you would require a considerable amount of money to make this purchase. Furthermore, remember that these trucks don’t come cheap. Therefore you need to be prepared to spend a significant amount on one vehicle alone. However, we also understand that not everyone would have the necessary funds in their bank account. We know that this can be disheartening to hear. That is because even after you purchase the vehicles you would still require funds for additional expenses like smash repairs or panel beaters. Thus, that is why you should consider taking out a loan. We know that this would not be the ideal option for you. But if you manage to make this company a success you can easily repay everything that you borrowed. As I mentioned earlier the trucking business is a tough business to be a part of. That is because the competition is fierce. Therefore you need to take every action necessary to stand out from the crowd. One of the best ways to accomplish this task would be by getting a unique logo. Remember that this is the logo by which potential clients would identify you. Furthermore, it is also the logo that would appear on every marketing and advertising campaign. Therefore you should not select on something basic. Instead, strive to select something that speaks to you and complements what the company is standing for.Trucking business may be a tough industry. But it is also a very profitable industry if you know what you are doing. Thus, that is why it is important for you to educate yourself on running a company such as this.

2019-04-25T18:50:44Z

http://weisblott.com/

Most of us spend a lot of grow old in our cars — between commuting, government errands, transporting others, or long trips, we usually log many hours a week in our vehicles. considering that in mind, you probably want a car that’s not just transportation, but as a consequence a kind place to be — a friendly spot taking into account kind materials laid out in a logical, thoughtful manner, and maybe even one that’s nice to see at. We comprehend this desire — so we’ve laid out the 10 best car interiors you can acquire for below $50,000. We’ve focused upon the latest models, and most have been updated recently to find the money for handsome, comfortable, thoughtfully-planned interiors that strike us as a nice area to spend time. pick any one of these vehicles, and we suspect you’ll be a tiny happier during the hours of the week you spend in your car. Choosing the best bmw x6m paint colors might not be as simple as you think. As a thing owner from the world of professional auto detailing, I am commonly asked what the best car paint color is. I don’t know nearly you, but I always have to laugh whenever I acquire a question roughly speaking the “best” of anything. As a car detailing professional I definitely have an opinion taking into account it comes to selecting the best color of your bmw x6m as far afield as care and maintenance goes; which is usually what the question is in fact nearly taking into consideration I dig a little deeper into the “real” question beast asked. Not every automotive paint colors are created equal; some have a greater emotional response, some have greater demands of care and maintenance. If you are looking to get the most out of car ownership and want lasting satisfaction, later contact along and become allowance of the elite society of organization called the informed! Knowledge alone is not power, but knowledge applied is power! After all, it’s generally trendy that black cars are hotter in the sun and white cars save cooler in the summer, but is it truly true? Our latest video puts that theory to the test. … The black car’s cabin measured a scorching 130 degrees Fahrenheit, while the white car’s interior registered on your own 113 degrees. taking into consideration a color (colored fabric) absorbs light, it turns the vivacious into thermal dynamism (heat). The more lighthearted a color absorbs, the more thermal spirit it produces. Black fabric absorbs all colors of roomy and is suitably warmer than white fabric which reflects all colors. Unless of course you have already been bitten by the black bmw x6m syndrome of that love or hater relationship. People every love later black or dark colored cars are tidy and shiny, but hate the mannerism dust shows taking place shortly and it seems they are dirty more than they are ever clean! Most of us spend a lot of grow old in our cars — in the company of commuting, handing out errands, transporting others, or long trips, we usually log many hours a week in our vehicles. when that in mind, you probably want a car that’s not just transportation, but in addition to a nice area to be — a pleasing spot with kind materials laid out in a logical, thoughtful manner, and most likely even one that’s nice to see at. We comprehend this desire — therefore we’ve laid out the 10 best car interiors you can acquire for below $50,000. We’ve focused on the latest models, and most have been updated recently to meet the expense of handsome, comfortable, thoughtfully-planned interiors that strike us as a nice area to spend time. pick any one of these vehicles, and we suspect you’ll be a tiny happier during the hours of the week you spend in your car. 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Engineering timelines are longer than those of media scandals, which has unchangeable the bmw x6 2016 a predicament in the manner of diesel engine. The companys decision to manufacture a next-generation ultra-clean turbo-diesel was made capably back Volkswagen was caught getting its cheat on, but the over and done with 1.6-liter inline-four reviewed here in the the bmw x6 2016 is reaching its take aim announce in Europe just as request slumps for compression-ignition engines, thanks in large allowance to the Dieselgate scandal. There is little unplanned that the bmw x6 2016 will sell its further engine anywhere external of Europe; company executives acknowledge that it likely will be the last diesel it will develop. Diesels nevertheless made in the works 45 percent of European passenger-car sales last year, but that percentage is falling brusquely and is disproportionately made up of cars greater than before than the the bmw x6 2016. 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As a car detailing professional I unquestionably have an assistance subsequently it comes to selecting the best color of your comparativo porsche cayenne e bmw x6 as in the distance as care and child support goes; which is usually what the ask is truly just about as soon as I dig a tiny deeper into the “real” ask being asked. Not all automotive paint colors are created equal; some have a greater emotional response, some have greater demands of care and maintenance. If you are looking to get the most out of car ownership and want lasting satisfaction, next admittance along and become share of the elite bureau of work called the informed! Knowledge alone is not power, but knowledge applied is power! bearing in mind a color (colored fabric) absorbs light, it turns the lively into thermal enthusiasm (heat). The more buoyant a color absorbs, the more thermal vibrancy it produces. Black fabric absorbs every colors of vivacious and is in view of that warmer than white fabric which reflects every colors. Unless of course you have already been bitten by the black comparativo porsche cayenne e bmw x6 syndrome of that adore or hater relationship. People all adore past black or dark colored cars are clean and shiny, but despise the artifice dust shows in the works snappishly and it seems they are filthy more than they are ever clean! For decades, one’s deed to miserable the phrase “It has leather seats” was a defining factor in whether or not supplementary people thought your e road bmw x6 was nice. The smell, the feel…even the animal from whence it came. every these factors contributed to the allure and mystique of leather seats. 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Knowledge alone is not power, but knowledge applied is power! After all, it’s generally fashionable that black cars are hotter in the sun and white cars keep cooler in the summer, but is it in reality true? Our latest video puts that theory to the test. … The black car’s cabin measured a scorching 130 degrees Fahrenheit, even if the white car’s interior registered by yourself 113 degrees. subsequent to a color (colored fabric) absorbs light, it turns the buoyant into thermal vivaciousness (heat). The more buoyant a color absorbs, the more thermal simulation it produces. Black fabric absorbs all colors of lighthearted and is for that reason warmer than white fabric which reflects all colors. Unless of course you have already been bitten by the black 0 finance bmw x6 syndrome of that adore or hater relationship. 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If you are looking to acquire the most out of car ownership and desire lasting satisfaction, subsequently contact along and become allocation of the elite group of outfit called the informed! Knowledge alone is not power, but knowledge applied is power! After all, it’s generally all the rage that black cars are hotter in the sun and white cars save cooler in the summer, but is it essentially true? Our latest video puts that theory to the test. … The black car’s cabin measured a scorching 130 degrees Fahrenheit, while the white car’s interior registered only 113 degrees. once a color (colored fabric) absorbs light, it turns the buoyant into thermal animatronics (heat). The more well-ventilated a color absorbs, the more thermal vibrancy it produces. Black fabric absorbs all colors of fresh and is therefore warmer than white fabric which reflects all colors. Unless of course you have already been bitten by the black bmw x6 years syndrome of that love or hater relationship. 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2019-04-26T00:51:28Z

http://waubonseecommunitycollege.net/category/bmw-x6/

Drug addiction stops every day at Narconon Arrowhead. Below is an explanation of our program from the only source that matters - our students and their parents. On the 28th of April 2000, we attended our son's graduation ceremony at Narconon Arrowhead. Our son's graduation event will forever be etched in our memory, as a rebirth of our child. It had been so many years since we had seen him drug or alcohol free that we actually had a hard time recognizing him. He looked absolutely wonderful and his behavior was so accepting and calm. For years, we had wondered if we would ever see our "real" son again. We met so many people the evening of our son's graduation and we cannot remember all of their names, but we want to thank each person who took the time and effort to make a difference in our son's life. Your efforts are most likely the reason our son developed the will to change, as all other efforts that had been made through the years had not made a difference for him. You are truly the savers of life! My son was a bright talented child. He learned to play the guitar and had a natural ability to draw and paint. In his teens something happened to this bright talented child. I found out later that he had gotten into drugs and barely finished high school. He could not hold a job and his only financial support was a family who "gave him money to keep him away". This went on for twelve years in which time he was a waste to himself and others. After trying numerous "Drug Rehab Programs" I found Narconon Arrowhead. I took him there as an emaciated "end of the trail person". In a short time he regained his health and became himself again. Most importantly he became free of drugs. My son now has a family of his own. He is very productive in working with others to help them gain their own self esteem back and to become free of the ravages of drug use. My son and I have never been closer or had such a good relationship as father and son. Narconon Arrowhead not only gave my son back to me, but also gave me a very good friend. There are no words to define what Narconon Arrowhead means to my family. Just a personal note of thanks for allowing me to be a guest at Narconon Arrowhead to learn about your procedures and to visit my son Joseph, one of your students (Joseph graduated from the Narconon program). Thanks to you he celebrated his 9th month of sobriety on April 25th for which we are all grateful. I studied with professional interest the 9 points (courses) of your program, namely, Drug-free Withdrawal, Communications, New Life Detoxification Procedure, Learning Improvement, Communication and Perceptions, up and Downs in Life, Personal Values and Integrity, Changing Conditions of Life, and The Way to Happiness®. We cover these same areas but not with the excellent books you have. During my four days I added to my professional competence as an addictions outpatient counselor by talking with students and staff. I was able to see what a focused, intensive program such as yours at Narconon can accomplish in helping people turn around. I was impressed with the level of motivation in the students and I like the use of the term "student" because it points out the reason why they are there, namely, to learn a new way to live. After seeing the results of your work and speaking to members of the staff, I feel that you have much to teach the drug rehabilitation field and Araphoe House. This was a rewarding personal visit for me as well as an information-packed professional visit for which I am grateful. I really do not have the words to describe how I feel today as compared to the life I led engulfed in the degradation of drugs. How do you describe the day to day agony and humiliation of being a drug addict? Drugs control and destroy life and make you do things you would never dream of doing if not for the illusive and hollow promises you tell yourself this chemical will give. How do you describe this insanity in such a way as to make others understand just how devastating it really is? How do you explain a life without pride or integrity or peace of mind, not even a little? How do you describe the guilt and alienation from life? I came to Narconon Arrowhead a broken mess of a human being. I had lied to myself for so long that I started to believe there really was no hope for me, or a way out of the trap. I told myself that I was a drug addict and that somehow explained and justified my impeccably wasted life. I was more dead than alive and numb. Today I have no words to really explain the difference in my life. The Narconon® program has taught me how to live again. Narconon Arrowhead has restored my faith in myself and given me a peace and stability that can only be dreamt of. No longer do the chemicals of evil men call my name or haunt my dreams. No longer do I fear or hate or have to hide. I am successful and happy and I have a future. I can see again and have restored faith in myself. I can look people in the eye and be proud. I can smile and enjoy even the smallest of simple pleasures. Narconon Arrowhead made me whole again. How do you thank someone for saving your life? When I first came to the Narconon program back in 1997, I was 27, years old, had been using every drug under the sun for 15 years and was basically in apathy as to whether or not anything could be done to help me. This was my third rehab in a year and I truly wanted help, I just didn't think it was available. So I started doing the program and I could not find anything wrong with it No matter how hard I tried, with all of my old paranoia and distrust in full effect, I just couldn't find anything wrong with it. Here was a program that didn't have me admit I was powerless and diseased, want me to relive my terrible past 90 times in 90 days (for the rest of my life) or want me to take "medication" for my "manic depression". This is a program that truly showed me that I am powerful, that I can repair the past and that all the happiness I ever hope to find is within myself. This program not only showed me how to stay off of drugs, it did just what it promised, it gave me a new life. If you're at the end of your rope and you're ready to put in some good, honest hard work to make a change for the better, without drugs, Narconon Arrowhead is hands down the best drug rehabilitation program on the planet, period. I've been clean for 3 years now and I owe it all to my grandmother for getting me to Narconon Arrowhead and to Mr. Benitez and Mr. Hubbard. I’ve had the finest drug treatment money could buy, it has taught me many things. It has taught me about probation and jails, it has shown me the inside of prison twice, and how it feels to be treated like I was less than human. It has taken me to the funerals of seven of my best friends, where I had the opportunity to witness the pain of a mother who lost a son too soon, a father who will never again hear the sound of his child’s voice, and a mother with two sons and no father to help raise them. I have given my parents the intense feeling of anguish at finding their son OD’d in their own home - the list goes on. A major part of my life today is a legacy of pain and remorse, my own and that of those whose lives I have touched. I first got clean in 1988 and in my first treatment center I was told that one in ten addicts who make it to treatment live. I vowed then to be that one and for the last eleven years I fought a losing battle. It is a miracle that I stand before you today. For those of you who don’t know, and are using, let me tell you it is a life and death struggle that you are in. For those of you who have had enough pain. I suggest that you grab ahold of this program with both hands and don’t let go until you wring every bit of knowledge and information out of it that you can. It’s been said that nothing worthwhile is easy. I have done the hard part already. I have gained certainty that I was going to die or spend my life in prison by trying to "use successfully". I want to talk about the staff…It is hard for me to put into words my gratitude to the staff, how do you thank someone who has saved your life, and not just mine, but has dedicated their lives to helping others to live happy, productive lives? Words are not enough. I will forever spread the word about Narconon Arrowhead and the people who absolutely perform miracles every day. I started drinking at 14 years old, and started smoking pot at 15. Then I started cocaine at 17. I was introduced to crack and I became hooked. I soon dropped out of high school and stopped talking to my parents. I really didn’t care about life. I was introduced to Narconon Arrowhead and I decided that I definitely needed help. So I agreed to come here. And with the technology that we have here, I have learned so much more than just about staying away from drugs. I’ve learned patience. After a month here my cravings for all drugs disappeared. I have hope for my future. And I have dreams I hope to accomplish one day. I realize that the world will work with me if I work with it. I’m happy again. I found the real me, the person I always wanted to be. The Narconon® drug rehabilitation program has saved my life. I cannot begin to explain the sense of happiness that has been restored to my life. I once pictured myself as a drug addict that was beyond help, but today that picture has changed to one I am proud to face in the mirror every day. My drug abuse began thirteen years ago with a simple six-pack of beer but quickly turned into a $300 a day heroin habit. I reached out for answers and help along the way but was never able to find the solution to my drug abuse. I went through countless 12 step programs that never pacified my desire for heroin. My addiction took me to county jails in four states, three hospital trips for overdoses and finally to the state prison. All along the way I knew, that my addiction was controlling my life but I couldn't stop. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was a drug addict and that was all I would ever be. When I got out of prison I was offered a chance to go through the Narconon Program. I didn’t know if it would work but I knew that if I didn't do something soon I was going to die. I arrived on the Narconon Arrowhead campus on June 17, 1998 and that was when my life finally began to change. Through the course of the program I regained the sense of personal integrity and responsibility necessary for me to stay off of drugs. There was one day that I had the tremendous realization that for the first time ever I was in control of my life and could honestly say that I was happy This was when I knew, I had finally conquered my drug addiction and I owe that to the Narconon program and staff. I am very happy to say that since I have completed the Narconon program I have enjoyed health and control over my life in a way that I have never before experienced. My past life was ruled by drugs, the getting of them and the using of them, for over 25 years. I was cynical, depressed, angry and tired. This program allowed me to confront myself and my environment. It provided me the opportunity to physically heal and to mentally expand. I, in effect, have discovered my spirit, in a new and ready condition. I have captured the confidence and wonder of my youth. By successfully completing this program I am, for the first time in many, many years, living freely and with purpose. I have awakened to my potential. I accept the challenge. Before I came here I was told by three doctors that I did not have long to live. Narconon Arrowhead gave me back my life. Doing this program I have learned that I am a good person and there is more to being drug-free than just being off drugs. It’s knowing yourself and who you are. It’s about honesty, integrity and values that make a person happy. Narconon gave me all these things and more. I thank Narconon Arrowhead and all who made it possible for me to experience this wonderful life I now have. Three months ago I arrived at Narconon Arrowhead with what seemed at the time only a glimmer of hope. After twenty years of heroin and methadone addiction, countless efforts of attempted help that failed, happiness as a drug free person seemed as likely as hitting the lottery at five million to one. As overwhelming as it seemed, I couldn't bring myself to accept the alternatives; death or prison. Not without exhausting all possible solutions. Somehow I still cherished the thought of drug free existence. Happiness had its price and upon arriving at Narconon Arrowhead I'd decided that if I could, if it was possible, I'd make a real, genuine effort. Then, after being exposed to the loving, caring and committed staff members at Arrowhead, my commitment became "I can", and "I will". And sure enough, three months later I am drug free and in control of my life for the first time in my adult life. Five weeks from today I'll be thirty-eight years old, with a future as a happy, drug free member of society to look forward to. What appeared impossible became a reality. My purpose as a person has been revealed. Today I can accept responsibility for my past, no longer afraid of my future, and I am wanting and willing to help my fellow man. The time spent at Narconon Arrowhead has been nothing short of life-saving. The Narconon program and the people who delivered it, words like amazing, unbelievable and spectacular can't begin to do them justice. The Narconon® program works and anyone that recognizes the threat drugs pose to our society and planet must support the efforts of Narconon Arrowhead and staff - they deliver. I was drinking heavily and doing a lot of cocaine but because I was able to "function" I didn't think I had a problem. During this time I was mentally and emotionally dead. I couldn't feel things anymore and even when I wanted to feel something I didn't have the proper reactions to situations. I was dying. My body was deteriorating rapidly and I was very sick frequently. The drugs and alcohol were killing me. You see, I did want to die - the greatest way to not deal with anything is to die and that is the drug addict's ultimate dream, but something kept pulling me back; after I ended up in the hospital after a blackout I did stop once for 8 months, I went through pure unadulterated hell from the withdrawal which lasted about a month. Afterwards I would still crave the drugs and alcohol. It was madness. I couldn't stop thinking or dreaming about them. I went to meetings during this time and then I started to drink after the meetings, then I progressed to using the drugs again, mostly cocaine. My sponsor once told me 'It 's OK, you 're not ready to quit yet SO if you have to drink, then drink, and when you are ready to quit you will know it. You may just have to go down further before you make the decision to stop.' I thought it was a bunch of garbage because every day I did want to quit but I couldn't. I went to a chiropractic seminar and they talked about the Narconon® program. I took a pamphlet with Kirstie Alley's picture on it and called. I asked for information and then I didn't think about it, until that July 4th weekend. I went on a binge from July 2 to the early hours of July 5th and I realized that I did have a major problem. I called Narconon Arrowhead and was there 72 hours later. I was looking forward to the sauna because I wanted all the alcohol, drugs and residues out of my body. I wanted to feel clean again instead of feeling sick all of the time. I went into the sauna with cloudy eyes, feeling sick all the time and no energy. I came out a new born. I thought it couldn't get any better, but I was wrong.... the life skill courses here at Narconon Arrowhead really enable you to take control of your life, actions and environment. You make the decisions for yourself without ever having to justify another thing. When I took that 1st drink at 7, I was escaping from a physically, mentally and emotionally abusive environment, but I also lost who I was. When I came to Narconon Arrowhead I had no idea who I was. I found myself here and that is a wonderful gift. I now help other people get out of the fog, haze and destruction of substance abuse. People don't have to be lost from themselves or from others. There really is no escape from reality. Anyone can have what I have today. They can have themselves back. Instead of being at the effect of everything going on around them, they can make the necessary changes to make their lives better by coming to Narconon Arrowhead. If you or someone you love has a problem with drugs or alcohol please call. Narconon Arrowhead can save that life and give that person a new awareness of themselves. I would like to put on paper my feelings at this time on what I've been through and what I am going through. I feel as though, to a degree I am in a state of confusion because of my recent transformation from a lower primate to a higher man. The change has been a painful one, with regard to having to give up all the things that I've been used to doing for the 30 years of my addiction. For the first time I am now truly clean and drug-free. Something I haven't been for 30 years. All my excuses have been stripped from me. I am now capable of receiving, and applying, new ways of living a good and prosperous life. As for Narconon Arrowhead and all it stands for, I owe my life. When I got here, my life was in a downward spiral, and it had been for the past 18 years. I didn't know how to live. I didn't know how to be happy. I only knew I wanted to. The Sauna was the best thing for me. Without the cleansing, I would still be a resigned junkie. My health is back, and my body is alive again. Being in control of my life, is my life. The Ups and Downs Course taught me why I had mood swings and how to prevent them. The Personal Values and Integrity Course brought out the real me and reinforced my self-respect. The Conditions of Life Course taught me how to handle any situation I have or will have in my life. The Way to Happiness® Course is just what it says, and if you apply these values to your life, you will flourish and prosper and so will those around you. Narconon Arrowhead is truly a miracle, but this miracle can be explained. I plan on explaining it to many others to come. Through the Narconon® program, I have courage, strength, and happiness. I personally thank the Narconon Arrowhead staff. I appreciate all the support and understanding and greatly value all that everyone has taught me. I have had wins on this course since I started the program. I have been getting better ever since and I have had exceptional personal increases in all directions. I am very happy with my progress. I am looking forward to my life after Narconon. This is going to be fantastic. Why didn't some one tell me about this place before! I will pass the word! I came here 8 months ago with a drug history of more than ten years. This was my last hope and the last hope of my family for me. What I found here was the answer to a wasted and hopeless existence on drugs. I found a technology which really does work. But more than that, I found people who believe that addicts like myself could be helped and really could become creative and productive citizens again. I also found out that there are others out there who believe the same thing, people who contributed not only money but also their belief in people like me. After I graduated from the program, I stayed on for a while to work in the Print Shop where I was able to work in the graphic arts department and do what I love the most -- art. I also found a wonderful lady to spend the rest of my life with. I want to somehow try to express my thanks and gratitude in the way I can do it best, through my art. I have prepared a special illustration for Narconon Arrowhead with the help of the Print Shop, this small gift could never equal what the Narconon program has done for me and many many others, but maybe it can serve as a reminder to Narconon each day that they are creating NEW LIFE for real people like me. I can't tell you how much Narconon Arrowhead is appreciated by me and my family.

2019-04-24T07:56:03Z

http://addiction2.com/success-stories/success-stories.html

The beating of my wings filled the air around me, and clear venom bedewed my fangs. There was a faint tinge to it, but I couldn’t taste what. I let the thought light and felt the beating of my wings. I was alone again. But that didn’t matter as much as the lightning flutter in my heart, flashing through my veins. I flicked my tongue, waving it in the air before pressing it to my vomer. Moving my head to either side, I built a sense of direction, of scent gradients. A new smell had appeared: urine, off to the side of the ape’s old path. Was it that scared? It should be. That flightless monkey had hurt my friend. I would hurt it. The mixed scent of urine and blood didn’t move in the next few moments. Was it tired at last? Did it think I lost its trail? I flapped my wings, harder, anger straightening my slow bounding flight. I could keep waiting for Hinte, or I could catch the human myself and show her. I was swooping down to the spot, growling. On the ground, I only saw a wet puddle and scraps of torn, bloody cloth. I landed, flicking my tongue again. Near the puddle sat a circular human canteen, black and smelling of sharp, dead leather. And around it there were other splashed wet spots, like water pour out, that smelled slightly of sweat. I tilted my head before jerking it up. It had rinsed its scent, even if partially. I should have gone after it with the chance. I smelled drops of blood on the ground here, leading off in a kind of trail. There were footprints too, vague things, and they seemed to stop suddenly with the urine puddle. I leapt up, flying low along where the blood pointed, waiting for the urine scent to fade, the distant blood and sweat to come clear again. “Following the ape’s trail?” I said. She flipped away then, flying opposite me. I flew after her, catching up in a few beats. Flying was something I did better than her, at least. I slowed my pace to fly beside her, and smiled at her. With a crinkling of my frills, I did as she said. The smell found me again, coming from the distance, the other side of the spot where we left our bags. Hinte had been right. This human was tricky. Without waiting for Hinte or for the human to tire, I winged low after them until I could see the human jogging over the dustone. It moved fast, even with its weight. Had it kept that pace the entire time? At least we can fly. It might have escaped us if we had to chase it on foot. Fanning my frills, they caught a familiar skittering crunch. Below me, a dozen glasscrabs scurried in pursuit of the human! I needed to be quick. The human looked back as it ran. It held a glowing pink cryst in its mouth and there was a similar glow in its forefeet. What was it up to? Would it try to use the crysts to make the glasscrabs attack me? The crabs were scurrying behind it. I could land in front of the human, trap it between the crabs and me. Threshing my wings, I overtook the human. After twisting in the air and crashing in front of the ape, I glared, fangs out, wings spread. The ape flinched, and clutched its hold on the corpse slung over its shoulder. I growled and stepped forward. “Got you,” I said. From my fangs, I spat a stream of weak venom at its face. It would only irritate, but it’d buy me a few seconds. The ape brought its free leg to its eyes, and my venom splattered on its armored sleeve, dripping and soaking and useless. Its other foreleg moved to its mouth, and there came a quick dissonant whistle. It repeated the notes, three times, and never lowered its foreleg. And then, the ape spoke. “No.” Its voice sounded garbled. “Get you.” In its mouth, The hisses and growls of our language felt forced and alien. The ape threw the pink cryst at my feet; then it reached into a pocket. A foot-sized clay orb was in its forefeet before flying at my face. The clay orb fell short, and cracked apart on the ground. My world became blinding white light that mocked the suns and stars. My frills fell over my eyes⁠ ⁠—⁠ but when I moved them, only suffocating blind darkness was there. Somewhere near me a wet rag smacked onto the ground, stinking of the musky scent the crab had marked me with earlier. After this came cracking footfalls sprinting away from me. The skittering crunches came upon me in heartbeats. I flapped my wings to scare them, to give me space to leap up and land a few strides away. I looked around, breathing, breathing until the world started to clear. “It’s a saying⁠ ⁠—⁠ my point is that the ape is crafty, okay? We might have to work together to catch it.” I looked to the writhing mass of crabs. They’d ripped the ape’s wet rag to shreds, and were climbing over each other to chance at the cryst. “It only has time for all of these ploys because you fall for the most apterous tricks. Let me handle this.” Hinte turned around, crouching. “Can we at least try my plan?” A tiny bit of pleading entered my tone. My frills were dancing beside my head. My plan is going to be awesome⁠ ⁠—⁠ Hinte will taste it. After waving my own tongue in the air, I leapt up again, and raced after the apes’ scent. As I flew after it, I heard whistles resounding across the lake. The notes sounded complex, cacophonous, unmusical. Then came another complex whistling, from far behind me. That couldn’t be good. As I drew in on the ape, my frills folded and I prayed the endless stars my plan would work. I yelled, “Hey ape!” It felt like a leap. The reply was more whistling, the human not even glancing up⁠ ⁠—⁠ then, it spoke. “Betrayer,” was the distorted answer, its tongue garbling our sibilants. It sounded like it had a lisp. “You betray.” Another whistle, a single note response. “Hey, we’re only here for the crysts. The little glowy stone things. You have another. I know you do.” I prayed you did. Its whistling held for longer, with another short response. me. She’d had more of a surprise. direct fight on some level. The human was clutching the corpse on its shoulder tighter, and had managed a single step backward. Breathing in massive pants, its body swayed with exhaustion. It recovered like molten glass turning to brittle dustone, and at length slowly spoke, maybe tasting that I didn’t attack it, or move at all, really. “I no want death dragon.” Its words came out sounding deliberated, yet it must have a weak grasp of y Draig, as told by its word choice. “Me neither,” I said, not sure how to respond or even what it meant. The ape stared at me, eyeing every inch of my body for motion. It spoke again after breaths and breaths. I raised a foreleg, and the ape started back and lifted its other limb, toes splayed. The ape stared. But its face shifted, eye-cover things squeezing together. Maybe it tasted my meaning? It reached again into a pocket. Now I tensed, wary of another blinding orb. But it produced the pink stone, holding it out. It didn’t step closer, so I stepped forth. The foreleg holding its friend shifted. I reached for the cryst. That other foreleg stabbed at my neck. “Death!” it yelled. Its friend was falling to the ground beside it. I screamed out of the way. The blade was slicing the scales of my neck. A bright-white figure swooped from the sky, growling. Hinte dropped onto the human, claws slashing its neck. Blood gushed. Hinte ripped at the human’s stomach. Already exhausted, the human crumbled. To the ground it fell beside its comrade. Its forefoot felt along the ground, seeking and finding that of its dearest friend. The human coughed, chest wounds and vog catching up to it. In between its death coughs, the ape yelled its last words. “You–you monster.” It gave one last sputter and moved no more. “That took long enough,” Hinte said. Hinte had inclined her head, almost thoughtful. She had the look of someone unlistening and determined, and already building her answer. My back was to the bright-white figure, now. I picked up the pink cryst, shook my head. “I don’t care about crysts. I just got them so that you’d think I was actually worth something for once. That I was helpful.” I dropped the cryst. I didn’t have to say anything else. Hinte inclined her head, and left. I lay there and dewed for a bit. I couldn’t stay. The heat, my thirst, the stinking vog, everything awful about this lake would get to me eventually. I don’t know why I lay there⁠ ⁠— but if I moved, where would I go? I’d wanted things to be simple. When I came to the land of glass and secrets, it wasn’t for anything big⁠ ⁠—⁠ there were my brother’s plans, looming, but those were nothing but an excuse, a chimerical hope. I’d thought I wanted the simple life, somewhere small and cozy to live, maybe find a cute drake, maybe lay a few eggs. All my life, I never really worried about death. It was something only the nadir had to worry about, something only my sister had to understand. I — didn’t like it. The sound of beating wings found me then, coming back around. I found the dark figure in the distant vog. Her flight looked faltering and lopsided. Why? Because her wing membrane is bandaged, because her wing was stabbed, because she fought the humans, because I had let her fly to the overhang alone, just like I was letting her fly to the last ape alone. What difference would I make, anyway? I’d bravely flown to the center of the lake for crysts⁠ ⁠—⁠ and got my lungs poisoned. I needed Hinte to save me from the glazed olms. I bravely slinked after a strange sound in the lake⁠ ⁠—⁠ and let the human escape. I needed Hinte to save me from that human. I wanted Hinte to finally admit I was useful, and she didn’t because I wasn’t. She’d even warned me that being loud in the lake would wake rockwraiths. I was probably the reason the first human had been attacked at all. This was all my fault. Maybe if I left the lake entirely, things would go right for once. I stood up. This wasn’t giving up. I still had the crab blood, I could still brew the Munditi Sieve. I leapt in the air, and started winging back to where this mess started, where my bags still sat. I flew my lonely flight through the vasty lake. The plates still rumbled beneath me, and the wind still seemed to laugh in my inner ear. In the distance, distorted by endless echoes, the last ape was whistling. It repeated the same sequence of notes, again and again. The spaces between them grew shorter and shorter, and the notes faster and frantic. Time wound longer, and I didn’t count ghost-swallows, after what happened last time I tried to drink while flying. At last, I came near where we’d left our bags. All around circled a moat of molten glass, only a few strides wide. The glass revealed blasted the air above it, stirring it into a vortex of swirling dust. A wave of heat barreled into me like an angry varjotuoksu player with one last chance to win. The swirling clouds here concealed whatever behind the moat with our bags⁠ ⁠— the clouds looked even darker than usual, an inky blackness. At my pace, Hinte had to have already flown into the vortex, but I stayed, landing with only a small, light flex of the lake skin, and peering long into the swirling clouds. You could hope it was just my bags and Hinte on the other side, but it was a windless hope. Who’d dug the moat? My head twitched. I shook it a few times, the muscles of my neck seeming to have a mind of their own. Had the wuthering excitement of the day already caught up to me? Steady as I tried to be, the twitching in my neck grew worse, and burning. I was pacing around the moat. The human had to know Hinte had another dragon with her. They’d expect me. But would they expect me to run? I just need to slip in the moat, grab my bags and get out of here. That’s all. I needed to step in. My nerve was strongest now. If I flagged, maybe it’d never be done. I took a breath, then leapt over the moat. First thing you saw was my crab stabbed and discarded on the fringe. I had its blood, but still felt some kind of loss. I fluttered my wings to soften my landing, but I still crashed onto the dustone island. A twang sounded, followed by jagged voice shrieking. My gaze snapped up. The dark-green wiver faltered low in the air. Her right wing half-folded and she rolled to the ground, landing rough. “Hinte!” I called. My eyes traced the path of the projectile back to a alien figure hobbled on the ground steps from our bags. The ape turned to me, whipping around a gray weapon. The bow! I rolled. My wings curled on their own. The arrow flew over my body. I whipped my head around⁠ ⁠—⁠ but this new island had no cover at all, at all. A biting spear of pain stabbed into my shoulder. I screamed. My legs scrambled under me. I managed a stand, and faltered in the very next second as I half-leapt, half-stepped away. The straight bow tracked my movements with precise jerks. I leapt, threshing my wings, and flew up. From up here, you could see the breaks in the skin, still glowing, where Hinte and I had played around, and steps from the hobbled figure you could see the bags I’d snuck in here to grab; but only in the that single moment of calm before you saw the human and its jerking its gray weapon up at you, its face contorted in some toothy expression. I swerved and twisted in the air as three more arrows stabbed a course toward me. On the ground, trails of blood streaked all along the moat, and led to and from the spot where the human sat hobbled. Another spear of pain bit into my wing! My next flap faltered, and the wing was spasming. I spun in the air. Breathless, I made a scream empty and choked. At the very edge of the island, the lake skin crashed into me. Forelegs, hindlegs, wings, tail, head, all scrambling. It was all I could do to not fall into the lake. My wings writhed, and pain flooded them to the tips of every finger. The arrow had hit the base of my wing, and not punctured the membrane. My breath drew back into me, and I clamped down on my scream. Maybe the human would hope I was dead? Another twang came and went with a splitting pop of the ground beside me, and answered was my question. But a growl had come with it. Did… did Hinte ruin the ape’s aim at the last moment? I struggled to my feet. Hinte stood by the human, and in her claws gripped the human foreleg. The human now crouched, gray bow dropped by its side. The humans other forefoot swung at her, and she backed off just as quick. Bronze gleamed between them, catching molten light. The human had a shortsword and waved it at Hinte. If Hinte pressed the attack, it would stab her. If I flew at it, it could stab or slash either of us. The human looked weak, holding itself in a crouch, supporting with its other leg. If I’d learned anything in the last few minutes, I couldn’t underestimate the ape. It thought it could give one good hit before we killed it, and I would too. Hinte flared her frills in anger. Her bloody wings spread, but she did not step forward again. “Ja.” Hinte hadn’t even paused. She leapt backward. I wondered why for all of a heartbeat. The ape said it would kill us if we moved, but it now couldn’t even reach either of us. I leapt without more hesitation, and crashed down beside my bag. Now, both of us stood on either side of the ape. The ape, stepping after Hinte, flinched at my landing. My forefoot slipped into my bag. Past the crab blood, I grabbed the raisin-looking gem. A third the size of my sole, it slid into my foot. The ape half-turned, the shortsword still angled at Hinte. But then, it reached to its side, pulling out a long knife and pointed it at me. What? Wasn’t I worthy of a whole sword? I was a fearsome dragon too! Just because I was smaller than Hinte didn’t mean anything. The human waved its blade. Okay. Time for action. “Don’t kill us, please!” I said. The hairs above the human’s eyes shifted, moving closer to its eyes. “We’ll let you go, we don’t want to fight anymore. Look, we’ll even pay you.” I lifted my forefoot, showing the gemstone. The human stared at me. I outstretched my forefoot, slowly. My toes fell away, freeing the human to pick it up. But it stayed where it was, keeping the two strides between us. “Hinte, get back.” She looked at me, head tilted. “The human won’t take the payment if you’re right there, free to attack it. Get yourself back.” I injected a little bit of cold authority in my voice, just like mother had taught me. The same tone you’d use to order servants or hatchlings around. I hoped it didn’t sound too condescending. Hinte was already leaping, meeting the human on the other side in heartbeats. She dug her claws into the ape’s neck. Her venom smelled salty. She brought her claw up to rip at the other side of its throat. Again, a human crumbled under her and died, eyes wide, feet searching for something to hold onto. It coughed and spat up blood, and I didn’t like how much like a grimace that look on its face was. I breathed. It was over. “We won.” I didn’t mean to say that aloud. “You had a good plan,” she said. “Yes,” she said, drawing out the word. She waved her tongue. “Oh… that makes sense.” I looked up. “Um,” I started. I was leaving you to fight the human alone. “I wasn’t flying right into an obvious trap?” Shift the focus, shift the blame. Hinte jerked at that, looking to her wing. I followed her gaze. There, an arrow punctured her wing. That pulled a gasp. “They got your wing again! When did that happened?” I reached at her wing. She didn’t move, and let me wriggle the arrow out. “All the crysts in my bag.” As she spoke, her fangs had unfolded. “I’m sorry.” I looked down, shuffling over to my bag. I followed her pointing wing. The pink container sat open by the ape’s gray bow, almost a third of it scoped out. “It heard me telling you to use it for my wounds.” She snapped her tongue. “No dragon medicine will help the apes, let alone die Wunder. We are of different superclass.” The wiver kicked the ape’s corpse. Her foot hit something, and she flicked her tongue. Digging into the folds of the ape’s corpse, she found another of the blinding orbs. She hummed yes, placing it in her bag before grabbing more rope from it, and slipping the whole bag around her side, straps tightening. Near the bag, one of my glasscrabs lay with a knife sticking out, turned almost inside out. “All the way back? Stars above. How did they pull this off in less than a long ring?” I reached down to pick up the crab, but Hinte snapped her tongue. I hummed. Stepping back toward my bag, I found a bottle of my crab blood spilled out. Desperation or pointless vandalism? I still had two glasses. I nosed into my bag, and squeaked a little. Sterk was still alive! Was it because he didn’t glow? The human must have missed him. Hinte had twisted her neck to look at me. I pulled the drab green stone from my bag and set him on my head. Hinte’s neck just twisted further. But Hinte walked over to the two human corpses, leaving me with the cryst. “Ja. And I said the last one feigned death. Its wound was fatal. That is why it went nowhere after I left it here.” She walked over the other bodies. The wiver pointed at a long metal rod with a rubber handle and a mesh sieve at the other end. I slinked over, picked it up. The cured-rubber handle slid right into my foot, my halluxes finding their grooves, and my toes wrapping and settling around it. I waved it around some, and pointed it at Hinte in a challenge, and swung it with a yarl. She peered at me. As the rod swung, it folded limp in the air. A sigh, andI spat disappointed salty venom at it. It was folded further and fell into my bag. I snapped my tongue at Hinte, daring her to laugh. She did. I crinkled my frills. She nodded slow. I smiled and my frills bounced. After it found my bag, I said “I don’t suppose we can forget about the other corpses?” I held the end of my snout with my wings. As Hinte stepped over to me, she was shaking her had. Grabbing a green container, she said, “Here.” It wiggled as she opened it. It was scooped in her claws and wiped across my neck. The pain of the bleeding line dimmed, feeling cool and sandy. Hinte bent her frills a bit when she noticed the arrow sticking out of my wings’ shoulder. When she pulled it out, I yelped and the wing spasmed again; but the green jelly soon grounded the pain. She didn’t smile, but her frills relaxed a touch. After we returned to the other bodies, I’d grabbed last intact crabstone, and Hinte’d placed both of the humans on my back for me. For a few steps, I thought I’d at long won our argument about carrying equal weights. As we set off again, my legs buckled under the weight and I slumped over. Hinte growled a complaint, and shuffled the bodies between us again. I was following farther behind her than earlier. As we walked on, I dwelt on the more than two forefeet difference in length between us, the muscled thickness of her legs, and her wider frame. She even stood taller than me! When I sighed, the lake air had begun cracking the numb shell of the respira. We marched on all the same, and along the way, we passed the spot where the human had blinded me. The glasscrabs had all left, leaving only the stinking rag and the dim pink cryst. I felt the distant shudder of the other crabstone every few heartbeats, a far cry from what it had felt like before the crabs devoured it. I beamed at her compliment. Hinte looked away, wings shifty as she considered my words. A few moments passed before she replied. I looked up, wings drawing together. There had to be something to say to that. But it never found its way to my lips. The talk frayed apart. The surface of the lake grew rugged and hilly again. At first it looked like we might have come back to where I met the first sifter, but no blades of dustone stabbed up, and the bands of dustone never grew more pronounced. The winds whipped up again, tossing dust at us and soughing through unseen crevices. I yelled, leaping across to land behind Hinte. I crouched on the ground, my head swerving around to find the human. “Again?” Hinte turned, waving her tongue at me. The sifter waved a wing. “Go ahead. She’s obviously on the same road as us.” They still spoke with that odd, artificially saccharine voice. I didn’t know what to make of it. “Mawla. Miss Mawla.” Her frills folded up, clinking slightly. “Mawla sounds like a drake’s name,” Hinte murmured. “What?” Her frills snapped out with a harsh clack. Mawla rolled her neck and looked back to me. “But why would they, uh, imply…” I twirled my alulae. “Nevermind, I don’t want to know.” My tail constricted my leg. I licked my fangs. “Gah!” I turned to Hinte. “Save me,” I whispered. Hinte frowned, but turned to the yellow-brown dragon. “Why are you alone in the lake?” she asked. “I can handle myself just fine.” Mawla’s frills were contracting. It sounded familiar. If Hinte had pressed with how sifting on my own was such a bad idea, would I have gotten tired of hearing it, too? Would I have slinked back to Gwymr/Frina alone and friendless? Hinte already had her fangs out, and she stepped toward the sifter. Hinte’s frills fanned, and she turned away from me. She turned away from Mawla too, stalking away from the both of us. “I didn’t want to push her away.” I looked over to Hinte walking away. And ragged-white figure was gone. I meant the apology; but a part of me couldn’t help but note just how well this move flew. She either had to forgive me for hiding things, or admit she shouldn’t have hid things from me. “Um, I did,” I said. Hinte had looked away, staring off into the lake’s shroud. Hinte’s lantern had created something of a wall between us and the darkness. In it, it felt like we walked a little closer together. I turned to her, head tilted. Hinte jerked her head toward me, fangs out. I squeaked. “Okay, okay, you really totally for-sure found that stone. Can you tell me your secrets now?” I couldn’t help the eagerness in my tone. Would my last question alight for good? I hummed an acknowledgment, and she continued. I tilted my head. “Then why bother?” She waited a long moment before responding. “Certain collectors will buy them, after a property that is — not well known,” she said. Then, in a low whisper, “The idea is that crysts are magical. Anti-magical. Warping energies, disrupting or distorting enchantments.” She waved her wing around. The dark-green wiver snapped her tongue, and she slipped a wing back to her bag while slowing to a stop. She paused for a moment. “You still have my knife,” she said. “Can you bring it out?” She reached deeper into her bag. Her knife was held in my alula, and she took it. From her bag, she’d gotten a metallic sphere, and it was pressed against the base of the knife. It came into place with a snap, and it was twisted. Shimmering green crawled up the black knife, emanating from the once-white streaks on the blade. “This is a magical knife. Its cuts will desiccate and atrophy any organic matter it penetrates. Pay attention.” The dark-green wiver took the limb from one of the apes on her back and sliced deep into it. Blood didn’t rush forth, and the skin around it fell blackened and cracked. The ever-present, ash-stirring wind acted moments later, blowing dust from the limb. In moments, it looked as if she’d carved away flesh some dances ago, instead of a making simple cut breaths before. The only break in the atrophied blackness of the flesh was the white of bone. The dark-green wiver held the knife tight in her wings while she fell to her haunches. She pulled out a rod with a glowing tip that looked a cryst someone had bothered to cut and polish. It glowed, but didn’t hum. The wiver held it and did something⁠ ⁠—⁠ maybe a finger shifted, I couldn’t be sure⁠ ⁠—⁠ and then it hummed. Where the other crysts hummed low and discordant, this — whatever it was — sounded loud and… less discordant? The tones were focused and clearer in a way the others weren’t, without sounding pleasant at all. “That is what it means, Kinri-gyfar.” Hinte pulled the little sphere from the knife, and held it out to me. Huffing, I glanced away. Did I want to risk it? That knife could destroy me if I slipped up once. “Fine,” I said, kicking a pebble. When I looked up, Hinte had started walking again, and was glancing back at me. “The red one,” she said. We walked awhile. A sound came in the distance, lost in the rattling and cracks. It might have been flapping or the wind. So I knew at last why Hinte sifted crysts. And it fledged sense that she wouldn’t tell me. Magic was poisonous and maddening. Whatever freaky reputation alchemists had, mages could be so much worse. I still don’t get why this was worth hiding from me. I was a sky-dweller, a House sky-dweller at that. We didn’t shun magic the same way Gwymr/Frina did. Looking up, I rubbed my headband. As I did, my mind slinked back over Hinte’s words, picking through implication. Other mages lived in Gwymr/Frina? Collectors, plural? “But then —” I started, but the words alighted in my mouth as a slender black form flew from the vog toward Hinte. And like that, we were hunted. Okay, that pretty definitively answers my “so, do they breathe fire, or what?” question, at least for the females. The pace quickens, the plot thickens, the stakes raise–good! It’s also nice to see Kinri asserting herself a little. Perhaps I missed something, but I don’t understand what’s being implied about Mawla’s gender here. Obviously it’s a joke, but it flew right past me. Sorry. The differences between draconic and human anatomy, and the way they apply to emotional signaling, etc., can be tricky to follow. 1) Hinte thinks Mawla is a drake’s name — this is kinda an obscure culture thing. Might be clearer later, or not. Full hint: her name is Hinte, her grandmother’s is Gronte; while her grandfather’s is Ushra and her brother’s is Regenra. 2) The joke thing I’d rather not fully explain, to be honest. Suffice it to say, as the text does, that it involves a rod shaped object, a salve, a suit that’s ripped somewhere and someone’s (presumably Lilian’s) cloaca, and as a result one of her coworkers jokes about her being male. I hope that’s enough winking and nudging at the point? It’s definitely intended more as a kind of noodle incident, sans ever coming up again.

2019-04-26T12:38:37Z

https://endless-stars.com/2018/12/22/blow/

Systems and methods for delegating access to resources hosted in a distributed computing environment are described. In one aspect, a server hosts a set of resources. The server receives a request from a user to perform an operation with respect to one of the hosted resources. Responsive to receiving the request, the server determines whether the user has already been delegated authority to perform the operation. The delegated authority is independent of whether the user is a member of an administrators group associated with any resource of the server. This patent application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/281,083, titled “Role-Based Authorization Management Framework”, filed on Oct. 26, 2002, commonly assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby incorporated by reference. The invention pertains to administration of network service provider hosted resources. Administrating Web sites can be time consuming and costly, especially for entities that manage large Internet Service Provider (ISP) installations. To save time and money, many ISPs support only large company Web sites, at the expense of personal Web sites. One reason for this is because computer security has become increasingly important not only to businesses and other organizations, but also to individuals. To meet such security needs, computer and Web site security strategies must be selected and enforced for each administrative scenario. Such selection and enforcement make it considerably labor and time intensive and expensive to support personal Web sites. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary computing environment within which systems and methods for delegating administration of a hosted resource may be implemented. FIG. 2 shows further exemplary aspects of system memory of FIG. 1, including application programs and program data for delegating administration of a hosted resource. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary procedure for delegating administration of a hosted resource. Reliable, scalable, manageable, and secure systems and methods to delegate and implement remote administration of Web sites are described. In particular, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) computer server administrator utilizes the following described Internet Information Services (IIS) Delegation Administration (DA) framework to delegate specified Web site administration tasks to authorized users for execution. Such an authorized user may include, for example, a user that owns a personal Web site hosted by an ISP. User authorization is determined in view of specified role-based access permission(s) to perform specified application operations associated with the hosted Web site. This IIS DA framework obviates existing trends involving computer security, wherein personal Web sites are not supported due to the inefficiencies of time and cost, as described above. One reason for this is because an administrator is not required to intervene (i.e., to ensure computer security and authorized access) every time a hosted personal Web site is modified or tested. Such modifications may include, for example, change of Web site content/functionality such as deployment of a new application on the Web site, etc. These and other aspects of the systems and methods for delegated Web site administration are now described in further detail. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a suitable computing environment 120 on which the subsequently described systems, apparatuses and methods for delegating administration of a hosted resource may be implemented. Exemplary computing environment 120 is only one example of a suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of systems and methods the described herein. Neither should computing environment 120 be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in computing environment 120. The drives and associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for computer 130. Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk 148 and a removable optical disk 152, it are appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, random access memories (RAMs), read only memories (ROM), and the like, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment. A user such as an ISP Web site administrator may provide commands and information into computer 130 through input devices such as keyboard 166 and pointing device 168 (such as a “mouse”). Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, serial port, scanner, digital camera, etc. These and other input devices are connected to the processing unit 132 through a user input interface 170 that is coupled to bus 136, but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port, or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor 172 or other type of display device is also connected to bus 136 via an interface, such as a video adapter 174. The monitor can be utilized, for example, to present a user interface (UI) associated with the described systems and methods to delegate Web site administration, for example, by defining application access policies and rules as described below. In addition to monitor 172, personal computers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers, which may be connected through output peripheral interface 175. Depicted in FIG. 1, is a specific implementation of a WAN via the Internet. Here, computer 130 employs modem 178 to establish communications with at least one remote computer 182 via the Internet 180. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to computer 130, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device. Thus, e.g., as depicted in FIG. 1, remote application programs 189 may reside on a memory device of remote computer 182. The network connections shown and described are exemplary. Thus, other means of establishing a communications link between the computing devices may be used. FIG. 2 is a block diagram that shows further exemplary aspects of system memory 134 of FIG. 1, including application programs 160 and program data 164 for delegating administration of a hosted resource. In this implementation, application programs 160 include, for example Authorization Module 202, Delegation Module 204, Remote Client Web Site Administration (RCWA) module 206 (i.e., the “requesting application”), Execution Module 208, and Authorized Process(es) 210. For purposes of discussion, these application programs in conjunction with selected other features of the system 100 of FIG. 1, are hereinafter often referred to as the “Internet Information Services (IIS) Delegated Administration (DA) Framework, or “framework”. The Authorization Manager 202 provides security support for delegating administration of a hosted resource of IIS metabase nodes (i.e., nodes of the IIS metabase 212). The IIS metabase 212 identifies nodes for applications, resources, or objects hosted, deployed, and/or managed by the computer 130 of FIG. 1. More particularly, the metabase is a hierarchical store of configuration information and schema that are used to configure IIS. In existing systems, only users who are members of the Administrators group can view and modify a resource represented by a metabase node. In contrast to such conventional systems, the IIS DA framework, which is now being described, allows users other than those in the Administrators group (e.g., application administrators) such as Web site owners to view and/or modify particularly specified portion(s) of the IIS metabase 212. For purposes of this description, a “user” is an individual that is not assigned to the Administrative group, although a user could also be of the Administrators group. To this end, the Authorization Manager Module 202, via selective interaction with the Delegation Administration (DA) module 204, allows an administrative entity (i.e., a member of the Administrators group) to specify (e.g., specify via a UI displayed on the display device 172 of FIG. 1) user access permissions to nodes of the IIS metabase 212. The Authorization Manager Module 202 writes such user access permissions (i.e., policies/rules) to Authorization Policy Store 214. In one implementation, such access permissions are represented, for example, in Extended Markup Language (XML), Active Directory, Software Query Language (SQL), or some other data format. An application queries the APS 214 (via API's 216 exposed by the Application Manager 202) at run time to confirm that a client is authorized to perform a requested operation on a resource. Authorization Manager provides APIs for managing authorization policy and validating access control and a user interface for administrators so that they can manage the authorization policy store. An application as specified by the Authorization Policy Store (APS) 214 is a top-level node of the Authorization policy store 214. An application specifies the operations or tasks that the application can perform and declares them in the APS 214, for instance, when the application is installed. An application specification includes administrator identified application specific roles in terms of the task and operations that are needed to perform a job (e.g., in an organization). The definitions of roles, tasks and operations (methods), and scopes are stored in the APS 214. A role is an authorization or resource configuration role (e.g., an organizational permission on some set of resources). An authorization role is based on a user's job function. A resource configuration role is based on a computer's function. A task is a collection of low-level operations. The purpose of the task is to determine which low-level operations do some unit of work that is meaningful to administrators. An example of a task might be Change Password. Tasks can also contain other tasks. For example, a task called Manage User Accounts may include the tasks Change Password, Reset Password, Disable Account, and so on. An operation is a low-level permission that a resource manager uses to identify security procedures. Several operations may be used to perform a meaningful task. (Operations are often not exposed or meaningful to administrators). An example of an operation could be WriteAttributes or ReadAttributes. A scope is collection of one or more physical or logical resources (e.g., a folder and/or files) associated with a respective authorization policy. An application can use the scope to group resources, to map a user requested resource to a scope (e.g., when an application checks for user access), and so on. In this implementation, the Authorization Manager 202 allows specification of zero (0) or more groups and corresponding roles for each specified group member. A group corresponds to a user's role, and an application administrator specifies the permissions that are needed by the role by granting the group permission in an ACL for an object (e.g., application, resource, etc.). TABLE 1 shows an exemplary application definition of the APS 214, which in this implementation, is in an XML data format. Each application includes numerous attributes such as a substantially globally unique identifier (a “GUID”, e.g., d9089f17-5fa6-4ae9-bddf-8ca6cd1c06fb), a name (e.g., SiteAdminApp), and so on. Application attributes are used, for instance, to identify particular ones of the applications specified in the authorization policy store 214. In the example, of TABLE 1, the application includes a group (e.g., see tag pair “AzApplicationGroup”) to specify one or more users assigned to one or more “roles” with respect to the application. A role is a set of permissions assigned to a user to enable the user to perform a set of tasks. Each application group includes a GUID attribute (e.g., value bf9d00f0-2be3-4367-a931-680038b51d0a) and a name attribute (e.g., GroupMetabaseChangeDefaultDoc). This exemplary group illustrates a single member identified by SID: S-1-5-21-3131233723-616130271-937215924-1032. For the purpose of this example, assume that this is the SID is associated with a user, “User1”. In this implementation, a role is applied to a set of associated objects, and then a group of users is assigned to the role. The application of TABLE 1 includes an application group (although any number of such groups could be defined) with a scope. A scope is collection of one or more physical or logical resources (e.g., a folder and/or files) associated with a respective authorization policy. An application can use the scope to group resources, to map a user requested resource to a scope (e.g., when an application checks for user access), and so on. The following is an exemplary syntax to define a scope: <AzScope Guid=“ce010982-6b6f-4e93-804e-d04bf1ddff78” Name=“Site Access for “User1””/>. Each scope has a unique identifier (e.g., ce010982-6b6f-4e93-804e-d04bf1ddff78) and a name (e.g., Site Access for “User1”) that can be used with an Application Programming Interface (API) to access the scope. For purposes of discussion, the illustrated scope has a metabase site ID of “w3svc/1”. A role is defined when at least one (1) task has been specified with respect to an application group having access to a scope to which the role belongs. A task is one or more low-level operations to perform some unit of work for an administrator. For instance, a task might be “Change Password.” A task can encapsulate one or more other tasks. For example, a task called “Manage User Accounts” may include tasks “Change Password,” “Reset Password,” “Disable Account,” and/or so on. TABLE 3 shows an example role definition. The role shown in TABLE 3 includes an AppMemberLink attribute that references an application group based on its unique identifier, in this example, bf9d00f0-2be3-4367-a931-680038b51d0a. TABLE 4 shows a scope with a related role. A role may define one or more tasks. A task consists of one or more low-level “operations” that the user is given permission to perform, together with a business rule. An operation is a low-level permission that identifies security level(s) associated with a task. Several operations may comprise a meaningful task. Examples of operations include “WriteAttributes” and “ReadAttributes”. The following example of TABLE 5 illustrates a task allowing a user to change a property (e.g., the “DefaultDoc” property) for a Web site. The task contains two operations: one to set the value of this property, and one to get the value of this property. In the example of TABLE 5, an operation is assigned a unique identifier and a name, as is the case with the definitions of the previous attributes. One of the most important characteristics of an operation is the OperationID attribute. A task can refer to one or more operations through the OperationID. TABLE 6 illustrates how to define an exemplary task. The example of TABLE 6 shows two operations that are referenced by one task. This is to illustrate how a policy file can be defined. It is possible to have a task that refers to multiple operations. In one implementation, however, to ensure that the IIS Delegated Administration framework works as expected, within a policy file used with the tool, a task references only one operation. In such an implementation, when an operation is referenced by a task inside a role, the operation is not referenced by a different task inside the same role. Note, however, that the operation can be referenced by a task that is inside another role. For more information on exemplary syntax of the authorization policy store, see TABLE 11, below. A task is defined one or more operations (e.g., the two operations defined in TABLE 6) identified by their unique IDs, and a business rule, or BizRule. A business rule is also called an authorization script written in a scripting language such as Jscript or VBScript. In this implementation, scripts that are attached to a task object that is run when an AccessCheck API is called to verify that the user can execute a given method. In this implementation, the AccessCheck API is implemented by a known Private Object Security (POS) API of an operating system 158 (FIG. 1). The POS API looks at a user's group memberships in a token and compares them to contents of an Access Control List (ACL) to determine if the user has the requested access. Scripts may use information that is available only at run time, such as “time of day” or “dollar amount requested,” to make an authentication decision. For compliancy with the Authorization Manager 202, Delegated Administration (DA) module 204 uses one set of input values when interfacing with the Authorization Manager 202 and another set of values that are the parameters for the operation that the user wants to perform with respect to a hosted resource (e.g., a Web site) via a requesting application (e.g., the Remote Client Web Site Administration Application 208). For instance, in the preceding example of TABLE 6, for the SetDefaultDoc operation, the DA 204 utilizes as input the scope name, the operation or method name, and a value that is the value of the DefaultDoc parameter referred to in the BizRule above. The DA 204 uses configuration file 218 to determine which Authorization Policy Store(s) 214 contains the input scope and to map the input operation or method name to an OperationID. In this implementation, the configuration file 218 is an XML file that specifies/defines each method assigned to a given set of users and maps the method to the corresponding operation identifier(s) (IDs) in the authorization policy store 214. The configuration file 218 also includes method parameters, scope mappings, log file data format, and command-line templates. When mapping scope name, DA 204 obtains from the configuration file 218 the path of the authorization policy store 214 where the scope is located, and the name of the application in this authorization policy store under which the scope is defined. After the DA 204 parses the configuration file for such information, the DA 204 initializes the Authorization Manager 202 using the store path, opens the desired application, and gets the client context object that will be used to call determine whether the user has access to the requested function/resource. IIS Delegated Administration Framework uses a registry entry of type “String” to store the full path to the configuration file 218 (e.g., HKLM\Software\Entity\IISDelAdmin\DelegAdminMappingPath (REG_SZ)). Such a string is stored in registry 220. TABLE 7 shows an exemplary configuration file 218. In this exemplary implementation, the configuration file 218 includes the following entries: an entry for each method that will be allowed for a user; an entry for each scope, used in a store that contains a task referring to an existing method in the configuration file 218. Each scope entry corresponds to a user that has a scope in an authorization policy store. Additionally, an entry defines desired and/or default log file data format. In this implementation, all of the attributes except Description are utilized. If an attribute is missing from a node definition to be used by ExecuteMethod, the method will return an error. (ExecuteMethod is an APi 222 exposed by the DA module 204 to performs an operation requested by the user—if authorized). PublicName—The method name as it will be exposed to the user, the name that the tool will validate as an entry (a parameter of the ExecuteMethod method of a Dynamic Link Library object (e.g., a COM) accessed via API 222, exposed by the DA module 204). ExePath—Defines either the path to the executable or command-line script that will be used to execute the method requested by the user or the ProgID of a COM object that is designated to perform the operation through one of its methods. AZStoreID—Defines the OperationID that corresponds to this method in the authorization policy store. CmdLine—Defines the way the command line for the executable module will be built, or the name of the method if ExePath specifies the ProgID of a COM object. For an executable module, in this attribute one can specify a keyword, an attribute name/value (method, parameter, and scope attributes) and a parameter index. For more information about defining CmdLine values, see the CmdLine Field Format below. WaitTimeout—Indicates to the DA 204 how many seconds to wait after calling a CreateProcess API before exiting and logging the result. After a successful call to CreateProcess, the tool calls WaitForSingleObject (processHandle, timeout) to wait for that process to finish. This attribute is not used if the operation is associated with a COM method. ProcessType—Specifies the type of process to be used to execute the method. The valid values for this attribute are “COM” (to specify that a COM method will execute the method) and “CMD” (to specify that a command-line executable will execute the method). Separator—Assists in making the output of the executable module more granular. For special characters (such as “\r” and “\n”), this field includes the escaped version of the character (for example, “%0D” and “%0A”). The tool always reads the value of the Separator field and then unescapes it, so one can specify these special characters to be recognized as separators by the tool. For example, suppose a result will be a string containing a set of IP addresses that are denied for a site, and also that the result is a string containing all of these addresses separated by a “CRLF”(“\r\n” sequence). If the Separator=“%0D%0A” is defined in the IISDAMethod node, instead of the OutputArray function returning the whole string with the IP addresses, the function returns an array of strings, each corresponding to an IP address from the result string. Description—Adds a description of the method, which can be used in the application that exposes the method to the user. For example, it is used by the sample ASP.NET application, Admin, to display the description of the method when the user moves the mouse over a method name on the page. If a Parameter XML tag is defined, all of the attributes except Description are utilized. If one attribute is missing from a definition of the node and the node will be used by ExecuteMethod, the method will return an error. Name—Sent by the tool as a parameter to the AccessCheck function. The same name is be used in the BizRule of the tasks that reference the operation ID corresponding to the method where the parameter is defined. MetabaseProperty—Can be used if the execution module will request a specific metabase property as part of its command line, for example: “adsutil.exe get w3svc/1/AnonymousUserName”. In this example, the parameter has the attribute MetabaseProperty=“AnonymousUserName” and “w3svc/1” is the MetabaseNode defined in the scope. For more information about defining a scope, see Scope Syntax below. Description—Associates a description with the parameter. For example, an application exposing the method to which such a parameter belongs to can use this field to display restrictions imposed on the parameter values. One can specify the interfaces that will be used to execute a BizRule inside of a task that refers to an operation by using the Interface node. The following example shows the syntax of the Interface node: <Interface Name=““Flag=” “ProgID=””/>. Interface nodes are optional, and are used when COM objects are used in the business rule of a task, which references the method. If the Interface node is defined, all of the attributes are utilized. If one attribute is missing from the node definition and the node will be used by ExecuteMethod, the method will return an error. Name—Identifies the name of the object as it is going to be used in the business rule. Flag—Specifies the flag that will be used to create the object in the BizRule script. ProgID—Specifies the independent version ProgID of the COM object. The corresponding Name in this node is, in fact, an instance of this object. The BizRule uses the object only through the Name provided. Each attribute corresponds to a parameter utilized by AccessCheck related to interfaces. <IISDAScope PublicName=““AZName=” “MetabaseNode=” “AZStorePath=” “AZApplicationName=” “GenerateAudits=” “AuditName=””/>. All of the attributes are utilized. If one is missing and the node will be used by ExecuteMethod, the method will return an error. PublicName—the name provided to the user when the scope is created, and the name the user will provide to identify at what level in the metabase 212 the changes are made (because a user can have more than one site assigned, for example). AZName—the name of the scope in an authorization policy store file that corresponds to this scope. The MetabaseNode defines the actual scope, which is, in fact, a metabase node where the user has access. AZStorePath—the path of the authorization policy store where this scope are located. This attribute specifies the authorization policy store where the DA module 204 will search for this scope. AZApplicationName—specifies the application, in the store, under which this scope is defined. GenerateAudits—specifies whether an attempt to access this scope generates auditing. AuditName—specifies the key string used in auditing to identify the object that was accessed (in this implementation, it confirms that this scope, in particular, was accessed). Path—defines the path where the log file is stored. This attribute is utilized. The tool returns an error if it is not present. This attribute value points to a valid and accessible folder; otherwise, the tool of this implementation does not log anything, but will generate an exception. When creating the log file for the first time, the application uses the security settings inherited from the parent folder (identified by the value of the Path attribute), which means that the identity of the COM+ application (see, other module 210) has read/write access to this folder. Field—identifies each field in the log file, using an associated Name attribute. For more information about fields, see Log File Fields below. The result of the ExecuteMethod (ExecuteMethod is an APi 222 exposed by the DA module 204 to performs an operation requested by the user—if authorized. The operation or task implemented by ExecuteMethod is shown as the Execution Module 208) is logged using the comma-separated values log format. In this implementation, if a logging section is not present in the configuration file 218, DA 202 does not log anything and throws an exception. A date and time (Date field) of the request (call to ExecuteMethod). A name of the user (User field; for example, if the ExecuteMethod is called inside an .aspx page, the name of the user to whom access to the .aspx page was granted will be logged). A method name (Method field) provided by the caller. A scope name (Scope field) provided by the caller. A value of the ExePath attribute corresponding to the method (ProcessType attribute, which is an attribute of the method definition in the configuration file attribute). A value of the CmdLine attribute corresponding to the method (CmdLine field). Delegated Administration 204 also logs in the last two positions the result (Result field) of the ExecuteMethod function 208 and the exception information (Exception field). The exception information provides details on the context of the exception (that is, in which step of the method execution the exception occurred) and the exception code that was caught by the tool. The sixth field, CmdLine, utilizes a special mention. In the case of an IISDAMethod node with ProcessType=“COM,” the value logged in this field is as it appears defined in the configuration file 218 in the CmdLine attribute. In the case of an IISDAMethod node with ProcessType=“CMD,” the value logged in this field will be either as it appears defined in the configuration file 218 in the CmdLine attribute or (in case the string refers to IISDACmdLineKeys) the value of the full command line of the executable module, if ExecuteMethod actually built the command line for the module before returning. This provides more information in the log file to help one figure out as many elements of a request as possible and to ease the troubleshooting process. If there is no Field node defined, the DA module 204 logs, for example, the eight (8) fields mentioned above, and the IISDALog node is used only to get the log file path. Usually, the field name is in the form “Param1,” “Param2,” and so on, because, in addition to the above-mentioned fields that are logged by default, these are the other fields that one might find useful. In this implementation, “Param” fields are logged after the first six fields described above. If the list of parameter values contains more elements than the actual number of Field/nodes in the IISDALog node, not all of the parameter values are logged. However, if there are fewer parameter values for a method than the number of Field nodes in the IISDALog node, the rest of the field values in the log entry will consist of a space (“ ”). Name—Used in the command-line string as a key. AttributeName—Specifies the name of an attribute inside the configuration file, under the IISDAMethod, IISDAScope, or Parameter nodes, to which the key refers. This attribute enables one to specify either the attribute name itself or the attribute value to which it refers. The command-line template allows Delegated Administration 202 to support tokens inside the command-line definition for a method (the CmdLine attribute of the IISDAMethod node). Such tokens include for example, the tokens shown in TABLE 9. In this implementation, because # and $ are used for building the command line, these characters are restricted in the sense that if there is a sequence of two of these characters (like #string# or $string$), the tool will try to find an IISDACmdLineKey node that has a Name attribute equal to “string.” This is an implantation dependent feature that can be modified as design architecture implies. This technique of defining the command-line parameters enables one to specify environment variables, such as % SYSTEMROOT %, in the module command line. When an IISDACmdLineKey node is created, all attributes are utilized. Otherwise, ExecuteMethod will fail when trying to parse the node. For more information about defining IISDACmdLineKey nodes and how they are interpreted at run time, see CmdLine and IISDACmdLineKeys Examples. Parameters Method—sets the parameters associated with an operation. The parameters of this method is be a variant of type VT_ARRAY (where each element in the array is be of type VT_BSTR) or of type VT_BSTR. This method is called before calling ExecuteMethod. ParamError Method—checks whether the parameters were set correctly by the Parameters method. If the parameters were set successfully, it returns 0. Call this method to avoid calling ExecuteMethod if parameters were not set correctly by the Parameters method. Scope name—the scope associated with the user that is requesting the execution of the operation. The application that exposes the methods to the user collects this scope from the user. For example, using the sample ASP.NET application, the user specifies the name of the site to administer. This name is stored as a session variable and used whenever ExecuteMethod is invoked. The type of the parameter is BSTR. Method name—the name of the method that the user will try to execute. This name corresponds to the value of a PublicName attribute of an IISDAMethod node inside the configuration file. The type of the parameter is BSTR. LogResult—Boolean value specifying whether the method is to log the result of the operation. ExecuteOperation—Boolean value specifying whether ExecuteMethod executes the command line or calls the COM method associated with the method. This parameter is useful when one want to use ExecuteMethod up to the point where AccessCheck decides whether the user is granted access to execute the method. If one choose not to execute any method or command line (by setting this parameter to FALSE), one can leave the values of the corresponding attributes of the IISDAMethod node as empty strings. After AccessCheck returns, the result is logged. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary procedure 300 for delegated administration of a Web site. In particular, the procedure illustrates exemplary processing that occurs when a user attempts to modify properties of a Web site, wherein the Web site is hosted by an ISP that implements the described IIS Delegation Administration Framework of FIGS. 1 and 2. Accordingly, and for purposes of illustration, the operations of the procedure are described with respect to the features of FIGS. 1 and 2. As noted above, in the figures, the left-most digit of a component reference number identifies the particular figure in which the component first appears. At block 302, an administrative entity (e.g., a member of the Administrative group) provides one or more parameters for an operation with respect to an application and/or resources hosted by computer 130 (FIG. 1). Such provision is provided via the API 216 exposed by the Authorization Module 202 (FIG. 2). At block 304, a user executes an application such as the Remote Web Site Administration (RWSA) application 206 (FIG. 2) hosted by the computer 130 (FIG. 1). The RWSA application 206 allows a user, such as a Web site owner, to modify, test, or otherwise administer content and/or functionality, or any other aspect of a Web site or resource hosted by the computer 130 (FIG. 1). As described below, authorization for such administration is dynamically determined by the Delegation Administration (DA) module 204. For purposes of this example, the user is not a member of an Administrator group with respect to administering the configuration and/or resources associated with the computer 130 of FIG. 1, although the user could be a member of such an Administrators group. At block 306, the user requests to perform at least an operation with respect to the hosted resource (e.g., Web site, etc.). To this end, the application (e.g., the RWSA application 206) invoke one or more of the APIs 222 exposed by the Delegation Administration (DA) module 204, to requests access to the operation. As already noted, user operation access to a hosted resource is controlled by several layers of functionality, as shown in TABLE 10. TABLE 11, an exemplary Authorization Manager Policy Store. command-line module or a COM method. At block 308, the Delegated Administration module 204, determines whether the user is authorized to access the resource via the requested operation. This determination is made completely independent of whether the user is a member of an Administrators group with respect to administering the resources of computer 130 (FIG. 1). To this end, the DA module 204, via the Parameters method API 222, sets ExecuteMethod parameters. ExecuteMethod looks for an entry in registry 220 providing the path to the configuration file 218. The configuration file 218 specifies all possible methods that can be performed by all of the users and where an administrative entity can add an entry (that is, an IISDAScope node) for each user. At this point, at block 306, ExecuteMethod reads the configuration file 218 and attempts to map the requested operation name, scope, and parameters to entries in that file. If these entries are found, the information related to the authorization policy store 214 (i.e., derived from the IISDAScope node attribute) is retrieved. The ExecuteMethod retrieves the information from the Authorization Policy Store 214 and verifies (e.g., a call to AccessCheck) whether the user has access to the specified scope, based on the method and provided parameters. To accomplish this, ExecuteMethod impersonates the caller to present a client's identity to resources it hosts on the client's behalf, for access checks or authentication to be performed against the client's identity. (Impersonation is the ability of a thread to execute in a security context different from that of the process owning the thread). At block 310, if the user is determined to not be authorized to perform the requested operation, the user is denied access to the operation. However, at block 312, if the user is granted access to the scope and if the method referred to is in a task within the user's scope, ExecuteMethod executes a process (i.e., Authorized Process 210) or builds a Command Line 210 to execute a process that performs the user requested operation (i.e., execute via an object (e.g., a COM object) or Command Line). For instance, the DA module 202 either builds the command line for the executable module that will actually execute the operation/method, or attempts to initialize a COM object associated with the operation and get the DISPID of the specified method. Then, DA module 202 calls either CreateProcess or the COM method associated with the operation, depending on what is specified in the first Boolean parameter. In the case of CreateProcess, DA module 202 uses the command line 210 just built and the process starts under the user context of an application (e.g., a COM application). For purposes of discussion, such an application is shown as Authorized Process 210. At block 314, if the requested operation runs successfully, the authorized process 210 builds an output array and logs the output array to the log file 224. For purposes of discussion, such an output array is shown as a respective portion of “other data” 226. In this implementation, if the return type of the method is VT_BSTR or VT_ARRAY, all of the elements in the array are of type VT_BSTR. TABLE 11 shows an exemplary format of the Authorization Policy Store 214. For more information about the syntax of this type of file, see Authorization Policy Store File Format. The following examples show how a command line is built for a module, based on the settings in a configuration file 218 and the parameters passed to the ExecuteMethod and Parameters methods. The following example shows exemplary syntax of a configuration file 218 from which the exemplary command line of TABLE 11 is derived. In view of the above, the following actions take place to produce this command line: “SET” is used as it is because it is not delimited by # or $ characters; #mn# is replaced by “w3svc/1”; “/” is used as it is because it is not delimited by # or $ characters” #mp@1# is replaced by “AccessFlags”; and, #1# is replaced with the value of the parameter of index 1, which is 3. The following example shows exemplary syntax of a configuration file 218 from which the exemplary command line of TABLE 12 is derived. In summary, the following actions take place to produce this command line: “SET” is used as it is because it is not delimited by # or $ characters; $mn$ is replaced by “MetabaseNode”; #mp@1# is replaced by “AccessFlags”; and, #1# is replaced with the value of the parameter of index 1, which is 3. The following example shows configuration file syntax from which the command line of TABLE 12 is derived. The following parameters are passed to ExecuteMethod: (“Scope1”, “SetFlags”). The following parameters are passed to Parameters: An array containing the following strings: “1”, “1”, “1”. Refer to the configuration file syntax to understand the following discussion of how this command line is built. The value of the CmdLine attribute of the method is “SET #1# #2# #3#.” The tool looks at the first sequence delimited by two # or $ characters, in this example #1#. Because there is a number between the two # characters, the tool replaces this token with the value of the first parameter. The tool performs the same procedure for the next two tokens: #2# and #3#. The following example shows a command line that causes an error by providing an incorrect number of parameter to the Parameters method. Configuration file syntax from which the command line of TABLE 14 is derived follows. The following parameters are passed to ExecuteMethod: (“Scope1”, “SetFlags”). The following parameters are passed to Parameters: An array containing the following strings: “1”, “1”, “1”. In this example, the Delegation Administration module 202 returns an error because the command line refers to a parameter with index 4 (by specifying #4# in the CmdLine attribute), but Parameters receives only three parameters. Accordingly, no command line is built. In the example of TABLE 15, this method corresponds to a method with OperationID=1 in the authorization policy store 214. The path of the executable or command line 210 that performs the requested action is “C:\Adsutil.exe.” The command-line template for this method is “SET #mn# #1#”. The time-out for this method to be executed is 10 seconds. No separator or description is defined. The method has only one parameter, named “Flags,” which corresponds to the “AccessFlags” property in the IIS metabase. The method defines the “MyObject” object name (corresponding to an instance of the “Scripting.FileSystemObject” object) as being able to be used by the BizRule associated with the task that refers to the operation with ID 1 in the authorization policy store. In the example of TABLE 15, the scope, defined as “www.fabrikam.com”, corresponds to the scope named “Scope1” in the store located at “C:\Store.xml.” This scope inside this store is defined under the “SecurityApplication” application. Access to this scope generates an audit using the “Scope1” name to identify the entry in the EventLog. This template specifies that the CmdLine attribute of the “SetProperty” method can use (beside “keywords” and #D# tokens for the parameter values) only tokens that include the “mn” key, which identifies by name (using $mn$) or by value (using #mn#) the attribute with the name “MetabaseNode” defined under the “IISDAScope,” corresponding to the scope specified as a parameter to ExecuteMethod. The following assumptions apply to this exemplary scenario: The registry entry HKLM\Software\Microsoft\IISDelAdmin\DelegAdminMappingPath (REG_SZ) is defined and contains the following string: “C:\DelegAdmin\Config\Config.xml”—the configuration file 218. The Delegadm.dll object runs inside a COM+ application (i.e., the authorized process 210) whose identity has read access to this registry entry. This code will attempt to allow user1 to set the AccessFlags property to 1 for the site corresponding to “ScopeUser1” by calling the “SetAccessProperty” method and using the Authorization Manager APIs. To accomplish this task, the following steps are performed inside ExecuteMethod: The specified parameters are validated. As noted in “Parameters” method syntax, a parameter for the Parameters method can be either a string or an array of strings. In this example, the parameter is accepted, because it is a string. If the parameter is rejected, the corresponding error code is logged. The object attempts to get the value of the registry entry HKLM_Software_Microsoft_IISDelAdmin_DelegAdminMappingPath. In this example, the value is defined as C:\DelegAdmin\Config\Config.xml. The identity of the COM+ application has access to this value. If the application cannot read the registry entry value, it logs an error. Because the operation was not executed, the CMDLine field in the log file will contain the value of the CmdLine attribute of the IISDAMethod node that corresponds to the SetAccessProperty method. After the application gains access to the configuration file, it searches the configuration file for the scope “ScopeUser1,” which is specified as a parameter. If the scope is not found, an error is logged. An error may appear even if there is an “IISDAScope” node that contains the PublicName attribute with value “www.fabrikam.com” if this node does not have all of the utilized attributes. After the public scope name is validated, the method name is validated. The application looks for the specified method name in the configuration file 118, which is “SetAccessProperty” in this example. If the method is not found, the appropriate error code is logged. An error may appear even if there is an “IISDAMethod” node that contains the PublicName attribute with value “SerAccessProperty” if this node doesn't have all of the utilized attributes. After the method name is found, the corresponding IISDAMethod node is read. The tool now maps the “SetAccessProperty” method to the operation defined in the AZStoreID attribute, which in this example is “1.” As specified in syntax of the policy file, only one task in the authorization policy store can refer to this method. If more than one task in the authorization policy store refers to this method, AccessCheck may deny the access to the scope. This may occur because the business rule on one of the tasks has denied the access to the scope. Along with the attributes, the subnodes of the IISDAMethod node are read to retrieve information about the parameters of the method and the interfaces that will be used in the business rule of the task that refers to this operation (in this example, the operation with ID “1”). If an error occurs in the validation process, a corresponding error code is logged. An error can occur because utilized attributes inside the Parameter or Interface subnodes are missing from the definition of the IISDAMethod node. The number of parameters defined in the configuration file matches the number of parameters that are set before ExecuteMethod is called (using the Parameters method). Otherwise, a specific error code is logged. The application attempts to initialize the Authorization Store object using the store path, which in this example is “C:\DelegAdmin\Stores\User1.xml” and to open the corresponding application inside this store, which in this example is “SiteAdminApp.” If one of the operations fails, the exception is caught and the result will be logged. The application collects information about the caller (which in this example is user1) and builds the parameters for AccessCheck. The following TABLE 16 describes the AccessCheck parameters used in this example. of this parameter for AccessCheck. are interested in, which in this example is 1. Flags attribute in the Interface subnode, which is 9600. cannot be created, a specific error code is returned. If the process of building the parameters for AccessCheck succeeds, the function is called and the result is checked. In this example, the user1 is granted access to the “Scope1” scope based on the parameters and the two XML files defined. If this function fails, an exception is generated. If AccessCheck denies access to the user, a specific error code is logged. In general, if an error occurs while building the command line (for example, if invalid sequences, such as defining a key as #KEY$, were used, or if undefined keys were used), the application logs an error. The described systems and methods for generating a contrast-based saliency map for image attention analysis. Although the systems and methods have been described in language specific to structural features and methodological operations, the subject matter as defined in the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or operations described. Rather, the specific features and operations are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claimed subject matter. determining whether to authorize the operation as a function of whether the user has been delegated authority to perform the operation with respect to the resource, the authority being independent of whether the user is a member of an administrators group associated with any resource of the server. 2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining whether to authorize the operation is performed by a secure delegation administration framework. 3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the operation is associated with modification of content and/or functionality of the resource. 4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the resource is represented as an Internet Information Service (IIS) metabase node. 5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the request comprises a scope associated with the user, and a name of a method associated with the operation. 6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the resource is a Web site hosted by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and wherein the user is not authorized to perform administrative activities on any resources associated with the ISP except by sending the request to the ISP for permission evaluation by the secure delegation administration framework. 7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the request further comprises an indication of whether the user desires to execute the operation via a dynamically built command line or via an executable object already associated with the operation. 8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the request further comprises an indication of whether the user desires to log a result of the operation. 9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the secure delegation administration framework is secure at least because it does not allow the user access to a mapping of user role-based permission to perform the operation directed to the resource. wherein determining further comprises the application utilizing the mapping to identify whether the user has permission to perform the operation. responsive to the presenting, identifying whether the user has been delegated a role-based access permission to perform the operation with respect to the resource. executing the operation within a scope associated with the user. determining whether to authorize the operation as a function of whether the user has been delegated a role-based scope of authority to perform the operation, the role-based scope of authority not requiring the user to be a member of an administrators group associated with any resources of the server. 14. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the operation is associated with modification of content and/or functionality of the resource. 15. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the resource is represented as an Internet Information Service (IIS) metabase node. 16. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the request comprises a scope associated with the user, and a name of a method associated with the operation. 17. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the resource is a Web site hosted by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and wherein the user is not a member of the administrators group. 18. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the request further comprises an indication of whether the operation is to be executed via a dynamically built command line or via an executable object already associated with the operation. 19. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 13, wherein operations associated with determining whether to authorize the operations are secure at least because the user does not have access to user role-based permission(s) to perform the operation. wherein the instructions for determining further comprise instructions for utilizing the mapping to identify whether the user has permission to perform the operation. determining whether to authorize the operation as a function of whether the user has been delegated a role-based scope of authority to perform the operation, the role-based scope of authority not requiring the user to be a member of an administrators group associated with resources of the server. 24. A server as recited in claim 23, wherein the request is generated by at least one resource of the resources. 25. A server as recited in claim 23, wherein the operation is associated with modification of content and/or functionality of the resource. 26. A server as recited in claim 23, wherein the resource is represented as an Internet Information Service (IIS) metabase node. 27. A server as recited in claim 23, wherein the request comprises a scope associated with the user, a name of a method associated with the operation. 28. A server as recited in claim 23, wherein the resource is a Web site hosted by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and wherein the user is not a member of the administrators group. 29. A server as recited in claim 23, wherein the request further comprises an indication of whether the operation is to be executed via a dynamically built command line or via an executable object already associated with the operation. 30. A server as recited in claim 23, wherein the secure delegation administration framework is secure at least because it does not allow the user access to a mapping of user role-based permission to perform the operation directed to the resource. means for determining whether to authorize the operation as a function of whether the user has been delegated a role-based scope of authority to perform the operation, the role-based scope of authority not requiring the user to be a member of an administrators group associated with the server. 35. A server as recited in claim 34, wherein the operation is associated with modification of content and/or functionality of the resource. 36. A server as recited in claim 34, wherein the resource is an Internet Information Service (IIS) metabase node. 37. A server as recited in claim 34, wherein the resource is a Web site hosted by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and wherein the user is not a member of the administrators group. means for executing the operation within a scope associated with the user. MXPA04007143A MXPA04007143A (en) 2003-08-28 2004-07-23 Delegated administration of a hosted resource. GB2353875A (en) 1999-09-04 2001-03-07 Hewlett Packard Co Computer access control system.

2019-04-24T11:41:36Z

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20050050354A1/en

Celiac disease is a serious genetic autoimmune disorder where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. Therefore, people with celiac disease must eat a gluten-free diet. The disease affects 1 in 100 people worldwide, and one in 133 people in the United States. Two and one-half million Americans are undiagnosed and are at risk for long-term health complications. Gluten, the culprit, is a family of dietary proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, oat, and other grains. It is the protein that makes dough elastic and gives bread its chewy texture. It is naturally poorly digested, and therefore more likely to engage the immune system than other proteins, even in people without celiac disease. In people with celiac disease, it damages the intestinal villi, which are very small finger-like projections found along the wall of the small intestine. When the villi are injured, the small intestine can’t properly absorb nutrients from food. So, again, people with celiac disease must avoid foods that contain gluten. Sometimes, they may feel isolated, as they must eat differently than others. And…. we have not only a new trend in college dining halls, but also new insight in what actually causes celiac disease. A new study (Reovirus infection triggers inflammatory responses to dietary antigens and development of celiac disease), published last week (April 7, 2017) in the journal Science, shows that Infection with reovirus, a common but otherwise harmless virus, can trigger the immune system to react to gluten, leading to the development of celiac disease. How? Usually, a regulatory immune response blocks inflammation to dietary antigens. However, a reovirus infection at sites where dietary gluten is present results in the induction of danger signals that confuse the immune system and lead it to develop an aggressive inflammatory immune response against gluten—it is this aggressive inflammatory response that may induce celiac disease. For the study, which was carried out in a mouse model, researchers used two different closely related but genetically different reovirus strains. They showed that genetic differences between viruses can change how they interact with the immune system. Both reovirus strains induced protective immunity and did not cause overt disease. However, one of the reovirus strains triggered an inflammatory immune response and the loss of oral tolerance to gluten, whereas the other strain did not. The study also found that celiac disease patients produces much higher levels of antibodies against reoviruses than those without the disease. The celiac patients who had high levels of reovirus antibodies also had much higher levels of IRF1 gene expression, a transcriptional regulator that plays a key role in the loss of oral tolerance to gluten. This suggests that infection with a reovirus can leave a permanent mark on the immune system, a mark that sets the stage for a later autoimmune response to gluten. in the United States, babies are usually weaned from breastfeeding and given their first solid foods—often containing gluten—around six months of age. Children with immature immune systems are more susceptible to viral infections at this stage, and for those genetically predisposed, the combination of an intestinal reovirus infection with the first exposure to gluten could create the right conditions for developing celiac disease. I think this is a groundbreaking discovery as so many people are affected by celiac disease. Hopefully, this will help foster further research not only to prevent celiac disease but also to possibly cure those who already have it. After doing some research, I found that reoviruses are oncolytic and are being looked at as potential treatments for cancer. In a study done by Kim et al., it was found that an attenuated reovirus targeted cancer cells in severely immunodeficient mice without killing healthy stem cells. The attenuated reovirus also exhibited reduced toxicity compared to a wild-type reovirus . The study also implies that attenuated reoviruses could be used to treat cancer in pregnant women (1). With the recent connection of reoviruses to celiac disease, I cannot help but wonder whether this will influence their potential use for treating cancer. Could reovirus cancer treatments cause an individual to develop celiac disease? If children infected with reovirus are at a higher risk of celiac disease, are reoviruses really safe to use for cancer treatment in pregnant women? I find all the points you discuss fascinating – thanks for sharing. I didn’t know that reovirus was being used as a treatment for cancer. Going off on your comment, I decided to investigate the specific cancers that use reovirus-based therapy. I found out that reovirus can be employed for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and is more effective if used in combination with other drugs. (1) Reolysin (the drug name that uses reovirus) works by inducing stress in the endoplasmic reticulum, which eventually leads to apoptosis. Amazingly, Reolysin can selectively attack the cancerous cells due to reovirus’ ability to differentiate cells that express mutations in activated Ras signaling, specifically KRas. These mutations help facilitate viral uncoating and production of viral progeny in the cell. (2) I do share your concerns though about the potential side effects of using reovirus as a treatment – this should be thoroughly studied as the treatment looks quite promising. Over the past couple of years, scientists are starting the discover the importance of gut microbial and its effects on food digestion and the immune system. In the case of Celiac Disease, a virus or maybe a bacterial infection can affect the intestinal tract leading to developing celiac disease. But what about other autoimmune diseases that deal with food absorption? According to a new study (1) gut, microbial metabolites protect against type 1 diabetes. In this study, they took mice that had type 1 diabetes and fed them a diet that would increase the amounts of acetate and butyrate released by gut microbial. It turns out that if your gut microbial produce increase levels of acetate it decreases the frequency of autoreactive T cells in lymphoid tissues. Acetate effects the B cell preventing them from activating more autoreactive T cells. Increased levels of butyrate increased the number and function of regulatory T cells. It appears that dietary changes for people with T cell-dependent autoimmune diseases may be an effective natural way of treatment. Another study (2) suggested that there might be a connection between an accumulation of autoreactive T cells in the gut-associated lymphatic tissue and other autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. I think we often overlook our diet and how it affects our overall health and not just our waistline. These emerging studies could also lead to new noninvasive ways of treatment. Shannon, it is so interesting that autoreactive T cells could do so much damage and contribute do a disease that is widely accepted as a genetic disorder. This post made me want to look up what else autoreactive T cells could do in the human body and I found that they are also a large part of development of Rheumatoid Arthritis (1). The autoreactive T cells actually reduce glycolysis and cause the CD4+T cells to hyperproliferate and attain the inflammatory symptoms we see as symptoms in Rheumatoid Arthritis. This made me wonder what dietary changes could these patients make to reduce their levels of autoreactive T cells? According to a new study (2), by taking a fish oil supplement can reduce the number of autoreactive T cells all together. They also showed in this study that the fish oil also promoted an increase in CD8+ T cells in mice. More supporting evidence was found in another study (3) that showed that fasting in regular intervals also decreases autoreactive T cells that contribute to multiple sclerosis symptoms. Seeing how diet can influence all of these major diseases is eye opening and definitely needs to be explored as alternative or combination treatments for patients. Researchers are connecting the dots more and more everyday between autoimmune diseases and bacterial infections causing them. In a recent study, a connection was made between gut mycobacteria imbalance and the development of Chron’s disease as well as ulcerative colitis (1). There is a very particular balance of bacteria that are good for us and help digest our foods for us throughout our digestive tract, but when this balance is lost, some of the bacteria can grow exponentially, causing havoc in the gastrointestinal system. The bacteria is kept in check by our bodies by controlling the pH and temperature along the GI tube, when these checks are overridden the bacteria are allowed to have a field day and grow without being controlled by the host body. One study that was found recently, focuses on what happens to your gut microbiome when you starve the body of carbohydrates as in a ketogenic diet (2). As you starve your body from carbohydrates to try and lose weight the Bacteriodes that call your gut home and whose sole purpose is to digest carbs begin to die off. This pruning of the gut microbiota allows for more invasive species to overgrow and populate areas of the GI tract that they usually are not found in. This also promotes the growth of very harmful strains of bacteria to grow that are usually kept in check by the growth of the Bacteriodes, such as Clostridium difficule (2). The research on this topic is now pointing toward the overgrowth of some bacteria getting through the gut walls and into the abdominal cavity to elicit an immune response. After a prolonged period of bacteria entering the gut, the body starts to see the intestines as foreign cells, and it immune system shifts its focus to fighting off the ‘invader,’ that is actually the body’s own cells. This is what is supposedly causing the autoimmune diseases such as Chron’s. With research coming out on how viruses and bacteria can cause autoimmune diseases it makes you wonder how strong a role genetics play. It seems like gut flora is the missing link for a lot of diseases. In “Does the Gut Microbiota Influence Immunity and Inflammation in Multiple Sclerosis Pathophysiology?” their aim was to determine if gut microflora plays a role in developing MS (1). While it is unclear how exactly gut microflora contributes to the development of MS, there is a relationship. As you mentioned earlier a stable gut flora protects against inflammation. In another study, it was noted how there are gut microbiota-host interactions that play a role in the development of cardiovascular diseases (2). Again, the pathophysiology is unclear but with immerging studies I imagine the relationship will soon be discovered. I think more research so go into the gut-immunity-brain axis. This article was very interesting to me as it pertains to gluten and how reovirus plays a part in celiac disease. Many people suffer with gluten and have to take great measures to get by day by day. One thing I found interesting was the idea how reovirus, usually considered an inoffensive virus, can “trick” the immune system to believe that gluten is harmful and causes the immune system to have a belligerent response to gluten. This is dangerous not only to adults but the article also pointed out that it can be critical to children and infants. Studies have been done to test rotavirus vaccinations in children with celiac disease as well as type 1 diabetes (1). According to Outi, their studies suggest that this vaccination can be beneficial for children who have a high chance of contracting celiac disease or type 1 diabetes. This research is just the tip of the iceberg in learning more on the relationship of rotavirus and celiac disease. Offering tastier gluten free foods should be a major matter in the upcoming years. Not only gluten free diet reduces the tragedy of celiac disease; but it also minimizes the symptoms associated with schizophrenia. A study that was published in April 2017 showed that schizophrenic patients who follow a gluten free diet suffer way less than those who have gluten included in their diet (1). Gluten could be associated with more diseases and some more studies on gluten effects on the human body should be done. Therefore, having tastier gluten free foods available in schools, hotels, hospitals, restaurants, ..etc. should be a major concern within the next years. Your comment on how gluten-free options can reduce symptoms of schizophrenia is interesting. I do not know much about schizophrenia but I know people with this disorder suffer with the symptoms associated as well as the community surrounding them. I believe having a gluten-free diet benefits these individuals in more ways than one. I found an article stating how athletes who adhere to a gluten-free diet had better success in their goals as well as their body systems (1). Little is known on this study but it’s interesting how gluten-free diets can be beneficial for anyone. Coeliac disease is a serious ailment affecting more and more children every year. Because of the rapid increase in coeliac disease diagnosis, it is important to diagnose exactly what type of gluten-related disease a person has. Depending on the severity of the coeliac disease, doctors can determine a patient’s ideal diet to decrease the negative effects of the disease and better the overall lifestyle of the patient. In a study done recently, it was reported that anti-glutaminase antibodies are specific for the diagnosis of coeliac disease and in determining specific symptoms . There are three specific gluten-related disorders: coeliac disease, wheat allergy, and noncoeliac gluten sensitivity. However, further research must be conducted to better understand noncoeliac gluten sensitivity as not much is known about this disease. It is important to conduct research on, not only coeliac disease but also, the other kinds of gluten-related ailments. These are important especially in relation to the health of young children. It is detrimental to the already fragile immune system of a child to develop coeliac disease. Like this blog post mentioned, this disease can affect all aspects of someone’s life and, as an aspiring pediatrician, I would like to see more emphasis on discovering how to aid children in preventing coeliac disease. I had heard of celiac disease before but I was unaware that there were other gluten related disorders. After reading your post, I agree that there needs to be more research into these disorders as well. In a study by Unde et al., they attempted to identify markers for systemic immune activation in wheat sensitive individuals who did not have celiac disease. They determined that these individuals had higher levels of CD14 and LPS-binding protein in their serum. They noted that there was systemic immune activation because of antibody reactivity to bacterial LPS and flagellin. They also found levels of fatty acid-binding protein 2 which indicated damage to the intestinal epithelium (1). I think more research like this will bring other gluten sensitive disorders to light. It may also help us determine more distinctions between celiac disease and other gluten related sensitivity disorders. I have always been interested in studying Celiac disease. I always wanted to learn why and how it affects so many people. I also would not mind trying to find a cure for the disease. I remember I had a friend during my first year of college who was very strict about avoiding foods containing any gluten at all. At first, I thought that she was avoiding foods containing gluten due to some sort of a diet fad or something of that nature. However, I later discovered that she was allergic to gluten and had suffered complications earlier in her life due to damage in her small intestine. I remember some of our mutual friends would be annoyed whenever we would want to eat certain items but she would always have us change our plans to eat something that was gluten free instead. I can thus relate to the article in that people who are allergic to gluten or have Celiac disease oftentimes feel isolated with limited options and with friends who are not interested in sharing gluten free meals with them. I think there should be a bigger push across college campuses to include more gluten free options that are enjoyable for both those who are unable to eat gluten and for their friends as well. I also found it fascinating that the Reovirus is involved with Celiac disease induction. Another study has also described an association between Celiac disease and chronic Hepatitis C caused by the HCV virus (1). It will be interesting to see what other pathogens contribute to Celiac disease and what preventative measures (such as vaccines) can be employed to prevent the development of Celiac disease in the first place. I agree with your comment; the school should have more gluten free options for some people.I didn’t know much about gluten when I was growing up. I used to hear commercials talking about gluten-free products, and I thought it was just that product that had gluten. It turns out most of the stuff we eat have gluten. It must be a real pain to have that allergic reaction. However new studies have alternative ways for Celiac disease treatment without avoiding gluten products. In a study done by Marino and his colleagues shows that modification of gliadin peptides inhibits their ability to induce an immune system response. This is done by using microbial transglutaminase for the change of the gliadin peptide. This is a good alternative, but there are some side effects we know about and some we don’t. Since this is relatively new, we don’t know long-term side effects. Eating gluten free products is the best choice. I find this article to be very informative since I was not so familiar with celiac disease and how exactly it effects the human body. I have noticed a change in the food diets of our country that now normalizes gluten-free products. Just as the article mentioned, I inferred that gluten was another fad diet that was avoided by the general public to lose weight or become healthier. Though this study initially mentions it is mainly the presence of gluten itself that damages that lining of the small intestine, multiple studies have also included reovirus as being the cause for the immune confusion and eventual self-attacking episodes. The article Celiac Disease: Reovirus, Inflammatory Response, and Dietary Antigens agrees with the correlation between the reovirus and celiac disease and wanted to take studies further with a vaccine. Since there has been a vaccine made for celiac, their job was to test out the vaccine and see if there may have been an increased risk of actually developing the disease in children. However, after testing out a large amount of subjects throughout a five-year study, they did not see an increase in children with the vaccination than children without the vaccine. Though more trials may still need to be done as for the effectiveness of the vaccine against the virus, a negative correlation is currently not found. I, too, was not aware of celiac disease and how many people it affects. I’m glad i got a chance to read about it, it opened my eye to something I’ve been so unaware about for so long. It’s refreshing ti know our country is making more and more gluten-free diets as this condition affects more and more people each year. It’s never easy living with an autoimmune disease, and it is very informative to know more research are being done about the causes and the possible correlation this disease has with the reovirus virus. Even possibly a vaccine for the disease. This post talk about how reovirus can trigger celiac disease by inducing the immune system to react to gluten. They also found out that there is higher level of reovirus antibody present in the patient with celiac disease compare with those who without the disease. Not all reovirus strains can trigger the autoimmune reaction. During their study, they found out that the ability of the strain to trigger the inflammatory immune response is depending on their genes since reovirus with different genes interact with the immune system differently. Autoimmune disease, especially inflammation of the digestive track, has been close linked to the viral or bacterial infection by many researches. Under normal condition, the intestinal mucosa is protected by the tight junction which limit the passage of the foreign antigen. Many of the research shows that certain kinds of virus or bacteria can modulate the intercellular tight junction and therefore, the intestinal mucosa permeability is increase. When the permeability is increase some foreign antigen such as gluten and other diary antigen can pass through the gut mucosal barrier and cause inflammation. The mechanism that those antigens trigger autoimmune reaction is called “molecular mimicry” which microbial antigens are postulated to resemble self-antigen (1). I think that the reovirus play an important role in the “molecular mimicry “mechanism of gluten. Once the autoimmune reaction is activated, it becomes independent of continue exposure to the environmental trigger and therefore self-perpetuating and irreversible (2) which means the autoimmune reaction cannot be shuttled off although the triggered antigen is being removed. Many of the inflammation bowel disease such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is triggered by the incontrollable immune system. Many people may ask why gluten consumption is very susceptible in triggering autoimmune reaction? The reason for this is that gluten is made up of gliadin and glutenins which contains many toxic epitopes that can exerting cytotoxic and other gut permeating activities. Celiac disease also has close genetic association with HLA genes which is a highly specific humoral autoimmune response against tissue transglutaminase auto-antigen (2). The present of gluten in the GI track also lead to upregulation of the zonulin which is the only physiologic modulator of intercellular tight junctions described so far that is involved in trafficking of macromolecules and, therefore, in tolerance/immune response balance (2) and people with acute celiac disease have higher level of zonulin. Therefore, gluten is very susceptible in triggering the autoimmune disease and I think that future study can be conducted to investigate the relationship between the reovirus infection and the zonulin pathway. Celiac disease is one of many severe autoimmune diseases known to cause cancer cells. The fact that 2.5 million Americans are undiagnosed and risk complications due to long term exposure, indicates the urgency for intervention and development of vaccination. Human leucocyte antigen (HLA) is a cell surface protein receptor for MHC class II antigen presenting cells. Gluten proteins, in the small intestine mucosa of patients infected with reovirus, readily binds HLA antigen DQ (HLA-DQ2 or -DQ8) with high affinity and activates T cell specific for gluten proteins that cause destruction of intestinal vili (1). Addison’s disease, autoimmune thyroid diseases, and Type 1 diabetes are examples of endocrine disorders that exhibit genes for HLA autoimmune response. Therefore, gluten proteins in reovirus infected patient, will cause celiac disease and may induce other HLA-linked diseases that is detrimental to our health. Celiac disease is a severe genetic autoimmune disorder in which the gluten digestion leads to the small intestine being damaged. When people with is disease take in food with gluten, the body sees this as a foreign invader and sends a signal to the immune system, which attacks the small intestine. The only treatment available for people with this disease is a strict gluten-free diet. With more awareness being brought forth by this disease, it should also start the discussions about the many other autoimmune disorder relating to food or not. For example, pernicious anemia, the autoimmune condition in which the body absorption of B12 is flipped, resulting in a B12 deficiency (1). Of course, more studies can be done to get to the bottom line of why autoimmune exists in the first place. But in the case of celiac disease, it is an enormous progress that society is more aware and understanding of the importance of a gluten-free diet and making it more available.

2019-04-23T14:37:31Z

http://sciencehealthandmore.com/celiac-disease-reovirus-inflammatory-response-and-dietary-antigens/?replytocom=2477

I am just coming back from Mexico. I had the blessing a few weeks ago to lead our first pilgrimage from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As some of you know, I have a strong devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. I learned it from my parents, beginning when I was a young boy growing up in Monterrey, Mexico. Every summer my mom and dad would take my sisters and I on a 600-mile journey to visit our grandparents in Mexico City. And every time we went, our whole family would make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. My experience was not unique. This is what Catholic families do in Mexico — everyone tries to make a pilgrimage at least once a year to the Basilica. I think most of us know the Guadalupe story. It takes us back to the “spiritual dawn” of the Church’s mission in the Americas. It was December 1531 and the Blessed Virgin appeared to a poor Indian convert named Juan Diego on a hilltop outside Mexico City. The Virgin entrusted Juan Diego with a mission — to go and ask the bishop to build a shrine in her name. To convince the bishop, Our Lady gave him a sign. She made roses bloom even though it was the dead of winter. Then she used those roses to “imprint” her own image on the cloak — called a “tilma” — that Juan Diego was wearing. And as we know, that tilma is still hanging today — almost 500 years later — in the Basilica, which is built not far from the site where she first appeared. I am remembering that history today because I believe that Guadalupe holds the “key” for understanding the times we are living in. So, that is what I want to talk with you about today. Also, it really makes sense because the Napa Institute, as we know, is entrusted to Our Lady of Guadalupe. I want to offer my reflections today on the important conversation that has been going on in the Church this year — the question of how we are going to live our Catholic faith and carry out the Church’s mission in a “post-Christian” society. A society that every day is becoming more and more hostile to our values and our beliefs. I am going to offer my reflections today in three parts. First, I want to begin by looking at the cultural moment we find ourselves in. The signs of the times. Second, I am going to suggest that we need to see our present situation in light of the “event” of Guadalupe, I believe that in this event, we can see God’s “vision” — his plans and purposes — for the Church in the Americas. Third and finally, I want to offer some reflections on some “themes” that we discover in the story of Guadalupe. These themes provide us with a way forward — a way to think about our Christian lives and mission in the years ahead. So with that introduction — let me begin. I think all of us here today feel a sense of urgency about where our country is heading. Back in the first centuries of the Church, St. Jerome was writing about the Arian heresy, which denied that Jesus Christ was truly God. But there are too many ways our nation has never lived up to Christian values. We could point to the “original sin” of slavery, the tragic mistreatment of native populations; ongoing injustices like racism, and the million or more abortions performed each year. There is no question that our institutions and national self-identity were meant to be shaped by the vision and values of the Gospel. The promise of America — what still distinguishes this country from all the rest — is our commitment to promoting human dignity and freedom under the Creator. At the heart, this is a Christian commitment. The point is — all that is changing right now. We face an aggressive, organized agenda by elite groups who want to eliminate the influence of Christianity from our society. Our beliefs are now labeled as a kind of hatred or intolerance. Our Church institutions face lawsuits — for the “crime” of still believing what Jesus taught. The “crime” of not wanting to cooperate with practices we find immoral or dehumanizing. My friends, we do not have the luxury to choose the times we live in. These are hard times. There is no denying it. But the saints remind us that all times in the Church are dangerous times. This is the challenge that Christians face in every time and every place. Are we going to shape our times? Or will we allow our times to shape us? What we decide will make all the difference. Not only for ourselves and our families. But also for our times — for our society and culture. And that brings me back to Guadalupe. For me, the question is not really — how are we going to shape our times? The better question is: how does God want us to shape our times? What is the path that Jesus Christ would have us follow in this moment in our nation’s history? I want to suggest that the path already exists. It began in Guadalupe in 1531. The apparition at Guadalupe was not a random occurrence. There are no coincidences in the Providence of God. Our Lady did not appear only for the Mexican people. Her intentions were continental and universal. At Guadalupe, the Mother of God came to be the Mother of the Americas. Guadalupe is the true “founding event” in American history. And that means it is the true founding event in the history of our country — and in the history of all the other countries in North and South America. We are all children of Guadalupe. Guadalupe gives us the “alt-history” of America. In God’s plan, this is one continent. It is meant to begin a new civilization. A new world of faith. This is what Guadalupe is all about. Within a few years after this apparition, millions came to be baptized in Mexico and throughout the Americas. A great wave of holiness swept through the continents — raising up saints and heroes of the faith in every country. Mexico City became the spiritual headquarters — “mission control” for the evangelization of the Americas, Asia and Oceania. When St. Junípero Serra came to the New World, he set sail aboard a ship called, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. He arrived at Veracruz and he immediately started walking — 300 miles to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Friends, we need to follow this example. We need to consecrate our Christian lives and the Church’s mission to the Virgin. I think this is the answer to the challenges we face right now in our culture. The way forward for our Church — right now, in this moment — is to “return” to Guadalupe. We need to follow the path that the Virgin sets before us — the path of building a new civilization of love and truth in the Americas. So in the remainder of our time together, I want to offer a brief reflection, a kind of spiritual interpretation of the Guadalupe story — in light of our moment here in our country. As I see it, this story points to five themes — vocation, education, life, culture, and family. These themes suggest certain priorities and directions for the Church. If we look at them together, they give us a kind of “strategy” for Christian living and for carrying out the Church’s mission in this “post-Christian” moment in our society. The first theme is vocation. At the heart of the Guadalupe event is a story about personal vocation and mission. This is a beautiful summary of the mission of the Church and the purpose of our Christian lives. God is calling us to “build a shrine” with our lives. Through our work and the way we live. God is calling us to bear witness to his salvation, to the difference that Jesus Christ makes in our lives. He is calling us to show his love and compassion to our brothers and sisters. I think we all feel that way sometimes. That we are not worthy of what God is asking us to do. I know I can feel that way. But vocation is not about perfection. God calls every one of us and God gives each of us a mission. Your particular vocation — what God is calling you to do for him — there is no one else who can do it. Friends, God is speaking those words to you and to me in this time. God has a message that he wants you to deliver with your lives. We need to rediscover — the beautiful truth that every one of us has a vocation — to be holy, to be saints. To build a shrine with our lives. Holiness does not mean separation from the world. Holiness means transforming the world — living totally for the love of God, and sanctifying the world by our love and service. This is the first lesson of Guadalupe. The second lesson of Guadalupe: We need to teach the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. St. Juan Diego was on his way to church when he met Our Lady. It was his custom, every Saturday and Sunday, to get up before dawn and to walk nine miles from his home to go to Mass and then go to classes to keep deepening his knowledge of the Catholic faith. For Juan Diego, Jesus Christ came into his life — and there is nothing more beautiful than to know Jesus! This is a message for the Church in our times. We are here to share this beautiful treasure of our relationship with the living God — who became a man for us, who gave his life to save us and to make us into a new humanity. Who is living with us now and walking with us as our Friend. When we teach, we are calling people to conversion — which means a new way of thinking and looking at the world. Our faith is not a collection of rules and obligations. The Catholic faith is a way of living, a way of seeing the world with “new eyes.” With the eyes of Jesus. We need to renew in our times the Catholic imagination and our “sacramental” vision. We need to push back against the scientific and materialist vision of our age. We are living in a culture that tells us there is no reality that “transcends” what we can see and hear and taste and touch. This is a world without God — without the possibility of God. But we know that the incarnation of Jesus changes everything! The things of nature and “ordinary” life are transfigured. The visible world is now a “sacrament” of invisible realities and beauty. Everything in this world can now be a sign and a pathway that brings us into the presence of God. All of this is anticipated in the incarnational and sacramental vision of Guadalupe. In the presence of the Virgin, Juan Diego wondered whether he was in paradise, whether heaven had come to earth. With her coming, the mountains were filled with songs like wonderful birds. Flowers bloomed in the winter season in soil where there were only stones and cactus and thorns. This is the beauty that we can see with the eyes of faith. So in our teaching, we need to help people to see that our lives are connected, part of the beautiful mystery of God’s plan of creation. A great adventure that is unfolding under the eyes of our loving Father. Holy Maria of Guadalupe appeared as an icon of new life, as a woman carrying a child. Guadalupe is a vision of the world as God wants it to be. The “shrine” that Our Lady wants us to build in the Americas is a new civilization — a culture that celebrates life and welcomes life. The Christian faith in this new world confronted the brutality of the Aztec rituals of human sacrifice. From the beginning, the saints and missionaries of the Americas proclaimed that every life is precious and an image of the living God. And we need to continue this mission. As we see every day in our society, life has become “cheap” and easily discarded. We see it in the crisis of homelessness, in the lives wasted by addiction. We see it in the push to spread euthanasia, in the continuing tragedy of abortion. This is a task for us, my brothers and sisters. The saints of the Americas teach us to go to the “peripheries” and margins of our society — to care for those who have no one to care to them. They teach us to meet “others” — as brothers and as sisters — and to serve them. From the heart, at a personal sacrifice. They teach us to defend the weak and vulnerable. In my reflections at Guadalupe, it struck me that there is a touching family drama in the middle of the story of Juan Diego and the Virgin. As you recall from the story, Juan Diego’s uncle — Juan Bernardino — is in the final days of an illness that is terminal. And as he is trying to serve the Virgin, Juan is also caring for his uncle — trying to find a priest who can come and anoint him. Also in the story, we see Our Lady’s tender care to heal the sick and to console Juan Diego in his stress and grief. It is a touching story — that many of us can understand from our own families. Many of us know what it means to be taking care of a loved one who is dying. And I think that speaks in a special way to our moment right now in our culture — with all the pressures to permit assisted suicide, with a population that is getting older and needing more medical care and attention. This is an area where the Church can truly make a difference, in the spirit of Guadalupe. Perhaps part of the future of Catholic health care is to find ways to teach and train people in the ways of showing God’s tender mercy to those who are dying and to those who cannot be cured. We have beautiful examples in the lives of our American saints. We need to study the witness of people like Venerable Mother Angeline Teresa McCory, the Irish immigrant to New York who was a pioneer in caring for the aged and infirm. As she did, we need to help people today to see the face of Christ in those who are sick and suffering. When we look at the self-image that Our Lady left imprinted on the tilma — we notice that she is a brown-skinned young woman — a mestizo. A person whose family background includes a mix of descendants from Europe and indigenous peoples. She came dressed in the garments of the indigenous peoples and she spoke to Juan Diego in his own indigenous language. And in all this, Our Blessed Mother reveals herself in a powerful way to be an icon of the Church. Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds us that the Church was established to be the vanguard of a new humanity and a new civilization — one family of God drawn from every race and every nation and every language. Right now in our country, and even in the Church, we see signs that we still have problems with nativism and racial prejudice. So we need to pray and we need to work harder to overcome our divisions. The saints of the Americas show us that holiness knows no color. Beyond the color of our skin or the countries where we come from — we are all brothers and sisters. All children of one Father. And the Mother of God is our mother. This is the message of Guadalupe. Finally, my friends: the vision of Guadalupe encourages us to strengthen marriage and the family as the foundations of a truly human civilization. Juan Diego was baptized, together with his wife, María Lucia, in 1524. They were among the first converts in the New World and were one of the first Catholic married couples in the Americas. Sadly she died five years later, two years before his encounter with Our Lady. Our Lady of Guadalupe, came among us as the Mother of the family of God in the Americas. Some of the earliest martyrs in this country — were missionaries who were killed for their witness to God’s truth about the meaning of marriage and the family. These include the Hispanic Franciscans martyred in Georgia in 1597 and some of the martyrs of Florida. We need to ask these martyrs to give us the strength we need to confront the broad cultural crisis of the family today. We do this first — by living the beauty and fullness of the Church’s teaching ourselves. In our own marriages and families. We need to be models for a culture that is confused. We need to proclaim — by our example more than our words — the beautiful truth about the human person and God’s loving plan for creation and the family. Let us hold up the great married saints from the Americas — like the Servants of God Eugenio Balmori Martínez and Marina Francisca Cinta Sarrelangue. They were from Veracruz and the story of their courtship is very moving. They wrote each other beautiful poems and love letters. There is beauty like this to be found everywhere in our families, in our parishes, in the joy of our children. We need to proclaim this to our culture. Let me try to draw some conclusions. We forget this — but Guadalupe was the first place John Paul visited outside of Italy after he became Pope. St. John Paul understood that the mission and meaning of America is continental, universal. The nations of the Americas all trace their faith to the coming of the Virgin at Guadalupe. We share a common story of origins. And we are joined in a common destiny. My simple point today is that each one of us is a part of that story — part of the great mission to America that began with the visitation of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The Church in this country — and every one of us — has the responsibility to continue the task that the Virgin gave to St. Juan Diego. To “build a shrine” with our lives. To build a society that glorifies God and is worthy of the dignity of the human person. Let me conclude by sharing an experience I had on my recent pilgrimage. After all those years of visiting as a child, it is deeply moving for me to now be a priest and to be able to celebrate the Holy Mass at the main altar in the Basilica. The altar sits directly underneath the miraculous image of the Virgin. And when you are there, you can feel the warmth of her tender eyes gazing down upon you. It is a powerful feeling, hard to describe. There is a beautiful sense of feeling protected. Of feeling like a child who is loved by the Mother of God. Friends, Our Mother is speaking these words to the Church today. And to each one of us. We need to lay our fears and hopes at the feet of the Virgin. We need to contemplate these times we are living in under the gaze of her loving eyes. We need to go always forward with confidence. Because we go with God and with his Mother. 1. Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World (Henry Holt, 2017). 2. Dialogue Against the Luciferians, 19. 4. Quotations from The Nican Mopohua are drawn from Paul Badde, María of Guadalupe: Shaper of History, Shaper of Hearts (Igantius, 2009), 26-38. 5. Francisco Palou, Life and Apostolic Labors of the Venerable Junípero Serra (George Wharton James, 1913 ), 19. 6. Vincent O'Malley, Saints of North America (Our Sunday Visitor, 2004), 203-206, 360-362. 7. Homily, Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, (Mexico City, January 23, 1999).

2019-04-18T13:25:16Z

http://archbishopgomez.org/article/877?name=The+Marian+Heart+of+America%3A+Our+Lady+of+Guadalupe+and+our+%22Post-Christian%22+Society

The House reconvened on Monday, March 14 for day 36 of the 2016 legislative session and an extremely busy week, as sine die (the 40th and final day of the 2016 session) is just days away. We had a busy legislative agenda this week, both on the House floor and in committee meetings as we continued to review, study and vote on legislation. With day 40 right around the corner, many more House and Senate bills received final passage this week and are now on their way to Governor Deal’s desk for consideration. In my short time as your State Representative, it seems that each year there is a singularly important and perhaps historic legislation that dominates the General Assembly session. During 2015, it was the Transportation Funding Act of 2015 with its record-setting $900 million tax increase. This year, it was debate about how to best protect the religious liberty of all Georgians, regardless of faith or lack thereof. This discussion has been on-going in Georgia for many years. Proponents and supporters of religious liberty legislation cite the need to protect individuals, businesses, pastors and others from being forced to participate in activities that are in opposition to their closely and deeply held religious beliefs. Sadly, the need for religious liberty protection is clearly founded in the actions of those, particularly from the LGBTQA+ community, who would seek to force businesses, such as florists and bakeries, to sell flowers or to bake cakes for gay wedding ceremonies and when they refuse, these businesses have been forced out of business. Pastors are being forced to take a legal and theological stand in opposition to performing gay wedding ceremonies because doing so is a direct contradiction to their biblical and religious beliefs, and when they refuse there are those who then take legal action against the pastors. There certainly are churches and denominations who accept and willingly perform gay weddings. This is their right to do so. The problem is when those who believe in gay wedding ceremonies try to legally force their beliefs upon those who disagree. There are strong forces in the business community who say that Georgia, by its passage of this act is demonstrating blatant discrimination against others who disagree with their religious beliefs. This argument is patently false. In the 30 states that have passed Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) there has not been one single case of proven discrimination as a result of RFRA’s passage. The argument otherwise is simply untrue. This is why passage of the Free Exercise Protection Act is important for all Georgians – to protect every citizen of Georgia in the exercise of their religious beliefs. And this is why I enthusiastically supported the passage of the Free Exercise Protection Act. For more details on this historic legislation please click here. Now, all that is needed is for Governor Deal to sign this historic legislation into law. You may show your support by contacting the Governor's office at 404-656-1776. Recently I announced that House Bill 219, legislation I sponsored regarding public and private pools, received final passage in the State Senate. HB 219 will now to go Governor Deal for consideration. I am pleased that the General Assembly recognized the importance of clarifying private property rights regarding swimming pools and for strengthening the safety of private pools in condos, townhouses and other private pools that serve a small number of property owners. HB 219 clarifies and redefines public versus private property pools for purposes of health and safety, and the legislation I drafted was in response to a problem with unreasonable inspections of private pools in Glynn County. The bill also strengthens the basic standards and minimum safety requirements for private pools by establishing a list of five key safety items that must pass an annual inspection: compliance with federal law regarding suction outlet covers; availability of lifesaving and rescue equipment; security of access to common pool areas; water quality; and safety of electrical systems. The bill makes no changes to health and safety rules governing apartment complex pools, or private residence pools, nor does the bill change any existing pool construction codes for the State of Georgia. The passage of HB 219 is the result of two years of negotiations and discussions with the Georgia Department of Health, the Georgia Realtors Association, the Georgia Apartment Association and the Georgia Association of Pool and Spa Professionals. A special thanks to Jimmy Pruett, Chairman of the House State Planning & Community Affairs Committee, who helped to resolve concerns of the Department of Public Health and see this bill through the legislative process. This week, the House unanimously passed Senate Bill 364, the “Quality Based Education Act,” to revise annual performance evaluations for public school teachers and state mandated testing. SB 364 revises evaluations so that student growth would account for 30 percent of a teacher’s evaluation, down from the current 50 percent. Additionally, professional growth would account for 20 percent, and the test component of teacher evaluations is lowered from 70 percent to 40 percent. The bill would also reduce the number of state mandated tests from 32 to 24 for students in grades K-12 by removing social studies and science milestone tests in grades 3, 4, 6, and 7. SB 364 would also ask local school systems to move all testing as close to the end of the school year as possible to ensure the students have received maximum exposure to the material prior to testing. SB 364 also adds formative testing in 1st and 2nd grades to measure progress and early learning to guarantee that all students are proficient in reading by 3rd grade and proficient in math by 5th grade. The bill is the result of multiple meetings with teachers, administrators, parents, and advocacy groups from across the state who gave input and opinions on what should be revised in the current evaluation and testing systems. This legislation will give our teachers more freedom to teach Georgia’s students and will take the burden off both students and teachers. Our teachers greatly influence the youth in our state, and as such, we want to provide them with the resources to have the best opportunity to succeed in the classroom so that our students have the best opportunity to succeed in the future. Another bill that received unanimous passage in the House this week was Senate Bill 402, legislation that would place a moratorium on new applications for licensure of narcotic treatment programs and create a commission to study the current licensure requirements in Georgia. While current license holders would be eligible to renew their license during the moratorium, SB 402 would put a temporary freeze on issuing new narcotic treatment facility licenses through June 30, 2017. During this time, the State Commission on Narcotic Treatment Programs, established under this bill, would study the need for any changes to the licensure requirements for these programs to ensure the safety of Georgia’s citizens. The commission would be tasked with examining the current narcotic treatment program licensure requirements for adequacy; assessing how the current licensure requirements and enforcement of the requirements provide adequate medical, counseling, vocational, educational, mental health assessment, and social services to patients enrolled in these programs and how these programs can be assessed for achieving recovery; determining if the geographic service areas are reasonable and balanced between population density and service proximity; determining the cause and effect of hospital admittance for overdose and incidents of suicide, if any, in relation to the adequate licensure and oversight of these programs; and hearing expert testimony on the effectiveness of nonnarcotic, medically assisted treatments for narcotic dependence and determining what legislative changes, if any, need to be made to address the commission’s findings. The commission would be comprised of three members from both the House and the Senate, appointed by the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor, and five members appointed by the Governor, including the commissioner of the Department of Community Health and the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Georgia ranks third in the nation for the highest number of narcotic treatment clinics with 62 clinics, despite the fact that we are eighth in total population. I am hopeful that this legislation will provide a solution to the increasing number of drug abuse and overdoses we see each year and ultimately save lives. There is a vital need for these treatment centers, but we must also get to the root of the issue and find out why there are so many of these facilities in Georgia. We also passed Senate Bill 350 and Senate Resolution 558 this week, which would allocate tax revenue from firework sales in our state to Georgia trauma centers, fire services, and local public safety purposes. SB 350 would allocate 55 percent of the excise tax revenues from all fireworks sales in Georgia to the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission, which was created in 2007 to maintain a trauma center network, coordinate existing trauma facilities and direct patients to the best available facility for their needs. Additionally, 40 percent of the excise tax revenues collected from firework sales would go to the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Commission, which provides certification standards for all firefighters, fire inspectors, fire investigators and fire and life safety educators. The funds would be used to implement a grant program to improve the equipping and training of firefighters and the rating of fire departments by the Insurance Services Office. Finally, five percent of the tax revenues would go to local governments to be used for public safety purposes and the operation of 9-1-1 systems. Senate Resolution 558 is the companion legislation to SB 350 and would amend the Georgia Constitution in order to allocate the excise tax funds, if approved by voter referendum on the November ballot. During the 2015 legislative session, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing the commercial sale and use of fireworks in Georgia. Should these measures receive final passage through the General Assembly and passage from Georgia voters in November, we would be able to provide a beneficial and much needed funding to the trauma, fire, and local government networks in our state by granting them the flexibility to improve and continue providing exceptional service to all Georgians. The House also passed a measure this week to toughen the penalties for criminals who commit domestic violence in Georgia. Senate Bill 193 would make it a felony if a person commits family violence and has a previous conviction for family violence battery in Georgia, or in any other state. Prosecutors would be able to issue repeat family violence offenders a felony instead of another misdemeanor, closing a loophole that previously allowed some offenders to receive misdemeanor charges upon their second family battery conviction. The bill would also make the crime punishable by one to five years in prison. This legislation would strengthen our judicial system and punish violent, serial criminals, while also protecting those who they seek to harm. Unfortunately the Senate did not pass the Georgia Space Flight Act but instead placed the issue into a space bill study committee. According to Rep. Jason Spencer (D180-Woodbine), the Senate’s decision to move the bill into a study committee was based on issues and jurisdiction that are not under state control. HB734, the Georgia Space Flight Act, passed the House with overwhelming support (I voted YES). After the bill moved into the Senate, the Senate Science & Technology committee decided to place the bill into a Senate study committee after spending approximately 90 minutes discussing the legislation. The Senate’s primary focus was on the Federal Aviation Administration’s launch licensing process and applicable federal regulations as well as county zoning issues should the launch site be approved by the FAA, all of which are not under the control of the State of Georgia. Rep. Spencer pledges to bring the legislation before the General Assembly in 2017. This week we passed another bill to keep Georgians safe in Senate Bill 367, a comprehensive update to Georgia’s criminal justice reform legislation. SB 367 would expand Georgia’s accountability courts to include “operating under the influence” court divisions as an alternative to the traditional justice system with the ultimate goal of reducing recidivism rates. Any court with jurisdiction over DUI or boating under the influence cases would be able to create a division of their courts to handle those cases. Similarly, any juvenile court would be able to create a “family treatment” court division to address issues within families through court intervention and the reduction of dependency. The goal of a family treatment court would be to reduce alcohol or drug abuse and addiction in child dependency proceedings; improve outcomes for families when dependency is based on alcohol or drug use and addiction; increase the personal, familial and societal accountability of defendants in child dependency proceedings; and promote effective intervention and use of resources among child welfare personnel, law enforcement, treatment providers, community agencies, and the courts. SB 367 would also allow the Department of Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice to operate charter schools within state juvenile justice facilities under the control of the State Charter School Commission to allow children who are incarcerated to continue to receive an education. Furthermore, individuals who have a suspended license as a result of a criminal conviction would be able to receive their license sooner under SB 367 by allowing time spent in prison to count toward license suspension time. The bill would also add court-mandated activities such as attending programs, treatment, and accountability court to the list of limited driving exemptions for drivers with limited driving permits. SB 367 would change the Georgia First Offender Statute to allow courts to set a date at when a defendant would be exonerated of guilt and have their criminal record restricted as long as the defendant successfully complies with the sentence and does not receive future convictions. The bill also updates probation stipulations if an individual fails to pay a fine or report to their probation officer and will now include a scheduled hearing in court. The legislation would also let inmates who have served sentences for certain drug-related offenses or repeat offenders of non-violent felonies be eligible for parole if they had no convictions for violent felonies; completed at least six years of their total sentence; were considered a low risk for recidivism; earned a high school diploma; and had no serious disciplinary violations in the past 12 months in jail. Those convicted of felony drug convictions would now be allowed to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits upon their release to help ease the transition to re-entry. Finally, the bill would prohibit professional licensing boards from refusing to license an individual because of an arrest or conviction of a felony unless it directly related to the occupation they were attempting to be licensed. Legislative efforts over the past several years have made Georgia a national leader in criminal justice reform, and the modifications in SB 367 are a further example of how we can continue to be smart on crime, keep the citizens of Georgia safe, and help those who re-enter to become productive members of society. Providing alternatives to incarceration in the form of education and treatment not only allow our non-violent offenders to have a second chance at life, but will decrease recidivism rates. These efforts serve to make Georgia a safer place for all of our citizens, and I am proud of this body and the work we have done to offer those protections to our state. SB 206, by Sen. William T. Ligon, Jr. (R-Brunswick), revises provisions relating to the prohibition of a water supplier's option to disconnect water service to premises because of the indebtedness of a prior owner, occupant, or lessee. The bill provides a procedure to obtain information regarding moneys owed for water supplied to certain real property under certain circumstances. SB 206 exempts any property from the refusal to supply water because of the indebtedness of the prior occupant. A new section is added to current law setting forth that any property owner or tenant, person executing a contract for the purchase or occupancy of property, attorney closing a real estate transaction, or lender considering the loan of funds to be secured by real property shall have the right to request a statement from the water supplier setting forth the amount of any outstanding water charges along with any late fees with interest. Rep. Alex Atwood (R-St. Simons Island) spoke in support of the bill. He indicated that ACCG, GMA, the Georgia Realtors Association, and others are in support of this legislation. There was one amendment, but it was withdrawn. SR 730, by Sen. William T. Ligon, Jr. (R-Brunswick), encourages the Coastal Regional Commission to create a comprehensive plan for and oversee the implementation of the Coastal Georgia Greenway and to create and file an annual report with the General Assembly detailing its progress. I presented this bill before the House where it passed with a vote of 149-18. SB 263, by Sen. Bruce Thompson (R-White), allows for the governing authority of each municipality and county in this state, as well as each board of education, which employs sworn police officer who are POST certified to adopt policies under which officers may retain their weapon or badge upon retirement or leaving employment as a result of a disability arising in the line of duty. It passed the House today with a vote of 123-46. SR 876, by Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega), was carried in the House by Rep. Kevin Tanner (R-Dawsonville). It seeks to establish a Joint High-Speed Broadband Communications Access for All Georgians Study Committee. No changes were made in the House Special Rules Committee where this Resolution had been assigned. This resolution passed 166-0. This week, we also had a special guest stop by the House. On Monday, we were honored to have Atlanta Braves legend Henry “Hank” Aaron and his wife Billye join us on the House floor, where we recognized the couple for their work in the community. Hank Aaron played 21 seasons with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and completed his career with two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. During his 23 year career, Aaron was an MLB All-Star for 21 seasons, still holding many records for most All-Star selections, a three-time Golden Glove right fielder, and the 1957 National League Most Valuable Player. Despite receiving many awards throughout his long career, Aaron is probably best remembered for his 715th homerun on April 8, 1974 which broke the previous home run record held by Babe Ruth. Since his retirement from baseball, Hank and Billye Aaron have been very active in their community, working with the Andrew Young Foundation and the Morehouse School of Medicine to advance the education of African-American citizens. Their commitment to the community is inspiring, and it was an honor to meet such a legendary couple. Next week will be the final week of the 2016 legislative session. On Thursday, March 24 we will convene one final time this session for legislative day 40, or “sine die,” the last day we have to pass any legislation this year. While the end is near, there is still work to be done and many issues to be considered, and your input on these issues is very important to me. My colleagues and I will work long hours every day next week to ensure that we are doing what is best for Georgia and its citizens. If you are following legislation that you would like to see passed, or if you have any questions about the bills that the General Assembly has considered this session, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Your input will help guide my decisions during this crucial time, and I appreciate all of your feedback. You can reach me at my Capitol office at (404) 656-0126 or by email at Jeff.Jones@house.ga.gov. As always, thank you for allowing be to be your representative.

2019-04-23T00:24:46Z

https://www.votejeffjones.com/legislative_update_week_10_mar_18_2016

SPARROW : Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women, NGO for women, NGo for women in mumbai, picture archives for research on women, sound archives for research on women, women ngos in mumbai, maya kamath, chetna desai, neera desai, dr. c.s. lakshmi, dr. maithreyi krishna raj, dr. divya pandey, dr. roshan shahani, dr. usha thakkar, dr. shobha venkatesh ghosh, mihir desai, oral history programme, digital video recording project, photography projects for women, multilingual collection, women scientisits, women empowerment, working for women causes, social cause ngo, social cause ngo mumbai, donate us, donate ngo, donate ngo in mumbai, funds for ngo in mumbai, ngos in mumbai, women ngos in mumbai, donate funds mumbai. The SPARROW panel of judges (N Sukumaran, Kannan Sundaram and Ambai) decided to take up contribution to literature in general this year for consideration for the SPARROW-R THYAGARAJAN Literary Award 2018. Two awards are normally given for Tamil writers and one for a non-Tamil writer. This year for the first time we decided unanimously to award three Tamil writers and two non-Tamil writers. In Tamil, two awards for acknowledging and honouring writers who have been in the field for many years and one award for a younger writer for literary work done in the recent past. The SPARROW-R Thyagarajan Literary Award 2018 for Tamil was given to S Thenmozhi for her excellent contribution to fiction and poetry and non-fictional work, Ba Venkatesan for the wonderful literary work he has done for the past many years both in terms of fiction and poetry and S Senthilkumar for the promising work he has done in fiction and poetry. This year the non-Tamil writer award was shared by two writers: Varsha Adalja, a feminist novelist and playwright, who won the 1995 Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati language for her novel Anasar, who is also a dramatist who has acted and written several stage plays, screenplays and radio plays and Aruna Dhere, a Marathi writer, who has written over forty books in different genres including personal essays, short stories, novels, poems, travelogues, children's stories, bhakti literature, folk literature and social history. Former Trustee of SPARROW, Dr Roshan Shahani, gave away the award and spoke eloquently about her association with SPARROW and SPARROW's work and also about how Indian language literature needs to be taught and studied as diligently as English literature is, for India is a land of diverse languages and diverse cultures all of which contribute to what makes India. The award function is normally an informal event which we organise in collaboration with RCWS (Research Centre for Women's Studies). Our association with RCWS is a long one and it is always a pleasure to work with Dr Putul Sathe who is generous with her time for this event. This is an annual event when everyone who is a friend of SPARROW comes to support and cheer us up. This year too our regular friends Dr Divya Pandey (former trustee and friend in whose love and support we thrive), Dr Chhaya Datar, Vijaya Dass, Dr Kunjalata Shah and writers Pudhiya Madhavi, Urmila Pawar and of course, our own Vishnu Mathur were there. It was a pleasure to have Ila Arab Mehta, the legendary Gujarati writer, with us and she came quietly as her sister Varsha Adalja's guest. Apart from the usual Mumbai features like traffic jams this time there was a little bit more of problems in coordination for the Tamil writers had decided to stay in different places. Ba Venkatesan was staying with his daughter-in-law's family, S Senthilkumar was staying in the SNDT University Women's Hostel guest room and S Thenmozhi came with her extended family and was put up at the SRP Guest house at Goregaon East (arranged by the enterprising and ever helpful Anuradha Krishnaswamy in her official capacity). S Senthilkumar came the previous evening and looked a bit disconcerted for he was the only one in the entire third floor of the hostel. He said that 24 days in a month he stays away from his family in Thiruvarur in a room amidst books as editor of a journal and is with his family only six days in a month. He was hoping his Mumbai trip would mean being with other writers and here he was all alone once again! But he said staying in a girls' hostel and eating at the mess hall with them will be a new experience and he welcomed it. We cheered him up with some tea and chakli and left him in his room with some more snacks to munch and sonpapdi to keep him happy. Ba Venkatesan kept his promise of wearing the maroon shirt he had worn in the photograph which we all liked but he did not know about the Mumbai traffic and came half an hour late with his wife, daughter-in-law and grandson. Although he had told us that he did not want his age mentioned we did mention it in the PPT we did on each writer but he took it sportingly and did not complain for we had forgiven him for coming late. S Thenmozhi's problem was different. She arrived at 6 a.m. on the morning of the event and had told us there was no need to receive her at Dadar station. We assumed someone else would receive her. But when she rang us up at 6 a.m. and said that no one had come to receive her I panicked for she did not know Hindi and she was with a family of eight people. But the ever efficient Pooja Pandey handled it with her characteristic calmness (after all, she is the cool one who stood outside the Operation Room before going in for a Caesarean section to tell me the Annual Report was complete and that she had mailed it to me) and told them to take cabs and she instructed the drivers over the phone on what route to take. We wondered how they would make it in the evening for the SRP Guest House is in the interior area and it is difficult to book cabs to come inside the campus. Aarti Pandey and Sayali Balekar who can practically deal with all such hurdles brought the family of eight in autos and a taxi just a little before 5 p.m. Fortunately Varsha Adalja and Aruna Dhere are both familiar with Mumbai and Mumbai traffic and came on time. The evening's programme was compeered by Maitreyi Yajnik who was doing it for us for the first time but she did a thorough job of it and managed to pronounce all the Tamil names as if she knew Tamil! The acceptance speeches were inspiring and dealt with many different aspects of literature. S Thenmozhi spoke about how and why she writes and about women writers, especially Dalit women writers, evolving a language of their own and why it was important to make this a universal language. Ba Venkaetasan was of the opinion that awards alone would not do and that organisations like SPARROW must also translate the writers they award. It is a tall order considering he writes novels of thousand pages but well taken. S Senthilkumar's acceptance speech was a story by itself. He spoke about Bodinayakkanur passenger train that brought cardamom bags to Mumbai at one time and gave a picturesque description of his town and its gods and how humans become gods and become part of his stories. Aruna Dhere spoke about her writing and what it means to her and why it is important to write if one wants to change the society and also keep what is precious in our culture. Varsha Adalja spoke just two lines accepting the award as she was keen to give more time for the evening's music performance. The evening's programme ended with Mandar Katti enthralling us with Puriya Kalyan played on his sitar. He was ably accompanied on the tabla by young Shreeraj Tamhankar. Sharmila Sontakke had organised the evening's music programme. Manik Sonkar saw to the projection arrangements and also took the responsibility of receiving and dropping S Senthilkumar at the airport. Asmita Deshpande took charge of exhibiting the books of the authors and SPARROW and other similar arrangements. Priya D'souza was, as always, the official photographer of the event. Pradeep Surve saw to it that we got enough cups of tea and all of us ate enough and more of the snacks. As we gathered later to have tea and snacks we shared stories and joked and laughed and took photographs. Thus ended another wonderful Literary Award event. Vimmi Sadarangani accepting the award from chief guest Neela Bhagwat. Lakshmi M is an activist who has been associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Thamizh Thesiya Periyakkam (Tamil Nationalist Movement) and various women’s struggles. She is currently the Central committee member of the women’s wing of Thamizh Theesiya Periyakkam. Her autobiographical work Latchumi Ennum Payani is a truthful account of her life and that of women around her both in the movement and outside it. In appreciation of writing a genuine document which draws attention to the lives of women in politics and their attitude towards family, marriage, motherhood and relationships with other women, SPARROW has great pleasure in giving her the SPARROW Literary Award 2017. Stalin Rajangam has brought a new perspective to socio-historical research done so far on Dalit history. His painstaking research to reveal biases in writing history and to find hidden historical truths has brought contemporary relevance to Dalit history. By bringing to the public sphere the rare lives and experiences of those who are lost in the annals of history, he has done the important and much needed work of documenting not only the life stories of Dalit personalities but also that of those who have fought for the rights of the Dalit community. For his untiring and meaningful work of documenting Dalit history SPARROW has great pleasure in giving Stalin Rajangam the SPARROW Literary Award 2017. Ashalata Kamble, an activist, writer and a staunch Ambedkarite, has been working with the Dalits for the past 35 years. Her books on the history of women and her poems have been an inspiration to many young aspiring writers. Her lifelong work has been to make visible the works of women like Bahinabai and Savitribai Phule and their literary contributions which have inspired her to be a writer, teacher and also an activist. Her biography Amachi Aai on her mother is a continuation of this work and an elaboration of her efforts to redefine motherhood in the context of the lives of women of the working class and their struggles to be mothers. In appreciation of her lifelong work for the Dalit cause and her biographical work Amachi Aai published in 2010 depicting what motherhood means to a working class woman SPARROW has great pleasure in giving Ashalata Kamble the SPARROW Literary Award 2017. With her poems, essays, stories, biography and now an autobiography Kalyani Thakur is the leading Dalit voice from West Bengal and her name stands out among the Bengali writers. Through her writings which voice the pain, suffering, oppression, struggles and achievements of the Dalit community and as editor of two magazines Neer Writupatra and Chathurtha Dunia Kalyani Thakurhas worked tirelessly to draw attention to the life experiences and history of her disadvantaged community.Her autobiography Ami Kano Charal Likhi documents the life of a Dalit woman in rural and urban Bengal and records her views on feminism in India and its stand on Dalit women and Dalit feminism. For her vigorous and tenacious work in making the Bengali Dalit voice heard and for her autobiographical work which is a historical document of her life and times SPARROW has great pleasure in giving Kalyani Thakur the SPARROW Literary Award 2017. SPARROW Literary Award, instituted by R Thyagarajan, Founder, Shriram Group, was organised by SPARROW in collaboration with the Research Centre for Women’s Studies (RCWS) SNDT Women’s University, on 10 December 2016, at the Mini Auditorium of the Juhu Campus of the University. This year the awards were for translation from an Indian language to Tamil and for translation from a foreign language to Tamil. Eminent Tulu writer, Dr Suneetha Shetty gave away the awards to Kulachal M Yoosuf for his translations from Malayalam to Tamil, Gowri Kirubanandan, for her translations from Telugu to Tamil. Payani (Sridharan Madhusudhanan) for his translations from Chinese to Tamil. We missed Payani (Sridharan Madhusudhanan) an Indian diplomat currently posted in Beijing, who could not attend the function. His award was sent to him later. The well attended literary evening concluded with a very enjoyable music session by Reshma Gidh. SPARROW congratulates the awardees and thanks them and Dr Suneetha Shetty for their gracious presence at the function. The SPARROW Literary Award Event on 12th December 2015, was a warm event with friends and well-wishers who came to demonstrate their appreciation for all that we do. And to give away the awards this year we had our own Neela Bhagwat, the well-known Gwalior gharana musician, whose music has kept many of us going in the last several years of struggle and celebration. This Literary Award has been instituted by Mr. R Thyagarajan, co-founder, Shriram Group. This year we had a few more friends who came forward to support additional expenses. SPARROW trustees Dr Divya Pandey, Dr Usha Thakkar and friend and supporter from the US, Aravindan Kannaiyan and our well-wishers from Chennai, Bharathi Chandru and Chandru contributed to the event. The panel of juries this year were the same as last year: Publisher of the literary magazine Kalachuvadu, Mr. Kannan Sundaram, poet and editor of Kalachuvadu, Mr. N Sukumaran, and Dr C S Lakshmi (Ambai). The event was held in collaboration with the Research Centre for Women's Studies, SNDT University. The awardees this year are writers we admire a great deal. Anandh is a psychotherapist and is a writer whose poetry has inspired many and whose poetry has given a new dimension to contemporary Tamil poetry. Anar, comes from the Eastern province of Sri Lanka and writes about what it is to be a Muslim woman in a war-torn country and her poetry is about how a language can alter life. Vimmi Sadarangani is one of us and we tend to take her for granted but we also know about the great work she is doing as a writer and lover of Sindhi language and we respect and love her for that. She is a poet who keeps Sindhi language alive and whom Sindhi poetry has kept alive. The acceptance speeches of all the three writers traced their writing careers and spoke about how close poetry was to their everyday life and its happenings. Awards have come their way but much more than that, poetry has kept them going through the highs and lows of life. SPARROW had arranged for them to stay at a service apartment and the writers and their partners Sashi Anand and Mohammed Azeem and Vimmi's sister Bharti had enough time and space to interact. Vimmi, as usual, took over the task of taking them around and Bharti was clicking away with her mobile phone almost every occasion and every movement of all of them. They enjoyed a film together and got introduced to pav bhaji, chole bhature, sev puri, kesar falooda and the famous sev barfi of Chandru's. Unfortunately they went to the Versova beach in the morning when the slum colony there uses it as an open air toilet! Other than that they had lot of fun. On 27 December, 2014 we started Literary Award event to become an annual event of SPARROW. SPARROW Literary Award was instituted by R Thyagarajan of Shriram Groups. The jury members were Ambai, N Sukumaran and Kannan Sundaram. Su Thamizhselvi, K N Senthil and Meghana Pethe honoured us by accepting the 2014 SPARROW Literary Award. Well-known writer, Shanta Gokhale, gave away the awards and spoke warmly about her relationship with SPARROW. In her acceptance speech, Su Thamizhselvi introduced herself as a young scion who has come in the tradition of women writers like Avvaiyar, Velliveethiyar, Vennikuyathiyar, Nachellaiyar, Karaikal Ammayar and Andal. She spoke about the rural background she comes from and how it has made her familiar with the pain, poverty and hard work that is part of a woman's life. "As a woman, I can clearly feel the pain experienced by women. As someone who has held in her palms the tears of women, I am sensitive enough to understand the intensity and heat of those tears," she said. Describing her literary journey as one involving "search, reaching and perplexity," she said that the award and the occasion will remain one of the greatest moments of her life. In his acceptance speech, K N Senthil remembered with warmth Sundara Ramasamy and N Sukumaran, two writers he considers his teachers. Speaking of writing and the award, he said, "Writing is made possible through continuous practice but it is a bird that does not obey its master. It wants to measure the entire sky with its small wings…. I believe that the reward of writing is reaching somewhere. An award is its recognised form. There are many new generation writers in Tamil who are working hard and are leaving their imprints on literature. I am happy to receive this award as one of them, on their behalf." In her acceptance speech Meghana Pethe said that she was happy to receive the SPARROW award because she was the first recipient of this award. She added that the joy of receiving the award was "almost equivalent to being the first love of a worthy lover" and that the "honour of being the first has a sanctity which holds good even today, although some other sanctities have been rightly questioned and declared debatable as of now by women all over the world." She spoke of writing being a lonely and painful journey and how often the process of writing is excruciatingly boring. Accepting an award from a panel of writers, she said, made the award all the more valuable. She ended by saying that this award would prove to be a trigger for her second cycle as a writer which was "likely to commence anytime now."

2019-04-26T05:37:08Z

http://sparrowonline.org/literary-award.html

The general principles and basic techniques of mechanical engineering are taught in the first and second years. After a solid foundation has been laid, the student is exposed to the application of these principles in specific areas of mechanical engineering through such courses as internal combustion engines, machine design, etc. The program runs for 8 semesters spread over a normal duration of four (4) years leading to the B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering. The program has being reviewed to reflect changing trends in industry, increase the use of computers in all areas of the curriculum, challenge the students to generate practical solutions to real-life problems and make students more results-oriented. Our students undergo a minimum of fourteen (14) weeks of supervised industrial work experience by the end of the program. This is done during the vacations and is expected to give our students a feel of industry. A minimum of 140 credit hours is required for the undergraduate program, which includes a final year project. Examinations and continuous assessments may take the form of thesis, essays, laboratory work, assignments, written reports and oral examinations and there are laboratories for research and experimentation. This course gives a practical treatment of control of engineering systems composed of mechanical, electrical, thermal and fluid elements. General analytical and design tools for physical systems are developed. Review of basic concepts and mathematical techniques used in Control Engineering. State-space representation of control systems. Frequency response methods. Stability analysis: Nyquist criterion. Controllability for a system of multiple inputs ,Root-locus System design. Nyquist, Bode and other plots. Gain and Phase margins, proportional control, compensator design Control system design and design specifications. Performance improvement and compensation. This is an interdisciplinary course which involves mechanical, thermal, electrical and electronics engineering, programming and controls. Topics explored include mechatronics systems control, sensors and actuators, analog and digital control, integration of sensors, actuators and microcomputers including programmable logic controllers, design and programming of microcontroller. Introduction to instrumentation. Instrument types and their performance characteristics. Analyses of systematic and random errors during measurement processes. Temperature measuring devices: liquid-in-glass thermometers, thermocouples, varying resistance methods, thermistors and optical pyrometers. Pressure measuring devices: Bourden tubes and manometers. Force and Torque measuring devices: strain gauge methods, load cells and dynamometers. Flow measurements: Bernoulli’s theorem, orifice plate and venture tube. Signal conditioning and recording. Free Vibration of single degree of freedom linear systems: Harmonic motion, Vibration System Modelling, Energy methods and Stiffness. Response to Harmonic Excitation: Forced and Base Excitation of Undamped and Damped One-degree-of-freedom Systems, Rotating Unbalance, Coulomb and other forms of damping. General Forced Response: Impulse response functions, response to arbitrary and periodic inputs, transform methods, shock spectrum, Computer simulation of Time response of single degree of freedoms systems using Euler Method. Multiple-Degree-of-Freedom Systems: Two-Degree-of-Freedom Undamped Models, Eigenvalues and Natural Frequencies, Systems with More than Two Degrees of Freedom, Systems Viscous Damping, Forced Systems, Lagrange’s Equations. Torsional vibration systems including geared systems. Design for Vibration: Acceptable Levels of Vibration, Vibration Isolation and Suppression, Practical Speeds of Rotating Disc, Optimization. Vibration Testing and Measuring: Measuring instruments and testing. Distributed-Parameter Systems: Vibration of Strings and Cables, Modes and Natural frequencies, Vibration of Rods and Bars, Bending Vibration of beams. Vibration Testing and Experimental Modal Analysis: Measurement Hardware, Digital Signal Processing, Random Signal Analysis in Testing, Vibration Testing for Endurance and Diagnostics. Introduction to Finite Element Method: Bar, Three-Element bar, Lumped Mass Matrices. Computational Consideration: Influence of Coefficients and Dunkerley’s Formula, Rayleigh’s Method, Matrix Iteration, Computer simulation of Time response of Multi- degree of freedoms systems using Euler Method. Nonlinear Vibration: Single-degree-of-freedom Phase Plots, Equation Linearization, Pendulum, Nonlinear damping and Averaging. Vibration of machine foundations. Units of measurement (SI) and dimensions, Laws of mechanics, Characteristics of a force, force systems and, Moment of a force, Vector representation of forces, Free-body diagrams, Resultant and Equilibrium of system of coplanar and spatial force systems. Centroid: Determination of centroid from first principle, centroid of composite sections. Structural Analysis: Two-dimensional trusses using the methods of joints and sections; Simple frames and Machines. Friction: Laws of dry friction, angle of friction, problems involving dry friction. Simple Machines: Laws of friction, Definitions and calculations of mechanical advantage, velocity ratio and efficiency, self-locking and overhauling in machines, types of simple machine. Kinematics of a Particle: Rectilinear, Rotational and Curvilinear Motions of particles, Dependent and Relative Motion Analysis of Two Particles. Kinetics: Equation of Motion for a system of particles. Work and Energy: Work, Energy, Power, Efficiency, Principle of Conservation of Energy for particles. Impulse and Momentum: Linear impulse and momentum, Conservation of linear momentum for system of particles. Kinetics of a Rigid Body: centre of gravity, mass moment of inertia from first principle, parallel axis theorem, moment of inertia of composite bodies, and radius of gyration. Planar Kinetic Equations of Motion: Translation, rotation about a fixed axis and general planar motion. Impulse and Momentum: Impulse and momentum for rigid bodies. Work and Energy for rigid bodies: Energy equations for rigid bodies, Principle of Conservation of Energy for rigid bodies. Equation of motion of simple harmonic system, calculations involving period, frequency, displacement, velocity and acceleration, equivalent stiffness for springs in series and in parallel, equivalent mass of a spring, energy method. Fundamental Concepts: Basic terminologies in mechanics, laws of mechanics, Units of measurement (SI) and dimensions, Newton's Laws of Motion. Characteristics of a force, System of Forces, Vector representation of planer (2D) and spatial (3D) forces. Resultant and Equilibrium of coplanar forces: Force Systems, Triangle law of forces, resolution and resultant of forces, moment of a force, Varignon’s theorem, free-Body diagrams and Equilibrium Equations. Structural Analysis: Assumptions, Two-dimensional trusses using the methods of joints and sections, Frames and machines. Friction: Frictional force, laws of dry friction, angle of friction, Problems involving dry friction, rope friction, square-and v-threaded screws, rolling resistances. Simple Machines: Definitions, law of machine, mechanical advantage, velocity ratio, and efficiency, self-locking and overhauling in machines, types of simple machines. Method of Virtual Work: Work done by Forces and moments. Centre of gravity and area moment of inertia: centre of gravity and centroid of a body, determination of centroid from first principle, parallel and perpendicular axes theorems, centroid of composite sections, experimental determination of centre of gravity, Resultant of distributed line loads, liquid pressure and flexible cables. Kinematics of a Particle: Continuous and Erratic Rectilinear Motions, Rotational Motions, Curvilinear Motions including Projectiles, Dependent and Relative Motion Analysis of Two Particles. Kinetics of a Particle: Equation of Motion for a System of Particles. Work and Energy: Work, Energy, Power, Efficiency, principle of Conservation of Energy. Impulse and Momentum: Principle of Linear impulse and momentum, Conservation of linear momentum for system of particles, Impact, Angular momentum, moment of a force and angular moment momentum, principle of angular impulse and momentum. Centre of Gravity and mass moment of inertia: centre of gravity from first principle and composite bodies, mass moment of inertia, radius of gyration, parallel axis theorem, and moment of inertia of composite bodies. Kinetics of a Rigid Body: Planar Kinetic Equations of Motion including Translation, rotation about a fixed axis and general planar motion. Work and Energy for a rigid body: Kinetic energy, work a force and a couple, principle of conservation of energy for rigid bodies. Impulse and Momentum for a rigid body: Linear and angular momentum, principle of impulse and momentum, conservation of momentum, eccentric impact. Rotary balancing: single and multi-planes using graphical and analytical methods. Fundamentals: Definitions and terminology, degrees of freedom, types of motion, mechanisms and structures, motors and drives. Dynamics of Linkages: Analysis of position, velocity, acceleration and dynamic forces in linkages using both graphical and analytical methods. Graphical Linkage Synthesis: Introduction to type synthesis, function, path and motion generations, Dimensional synthesis up to three positions including quick-return mechanisms Grashof Condition for four-bar linkage, Inversion, introduction to Coupler and Cognates. Cam Design and Dynamic Analysis: Cam terminology, single and double dwell cam design, displacement diagrams and polynomial functions, pressure angle and radius of curvature, Practical Design and Manufacturing considerations. Transmission of rotational motion: Gears and gear trains including Epicyclic/Planetary Trains, roller drives, belt drives and Chain drives. This course is a continuation of ME 262, which is course in dynamics of machinery. It covers: Dynamics of mechanisms and machines in three-dimensions using Cartesian, cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems. Balancing of reciprocating masses including linkages, multi-cylinder in-line, radial and V-engines. Vector treatment of laws of dynamics: Cartesian, cylindrical and spherical systems. Fluctuation of energy and speed in machines: crank-effort and turning moment diagrams, flywheels. Inertia forces and torques in mechanisms. Engine Dynamics. Cam Dynamics. Governors. Gyroscopic motion: simple theory of gyroscopic couple, gyroscopic effects in machinery and vehicles, applications of gyroscopes. Logical synthesis of mechanisms. Freudenstein’s equation. Coordination of Crank velocities. Design of up to six-bar mechanism using algebraic method for a given output function with 4th order approximation. Coupler Curves and Cognates. Motion and Path generation for common link mechanisms. Robert’s theorem. Error estimation in a given synthesis. Optimisation using Chebyscher’s theorem. High speed cam dynamics. Analytical derivation of cam profiles. Introduction to spatial mechanisms. Introduction to computers. Computer hardware and software. Windows and word processing, Spreadsheet and Graphic presentation. Internet facilities and electronic mail. Introduction to computer programming using FORTRAN, C++, or any available programming language. Overview of various types of Computer Programming: Structured, Object-Oriented, Graphical and Visual Programming. Structured Programming methods using FORTRAN, C++, Matlab, or any available programming language including visual programming in all cases. Software Engineering: Writing and running programs; Testing and debugging; Compilation and run-time environments Introduction to Databases. Materials Science: Imperfections and diffusion in solids. Phase diagrams and transformations. The structure of metals and other materials: Properties and processing of engineering materials: Mechanical properties - hardness, ductility, brittleness, toughness, strength etc. Elastic and plastic behaviours. Dislocations and strengthening mechanisms. Thermal properties - Heat capacity, thermal conductivity, expansion and stresses. Mechanical engineering materials. Introduction to ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Introduction to polymers. Introduction to engineering ceramics. Materials selection. Study of selected materials: alloy steels and cast irons, polymers and composite materials. Heat treatment of steel and cast irons including surface hardening. In-depth study of the most commonly used mechanical engineering materials. Metalworking: Hot-working processes - hot rolling, hot pressing, forging, extrusion. Cold-working processes - cold rolling, drawing, deep drawing, cold pressing, spinning, powder metallurgy. Casting: sand casting, shell mould casting, centrifugal casting, investment casting, die casting, permanent mould casting. The cast structure. Problems encountered in casting. Casting design. Metallurgical principles of joining metals: welding and microstructure of welds. Inspection and testing of welds. Weldability of specific metals and alloys. Soldering. Metallic corrosion: The mechanism of corrosion - dry and wet corrosion. Stress corrosion, crevice corrosion, impingement corrosion, corrosion fatigue. Corrosion control - Use of inherently corrosion resistant metal or alloy; protection by metallic coatings; protection by oxide coatings; cathodic protection. The same course is offered for different groups of students in the first semester and second semesters as ME 391 and ME 392, respectively. Historical perspective; Methods Engineering, Methods and Work study etc. Productivity improvement techniques. Demand forecasting. Inventory management. Facility layout. Materials handling, Maintenance management. Total Quality Management. Human factors in engineering: A series of topics including machine systems, work conditions and ergonomics. Industrial Psychology: Motivation, performance analysis and measurement. Introduction to management (definition and introduction to the main functions of management). Performance-related emoluments and other incentive systems. Engineering economy. Accounting and cost accounting. Project Management. Entrepreneurship and free enterprise. Business planning. Product and service concepts for new ventures. Marketing and new venture development. Organising and financing new ventures. Current trends in commerce (Internet commerce, e-commerce, etc.). Business Law/Law of Contract. The course presents a study of the theory and practice of facilities design: activity and flow analysis, space requirements, layout techniques, material handling, warehousing, location selection, and problem-solving with computer-aided layout techniques. Design projects in plant layout required. Concepts of random variant generation, Monte Carlo and discrete event simulation will be introduced. Simulation languages are introduced in this course. One general simulation lan­guage is taught in depth. The use of simulation modelling in design and improvement of pro­duction and service is emphasized. Industrial Engineering design projects will be required. Computer based exercises will be undertaken by students. Deterministic models of operations research are discussed with special emphasis on linear programming. Topics covered include simplex algorithm, transportation problem. Network flow, dynamic programming, integer programming, multiple criteria and nonlinear programming models. Introduction to the concepts of probabilistic operations research models and solution techniques. Poisson process, Markov chains, queuing models and their applications, decision analysis, inventory models, risk analysis, and project networks. This course introduces ergonomics and biomechanics concepts. Topics include psychomotor work capabilities, anthropometry, environmental stressors, physical workload, safety, hazard and risk factor identification, work station design, and material handling. Introduction to the elements of cognitive human factors. Human sensation and perception, cognition, information processing, attention, signal detection theory, mental workload, and decision-making. Data collection methods and report writing are emphasized. Lab projects are required. This course introduces the concepts of demand forecasting, aggregate production planning, inventory control, project planning, line balancing and job scheduling. Students will be ex­pected to work on projects involving enterprise resource planning and supply chain management. This course introduces the concepts of automation such as programmable controllers and robotics, design for manufacturing and assembly, material selection, flexible manufacturing sys­tems, group technology, just-in-time manufacturing, process planning, and economics of manufacturing.

2019-04-20T20:12:59Z

https://mech.knust.edu.gh/ug/bsc-mechanical-engineering

I think it is accurate to state that the flood story in the bible is both myth and a forgery. It is obviously a myth for reasons too numerous to mention here, but it is also copied from other cultures/religions, thus making it a forgery. It could very well be a myth. While some scholars believe the story is a myth, National Geographic put together a documentary called “In Search for Noah’s Flood”. They discuss various flood stories, and make the case that a large, localized flood must have influenced these various cultures to write of this flood. While there is no proof of a flood, it seems like a plausible explanation. I wonder whether there is a sense in which archaeological evidence fits a normal distribution, i.e. the more you dig the more you confirm the norm. In addition, I think the difficulty of archaeology and the bible concerns the way that the authors and redactors have used contemporary (to them) references, sites and concerns to illustrate the position that they have assumed. Hence trying to unpack how these texts have been assembled will be a major problem in trying to assign archaeological dates or evidence to them. btw, Ronan Head gives an excellent presentation on Biblical Archaeology. I learned Biblical Archaeology digging in Israel. I was caught off guard recently when one of the schools I attended (a Baptist and Evangelical school) published a pro-Book of Mormon article! Really! Reading this blog, then that article is like reading opposite worlds collide. Have you heard of a Baptist journal publishing a pro-Book of Mormon article? I know LDS apologists love parallels, and they’re great at finding them. The next step is to harness the parallel-finding to some rigorous statistical analysis, trying to actually quantify the odds of Joseph Smith coming up with “Nahom” on his own. The odds of the latter scenario, I’ve just calculated through a proprietary algorithm as 1 in 10. “In his landmark collection Leaves of Grass, famed poet Walt Whitman wrote of a “strange huge meteor-procession” in such vivid detail that scholars have debated the possible inspiration for decades. I have links to the articles, but I am not sure how to link in the post, sorry. I find it very interesting that so much remains to be discovered, and sometimes rediscovered. I am certainly less than convinced by general no-evidence claims. More compelling than the external evidence for the Book of Mormon is the internal evidence for the Book of Mormon. Finding ancient cultures in the Book of Mormon has been much easier than finding the Book of Mormon in ancient cultures. That is to be expected. Now the question is whether your proprietary algorithm accurately predicts the odds. What if it is more like 1/100 instead of 1/10? Now it becomes even more impressive. I think we gamble when we attempt to assign specific numerical likelihoods in this manner. All it will take is one obscure children’s book from Joseph Smith’s immediate culture, one 1820s newspaper article, one heretofore unnoticed Bible dictionary quoting Carsten Niebuhr or those who came after him (describing Nehhm, near Sana, before 1829), and the odds will be shot all to goodness-gracious. I find an average of one fresh and interesting new Mormon parallel source every couple of weeks, and I am only one researcher. The jury is still out. Steve, a few years ago, Grace for Grace published an article about a Baptist Preacher that believes in the Book of Mormon. The old world findings are exciting, but the quoted enthusiasm is a bit over stated. The letters NHM were found carved into stone in lower Saudi Arabia near the Red Sea. As I understand it, NHM is thought to be a tribal name, not necessarily a place name. There is a semi-suitable Wadi directly East of where NHM was found as a possible location for Bountiful. That’s it. If fits nicely into our Book of Mormon narrative, but I withhold my enthusiasm until this evidence gains traction in a secular peer reviewed publication. The Book of Mormon, as a secular history, would be the most astounding document is secular American studies ever known if it’s historicity were supported by evidence. Until we see Book of Mormon scholarship accepted by and spread into a secular forum, I withhold my exuberance over perceived evidence. I also withhold my enthusiasm. The probability of rolling 4 sixes in a game of Yahtzee may be 1/1296, but you have to account for how many rolls you get. How many rolls do you get to find one that matches the BofM NHM? I can’t really say how many place names there are in the area and time period that would count as a hit. I think the analogy between the “history” of the BoM and the “history” of the Bible is a little misleading. The Bible is a collection of books written over centuries based on centuries’ old telling of stories passed through oral tradition. It’s not a great leap to acknowledge that (a) it is unlikely these stories represent, or are even supposed to represent actual occurrences and (b) it is likely that there is some historical truth to them and “close” archeological evidence will exist to support he genesis of these stories. The Book of Mormon, on the other hand, was presented by an individual claiming to have been given the book through supernatural means. One can draw no conclusions as to the veracity of the stories therein without first accepting the claims of the individual. To illustrate using your example of Sodom vs. Nahom. The evidence indicating a city that my have been Sodom is easier to digest because no one questions that this story was indeed told for centuries and was indeed written down by someone. That there may be some truth to the story is highly believable, even likely. Nahom, on the other hand, would need far more evidence to a non-believer. In the case of Sodom, the bible is evidence (not necessarily high quality, but evidence nonetheless) of the potential for such a city to exist – so when you add archeological evidence, you increase the likelihood of existence. Without belief in JS Jr first, the fact that the BoM discusses a city named Nahom offers no objective evidence of its existence – so any archeological evidence would have to stand on its own. I love your posts! While I am interested in BoM archaeology, it is lower on my priority lists right now. Since I stopped viewing everything through the “BoM is historical” lens, I think it’s pretty hard to convince anyone (non-believer) that the BoM is historical via archaeology. I think it relies very heavily on apologist enthusiasm and fun hypothetical statistics that impress. However, I do want to mention what I think is a problem (though I confess I have not read much into BoM archaeology). It seems to me that most of the work done in BoM and Biblical archaeology is done by believers (since they believe they’ll find something). How many “impartial” archaeologists for the BoM or the Bible are there? 1, 2, 10 maybe? Does that mean anything? I think it does. But what would we expect from archaeologists who have an unquestioning loyalty to their goal of proving their book? I don’t want to cast doubt on all the good scientific work done by the likes of John Sorenson, I just think there needs to be more divested scholarship looking at the issues and evidence. chicken, one issue I have with you comment is the fact that sodom was around 3000 years ago. if we wait another 3000 years, then the bom may seem plausible as well based strictly on the fact that we have been telling stories about lehi and laman for 3000 years. jmb, when I look at biblical archaeology, there are no ‘unbiased’ archaeologists (just like the bom). I really like william dever of the university of arizona because he seems pretty unbiased to me, but even he allows that the story of samson could be based in fact because of a philistine vase that shows a man standing between 2 pillars. it could represent the fantastic story of samson collapsing a philistine temple. yet I think most scholars question whether a person could really collapse a building. the story bears more resemblance to hercules than fact, yet there are some biblical apologists that say the story could be plausible. I think that mormons are so used to defending the bom, that we aren’t even aware of similar criticisms about the bible. after all, evangelicals aren’t going to volunteer unflattering info about the bible, and it is easy for both mormons and evangelicals to write off atheists. … Dr. John Clark of the New World Archaeological Foundation has compiled a list of sixty items mentioned in the Book of Mormon. The list includes items such as “steel swords,” “barley,” “cement,” “thrones,” and literacy. In 1842, only eight (or 13.3%) of those sixty items were confirmed by archaeological evidence. Thus, in the mid-nineteenth century, archaeology provided little support for the claims made by the Book of Mormon. In fact, the Book of Mormon text ran counter to both expert and popular ideas about ancient America in the early 1800s. As the efforts of archaeology have shed light on the ancient New World, we find in 2005 that forty-five of those sixty items (75%) have been confirmed. Thirty-five of the items (58%) have been definitively confirmed by archaeological evidence and ten items (17%) have received possible—tentative, yet not fully verified—confirmation. That’s a decent trend line. Essentially, the best available evidence is never perfect evidence, it is merely “best available.” When scholars and scientists mistake “best” evidence for “perfect” evidence they overstate their own knowledge in a kind of hubris, not seeing what they don’t know, and giving too much weight for what they think they do know. (Rhetorially) Just ask “experts” in geocentric astronomy, biologic spontaneous generation, or phrenology. It’s not that Sodom has been talked about – its about the chicken and the egg. What I mean is, Bible stories were stories passed down for generations and then written down. The discussions about the BoM are not a result of stories and experiences, they are a result of an individual writing the stories down first, beginning a discussion. Under the former, the experiences and stories beget a writing evidencing the experiences and stories, under the latter, a writing begat stories, evidencing only what we choose to believe. n, thanks for your comment. I think it well illustrates the idea that ‘the more you dig, the more you find.’ there are far too many that seem to have closed the book on future discoveries, and think that the current lack of evidence is evidence of lack. chicken, I agree that this is a bit of a chicken or egg argument. but I think the main concept remains. can a bible or bom believer convince a non-bible/bom believer that his position is correct (and vice versa)? I think the answer is ‘no.’ bible and bom believers have a supposition of historicity. non believers have a supposition of non historicity. therin lies a problem-conflicting assumptions. I don’t know of a way around that. for example, if you believe noah’s flood is a myth, is there any amount of evidence that can change your mind? The 1/10 odds were of the alternative scenario I hypothesized (Joseph Smith uses a variant on the known-to-him Semitic name name “Nahum” (“comforter”), whose meaning he reasonably could have learned from his Bible-infused culture, in connection with an event — the death of a beloved family member — where comfort is typically sought. The “proprietary algorithm” consists of me pulling the number out of a hat. Re: Peterson’s description of the “exact name” of Nahom and the “exact place,” we don’t have either. We have three letters — NHM — which may “Nahom”, or it may be Nihm or Nahm or Nuhum or any other variation. Not quite “exact.” As for “exact place,” we have — southern Arabia. A big bulls-eye, especially given Lehi’s party’s literally years of wandering. So: What are the odds of a Semitic placename existing somewhere in the Semitic-occupied territory in which Joseph Smith set the Book of Mormon, that has some potential similarity to a placename that might be invented by someone who was trying to invent Semitic-sounding placenames, with the Bible and potentially Biblical commentary or others’ knowledge as a reference? If “NHM” is evidence that the Book of Mormon is a record of activities in the Old World, because of a passable resemblance of a Book of Mormon placename to an Old World placename, then why is not the Hill Onidah (cf. “Oneida,” a New York State Indian tribe) evidence that it is the product of contemporary upstate New York? As long as we’re calculating odds, what are the chances of an Indian tribe in Joseph’s neighborhood sharing a name with a place in (presumably) Mesoamerica? I’m not aware of any connection between the Iroquoian language group and any of the Mesoamerican language families. If “NHM” is the crown jewel of apologetics, that’s not a good sign. I’d like to see the definition of “confirmed” used here. I’ve seen apologists get excited about a Mesoamerican quarry of ochre (a reddish iron-containing pigment), as if it helped confirm the Book of Mormon’s reference to use of iron and steel metal. There’s a fair gap between a bunch of half-naked tribesmen smearing reddish ochre on their faces, and a blacksmith making a steel sword. MH – I think you are talking apples and oranges. Everyone “believes” in the Bible – ie. that the Bible is a series of writings complied over centuries about the faith journey of multiple people over that time. Some of taken this to the extreme and view that, through divine intervention, the Bible is literally the Word of God and miraculous historical, others don’t. But no one disputes the history of the Book itself and how it was written and compiled. The BoM, on the other hand, is the opposite. This a book where even the most ardent believer acknowledges that it was a newly found document claiming to be written by particular individuals of particular historial facts. If you believe JS Jr’s story, then you can start comparing the tales of the BoM with the tales of the Bible and applying archeological and historical references. But that’s a big leap. Most of us will deny the divinity of any religious tome not of our own religion (ie. most Christians don’t believe in the divinity of Muhammed notwithstanding a perfectly good book attesting to that fact). What you are noting is that one cannot convince someone else of something supernatural if they do not believe. I agree. But the very existence of the BoM “relies” on the supernatural event. Not so with the Bible. As such, if archeological evidence suggests, even peripherally, the existence of the city of Sodom – even a skeptic may say “sure, maybe such a city did exist, that would explain the oral tradition involving the city that was recorded by ancient people.” But if you have archeological evidence that suggests the city of Nahom exists, most objective observers would assume their was an alternatiev explanation, as there is no long-standing and multi-generational historical tradition, merely a book that is admittedly in existence by supernatural means. Sure. A worldwide flood layer dated prior to 2000 BC. It doesn’t exist. Although absence of evidence is not always evidence of absence, where evidence should reasonably likely have been left, then yes, absence of evidence that ought to be there is evidence of absence. Alternatively, you could present geological evidence that the continents were virtually flat in antediluvian times, and Mt. Ararat was a molehill, such that you could possibly have enough water in the atmosphere to raise sea levels enough to actually drown people (as opposed to making the wicked mildly annoyed at sloshing around ankle-deep floodwater for forty days) without having to posit an atmospheric pressure similar to Venus’s, which would have cooked and imploded Noah and his fellows. So there is evidence that could change my mind re: Noah. It’s just that the best evidence is that we’re extremely unlikely ever to find it, and so the best working hypothesis is that Noah’s flood is a myth. Well, yes and no. It’s possible, and much argued over, that the Book of Deuteronomy was invented out of whole cloth by religious partisans long after its supposed writing by Moses, similar to how critics of the Book of Mormon suggest Joseph may have done with the Book of Mormon. Well said. And again, we are talking about evidence of stories withing the Bible, where the BOM itslef (as opposed to its contents) requires substantial evidence of its supernatural origins. So while stories of even some books of the Bible must overcome “the best working hypothesis” it is the BoM itself which, absent extraordinary evidence, will be presumed mythical by non-believers. This is why archeological “proofs” fall so far short from convincing objective reviewers of the BoM’s authenticity. D’Anville’s 1751 map of Asia and Niebuhr’s 1771 map of Yemen are the basis for most of the accurate maps of Arabia from 1751 to 1814. With D’Anville’s indisputable reputation for accuracy and with Niebuhr’s firsthand experience and use of scientific instruments, in addition to the difficulty in mapping Arabia, most reputable cartographers relied on D’Anville and Niebhur in publishing maps of Arabia. Bonne, Cary, Darton, and Thomson, however, all seemed to have their own sources for information on Arabia and Nehem. Not really so, in many instances. To take steel swords, the first example above, they were quite dramatically described in the James Macpherson’s Ossian poems beginning in the mid-1700s (and very widely published and accepted throughout Europe and America). Cement was certainly a part of young Joseph Smith’s world, used to construct the Erie Canal. Another of Dr. Clark’s claims I have seen is his notion that the idea of a King (Benjamin) working with his own hands would have seemed unlikely to someone of Joseph Smith’s time: most certainly not the case. Such things are readily available in the nineteenth century culture, but to know about them, one has to want to find them. Regarding the easily-accessed names of Naham and Nahum -and many others for the Book of Mormon, the following .pdf document may be of interest to some readers . . . Chicken #20, “But the very existence of the BoM “relies” on the supernatural event. Not so with the Bible” Yes, Chicken, but there are some very supernatural events–primarily in the Book of Genesis that all rely on supernatural events. Your point that “the Bible is a series of writings complied over centuries about the faith journey of multiple people over that time” will be similar to the Book of Mormon in 3000 years. Thomas, I think most Biblical apologists assume the flood was a large localized flood, rather than a worldwide flood as I mentioned about the National Geographic special in the OP. Certainly it would be easier to find a localized flood than a worldwide flood. Your point about Deuteronomy is well taken. I’ve been planning to write on that for quite some time, but I haven’t had enough time to research it good enough to put a post together. It’s been called a “pious fraud” just like the Book of Mormon. Doug, welcome back. It’s been a while, and we’re sparring about Nahom again. If Emma states that Joseph didn’t know there were walls around Jerusalem, how did he have a chance to look at these expensive maps? Rick, your points are well taken, but my question to Doug applies to you as well. What about the ark? Pretty skeptical but when this popped up a few months ago, it really startled me. MH – you’re not understanding me and it’s probably because I’m not being clear. I’m not talking about events recorded in, or stories recounted. Yes the bible contains stories of supernatural, but the telling, collecting and writing of those stories was done by very natural means. The BoM, even if it contained nothing more than recipes would still be more suspect as the actual discovery and writing of the BoM is supernatural. I can disregard the supernatural stories of the Bible as myth, exagerration, etc. and still believe the Bible is a record of the stories and spiritual journey of the people who wrote it – I may also believe that other stories contain truth.. If I similarly disregard the supernatural with respect to the BoM, then it means JS Jr. is fraudulent. If that is the case, I don’t even get to whether Nahom exists or whether cows can cross the ocean in a clam shell. There’s one other issue I’d like to weigh in on with regards to archaeology and the BoM and Bible. Suppose you were an independent, impartial observer, and were interested in the historicity of the BoM. You ask where it supposedly took place. You ask where Joseph Smith said it took place. A large group of believing scholars have a whole mess of evidence, statistics, quotes, etc. that go some way in convincing you that it happened somewhere in Central America. But you then learn there is an entirely other crowd of believing scholars who also have a whole mess of evidence, statistics, quotes, etc. that it happened in North America near the Northeast. Now what? My point is that the apologists themselves do not even have a cohesive cogent argument for a single theory. Rather, there’s a whole mess of theories, even amongst believers. How are we supposed to convince non-members, or doubting members about the historicity of a book when we can’t even agree on the evidence amongst believers? They would have a much better argument if they all backed a single theory. But the fact that there are a myriad theories is evidence that there isn’t that much convincing evidence! My experience is that most members sort of tacitly believe that the events of the BoM took place in Central America somewhere. They haven’t really investigated, but that’s what they would loosely claim to a non-member. Yet, there is no official church position, no internal agreement among non-believing scholars, or even believing scholars. ok chicken, I see your distinction, but I must confess that it seems a bit of splitting hairs to me. at least you’re consistent in calling both the bible and bom as myth. quite often, most bible believers are willing to call the bom myth, but bristle at calling the bible myth. jmb, you points are well taken. it would be nice to have a single, unified theory. but I am not bothered by all the theories, because the brainstorming is a good, necessary process. if we put all our eggs in one basket, we may miss something important. multiple geography theories are not without precedent. there are at least 13 theories that I am aware of detailing the route of the exodus. there are several locations for mount sinai. my personal belief is that mt sinai is located at jebel-musa in saudi arabia. scholars hotly contest these locations, but nearly everyone agrees that the traditional mt sinai is incorrect. I think all the bom geography theories are similar to the exodus/sinai debate. I don’t know if you remember my malay post (311 comments), but that theory removes nearly all anachronisms that american theories have. of course it has its own problems as well. I quite like Chicken’s point. The Bible has more “truth,” as it were (at least to a non-Mormon), from the get-go because it has been with us for years and because it is couched in familiar mythological tales that have been woven into a well known book. So even if you believe it’s all myth, the archeology has a chance of having a shred of truth just because myths generally have some scrap of truth. Hence, it’s not hard to buy into a potential site for Sodom even if the actual facts surrounding the city are not even close to what’s in the OT. The BoM, OTOH, is not a collection of myths (at least that’s not the claim). It’s origin is supernatural to begin with, not based on myths. It’s not as if Mormon handed down some book or oral tradition to his progenitors who perhaps wrote it down or rewrote it, changed, and/or modified it eventually falling into the hands of JS. No, the entire story begins with an angel and gold plates buried in a hill. There’s a major discontinuity between what allegedly happened with the Nephites and when the book came into existence as we know it. It’s a “new” myth, story, civilization, etc. that originated with Joseph (even if you believe it’s historical, the BoM, as we know it in English, originated with Joseph). So when archeology is presented as evidence it is easy to postulate an alternative explanation as there is no agreed upon mythology about this civilization. To the independent scholar, to use the BoM as a guide to the civilization in Central America is to concede the supernatural events and belive Joseph Smith. On the contrary, for the Bible archeologists, he/she need not believe the bible to be historical and still find evidence of a city mentioned therein. Oh, I absolutely agree with you. I’m not personally bothered by the many theories either. I’m just saying that to the non-believer it is hard to make a convincing argument about the historical nature of the BoM (of which we are so sure) when there is not even an internally consistent theory about the historical nature of it. I am going to disagree with jmb and chicken about the bible not being supernatural in origin. there was no bible prior to moses. he received the original scripture-the 10 commandments by the finger of the lord. surely this is just as fantastic as the gold plates. then they wrote the story of moses life with the plagues etc. then moses had the fantastic story of adam and eve revealed to him. I did a post about a recent book (published by oxford I believe) asking if moses plagiarized hammurabi’s code. if moses were contemporary and joseph smith were ancient, I think we would have just as many questions about the supernatural events of moses as we do the gold plates. I agree – but I don’t think it’s splitting hairs. The Bible is NOT a myth – it CONTAINS mythical stories. If you don’t believe in the supernatural at all – you would still beleive the bible exists and contains stories told for ages – but you wouldn’t beleive anything about the BoM. And this is how it relates to archeology. Archeologists might use the Bible as clues to what archeological finds mean or even evidence to search for archeological items – because the Bible, is in fact, ancient stories and therefore at least theoretically points to ancient places and events – even if oune discounts entirely supernatural claims. But, if one discounts supernatural claims, then one would not use the BoM as evidence of historical fact or relate archeological evidence to BoM claims. In an unsensitive analogy, if one does not believe in the supernatural in general, or JS Jr’s claims specifically, one would consdier the BoM to be entirely fictional – just like, say the Chronicles of Narnia. If one were to discover through archeological means, an ancient site with 4 thrones and statues of giant lions – one would not consider that this was a an indication that this was Narnia – any more than the finding of a plaque with NHM upon it would indicate the existence of a fictional place. With the BoM – belief must come first. Everything else hinges upon that. With the Bible, belief is optional – because everyone understands it is a work containing ancient writings – not so with the BoM. But you’re not suggesting that ALL of the Bible is supernatural in origin? And that’s the difference. The whole of the BoM is in the supernatural-origin camp. Perhaps there was no bible prior to moses, but there were, in fact, numerous myths about deluges, myths about God creating man and woman, etc. Besides, Moses didn’t come down from Mt. Sinai and write about it. There is considerable doubt as to the authorship and chronology of the pentateuch, which COULD mean it is also CONTAINS myth. I don’t think any of this discredits the archeology or anything. It’s just easy to see why there would be non believing bible archeologists who still try to fit their findings with the Bible (to some degree) and why there would likely be no such non believing BoM archeologists. Maybe I’m not seeing Chicken’s argument either, I dunno. Mh – you’re even assuming there was such a person as Moses – he could be made up out of wholecloth. Nontheless, ancients kept record of their spiritual journey. Eventually these were written down and, more recently compiled into the old Testament. Again though, your only talking about particular portions of the bible and, more to the point, particular things IN the Bible. THe Bible itself was not pulled from a tree or dug from the gound. It was compiled from anceint records. JMB275 – so you think non-believers would consider the archeological find similar to Narnia proof of the historicity of C.S. Lewis’ books? Would you condone further searchers for additional archeological proofs? Of course not – because we know the Narnia books are fiction. Non-believers similarly know the BoM is ficition. Hmmm, you should read my comments again. I’m agreeing with you. chicken, I still think you’re looking at this too narrow. the book of mormon is more like the book of genesis than the entire bible. (perhaps we could include the bible up until the time of jeremiah, since the archaeological data prior to david/solomon is scant. now, assuming that mosos (or perhaps baruch) was the first to write down oral traditions into the bible, then the bible can be considered a collected of myths. there is little, if any proof of biblical archaeology prior to 700 bc (some may push that back to 1100 bc). after 700 bc, we do seem to have some evidence. so the origins of the bible can be considered just as supernatural as the bom. now the bible post 700 bc is more like the d&c period of mormonism. we can find proof of locations of independence, slc, manti, just as we find jericho, jerusalem, and armageddon. 3000 years from now, archaeologists may confirm slc as a headquarters, and may discover lds and rlds versions of d&c. perhaps they may never discover the garden of eden or the city of zarahemla-perhaps they will find zarahemla in malaysia. bom archaeology is infantile compared to the 3000 years of the bible, or at least the past 2700 years. Assumes Emma and/or Joseph didn’t make that episode up, in an early effort to bolster the “Joseph was so ignorant, he couldn’t possibly have invented the Book of Mormon himself” argument. are you saying that emma made it up? #42 — Emma or Joseph. And yes, most likely. I find it impossible to believe that Joseph Smith, who was clearly familiar with the King James Bible even if it’s not clear when he first read it through, could possibly have overlooked all the biblical references to Jerusalem’s walls. Alternatively, even if Emma were accurately relating a conversation that actually took place, there’s no reason why Joseph couldn’t have had a gap in his knowledge about Jerusalem’s city infrastructure, and still had access to a map. NHM is a weak reed. No. The origins of the bible is that people wrote down oral tradition and long-told stories. The origins of the BoM is that a young man claims to have been given the book by an angel. If all Genesis discussed was supernatural fantasy and all the BoM discussed were 100% proven facts, the origin of the former would be natural and the latter would be supernatural. If one were to disregard the supernatural – one would look at the writings of Genesis and disregard them as fantasy – one would not even look at the BoM as they would disregard it as fantasy ab initio. That’s the difference. chicken, I still don’t think you’re looking at time here. if the bom was 3000 years ago and genesis was 200 years ago, we would have 3000 years of oral history of the bom. genesis would have no such history, and would be seen just as unreliable as you view the bom today. I agree that Joseph Smith would not likely have seen the more expensive maps. But here, we must begin to espouse a more sophisticated philosophy of cultural background if we are ever to transcend the somewhat adolescent stage of Mormon historiography whenever it explores parallels. Specific parallel sources (like the above expensive maps) are not so much candidates of particular borrowing, as they are indicators of a general, broad and available culture. I was somewhat troubled – maybe amused – by a wholly unimaginative approach offered on this topic by S. Kent Brown in his article, “New Light from Arabia on Lehi’s Trail” in Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson and John W. Welch, eds., Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon. (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies [FARMS], ), 55-125. Dr. Brown there reviewed published sources of Joseph Smith’s time that mentioned or discussed the NHM region in southern Arabia, or showed it on maps. He rendered a valuable service by summarizing such works he had located (Brown, 72-75). But since his focus was entirely faith-promoting, calculated to minimize potential significance to Joseph Smith’s environment, Brown became as mathematical as some commenters on the present post here, and suggested that information from pre-1829 sources could not have reached Joseph Smith unless Joseph personally read those actual books –and then only at one of two specified libraries, named in the article, near which Joseph lived when he was a boy or a young man. Dr. Brown went to considerable effort to demonstrate that those libraries did not have Niebuhr’s work (Brown 2002, 69-75). I will stipulate readily that Joseph Smith probably seldom thought of visiting Dartmouth College’s library when he was ten years old, even though it was only an hour’s walk from home. And, I probably have even less confidence than might Dr. Brown, that Joseph Smith likely spent any time patronizing the Manchester, New York membership lending library. But to ask the wrong questions (or to limit potential sources so) is as bad as to erect a straw man, and it gets us no closer to responsible history than if we were to hide our heads in the sand. As I wrote in my own work . . . History has given us an “American Prophet” who needs to be explained in terms of divine revelation, rational synthesis, or something in between. It really does not matter whether Joseph Smith actually read any specific manuscript or book, because an entire culture is on display. We are scarcely dealing here with issues of pointed study or conscious borrowing. No single one of these writings was essential to the work of Joseph Smith, and this Bibliographic Source hangs upon no individual concept – upon no particular text. It is, rather, the very existence of the Mormon parallels which these sources display – in such great number, distribution, and uncanny resemblance to the literary, doctrinal and social structures which Joseph formed – which may command our attention. interesting quote rick. I should check out your book. it seems to me that we have 2 versions of joseph smith: (1) a dumb guy with a 3rd grade education that translated only by the power of god, or (2)a man with an encyclopedic mind that remembers small details of solomon spaulding’s manuscript, niehbur’s maps, etc. even if we assume that joseph never saw niehbur’s map but simply heard about it, it seems to me that we must say that joseph had a photographic memory to remember all these details, yet miss important facts such as jesus born at jerusalem. while I am comfortable believing that joseph was no dummy, I am not comfortable believing he had a photographic memory either. it seems to me that if joseph did remember nhm, he must lean toward photographic memory. yet I see real problems with that line of reasoning as well. There may come a day when the ramblings of some 1990s teenager about life in outer space may appear fantastically prevenient – to future readers who have little understanding of popular culture of an earlier era. That which to us is esoteric data was often common to people of earlier times. And perhaps most importantly, if the burden of discovering all these things devolves upon us, it was never the burden of Joseph Smith. Whatever he saw and liked may have entered his writings. The Arabian place names that never struck him as interesting would not make it into the Book of Mormon. I still think it’s more likely that Joseph might have used a variant on the Old Testament name “Nahum” (“comforter”) to describe the place where Ishmael died, and his family sought comfort in their mourning, than that Joseph saw “Nehm” on an old map. The point is that there are plausible naturalistic explanations (we’ve covered at least two here) for the coincidence of “NHM” and “Nahom.” It’s just not the slam-dunk evidence it’s cracked up to be. but thomas, then it makes joseph smith as a genius like dan brown of da vinci code fame. dan compiled all this religious information into a book, but it took him years to put his book together. joseph smith is doing the same thing in a few months, and doesn’t seem to have the benefits of google like brown does. is it really that plausible that joseph got it all right with egyptian names pahoran and paanchi, while figuring out nhm too? at the same time he makes anachronisms with horses, chariots, and silk. this genius title seems to have some big problems, all while joseph is writing a book of theology. Many people conclude that, since we haven’t found it all, Joseph Smith could not have found it either, except through revelation. They emphasize Joseph as an educationally-deprived lad chosen to restore the gospel. They add that no one, in fact, could have found the words and power of Mormonism without the help of God. Such a conclusion is convincing to the convinced – fully relevant, satisfying and final – IF one presumes the final product before the fact: supposing, in advance of the process, no possible “correct” development but Mormonism as it finally turned out, as we have known it in its various stages, complete with only the “Mormon” elements discerned or blended successfully out of a vast and confusing world. If this sounds just right, it is a dangerous back-door defense that falls apart the moment one sees we are dealing with a farm boy whom the twentieth century never knew. Not a genius, but one derived from a culture that was surprisingly rich, varied and available. There was so much there from which to choose, and indeed, as you note (#50), Joseph did not necessarily get it all right. My last semester at BYU, I took a Shakespeare class for the fun of it. The class consisted of 3 guys and something like 17 women. This being the BYU English department, these women had what passes in Provo for a feminist streak. I was amazed to learn just how many modern feminist themes Will Shakespeare had salted away in his plays. The point is that people who go looking for useful parallels in a text, will usually find them. Coincidences are more statistically likely than people might expect; in fact, the more proper names you collect, the more likely there will be a remarkable coincidence between one of them and an utterly unconnected one. Like Onidah/Oneida, for instance, if you want to think Joseph didn’t get the former from the latter. If a culture or a history or a landscape is described broadly enough, there’s plenty of room for people to come in afterwards and identify specific details that fit within the broad scope of the writing. And no, Joseph wouldn’t have to be a “genius” to use “Nahom/Nahum” for a place of mourning. Mildly clever, at most. Ignores the fact that the Book of Mormon project was in progress for three whole years, if you count the project start date back when he started work with Martin Harris. The famous “three months” consists of the final draft produced with Oliver Cowdery. As a comparison. I once wrote the World’s Greatest Revolutionary War screenplay. The project dribbled on in outline form, coming together in my mind and partly on paper, over a period of three years — and then I finally buckled down and wrote out the last 4/5 in the course of two months, while simultaneously working a regular job. I suspect that a person reading it will find some parallels, and also some disparities, between what I wrote, and the history and geography of the Hudson River Valley setting (which I’ve never visited, and did precious little research on). If there are parallels, it won’t mean I was inspired. When Harold Bloom calls Joseph Smith an “authentic religious genius”, he ascribes to Joseph an almost incomprehensible ability to craft religious history and theology in ways that others cannot. A genius of any kind has a mind that operates in ways that normal people cannot fathom. That is why we call them geniuses. If JS was indeed such a genius, to compare JS to Dan Brown is silly. Not all authors practice their craft in the same way, and almost certainly JS didn’t research and write the book of mormon the way that we might suppose a historical novelist would write a story. I believe that JS was a religious genius in the same category as Muhammad, Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Jesus, or maybe even someone like Paramahansa Yogananda. These individuals were able to draw upon existing spiritual traditions around them and produce something new and compelling, and which spoke truth to the souls of those who listened to them or read their words. Whether what any of these spiritual geniuses said is, in fact, “truth” cannot be ultimately verified theologically (you cannot prove or disprove God’s existence, for example). In terms of relating historical or scientifically-verifiable facts, all religious genius will fall short because doing so isn’t really the point: these are not individuals who apply the scientific method or modern historical research methodologies to their messages. If we take Jesus’ word, for example, that the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, then we have to reclassify all the many thousands (millions?) of other plant seeds that are, in fact, smaller than a mustard seed, or else make Jesus either a liar or an ignoramus. In the end, if you get caught up on whether the seed is in fact the smallest, or whether Jesus really did in fact use a mustard seed as an object lesson (or if someone else writing the story down many decades after which supposed lesson was purported to have taken place just put words in Jesus’ mouth), you miss the message which might actually convey some truth or wisdom that could be beneficial to you in your life: that having just a little bit of faith gets you far in God’s kingdom. I’m in the camp that can’t really accept NHM as “proof” of Lehi’s existence any more than Joseph Smith’s public denials of polygamy were “proof” that he never entered its practice. Fact is, there are tons of references to names, places, and things in the Book of Mormon that one would expect to be easily corroborated by hundreds of years of collecting artifactual evidence in the Americas, but that are simply not there. Meanwhile, there’s plenty of 19th-century American-Protestant-influenced religious theology packed into the Book of Mormon, forcing the reader who believes in the book’s historicity to accept that ancient peoples 2,600 years ago had advanced understanding of Christian theology and doctrine, even though there exists no evidences of such understanding among any of the world’s contemporary inhabitants of the ancient world, even among the records we have that come from the Jews. Joseph either took extreme liberties with the text of the golden plates, or made huge theological mistakes in his “translation” of them, or else made the whole thing up (possibly with the help of friends and associates). That the Book of Mormon is as cohesive a narrative as it is testifies not to its historical truth, imo, as the religious genius of its creator. Still, getting caught up in questions of historicity and authenticity really dillutes the power of some of the words written in the Book of Mormon. Just as the Bible contains lots of stories and writings that get largely skipped over because they no longer represent the theological sensibilities of the modern reader, we _can_ pick and choose which portions of the Book of Mormon speak “truth” to our modern souls without getting caught up in the angst of a black-or-white, all-or-nothing dichotomy. I used to think that religion had to be all true or all suspect, but now I’m just happy when I find messages that ring “true” to me, and feel grateful that they actually speak to me among all the other stuff that is out there. That’s a net positive, imo. Here, here, SteveS (#53). My personal favorite passage in the Book of Mormon is found in modern 2 Nephi 2:25, “Adam fell, that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” When asked to write a completely middle-of-the-road introduction to Octavo Corporation’s digitized version of the 1830 Book of Mormon in the 1990s, one of my paragraphs went like this . . . There were works of equally imposing claim, of course, even in nineteenth-century America, and it would be unproductive to insist that this book is entirely unique. Indeed, much of the Book of Mormon speaks not merely from its own era, but indeed from its own decade and the very counties from which it emerged. This I have verified over the years in hundreds of texts examined and transcribed from the immediate world and culture of Joseph Smith. So when I point out that the Book of Mormon also has its exceptional moments, readers of all persuasions may allow that surprises wait between its leaves. But to me, coming from a physics background, that is the most interesting part of the Book of Mormon historicity question. I agree with BTC that the belief has to come first before one bothers to ask whether the historicity is worth pursuing (JMB can probably write a Bayesian about how different priors make historicity tests valuable or not!). But once I have the belief in the Book of Mormon as a motivator, I immediately see, just as BTC does, that you can’t “domesticate” it into a theory of scripture like modern scientific believers have adopted for the Bible. There’s then no separation between the natural and the supernatural that permits the notion of non-overlapping magisteria. The supernatural must be accepted by a believer, or (my preference) the notion of the natural must be expanded so the activity of God in history is in-your-face. That question is even more important, IMO, than trying to extract individual messages from the scriptures themselves. You make more progress when you can unify theories than when you are dealing with each idea separately. And the differences between revelation (or religious genius) as seen in the BofM and the Bible provide a really good arena for testing more general theories of scripture. I like your ideas of the pervasiveness of notions in a society as the raw materials for religious genius. But there’s a trap; it’s easier to see the sources of a prophet’s inspiration after the fact. All the materials were present for Einstein to think of relativity well before he did so. There are thousands of people today who understand relativity better than Einstein ever did. But few of those thousands could make the inspirational leap themselves. “Whether the virtues of parallels outweigh the vices is open to debate. The fact remains that the vices are considerable. 1. Any method of comparison which lists and underscores similarities and suppresses or minimizes differences is necessarily misleading. 2. Parallels are too readily susceptible of manipulation. Superficial resemblances may be made to appear as of the essence. 3. Parallel-hunters do not, as a rule, set out to be truthful and impartial. They are hell-bent on proving a point. 4. Parallel-hunting is predicated on the use of lowest common denominators. Virtually all literature, even the most original, can be reduced to such terms, and thereby shown to be unoriginal. So viewed, Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper plagiarizes Dickens’ David Copperfield. Both deal with England, both describe the slums of London, both see their hero exalted beyond his original station. To regard any two books in this light, however, is to ignore every factor that differentiates one man’s thoughts, reactions and literary expression from another’s. 5. Parallel columns operate piecemeal. They wrench phrases and passages out of context. A product of the imagination is indivisible. It depends on totality of effect. To remove details from their setting is to falsify them. 6. Parallels fail to indicate the proportion which the purportedly borrowed material bears to the sum total of the source, or to the whole of the new work. Without such information a just appraisal is impossible. 7. The practitioners of the technique resort too often to sleight of hand. They employ language, not to record facts or to describe things accurately, but as props in a rhetorical hocus-pocus which, by describing different things in identical words, appears to make them magically alike. 8. A double-column analysis is a dissection. An autopsy will reveal a great deal about a cadaver, but very little about the spirit of the man who once inhabited it. 9. Most parallels rest on the assumption that if two successive things are similar, the second one was copied from the first. This assumption disregards all the other possible causes of similarity. This isn’t to say, of course, that LDS apologists haven’t engaged in their fair share of the abuse of parallels – but, your mammoth work is not the kind of evidence that you put it forward to be. Parallels themselves are relatively meaningless. They don’t tell us much at all. It is the differences that allow for meaningful and interesting discussion. While some of your parallels are certainly of interest and worth considering, the compilation as a whole is fatally flawed. I have been absent for quite some time. Thanks for the welcome back! I really don’t have much to add to the discussion as others have covered what I would have posted even better than I in relation to NHM. I was told about Nahom while attending a leadership meeting in Japan by Neal H. Maxwell in 1995. He was very excited about the discovery and painted a picture of this place being just recently found and therefore impossible for JS to have known about it. That seemed like a bulls-eye to me as well back then. Imagine my shock in finding out just how long the area has been known and who had written about it and mapped it. The fact that it was known and written about now makes the argument shift from what he couldn’t have possibly known to what he probably didn’t know as a poor farmer in upstate New York. Even you must admit that’s a much weaker piece of evidence then if NHM had been discovered after the BoM was published. FireTag: The dilemma you mention applies more to an independently-verified or very widely-accepted theory or system. If we accept Einstein’s theory of relativity, then it may seem like genius to have ferreted it out from all the data in the Universe. But if we think like this about Mormonism, then we are essentially only saying that Mormonism is true because it is true. If we begin with the assumption that Mormonism (at whatever time period we wish to set it, for consideration) is true, then of course Joseph Smith’s task – apart from being inspired – would seem impossible. But Mormonism could have turned out to be almost anything else, as well. As I said in an earlier comment, if the burden of discovery of Joseph’s sources devolves upon us, that burden was never Joseph Smith’s. Ben McGuire: Your accusations are not really against me, but against some generic description you have espoused. I have more integrity and historical capability than you suggest. My book is a reference work, designed to supply raw data for researchers who need it. The work will stand, and I invite other readers to dig more deeply, and tear into my individual entries, comparing them carefully with similar sources, and exploring the portions I quoted very carefully to see if I twisted any contexts or authors’ original intents. Chuckle. Of all the time I am sure Ben McGuire spent reading that mammoth volume, I am surprised he (apparently) missed/forgot the title of the book, which very clearly states that it is “A Bibliographic Source.” I for one find the resource to be priceless, and look forward to using it in future projects to come. This may come as a bit of a shock to you, but in the end I actually hope your right about the BoM and the bible. I was assuming the starting point of belief in the supernatural (or, in my case, I should say, that nature is dominated at large scales by its personal rather than its impersonal aspects — I think God IS all of reality rather than separate from reality). The modern scientist, whether physical or social scientist, is trained to the notion that “natural” is the default position. It takes a conceptual leap to change to a notion of seeing the physical and spiritual as a unified whole, or perhaps a conceptual regression to get back to the notion that the spiritual is the important part of reality, even though we are one of the few cultures in history to hold the “modern” view. We don’t look for such a leap unless motivated by something — a religious teaching, a personal experience, or something else. So it takes prophetic genius to make the leap. It was in this context that I mentioned Einstein. The genius lies in REJECTING the notion of your everyday senses that space and time are a fixed stage and learning to see spacetime as an evolving character in the story itself. It wasn’t verified (or experimentally verifiable) for years afterward, and physicists only began training themselves to conceive of spacetime that way AFTER the verification. Now its obvious that even a bar magnet is a relativistic effect of electricity. Once motivated, exploring “anamalies” that stand the paradoxes of our belief systems out in the open are the way physical scientists make progress in looking for the right conceptual link — the right “crazy ideas”. In the Mormon faith, the Bible and the Book of Mormon present a huge anomaly because they each present an incompatible theory of scriptural transmission. There’s an analog in physics for that, too. The twin pillars of modern physics are quantum mechanics and general relativity. They are fundamentally incompatable on a conceptual basis because QM can’t be framed yet on anything but the “space and time as a fixed stage” basis, and unifying them is the biggest prize on the horizon. Well, I think there’s an underlying assumption here. You’re using the term “spiritual” as it relates to supernatural phenomena CAUSED externally by some force. One can easily view the physical and spiritual as a unified whole and still accept “spiritual” as being what benefits an individual “spiritually.” That is, one need not postulate external mystical CAUSAL relationships to explain spirituality. Nor does this, in my mind, invalidate the spiritual experience. Rather, it is a more honest acknowledgement of the experience. Of course, this distinction leads one nicely to a post-modern view which many find dissatisfying. I’m merely saying that the modern scientist is trained to reject the view described in the quote. The possibility you describe is CERTAINLY one way of relating the physical to the spiritual. The attraction of such views to the modern is that the “spiritual” is CONTAINED or ISOLATED to the metaphorical or the psychological and potentially subsumable to the modern worldview as our understanding of the arts, the social sciences, or the physical sciences grow. It keeps God in the gaps. It requires no conceptual leap. Our reality may work that way. The universe may be non-relativistic, too; I am aware of at least two theories that attempt to merge relativity and quantum mechanics by making relativity go away at extremely small length scales. Maybe Einstein’s conceptual leap turns out to be, at best a useful approximation. But we test those fundamental assumptions anyway, because that’s how we learn. What I am suggesting is that we need to look for new solutions to the problem of unifying the spiritual and physical that do NOT contain the spiritual within the physical any more than they contain the physical within the spiritual. At the moment I am sitting in my office looking at the cover of a book on my bookshelf, titled “The Gold of Exodus”. It was given to me by an investigator on my mission, so settled down an knocked it on a P-Day. It was about two men, Larry Williams (yes the world famous, yet superstitious investor/advisor, and apparent grave robber) and Bob Cornuke, founder of B.A.S.E. (Biblical Arcaeology & Search Exploration). These two men apparently set on a quest to discover the “true” Mount Sinai sometime either in the 80’s or 90’s, and ended up hiking to the summit of Jabal-al-lawz in Saudia Arabia. Apparently the traditional site for the location is somewhere in Ethiopia. I would tend to agree that the prevailing sentiment, no doubt influenced by the subtle endorsements via Church media, is the Central American theory. This seems to be the position most widely accepted by those of the F.A.I.R. crowd, but there has been a vehement disagreement between this group and those associated with the theories of a former meat salesman by the name of Rod Meldrum. The evidences sited both groups are so quickly dismissed by the others, that it clearly demonstrates that the evidence is far, far, from conclusive for even those who ultimately share the same position. The same goes for the Bible. Yes, it may have a stronger foothold in antiquity, but it is one thing to say Sodom may have reference to some ancient city, and completely another to say that Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt as they fled. They main problem with all of this inquiry, is that evidence is fitted to the conclusion. This is true of both Bible and BoM scholars. In order to justify scientifically the parting of the Red Sea, we have theories that suggest that the Israelites had a much greater lead on the Egyptians, and passed through a wadi during conveniently timed moon-tides. Some have suggested that Soddom and Gomorrah lay beneath the Salt Sea, suggesting a metaphor for the whole salt business. At the end of the day however, the evidence of the wadi’s, or the salt content of Old World locations, do not independently lead to conclusions about the stories we teach. Just like NHM – depending on liberal we want to be on proximities, we can eventually find a beach that satisfies expectations of a percieved Bountiful. It’s not as if Mormon handed down some book or oral tradition to his progenitors who perhaps wrote it down or rewrote it, changed, and/or modified it eventually falling into the hands of JS> — the whole point of my deconstructing the Book of Mormon posts and a number of other analytical approaches to the text involve the fact that Mormon did indeed take various traditions, writings and such and edit/collect/summarize them into a book that he passed on to Joseph Smith, through Mormon’s son Moroni. Ben McGuire — interesting thoughts, thanks for sharing them. MH — look forward to your posts. Some interesting posts here, enjoyed reading the comments. cowboy, I think we are talking about the same mountain. jebel al-lawz sounds familiar to me. I know that jebel musa literally translates to ‘mount of moses.’ simcha jacobovici put together a documentary on the exodus and he has a location in israel for mount sinai in a restricted military zone. he got into a battle on a blog I read as to why his mount sinai was a better site than the saudi site. it was interesting to view the debate and reminded me of the meldrum-sorensen debates. I think few mormons delve into these biblical debates, but I think there are some really similar debates to book of mormon archaeology debates.

2019-04-25T19:55:04Z

https://www.mormonmatters.org/religious-archaeology-and-evidence/

This guide does not claim to be complete. It reflects my view on how to setup a working Arch Linux system tailored towards data science, R and spatial analysis. If you have suggestions for modifications, please open an issue. Enjoy the power of Linux! Setting up Arch Linux the old-school way (i.e. configuring all yourself) is quite tedious. To be honest, I’ve never done it myself. I’ve always used distributions like Antergos or Manjaro. These function on the one hand as an installation wrapper for Arch and on the other hand provide their own repositories. Both come with all kind of desktop environments to choose from (GNOME, KDE, XFCE, etc.). I will not go into details of desktop environments in this post. I will outline my personal setup in a separate post in the future. Make sure to check out the ArchWiki FAQs and Arch compared to other distributions - ArchWiki to get a better understanding of Arch. Currently the best wrapper around pacman is trizen. Here is a list (AUR helpers - ArchWiki) comparing alternatives (scroll to the bottom). In ~/.config/trizen/trizen.conf set no_edit => 1. Until v1.55 there was also a switch that saved you the prompt asking whether you really want to install the package (install_built_with_noconfirm => 1). Unfortunately it has been removed in v1.56 and now you need to pass --noconfirm to trizen commands. The first settings saves you the confirmation prompt asking whether you want to edit a PKGBUILD (i.e. the scripts that specify how to download and install a package). All Linux system come with bash (Bourne-again shell) as default. While this shell is not bad, there are better alternatives. You have to decide whether investing the time to change the shell and learn the new syntax will make a difference for you. Since you will (hopefully) use the terminal quite often (from now on), I would recommend to at least try it :) My current favorite is the fish shell. The zsh (Z-shell) is highly customizable but its settings are a bit complicated. It has several advantages (file globbing, visual appearance, etc.) to bash. A good zsh helper is prezto: GitHub - sorin-ionescu/prezto: The configuration framework for Zsh). Install (trizen zsh) and use it (zsh). My favorite theme is agnoster. The fish shell is similar to zsh but comes with better defaults and an easier syntax. The omf package manager is great for installing additional plugins that simplify the shell usage. Check Oh-my-fish for an introduction. The shell is available in the standard repos and can be installed with trizen fish. A great way to get started is to call fish_config in a fish session to configure fish to your needs in a graphical browser window. My current theme is bobthefish. Compiling packages from source can take time. To speed up the process by enabling parallel compiling, set the MAKEVARS variable in /etc/makepkg.conf: MAKEFLAGS="-j$(nproc)". This will use all available cores on your machine for compiling. A note before the installation process: If you only have 8 GB of RAM, you need to temporary increase the size of your /tmp folder. Otherwise the tmp folder will run out of space due to all the package downloads and installations and you will face weird error messages if you do all the installations without a reboot. Increasing the /tmp folder temporarily can be done by sudo mount -o remount,size=20G,noatime /tmp. This increases the size for your current session to 20 GB. Usually the size is about half or your RAM size. The size will be resetted when you restart your machine next time. A note of caution: Try to avoid installing python libraries via pip. If you install libraries via pacman that have python dependencies, pacman will try to install the respective python-<package>. If you installed this package via pip before, you will face conflicts. First search if the package is available in the repos and if not, you can safely install it via pip. While already at python packages, QGIS needs some external python libraries for its plugins. Otherwise it will throw errors during startup. Here is a list of applications I use. Choose for yourself which could be helpful for your. Google Drive: I use the paid service insync. I use Notion which atm has not Linux Desktop app and can be used in the browser only. A note on Mailspring: If you are on battery, quit the app as it consume a lot of energy while steadily trying to sync your mails. Editors are an important topic so I devote an extra section to them. You can use editors to only edit text files but they can also be used as an IDE for coding. There are many editors out there, all loved by a certain group of people. Here’s a list of the most popular ones (this list does not claim to be complete). Also some of the listed apps are actually IDEs while some are only text editors. I currently use Neovim which is a fork of vim for quick editing on the command line. My general purpose IDE is Visual Studio Code and for R development I use RStudio. If you are on a KDE Desktop, LibreOffice may flicker black/white. This is caused by OpenGl. Additionally, I recommend to install the Papirus Icon theme for Libreoffice: trizen -S --noconfirm papirus-libreoffice-theme. This library caches all C compiled code, making reoccuring package installations that use C code a lot faster. Additionally, install ccache on your system: trizen ccache. See this blog post by Dirk Eddelbuettel as a reference. To use R from the shell without a prior defined mirror, you need the system libraries tcl and tk to launch the mirror selection popup (trizen -S tcl tk). Next, install either the “Intel MKL” or libopenblas to be used in favor of the standard “libRlapack/libRblas” libraries that are shipped with the default R installation. These libraries are responsible for numerical computations and have impressive speedups compared to the default libraries. Thanks [@marcosci](https://github.com/marcosci) for the hint. While the “Intel MKL” library is the fasted according to the benchmarks, its also much more complicated to install. libopenblas will automatically be used if its installed since the default R installation on Arch is configured with the --with-blas option (see section A.3.1 in https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-admin.html#Installation). I recommend installing the AUR package openblas-lapack as its package cominbing multiple libraries: trizen -S --noconfirm openblas-lapack. There is an AUR package that provides R compiled with intel-mkl named r-mkl. Note: The download size of intel-mkl is around 4 GB and takes a lot of memory during installation. Most of it will stored in the swap (around 10 GB) so make sure your SWAP space is > 10 GB. Also to successfully install intel-mkl, you need to temporarly increase the /tmp directory as intel-mkl requires quite some space: sudo mount -o remount,size=30G,noatime /tmp. Use trizen -s rstudio and pick your favorite release channel. During installation R will get installed as a dependency (if you have not already done so). Open RStudio and install the R package usethis (it will install quite a few dependencies, get a coffee) and then call usethis::browse_github_pat(). Follow the instructions to set up a valid GITHUB_PAT environment variable that will be used for installing packages from Github. Of course you it is not required to install all packages of a task view. You will never use all packages of a task view. In my opinion, however, it is pretty neat to have one command that installs (almost) all packages I use of a certain field. I do not care about the additional packages installed. For rJava we need to do sudo R CMD javareconf. Now you can install the ctv package and then call ctv::install.views("Spatial"). This will install all packages listed in the spatial task view. The easiest way (in my opinion) is to use SSH and usethis::create_from_github(). If you have never set a “ssh keygen pair” at your local machine, please do so by calling ssh-keygen -t rsa. If you already have a file named id_rsa.pub in your ~/.ssh folder at your local machine, skip this step! Otherwise it will override your existing one and may invalidate previous ssh connections you set up. You now have an id_rsa.pub file in a (hidden!) folder named .ssh within /home (at your local machine). (You can enable viewing hidden files/folders in the file-manager with the shortcut ALT + . (Dolphin) or CTRL + h (Nautilus)). The local directory in which you want to store your Github repos should have 777 permissions. This usually is not the case if you create the directory. If the permissions are wrong, usethis::create_from_github() will not be able to write files there. sudo chmod 777 ~/git. This object is then passed to the credentials argument in create_from_github(). you can also use create_from_github(repo = "pat-s/oddsratio", destdir = "~/git", credentials = git2r::cred_ssh_key()). The little overhead is really worth it: You have a working ssh setup and by reusing the command and just replacing the repo name the cloning off all your repos is done within minutes! While most people use R from within RStudio, it is important to have a proper command line setup. I often call R in a second session (besides RStudio) to update packages, run R CMD check on a package, etc. The native R command line that you get when typing R in your shell lacks a lot of features. Fortunately, there is radian. Its advantages are listed in the README of the repo. I’ve set an alias that maps r to radian. So whenever I type r into the console and hit enter, I get a “21st century ready” R console. The ~/.Rprofile holds several options that will be applied during R startup. However, specifying all custom functions, options and other calls in one R file can get messy. Fortunately, there is the startup package. You can put several .R files into the ~/.Rprofile.d directory. This way you can organize your custom R startup better. Also, by running startup::startup(debug = TRUE) you can actually see what happens if you start R. You can find my settings in my Dropbox. There are multiple approaches how to achieve this (Auto-mount network shares (cifs, sshfs, nfs) on-demand using autofs | Patrick Schratz, fstab - ArchWiki). Here is an example of a fstab setup for a sshfs (to Linux server) and cifs (to Windows server) mount. Append those lines to /etc/fstab; don’t overwrite the existing content as this will result in boot errors otherwise! (cifs) Depending how new the Windows server is, you do not need vers=1.0. (cifs) Store your login credentials for the windows server in a file, e.g. /etc/.smbcredentials.txt with contents being username = <username> and password = <password>. (sshfs) Copy .ssh/id_rsa to root/.ssh/ as the mount will be executed by the root user. Both advantage and disadvantage of using fstab are that it tries to mount the directories during boot. However, often this fails. Either because of a missing network connection at this point or because you need a VPN to access a server remotely. I won’t go into details of all options I used here. Check out the manual pages of the respective protocols if you are facing errors. If you use fstab, you can mount all mounts with sudo mount -a. The manual approach needs to be saved in a bash script and called from your shell with bash <filename>.sh. sudo pkill -kill -f "sshfs" Some operations in this file may be redundant or ineffective. Mount all mounts specified in <name of mount file>.sh. Again we use ssh, this time to log into remote servers rather than downloading Github repos. If you have never set a “ssh keygen pair” at your local machine, please do so by calling ssh-keygen -t rsa. Every time you log in via command line now, you will not be prompted for your password. You can easily connect to all servers you have access to with a little one-time effort. tmux is a terminal multiplexer that lets you create complex terminal arrangements. Additionally, you can use keybindings to quickly move between panes and a lot of extensions exists to save and restore layouts. One extension, namely tmuxinator gives you the power to write template files for server connections. This makes it possible to load several server connections with just one command. KDE is probably the DE (Desktop environment) that is most customizable. By default it comes with a Windows-like navigation panel. However, you can have a dock by using latte-dock. I used KDE for quite some time and I was satisfied with most of it. If you want to use an automatic login to a VPN and the networkmanager-daemon (e.g. Openconnect) does not store your password, try the network-manager-applet package. It is the GNOME network-manager and has (for whatever reason) no problems with storing the password. GNOME looks more like macOS. Clean, fresh, smooth. However, it needs a bit more love in my opinion to get a proper working setup. You need to find which gnome-extensions you need for your work. Most of them are present in the AUR. Also (and this is the biggest downside) it consumes a lot of memory. I ditched it in the end because of this. On my 16 GB machine, I could hardly have all my standard apps open with now hitting my RAM limit. In contrast, on my current Desktop Environment (i3) I really cross the 8 GB mark. trizen -Q | grep "gnome-shell" You can control the settings via the “Tweak tool” that comes with GNOME by default. Note that GNOME comes with Wayland as the desktop compositor library while KDE still uses X. I am not an expert in both but the future is said to be Wayland. You might run into some troubles with driver support for Wayland and there is much better documentation and help for X. You can also run GNOME with X if you are facing too many issues. Although the Linux kernel has a lot of power saving options, they are not all enabled by default. I prefer tlp as powertop often causes trouble with USB devices going into sleep mode. Also, applying the changes on boot is easier with tlp. Do trizen -S --noconfirm tlp and then follow the instructions on TLP - ArchWiki to configure it correctly. powertop though is useful to check the applied settings. Do sudo powertop and go to the “tunables” section and check if most settings are “GOOD” (most are “BAD” before applying tlp). A machine can crash any time. It is not only important to backup your data and scripts (or to have them stored in the cloud). You also want to backup all configurations of your apps so that you can restore them easily with a click. This is also important and useful if you want to sync all your configurations across multiple machines. mackup is a great tool for this. It syncs a variety of config files and uploads these to a cloud of your choice. Under the hood, the config files will get soft-linked to your cloud which means that updating it on one machine will also trigger a change on all other machines. On a new machine, you only need to run mackup restore to have all your settings back. Unfortunately it does not work with Windows but if you are reading this guide, you are most likely not on Windows anymore ;-). GitHub - cereda/arara: arara is a TeX automation tool based on rules and directives. An automatization tool for TeX: pac install arara-git. However, lately I use the latex-workshop extention in Visual Studio Code for all my LaTex stuff. trizen -S perl-log-dispatch perl-dbix-log4perl perl-file-homedir perl-unicode-linebreak. It’s also integrad in the latex-workshop extention in Visual Studio Code. I use the Dracula scheme in almost all applications. While its comes integrated into RStudio, here are installation instructions for Kate and Tilix. Alternatively I like the tomorrow-night-eighties theme lately. I enjoy using Fira Code. I use it as a coding font in all editors (monospace ftw) but also as a system wide font (the “medium” variant) with size 10. Another great monospace coding font is Iosevka. There are two awesome icon themes: Papirus and numix. Try them and choose for yourself. You will see what a tremendous impact good icons can have on your daily work. My overall desktop theme favorite is “Adapta”. Set it via “System Settings -> Workspace theme -> Desktop Theme”. For “Look and Feel” I prefer “Arc Dark”. To install these, simply click on “Get new looks” on the bottom right when you are in “System Settings -> Workspace theme”. Set the environment variable QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME to "qt5ct" (add set -gx QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME "qt5ct" in .config/fish/config.fish). Run qt5ct and change the settings to your liking. Note: The default GNOME font is “Cantarell Regular 11pt”. To select the default KDE “Adwaita” theme, you need to install it first: trizen -s adwaita-qt5. To create presentations I use the R package xaringan. Usually I convert the resulting HTML slides to PDF using decktape (install with trizen -s nodejs-decktape) and present the talk using impressive (install with trizen -s impressive). Some devices need to install the “synaptic touchpad drivers” to enable the a “soft-click” window activation. trizen -s xf86-input-libinput. pacmanity: Each time you install a package, this tool adds the package to a Github Gist. This Gist stores all of your installed packages. Here’s mine.

2019-04-21T04:55:47Z

https://pjs-web.de/post/arch-install-guide-for-r/

Purpose: Loss of integrity of either the inner or outer mitochondrial membrane results in the dissipation of the mitochondrial electrochemical gradient that leads to mitochondrial membrane permeability transition (mMPT). This study emphasizes the role of glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK-3β) in maintaining mitochondrial membrane potential, thus preventing mitochondrial depolarization (hereafter termed mitoprotection). Using 3-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-(1-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (SB216763), an inhibitor of GSK-3β, and drawing a distinction between it and 1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis[2-aminophenylthio] butadiene (UO126), an inhibitor of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation, the means by which GSK-3β influences mitoprotection in cultured human lens epithelial (HLE-B3) cells and normal, secondary cultures of bovine lens epithelial cells, maintained in atmospheric oxygen, was investigated. Methods: Virally transfected human lens epithelial cells (HLE-B3) and normal cultures of bovine lens epithelial cells were exposed to acute hypoxic conditions (about 1% O2) followed by exposure to atmospheric oxygen (about 21% O2). Specific antisera and western blot analysis was used to examine the state of phosphorylation of ERK and GSK-3β, as well as the phosphorylation of a downstream substrate of GSK-3β, glycogen synthase (GS, useful in monitoring GSK-3β activity). The potentiometric dye, 1H-benzimidazolium-5,6-dichloro-2-[3-(5,6-dichloro-1,3-diethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzimidazol-2-ylidene)-1-propenyl]-1,3-diethyl-iodide (JC-1), was used to monitor mitochondrial depolarization upon exposure of inhibitor treatment relative to the control cells (mock inhibition) in atmospheric oxygen. Caspase-3 activation was scrutinized to determine whether mitochondrial depolarization inevitably leads to apoptosis. Results: Treatment of HLE-B3 cells with SB216763 (12 µM) inactivated GSK-3β activity as verified by the enzyme’s inability to phosphorylate its substrate, GS. SB216763-treated cells were not depolarized relative to the control cells as demonstrated with JC-1 fluorescent dye analysis. The HLE-B3 cells treated with UO126, which similarly blocked phosphorylation of GS, were nevertheless prone to mMPT relative to the control cells. Western blot analysis determined that Bcl-2-associated X (BAX) levels were unchanged for SB216763-treated or UO126-treated HLE-B3 cells when compared to their respective control cells. However, unlike the SB216763-treated cells, the UO126-treated cells showed a marked absence of Bcl-2, as well as phosphorylated Bcl-2 relative to the controls. UO126 treatment of bovine lens epithelial cells showed similar results with pBcl-2 levels, while the Bcl-2 content appeared unchanged relative to the control cells. HLE-B3 and normal bovine lens cell cultures showed susceptibility to mMPT associated with the loss of pBcl-2 by UO126 treatment. Conclusions: Mitochondrial depolarization may occur by one of two key occurrences: interruption of the electrochemical gradient across the inner mitochondrial membrane resulting in mMPT or by disruption of the integrity of the inner or outer mitochondrial membrane. The latter scenario is generally tightly regulated by members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins. Inhibition of GSK-3β activity by SB216763 blocks mMPT by preventing the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore. UO126, likewise, inhibits GSK-3β activity, but unlike SB216763, inhibition of ERK phosphorylation induces the loss of intracellular pBcl-2 levels under conditions where intracellular BAX levels remain constant. These results suggest that the lenticular mitoprotection normally afforded by the inactivation of GSK-3β activity may, however, be bypassed by a loss of pBcl-2, an anti-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family. Bcl-2 prevents the translocation of BAX to the mitochondrial outer membrane inhibiting depolarization by disrupting the normal electrochemical gradient leading to mMPT. The dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential (∆Ψ) occurs in a process termed mitochondrial permeability transition (mMPT) . Lens epithelial cells represent an ideal model for studying mMPT because the lens thrives in a naturally hypoxic environment, and introducing atmospheric oxygen increases the formation of reactive oxygenated species (ROS), which, in turn, may cause a loss of ∆Ψ [1,2]. The current literature suggests that mMPT is mediated via the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore [3-5]. Studies have shown that glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK-3β) is immediately proximal to the mitochondrial permeability transition pore and acts as a point of integration for many protective signals . Thus, GSK-3β is a crucial enzyme involved in preventing mMPT through regulating the opening and closing of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore [7,8]. Additional studies involving ischemic reperfusion of cardiac myocytes have demonstrated that inhibiting GSK-3β can prevent the dissipation of ∆Ψ during oxidative stress [9-11]. One of the multiple protective proteins that converge on GSK-3β is the phosphorylated form of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) . Flynn et al. has previously demonstrated that after RNA suppresses ERK ∆Ψ collapses during oxidative stress in human lens epithelial cells (HLE-B3) cells. Furthermore, studies conducted on metastatic carcinoma cells have shown that phosphorylated ERK can cause GSK-3β to become phosphorylated at its inhibitory serine, thus inactivating the enzyme . Combined, these studies suggest that ERK can prevent the disruption of ∆Ψ by inactivating GSK-3β, presumably blocking the opening of the mitochondrial transition pore. However, as will be demonstrated in this study, inhibiting ERK phosphorylation can, itself, cause mitochondrial depolarization regardless of the activity of GSK-3β. To date, the role that GSK-3β plays regarding preventing mitochondrial depolarization has not been established in an ocular system. In the current study, we demonstrate that inactivating GSK-3β activity (as monitored by its failure to phosphorylate glycogen synthase) using the pharmacological inhibitor SB216763 has a regulatory function in preventing mitochondrial depolarization. Furthermore, this study will reveal that the mitoprotection normally afforded by GSK-3β inactivation may be circumvented by inhibiting ERK phosphorylation, which culminates in inhibition of Bcl-2 phosphorylation, an anti-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family. The Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase-1/2 (MEK1/2) inhibitor 1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis[2-aminophenylthio] butadiene (UO126) was purchased from Cell Signaling Technology (Danvers, MA). The glycogen synthase kinase inhibitor 3-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-(1-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (SB216763) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO). The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitors SP600125 (JNK Inhibitor II) and AS601245 (JNK Inhibitor V) were purchased from EMD Millipore Chemicals (Billerica, MA). Stock inhibitors were prepared by adding to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as follows: 20 mM for UO126, 16 mM for SB216763, 40 mM for SP600125, and 40 mM for AS601245. The mitochondrial dye 1H-benzimidazolium-5,6-dichloro-2-[3-(5,6-dichloro-1,3-diethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzimidazol-2-ylidene)-1-propenyl]-1,3-diethyl-iodide (JC-1) was obtained from Life Technologies (Grand Island, NY). All other reagents were acquired from other commercially available sources as previously reported . HLE-B3 cells, a human lens epithelial cell line immortalized by the SV-40 virus , were obtained from U. Andley (Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, St. Louis, MO). Authentication of the HLE-B3 cell line was verified with STR profile analysis (American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, VA), which confirmed that the cell line was human and of female origin, as originally reported by Andley et al. . A copy of the STR profile is available upon request. All studies with HLE-B3 cells were performed with prefrozen stock cells (maintained in liquid nitrogen) between passages 14 and 17. No experiments exceeded five passages beyond the initial stock cell passage. The cells were maintained in minimal essential media (MEM) containing 5.5 mM glucose supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum (Gemini Bio-Products, Sacramento, CA), 2 mM L-glutamine, nonessential amino acids, and 0.02 g/l gentamycin solution (Sigma-Aldrich) and cultured at 37 °C and 5% CO2–95% O2 . Cells were sub-cultured 4 to 5 days before the experiment and placed in MEM containing 20% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Twenty-four hours before the day of the experiment, the cells were switched to serum-free MEM. Unless otherwise specified, all experiments followed a common protocol: Cells were maintained in atmospheric O2 (about 21%) for 90 min, then switched to hypoxic conditions (about 1% O2) for 180 min, followed by reintroduction to atmospheric O2. Each experiment was executed with control DMSO-only cells (mock inhibitor treatment) and cells treated with inhibitors. The DMSO concentration per experiment never exceeded 0.05%. Bovine eyes obtained from a local abattoir were transported on ice to the laboratory, where the lenses were removed aseptically. Bovine lens epithelial cells (BLECs) were isolated and cultured in 20% bovine calf serum–supplemented Eagle’s minimal essential medium. All studies with BLECs were performed on cells of passage 2. Whole cell lysates were collected from HLE-B3 cultures using the hot protein extraction method as described by Henrich et al. . The cell cultures were rinsed at room temperature in final concentration: 150 mM sodium chloride, 10 mM sodium phosphate monobasic, 40 mM sodium phosphate dibasic), pH 7.4, before the monolayers were lysed with hot lysis buffer (about 100 °C), subsequently scraped into 1.7 ml micro centrifuge tubes, and immediately sonicated. The lysis buffer consisted of 0.12 M Tris-HCl (pH 6.8), 4% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and 20% glycerol . Part of the lysate samples were removed and used to determine the protein concentration. The protein concentration was calculated by using a DC protein assay kit from Bio-Rad (Hercules, CA). The lysate samples contained 25 µg of protein, 1X SDS laemmli buffer, and 1.5 µl 2-mercaptoethanol (Sigma-Aldrich). The lysate samples were then boiled for 5 min and the proteins resolved on 12% SDS-polyacrylamide gels. The proteins were then transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane (Bio-Rad). The electrophoresis and western blot apparatus were from Hoefer Scientific (Holliston, MA). For western blot analysis, nitrocellulose membranes were blocked with 0.1% BSA and 0.02% Tween-20 in Tris-buffered saline (TTBS) for 60 min. These membranes were probed overnight at 4 °C with primary antibodies at a 1:1,000 dilution. The blots were then rinsed in TTBS for 5 min 4X and then incubated in either goat anti-rabbit horseradish peroxidase conjugate or goat anti-mouse horseradish peroxidase conjugate at 1:10,000 dilution (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA) for 60 min at room temperature. Blots were again rinsed in TTBS (4X 5 min washes), and proteins were detected using a SuperSignal West Pico chemiluminescent kit from Pierce (Rockford, IL) . Probed membranes were visualized on a Fluoro Chem TM 8900 imager (Alpha Innotech, San Leandro, CA). Primary antibodies were purchased from Cell Signaling Technology (Danvers, MA). The antibodies used in this study included rabbit anti-Bcl-2-associated X (BAX), rabbit anti-glycogen synthase, rabbit anti-phosphoglycogen synthase (Ser641), rabbit anti-phospho-GSK-3β (Ser9), rabbit anti-GSK-3β, mouse anti-phospho-p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (Thr202/Tyr204), rabbit anti-p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase, rabbit anti-phospho-Bcl-2 (Ser70), rabbit anti-Bcl-2, and rabbit anti-phospho-c-Jun (Ser63). Rabbit anti-actin was provided by Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA). After the HLE-B3 cells were subjected to inhibitor treatments, the cells were stained with JC-1 to determine the mitochondrial membrane potential. JC-1 is a membrane permeant lipophilic dye that exists as J-aggregates in the mitochondrial matrix (red fluorescence) and as monomers in the cytoplasm (green fluorescence). During mitochondrial depolarization, the red J-aggregates flow out of the mitochondria and accumulate in the cytosol as green monomers . Thus, depolarization can be measured as an increasing green fluorescent/red fluorescent intensity ratio. The JC-1 assay was performed as follows. HLE-B3 cell monolayers were maintained in serum-free MEM with or without inhibitor treatment, brought through atmospheric oxygen into hypoxia, and then later switched back to atmospheric oxygen as described above. At the end of the hypoxic exposure, the hypoxic media on cells (oxygen depleted) were poured off, and fresh (oxygen rich) serum-free MEM (with or without an inhibitor) was added containing 5 µg/ml JC-1 for 30 min in a tissue culture incubator. The stained HLE-B3 cells were then rinsed twice using serum-free MEM, and fresh oxygenated serum-free MEM (with or without inhibitor, but no JC-1 dye) was added. A random field of cells was imaged every 2.5 min for 60 min using an X10 objective on a confocal microscope (Ziess LSM410, LSM410, Thornwood, NY). The excitation wavelength was 488 nm, and the microscope was set to simultaneously detect green emission (540 nm) and red emission (595 nm) channels using a dual bandpass filter . A caspase-3 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; Invitrogen, Camarillo, CA) was used to determine apoptosis. HLE-B3 cell monolayers were maintained in serum-free MEM with or without treatment and brought through our experimental protocol, which included atmospheric oxygen into 3 h of hypoxia, and then subsequently switched back to atmospheric oxygen. Treatment included SB216763 (12 µM), UO126 (10 µM), staurosporine (100 nM), or 0.05% DMSO vehicle maintained throughout the course of the experiment. Sixty minutes after atmospheric oxygen was reintroduced, all samples were then lysed using our lysis buffer (0.12 M Tris-HCl [pH 6.8], 4% SDS, and 20% glycerol). Part of the lysate samples was removed and used to determine the protein concentration. The protein concentration was calculated by using a DC protein assay kit (Bio-Rad). Apoptotic activity was determined following the manufacturer’s protocol using 10 µg of protein. Images from JC-1 confocal microscopy were separated into individual red and green channels using ImageJ (Baltimore, MD). The background fluorescence was removed from each image before the intensity was measured. The fluorescence intensity signal from each image was quantified for the entire image and expressed as the ratio of green fluorescent intensity over red fluorescent intensity. Western blot densitometry was determined using ImageJ, and related statistics was determined using GraphPad Prism 5 (La Jolla, CA). JC-1 analysis of the DMSO mock-treated cells exposed to various cell culture conditions was implemented to determine whether environmental stress (i.e., hypoxia, atmospheric oxygen, or reversal from one condition to the other) elicited mitochondrial depolarization. Four conditions were tested: cells grown in constant atmospheric oxygen, cells switched from atmospheric oxygen to hypoxia, cells switched from hypoxia to atmospheric oxygen, and cells maintained in continuous hypoxia. Under all tested conditions, the cells did not depolarize, indicating that continuous hypoxia, atmospheric oxygen, and switching cell culture environments (hypoxia to atmospheric oxygen or atmospheric oxygen to hypoxia) do not induce depolarization (Figure 1). To investigate the role GSK-3β plays in regulating cellular mitoprotection with cells maintained in hypoxia and subsequently exposed to atmospheric oxygen, HLE-B3 cells were treated with the GSK-3β inhibitor, SB216763. Non-phosphorylated GSK-3β is the active form of the enzyme, and in this form, the enzyme is capable of phosphorylating numerous downstream substrates including glycogen synthase (GS) . The phosphorylation of GS is thus a useful parameter for monitoring GSK-3β activity. Cultures of HLE-B3 cells were grown on 100 mm dishes until >85% confluence. Cells were treated with 12 µM SB216763 or mock-treated with DMSO (control). After 90 min in ambient oxygen, the cells were placed under hypoxic conditions (about 1% O2) for 3 h and then switched back to atmospheric oxygen (about 21% O2) for 3 h. Samples were collected from cells consistently maintained in atmospheric oxygen (control), immediately after hypoxic exposure and 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h of reexposure to atmospheric oxygen. Western blot analysis showed that the HLE-B3 cells subjected to SB216763 treatment had levels of GSK-3β and phosphoglycogen synthase kinase-3beta (pGSK-3β) similar to those of the controls (Figure 2). However, treatment with SB216763 resulted in inhibition of phosphorylation of GS. The failure to phosphorylate GS indicates the active site of GSK-3β was inactivated. The continued presence of pGSK-3β in the treated cells was because the autophosphorylation site of GSK-β was unaffected by SB216763 . A key question that we wished to address in this study was whether inhibiting GSK-3β activity positively correlated with preventing mitochondrial depolarization. In a recent related study , we observed that SB216763-treated cells monitored for mMPT using emission spectroscopy displayed suppressed mitochondrial depolarization relative to the control DMSO mock-treated cells. A parallel experiment, using the MEK1/2 inhibitor, UO126, was also conducted on HLE-B3 cells to determine whether inhibiting ERK1/2 phosphorylation had any impact on the phosphorylation of GSK-3β and GS. Lens cells were treated with 10 µM UO126 or DMSO and subsequently placed in hypoxic conditions for 3 h. Following the hypoxic exposure, new media were added to the culture dishes, and the cells were exposed to atmospheric oxygen for up to 3 h in the continued presence and absence of UO126. Lysates of these cells were collected from cells maintained consistently in atmospheric oxygen, after the hypoxic exposure and 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h after atmospheric oxygen was reintroduced. Analysis of the western blot membranes showed marked inhibition of p42 ERK1/2 and p44 ERK1/2 (Figure 3, upper panel, left) relative to the control cells. The loss of ERK1/2 phosphorylation did not affect the relative levels of GSK-3β or pGSK-3β compared with the DMSO controls (Figure 3, upper panel, right), whereas inhibiting ERK phosphorylation prevented the downstream phosphorylation of GS. Therefore, the configuration of the ratio of pGSK-3β/GSK-3β and pGS/GS appeared identical irrespective of whether SB216763 or UO126 was used (compare the bar graphs of Figure 2 and Figure 3). Given the similarity in the profile of the ratio of pGSK-3β/GSK-3β and pGS/GS, a critical question was whether UO126-treated cells, similar to SB216763-treated cells, likewise prevented mitochondrial depolarization relative to the control DMSO mock-treated cells or whether UO126-treated cells were prone to mMPT. Parallel studies were conducted using JC-1 analysis. HLE-B3 cells were treated with 10 µM UO126 or DMSO and then placed under hypoxic conditions for 3 h. The cells were exposed to the JC-1 dye for 30 min in atmospheric oxygen. Following the JC-1 application, fresh media with U0126 or DMSO were added to the culture plates. The cells were subsequently observed with confocal microscopy and the green and red intensities recorded every 2.5 min for 60 min. The green to red ratio of the UO126-treated cells markedly increased over the time course relative to the control cells, indicating the loss of ∆Ψ (Figure 3, bottom panel). As discussed above, comparison of the western blots for pGSK-3β/GSK-3β and pGS/GS between the two inhibitor treatments generated profiles that were similar, if not, identical (compare Figure 2 and Figure 3). However, whereas treatment with the GSK-3β inhibitor, SB216763, likely blocked opening of the mitochondrial membrane permeability transition pores, effectively suppressing depolarization , treatment with UO126 elicited profound depolarization relative to the control cells (Figure 3, bottom panel). We therefore examined in greater detail the outcome of each inhibitor on the BAX, Bcl-2, and pBcl-2 levels. Lysates from all experimental treatments were evaluated to determine the levels of Bcl-2, pBcl-2, and BAX. Western blot membranes from the SB216763- and UO126-treated cells relative to their respective controls indicated no alteration in the levels of BAX for the treated and control cells (Figure 4, upper panel and Figure 5, upper panel). The relative levels of pBcl-2 and Bcl-2 were not altered for the SB216763-treated cells compared with the control cells (Figure 4, middle panel). In contrast, the UO126-treated cells displayed significantly diminished levels of pBcl-2 under all culture conditions, including normoxic control, hypoxic exposure, and the reintroduction of oxygen subsequent to hypoxic exposure (Figure 5, middle panel); a significant loss of Bcl-2 was also observed but, interestingly, only during the reintroduction of oxygen phase (Figure 5, middle panel). Of particular note, treatment with UO126 (Figure 5, upper panel, left and bottom panels) but not with SB216763 (Figure 4, upper panel left and bottom panel) prevented the phosphorylation of c-JUN, through all culture conditions. The phosphorylation of c-Jun is a useful parameter for monitoring JNK activity. That is, UO126, while effectively inhibiting ERK phosphorylation (refer to Figure 3, upper panel, left), was nonetheless equally effective in inactivating JNK activity. This observation imposed a burden of proof upon us to determine whether the ERK pathway or the JNK pathway negatively impacted the pBcl-2 levels. HLE-B3 cells were treated with JNK inhibitors, SP600125 (5 µM, 10 µM, or 20 µM), AS601245 (5 µM, and 10 µM, 20 µM), or DMSO vehicle (control). Phosphorylated JNK is the active form of the enzyme, and in this form, the enzyme is capable of phosphorylating numerous downstream substrates, including c-Jun. The phosphorylation of c-Jun is thus a useful parameter for monitoring JNK activity. Treated and control cells were placed in hypoxic conditions for 3 h and then switched to atmospheric oxygen for 3 h. After the switch to atmospheric oxygen, the hypoxic media were removed from the cultures, and fresh oxygenated media containing either inhibitor or vehicle were added. Lysates of all the cells were collected after 3 h exposure in atmospheric oxygen. SP600125 and AP601245 markedly reduced phospho-c-Jun at all concentrations relative to the control cells (Figure 6). Further analysis indicated no change in the levels of BAX, Bcl-2, or pBcl-2 for cells treated with SP600125 or AS601245 versus cells treated with DMSO vehicle (Figure 6). A slight increase in the levels of pERK were observed with either inhibitor treatment cells relative to the control cells, the meaning of which is not immediately evident to us. However, whereas UO126 negatively impacted JNK activity (Figure 5), the JNK inhibitors did not cross-inactivate ERK phosphorylation (Figure 6). We therefore concluded that inhibition of the ERK pathway, not the JNK pathway, elicited the inhibition of phosphorylation of Bcl-2 (Figure 5). To determine if the inhibition of ERK or GSK-3β activity influence the onset of apoptosis, an active caspase-3 ELISA was implemented. As above, the HLE-B3 cells were treated with either 12 µM SB216763, 10 µM UO126, or 0.05% DMSO. The 100 nM staurosporine concentration was used as a positive activator of caspase-3. Cells were incubated for 90 min and then placed in hypoxia for 180 min. At the end of the hypoxic exposure, the media were removed from the treated and untreated cells, and fresh media were added. The cells were then placed in atmospheric oxygen for 60 min. SB216763 and U0126 were administered throughout the duration of the experiment. At the end of this 60 min period, all samples were lysed with lysis buffer. The DMSO mock-treated cells displayed minimal capase-3 activation relative to the cells treated with staurosporine (positive control), which showed a significant increase in caspase-3 activity (Figure 7). The UO126- and SB216763-treated cells demonstrated levels of capase-3 activity similar to the DMSO mock-treated cells (Figure 7). The lack of caspase-3 activity in the UO126- and SB216763-treated cells indicate that apoptosis did not occur in the presence of either inhibitor, although the UO126 treatment elicited mitochondrial membrane permeability transition (refer to Figure 3, bottom panel). To determine that our results (and consequent interpretations) had not been compromised by the viral transformation of the HLE-B3 cells, we repeated the UO126 treatment, as described above with HLE-B3 cells, with secondary cultures of normal bovine lens epithelial cells. Inhibition of p42 ERK1/2 and p44 ERK1/2 relative to the control cells was noted (Figure 8, upper panel). As with the HLE-B3 cells (Figure 3, upper panel, right), neither GSK-3β nor pGSK-3β (Figure 8, middle panel) was diminished, compared with the DMSO controls. Likewise, inhibition of ERK phosphorylation prevented the downstream phosphorylation of GS (compare Figure 3, upper panel, right and Figure 8, middle panel). We further investigated the effect of UO126 treatment on BAX, Bcl-2, and pBcl-2 levels using secondary cultures of bovine lens epithelial cells. Lysates were evaluated with western blot analysis to determine the levels of BAX, Bcl-2, and pBcl-2. Western blot membranes from the UO126-treated cells relative to their respective controls indicated some lane loading variability, but no obvious loss, in the levels of BAX (Figure 8, bottom panel), similar to that of the HLE-B3 cells (Figure 5, upper left panel). As with the HLE-B3 cells (Figure 5, upper left panel), the UO126-treated cells displayed a significant reduction in pBcl-2 under all culture conditions: normoxic control, hypoxic exposure, and the reintroduction of oxygen (Figure 8, bottom panel). Of interest, unlike the HLE-B3 cells (Figure 5, middle panel) where a significant loss of Bcl-2 was noted (but only during the reintroduction of the oxygen phase), there was no dramatic reduction in the levels of Bcl-2 between the treated and untreated cells under any condition (Figure 8, bottom panel). Finally, as first observed with HLE-B3 cells (Figure 5, upper left panel), UO126 elicited the inhibition of phosphorylation of c-JUN, through all culture conditions (Figure 8, bottom panel). Parallel studies with UO126 were conducted using JC-1 analysis. Normal bovine cell cultures were treated with 10 µM UO126 or DMSO and then placed under hypoxic conditions for 3 h. The cells were exposed to the JC-1 dye for 30 min in atmospheric oxygen. Following the JC-1 application, fresh media with U0126 or DMSO were added to the culture plates. The cells were subsequently observed with confocal microscopy and the green and red intensities recorded every 2.5 min for 60 min. As with the UO126-treated HLE-B3 cells (refer to Figure 3, bottom panel) the green to red ratio of the UO126-treated bovine lens cells markedly increased over the time course relative to the control cells, indicating the loss of ∆Ψ (Figure 9). To establish our reference baseline, it was first necessary to demonstrate that the experimental manipulation of switching cells from hypoxia to atmospheric oxygen or vice versa, from atmospheric oxygen to hypoxia, was not, of itself, sufficient oxidative stress to elicit mitochondrial depolarization (Figure 1). Once established that the physical manipulation of switching cell cultures from one oxygen pressure to another did not impose mitochondrial depolarization, we investigated the regulatory function of GSK-3β insofar as its ability to convey mitochondrial resistance to depolarization. First, we sought to clarify whether blocking GSK-3β’s autophosphorylation site or inactivating its catalytic active site conferred prevention of mitochondrial depolarization. To monitor the enzyme’s active, catalytic site, we scrutinized the phosphorylation of a downstream substrate of GSK-3β, glycogen synthase (GS). Our data revealed that SB216763 did not block the autophosphorylation of GSK-3β relative to control cells, but successfully eliminated the phosphorylation of GS, indicating that the catalytic site of GSK-3β was inactivated (Figure 2). Stated another way, the failure to phosphorylate GS, but not the autophosphorylation site of GSK-3β, appears to be a better predictor of whether inhibiting GSK-3β’s enzymatic activity positively correlates with blocking mitochondrial membrane permeability transition. In a recent report using the specific GSK-3β inhibitor, SB216763, we demonstrated that “inhibition of GSK-3β activity by SB216763 blocked mitochondrial membrane permeability transition relative to the slow but consistent depolarization observed with the control cells.” We concluded that inhibiting GSK-3β activity with the GSK-3β inhibitor SB216763 provides positive protection against mitochondrial depolarization . The role of GSK-3β and how it may be influenced by upstream signaling mechanisms has been the focus of numerous studies. “There is evidence in different cell types that anti-apoptotic responses can be mediated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and the Akt/PKB serine-threonine protein kinase, p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinases or extracellular response kinases (ERKs), Raf, and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA).” To further delve into this issue, using the lens cell model, we compared and contrasted the pGSK-3β /GSK-3β, as well as the pGS /GS western blot profiles of cells treated with an inhibitor of ERK against the known catalytic site inhibitor of GSK-3β, SB216763 (refer to above). We followed up with a JC-1 evaluation to monitor whether ERK inhibitor treatment prompted mitochondrial depolarization or whether, like SB216763, inhibiting ERK phosphorylation imposed resistance to mitochondrial depolarization . Similar to the treatment with SB216763 (Figure 2), treatment with UO126 had no effect on autophosphorylation of GSK-3β relative to the control cells, but successfully eliminated the phosphorylation of GS (Figure 3, upper panel, right). However, whereas treatment with SB216763 resulted in suppression of mitochondrial depolarization , unexpectedly, the UO126-treated cells displayed profound depolarization (Figure 3, bottom panel). We therefore sought to explain the apparent discrepancy between the similarity of the SB216763 and UO126 profiles of pGSK-3β/GSK-3β and pGS/GS and the observation that the former but not the latter (Figure 3) conferred resistance to mitochondrial depolarization. Western blot analysis of HLE-B3 cells treated with SB216763 or UO126 showed that the BAX levels were unchanged relative to the untreated, control cells (compare Figure 4 versus Figure 5). Moreover, the BAX content of the UO126-treated normal bovine lens epithelial cells was similar relative to the control cells (Figure 8, bottom panel). These data support the notion that BAX does not play a direct role in lens epithelial cell resistance to mitochondrial depolarization. We therefore directed our attention to answering the question, “Is it the continuous expression of Bcl-2 or the phosphorylation of Bcl-2 that confers resistance to mitochondrial depolarization?” The UO126-treated virally transformed HLE-B3 cells, and the normal bovine lens epithelial cells demonstrated a propensity to depolarize (compare Figure 3, bottom panel and Figure 9). We took advantage of our observation that UO126 treatment with HLE-B3 cells instigated a loss of Bcl-2 (but only under the condition of reintroduction of oxygen (refer to Figure 5) whereas UO126-treatment with normal bovine lens epithelial cells did not diminish the levels of Bcl-2 (Figure 8, bottom panel), this although with both types of cells, a profound loss of pBcl-2 was apparent under all conditions (compare Figure 5, top panel, left with Figure 8, bottom panel). Therefore, since the bovine cells depolarized without the loss of Bcl-2, we conclude that pBcl-2 confers anti-depolarization resistance in lens epithelial cells. Lei et al. 2002 [20-24] stated, “this phosphorylation has been reported to inhibit the pro-survival function of Bcl. This conclusion, however, is controversial as other studies have indicated that phosphorylation may enhance the anti-apoptotic actions of Bcl-2” [25-27]. Data from our study lend support to the latter statement in that the depolarization observed with UO126 treatment is caused by a lack of pBcl-2 (compare Figure 3 and Figure 5 with Figure 8 and Figure 9). The lack of pBcl-2 likely results in a loss of Bcl-2’s antiapoptotic function as reported by others. Cellular apoptosis is regulated, in part, by maintaining a balance between the levels of the prosurvival protein, Bcl-2, and the proapoptotic protein, BAX. BAX is a proapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family. Activation of BAX causes its translocation to the mitochondrial outer membrane and induces mitochondrial depolarization. However, before BAX can initiate this process, the protein must first translocate from the cytoplasm to the mitochondria. Bcl-2 influences apoptosis by regulating the translocation of BAX to the mitochondria [28,29]. Any decrease in the levels of Bcl-2 (or in our case, pBcl-2) is likely to permit the translocation of BAX from the cytosol to the mitochondria and induce mitochondrial depolarization. Disruption of the integrity of the outer mitochondrial membrane would then be the cause of the initiation of the loss of ∆Ψ, often cited as an early predictor of the onset of apoptosis. Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that UO126 inhibits not only ERK phosphorylation but also JNK activity (unpublished data). Studies have shown that pJNK mediates the phosphorylation of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 [20-25]. Thus, as this relates to the studies described here, one possible explanation for the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential could have been attributed to the loss of JNK activity. To determine whether this was the case, we analyzed JNK activity with UO126 treatment. A common measure of JNK activity is to monitor the phosphorylation of one of its downstream substrates, c-Jun, where inhibition of the phosphorylation of c-Jun indicates inactivation of JNK. The level of phospho-c-Jun was similar with SB216763 treatment relative to control cells (Figure 4). UO126 inhibited c-Jun phosphorylation (Figure 5). Moreover, the resulting inhibition of c-Jun phosphorylation with treatment by UO126 was accompanied by an apparent loss of pBcl-2, thus suggesting a potential connection between the JNK pathway and mitoprotection (Figure 5). UO126 treatment, since it inhibited JNK activity, complicated our ability to definitively interpret the data, in that our results would not permit us to immediately distinguish whether the inhibition of phosphorylation of ERK or JNK influenced the downstream reduction in pBcl-2 levels. It therefore became necessary to determine which of the two pathways, ERK or JNK, was influencing the phosphorylation of Bcl-2. HLE-B3 cells were treated with two specific inhibitors of JNK activation. Analysis of the levels of phospho-c-Jun revealed that SP600125 and AS601245 effectively reduced the levels of phospho-c-Jun relative to that of the controls without affecting the pBcl-2 levels (Figure 6). Collectively, the data reported in Figure 5 and Figure 6 allowed us to assert that inactivating JNK does not influence Bcl-2 phosphorylation. Instead, inhibiting ERK causes the loss of Bcl-2 phosphorylation. We therefore conclude that inhibiting ERK phosphorylation overrides the mitoprotection otherwise afforded by SB216763 presumably because of the loss of pBcl-2 (Figure 5 and Figure 8). Mitochondrial depolarization is often cited as an early indicator of the onset of apoptosis. However, our studies establish that despite the mitochondrial depolarization initiated by UO126 treatment for HLE-B3 cells (Figure 3, bottom panel) in conjunction with the loss of pBcl-2 (Figure 5), the degree of the mitochondrial membrane permeability transition was at an insufficient level to induce apoptosis in human lens epithelial cells, as indicated by the lack of active caspase-3 (Figure 7). Our result is not all that unexpected because it has previously been shown that there is considerable intracellular heterogeneity in mitochondrial membrane potential of mitochondria . In effect, the degree of mitochondrial depolarization as indicated by the JC-1 dye represents the collective states of depolarization from a heterogeneous population of mitochondria. We conclude that one must exercise caution when equating mitochondrial depolarization with the onset of apoptosis. Cellular apoptosis/necrosis should be determined only after examination with annexin V/propidium iodide, DNA fragmentation, or caspase-3 or -9 cleavage, or some combination thereof. In conclusion, the studies presented here further support our previous assertion that GSK-3β is a critical upstream regulator of mitochondrial membrane permeability transition for human lens epithelial cells cultured in atmospheric oxygen. In this study, we have established a direct relationship between the active catalytic site of GSK-3β and the normal functioning of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore to open and close. However, inhibiting ERK phosphorylation indirectly overrides the otherwise protective influence of GSK-3β to resist mitochondrial membrane permeability transition through a concomitant loss of pBcl-2 levels leading to mitochondrial depolarization. Restated, the fact that SB216763 and UO126 prevent the phosphorylation of GS suggests that GS phosphorylation, itself, may be regulated by one of the many signaling pathways activated by ERK independent of GSK-3β. At the same time, the ERK pathway also likely independently influences Bcl-2 phosphorylation. The mechanism by which UO126 administration leads to preventing phosphorylation of Bcl-2 is currently not understood and warrants further investigation. Recent studies in our laboratory have shown that UO126 treatment elicits a significant decrease in the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) but only upon reintroduction from hypoxia to atmospheric oxygen (unpublished observation). However, UO126 does not have an effect on VEGF expression in hypoxia-maintained cells . VEGF acts as a prosurvival factor in hypoxic lens epithelial cells by maintaining consistent expression of the prosurvival protein Bcl-2, which likely prevents the translocation of cytosolic BAX to the outer mitochondrial membrane, thus preventing the initiation of mitochondrial depolarization . Our laboratory is interested in regulating VEGF as a cell survival protein. Current studies in the laboratory are directed toward elucidating the potential role of GSK-3β in managing the sustained expression of VEGF and how VEGF expression regulates the levels of Bcl-2 and its phosphorylated counterpart as it influences downstream impact on lenticular mitoprotection in atmospheric oxygen (manuscript in preparation). The authors express their gratitude to Lawrence Oakford for the preparation of all figures and images in this manuscript and to I-Fen Chang for technical support in obtaining the JC-1 image analysis data.

2019-04-24T09:55:34Z

http://www.molvis.org/molvis/v19/2451/

The South Fork of the American River is everyone’s favorite California river! As the river flows through the heart of Gold Country, it includes rapids which are challenging yet not extreme. There is plenty of time for you and your rafting companions to indulge in family or group bonding, playful joke telling, and spirited water fighting. In-between the rapids, there’s always a little time for a refreshing swim in the cool, clear water. The South Fork’s long season and its close proximity to Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite and the San Francisco Bay Area make this an extremely accessible river trip. The Chili Bar half-day trip is named after a population of Chileans who settled on the South Fork of the American during the California Gold Rush; the trip is short and sweet, with plenty of adventure for both novice and experienced rafters! The South Fork’s exciting Class III whitewater is near-perfect fun for the whole family! The water on the South Fork is released during summer months from hydroelectric facilities located upstream. Such water releases are not subject to the control of El Dorado County or commercial rafting companies. To increase your safety, we expect everyone to watch our 23-minute Whitewater Orientation video before joining us. Watch at www.oars.com/experience/safety/ or call 800-346-6277 to request a free DVD. Please don’t leave home without watching. We meet near our camp store at the OARS American River Outpost at 9:00 AM. Roads around here are winding, so please be sure to allow for plenty of travel time. Our river-side campground and base of operations is in the heart of the twin towns of Lotus and Coloma. Our peaceful hideaway is surrounded by plenty of history, recreational opportunities and cultural activities. Once everyone has arrived, the guides will deliver an orientation and safety talk and fit you with your safety gear. We will then take a 25-minute shuttle ride to the Chili Bar put-in point, where your boats and the rest of your OARS crew await. After practicing your paddle strokes with your guide, we will head downriver to the infamous rapid named Meatgrinder! Beautiful river scenes stretch out around us with redtail hawks soaring overhead and the occasional river otter swimming near shore. Exciting rapids like Racehorse Bend, Maya and Triple Threat await us on this enjoyable run! After a short section of class I-II whitewater, we find ourselves at the notorious “Troublemaker” rapid. This solid, class III rapid packs an exhilarating ride. Be sure to smile as we make our way through this rapid as there are often onlookers watching from the shore. After floating by the historic town of Coloma and the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, where gold was originally discovered in 1848, your trip begins to wind down—but not without a few more stories from your personable and knowledgeable guide. Once we return to the campground, we encourage you to stick around awhile: explore our nature trails, play campground games or just savor your time along the river. We’ll meet you near our camp store at 9:00 AM at the OARS American River Outpost, located at 7330 River Park Drive, behind Hotshot Imaging’s store in Lotus. Click here for a Google Map. From Sacramento on U.S. Hwy 50: Follow Hwy 50 east toward Placerville and South Lake Tahoe. Take the Ponderosa Road exit (Exit #37), turn left onto Ponderosa/S. Shingle Road and cross over the freeway. At the second stop light, take the right turn on N. Shingle Rd toward Coloma/Lotus. After about 4.5 miles N. Shingle Road turns into Lotus Road—continue going straight for about 6 more miles. As you approach Lotus, pass through the town’s first stop sign and continue to the 3-way stop sign intersection with Hwy 49. Turn left onto Hwy 49 (north) and cross the bridge over the South Fork of the American. Immediately after crossing the river, you will see the “River Park” shopping center on the left, with signs for Hotshot Imaging. Please use the center’s second entrance, where a left-turn lane is provided at River Park Drive. Look to the back of the center, where you will see the entrance to our American River Outpost. From South Lake Tahoe: Take Hwy 50 west to Placerville. Turn right on Hwy 49 (north) and follow the directions from Placerville listed below. From Placerville: Proceed north on winding Hwy 49 for about 9.5 miles (about 20—25 minutes) through the town of Coloma. Just past Coloma and the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, cross the bridge over the South Fork of the American. Right after crossing the river, you will see the “River Park” shopping center on the left, with signs for Hotshot Imaging. Please use the center’s second entrance, where a left-turn lane is provided at River Park Drive. Look to the back of the center, where you will see the entrance to our campground. From Reno/North Lake Tahoe: Take Interstate 80 west to Auburn. Take Hwy 49 south from Auburn for about 17 miles (about 30 minutes), arriving in the Coloma/Lotus area. After passing through Lotus’ 3-way stop sign (intersection with Marshall Grade Road), continue past the gas station and look for us behind the “River Park” shopping center on the right. Before Hotshot Imaging’s building, turn right onto River Park Drive and look for the entrance to our campground in the back of the retail center. The closest major airport is in Sacramento (SMF), which is served by most major airlines and car rental companies. Oakland (OAK), San Francisco (SFO) and Reno (RNO) are within a 3-hour drive. One night of FREE camping before or after your trip is available at the OARS American River Outpost in Lotus for everyone who goes rafting with us; additional nights of camping and all nights of camping for non-rafters are $10 per person/night. Advance reservations are required. Please ask an Adventure Consultant about the details of staying at our beautiful riverside camp or click here. We recommend you make reservations well in advance in order to guarantee lodging. You may want to check one week prior to your trip for an up-to-date weather forecast. We recommend you check the following web sites for weather in Coloma, CA: www.weather.com or www.accuweather.com. Ability to remain seated and balanced while in a whitewater craft while holding on with at least one hand. Wear a Type V Coast Guard-approved personal floatation device (maximum chest size of 56 inches). Wearing leg straps may be required to ensure proper fit. Where required, properly wear a helmet. Ability to independently board and disembark a boat four to ten times each day. This may require stepping into the boat, and then maneuvering your body over and across tubes and fixed objects into a seated position. Ability to independently navigate shoreline terrain, including safely maneuvering around and across boulders, rocks, and slippery and uneven surfaces, under low branches, and around vegetation. This includes the ability to maintain your balance near precipitous ledges or cliffs. Ability to independently swim in whitewater or swift currents while wearing a PFD. This includes being an active participant in your own rescue, including having the ability to (a) keep your airway passages sealed while underwater, and regain control of your breathing when being submitted to repeated submersion under waves or currents; (b) orient yourself to new “in-river” surroundings; (c) reposition yourself in the water to different swimming positions; (d) swim aggressively to a boat or to shore in whitewater; (e) receive a rescue rope, paddle, or human assistance, and possibly let go of the same; (f) get out from under an overturned boat. Ability to swim 100 yards in flat water while wearing a PFD. Ability to assist another passenger who has fallen out of the boat by pulling them back in. It is very important that each trip participant take an active role in their own safety. You will likely encounter wilderness conditions that you are unfamiliar with, and those conditions may change rapidly. It is critical to pay attention at all times, to be aware of your surroundings, and to avoid taking unnecessary risks. Even a non-life threatening injury in a wilderness setting can become a major emergency for you, and can endanger the entire group. Swimming alone or hiking alone is discouraged. Excessive alcohol consumption or illicit drug use is not tolerated. Using common sense, and following both the explicit instruction and the lead of your guides can go a long way towards keeping yourself and the group safe. Some obvious things to avoid in camp and on shore (by way of example) are: walking around without shoes in camp, approaching wild animals, not paying attention to what is above or around your tent site that could harm you, not paying attention to hazards such as poison ivy and rattlesnakes, and walking near precipitous ledges. The best choice is an amphibious shoe that drains water, protects your toes and won’t come off in swirling current. A retired pair of athletic shoes can work well, too. Sport sandals with a heel strap are a good option. Find professional-grade options made by Chaco®, the official footwear sponsor of OARS guides. We recommend starting with bathing suit/swim trunks and a lightweight synthetic shirt, and then adding layers of synthetic long underwear and fleece as needed. Protecting yourself from the sun should be taken very seriously! A hat, sunscreen, lip balm and sunglasses are a must. In many cases, a long-sleeve shirt is the best method for preventing sunburn on your upper body. Light-weight long pants may also be appropriate to protect your legs. ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR CHANGING WEATHER! Especially during the months of April, May and early June, California can experience extreme changes in weather. Wearing cotton items on a river trip is only appropriate when the weather is hot. Wet cotton will chill your body temperature. Provided (early-season) wetsuits do not include “wetsuit booties” – please bring your own, or wear wool socks with tennis shoes as a good alternative. Please let us know if you have any medical issues we will need to consider in planning your trip. No dogs are allowed at the OARS American River Outpost. You may want to bring a small waterproof bag to hold your camera and other items you might need during the day. While most rafting-specific bags are designed to be waterproof, you may also wish to place your camera in a durable, waterproof casing for additional protection. Disposable waterproof and panorama cameras are also a fun option. There are several professional companies taking photos of each raft at some of the South Fork’s larger rapids, which provide great action shots. These companies are not affiliated with OARS and you will need to contact them separately to purchase these pictures. Hotshot Imaging is conveniently based in Lotus right next door to our campground; visit them after your South Fork of the American trip at their storefront on Hwy 49 to order pictures. (To order your photos online, you must request the photo link for your trip from Hotshot Imaging.) For more information, visit http://www.hotshotimaging.com/ or call (530) 621-0400. Each participant will need to complete the required trip forms online and submit them no later than 30 days prior to your trip, or immediately if booking within 30 days. Final and full payment is due at the time of booking. We advise that you leave your valuables at home or in your private vehicle and take on the river only what’s absolutely necessary. We also recommend you leave dry shoes and clothing in your car to ensure a comfortable drive home. Tipping is optional, but appreciated by our staff. If you are wondering how much to tip, you may consider that we operate in a service industry with a host of behind-the-scenes contributors in addition to the guides on your trip. In general, we suggest a gratuity based on 10 – 15% of the trip cost. It is customary on OARS trips for gratuities to be given to the Trip Leader in the form of cash or personal check, who will then distribute appropriately amongst all the guides and support staff. In reviewing your statement, you’ll notice a $1/person/day donation to the American River Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the Forks of the American River. One-hundred percent of your tax-deductible donation goes toward conserving the American Rivers watershed. This donation is voluntary and may be removed from your invoice if you choose not to participate. Full payment is required at the time of booking. Payments may be made by check, money order or Visa/Mastercard (American Express and Discover incur a 3% processing fee). Receipt of the payment signifies acceptance of our complete Terms and Conditions. Individual departures and trip capacity are strictly limited by the managing agency. Cancelling your trip will incur cancellation fees because holding spots for you means we are likely turning others away who would like to book the trip. If you find it necessary to cancel your trip, please notify us as soon as possible. We do not make exceptions to the cancellation policy for any reason, including weather, wildfire, terrorism, civil unrest or personal emergencies. There is no refund for arriving late or leaving a trip early. 29 to 3 days prior Payment can be transferred to another trip (within the same year) for $15/person transfer fee. No refund. Please note that different deposit/cancellation policies may apply for charter groups. Refer to the group organizer’s confirmation e-mail for details. Under most circumstances, if you are of an adventurous spirit and in reasonably good health, you should have no problem enjoying an OARS trip. People with medical conditions, including pregnancy, should have a physician’s approval before taking an adventure travel trip. Everyone is required to sign a standard liability release form before the trip, acknowledging awareness that there are inherent risks associated with the trip. Due to the nature of the activities, a condition of your participation is that you will sign this form and return it to our office before the trip begins. Anyone who refuses to sign the form will not be allowed to participate, and consistent with OARS cancellation policy, there will be no refund of the trip fees at that time. O.A.R.S. West, Inc. and cooperating agencies act only in the capacity of agent for the participants in all matters relating to transportation and/or all other related travel services, and assume no responsibility however caused for injury, loss or damage to person or property in connection with any service, including but not limited to that resulting directly or indirectly from acts of God, detention, annoyance, delays and expenses arising from quarantine, strikes, theft, pilferage, force majeure, failure of any means of conveyance to arrive or depart as scheduled, civil disturbances, government restrictions or regulations, and discrepancies or change in transit over which it has no control. Reasonable changes in itinerary may be made where deemed advisable for the comfort and well being of the participants, including cancellation due to water fluctuation, insufficient bookings (this trip requires a minimum of 4 guests), and other factors. There is risk in whitewater rafting, particularly during high-water conditions. Rafts and kayaks can capsize. You could be swept overboard. Your guide will make every attempt to assist, but you must be strong and agile enough to “self-help” and “float-it-out” without further endangering yourself or others. We reserve the right not to accept passengers weighing more than 260 pounds or with a waist/chest size exceeding 56 inches. We may decide, at any time, to exclude any person or group for any reason we feel is related to the safety of our trips. We are experienced at accommodating people with various disabilities. Please give us an opportunity to make you feel welcome. We need to discuss any special requirements ahead of time. On advancement of deposit the depositor agrees to be bound by the above recited terms and conditions. Prices subject to change without notice.

2019-04-21T00:14:30Z

https://www.oars.com/before-you-go/south-fork-american-river-chili-bar-half-day/

The Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals (hereafter the "Association") is a business league of companies with common business interests in radionuclides, radiochemicals and other radioactive products primarily used in medicine and life science research, and radiopharmaceuticals. The purpose of the Association is: 1) to monitor and proactively respond to and to assist in regulatory and legislative processes at the International, U.S. Federal, State, or Local government levels that ensure reasonable controls on the development, manufacture, transportation, use, service, and disposal of radioactive products; 2) to develop and encourage the use of industrial standards to assure safe, reliable and high quality products and services; and 3) to promote and maintain public awareness of the benefits of these products and services to society. to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth above. Notwithstanding any provision of the Articles of Incorporation of the Association or any other provision of these By-Laws, the Association shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States internal revenue law). Except as provided otherwise by the Articles of Incorporation or by these By-Laws, the Association shall have all powers that a not for profit corporation has when organized under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended, and shall have all such additional powers as are permitted by any applicable law. The registered office of the Association in the State of Delaware shall be located at 1209 Orange Street, in the City of Wilmington, County of New Castle. The name of its registered agent is the Corporation Trust Company. The Association may have other offices within or without the State of Delaware as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine. Section 4.1. Classes of Members, Qualifications. The Association shall have two classes of members. Section 4.1.1. Full Member. Any North American company that is in the business of manufacturing, distributing, or compounding radionuclides for biomedical research, or radiopharmaceuticals, or radioactive sources, has paid applicable membership dues, and has a representative on the Board of Directors shall be a full member of the Association for the term specified by the Board of Directors. A vote of greater than two-thirds of the directors is required for membership approval. Section 4.1.2. Affiliate Member. Any North American company that is in the business of manufacturing, distributing, or compounding radionuclides for biomedical research, radiopharmaceuticals, or radioactive sources, and any North American company that is in the business of manufacturing pharmacologically active agents used in Nuclear Medicine procedures, has paid applicable membership dues, and does not have a representative on the Board of Directors; shall be an affiliate member of the Association for the term specified by the Board of Directors. A vote of greater than two-thirds of the directors is required for membership approval. Section 4.2. Dues. The Board of Directors may determine the amount of an initial membership fee, if any, and annual dues payable to the Association by members. Section 4.3. Voting Rights. Each full member shall be entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the members. Section 4.4. Resignation, Removal. Any member may resign by filing a written resignation with the Secretary/ Treasurer. Any member may be removed, with just cause (such as nonpayment of dues), by affirmative vote of a majority of the directors, provided that thirty days' written notice is given to such member in advance of such vote and provided that such member is offered an opportunity to be heard by the Board of Directors before such vote. Section 4.5. Reinstatement. Upon written request signed by a former member and filed with the Secretary/Treasurer, the Board of Directors may by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the directors reinstate such former member to membership upon such terms as the Board of Directors may deem appropriate. Section 4.6. Annual Meeting. The annual meeting of the members for the election of Directors of the Association and for the transaction of such other business as may properly be brought before the meeting shall be held at such times as the Board of Directors may provide. Section 4.7. Special Meetings. Special meetings of members may be called by the Board of Directors or such officer as the Board of Directors may designate. Section 4.8. Place of Meeting. All meetings of members shall be held at such place, either within or without the State of Delaware, as the Board of Directors may provide. Section 4.9. Notice of Meetings. Written or printed notice, and an agenda stating the place, day, and hour of the meeting, and in the case of a special meeting or one required by law or by these By-Laws, stating the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called, shall be delivered to each member of record entitled to vote at such meeting not less than ten (10) nor more than ninety (90) days before the date of the meeting. Such notice shall be given by or at the direction of the Chairman, the Secretary/Treasurer, or the officer or persons calling the meeting. Section 4.10. Action Without a Meeting. (1) Any action required by law to be taken at any annual or special meeting of members entitled to vote, or any other action which may be taken at a meeting of members entitled to vote, may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice, and without a vote if a consent in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed (i) by all members entitled to vote with respect to the subject matter thereof, or (ii) by the members having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all members entitled to vote thereon were present and voting. Prompt notice in writing of the taking of such action without a meeting shall be delivered to those members entitled to vote who have not consented in writing. Such consents shall be delivered to the Association by delivery to its registered office in the State of Delaware, its principal office, or the Secretary/Treasurer of the Association. Delivery made to the Association's registered office shall be by hand or certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. Section 4.11. Action at a Meeting. If a quorum is present, the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes present and voted, either in person or by proxy, shall be the act of the full members, unless the vote of a greater number is required by law, the Articles of Incorporation, or these By-Laws. Section 4.12. Quorum. Unless otherwise provided by the Articles of Incorporation or these By-Laws, full members of the Association holding one-half of the votes entitled to be cast on a matter, represented in person or by proxy, shall constitute a quorum for consideration of such matter at a meeting of full members except that in the absence of a quorum, a majority of the full members present may adjourn the meeting to another time without further notice. Withdrawal of full members from any meeting shall not cause failure of a duly constituted quorum at that meeting. Section 4.13. Proxies. A full member entitled to vote may vote in person or by proxy executed in writing by the member or that member's duly authorized attorney-in-fact. No proxy shall be valid after eleven months from the date of its execution, unless otherwise provided in the proxy. The proxy must state the issue or motion that the vote is intended to cover. Section 5.1. General Powers. The affairs of the Association shall be managed by or under the direction of its Board of Directors. Section 5.2. Number and Qualifications. The maximum number of directors of the Association shall be the number of full members of the Association. Section 5.3. Appointment and Tenure. Directors shall be elected by vote of the members at each annual meeting, and each director shall hold office until the next annual meeting of members and until a successor has been elected and qualified. If the election of directors shall not be held at such meeting, such election shall be held as soon thereafter as conveniently possible. Elections of directors may be conducted by mail. Section 5.4. Resignation. A director may resign at any time by written notice delivered to the Secretary/ Treasurer of the Association. A resignation is effective when the notice is delivered unless the notice specifies a date later than the date of delivery. Section 5.5. Presiding Officer. The presiding officer at any meeting of the Board of Directors shall be the Chairman of the Board, or, in his absence, the Vice Chairman, or, in the absence of both the Chairman and the Vice Chairman, any other director elected chairman by vote of a majority of the directors present at the meeting. Section 5.6. Executive Director. The Board of Directors shall contract with an individual, who is not a member of the Board, to serve as the Executive Director. The Executive Director shall perform functions as assigned by the Board of Directors. Section 5.7. Vacancies. A vacancy in the Board of Directors by reason of resignation, death, or removal shall be filled, as necessary, by the Board of Directors, taking into account the nomination of the member company represented by the former director. Any vacancy occurring in the Board of Directors by reason of an increase in the number of directors may be filled by the Board of Directors. A director elected to fill a vacancy shall be elected for the unexpired term of his or her predecessor in office or, if the director is elected because of an increase in the number of directors, the term of such director shall expire at the next annual meeting of members entitled to vote. Section 5.8. Regular Meetings. A regular annual meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held without notice other than these By-Laws, immediately after, and at the same place as, the annual meeting of members. The Board of Directors may provide by resolution the time and place, either within or without the State of Delaware, for the holding of additional regular meetings of the Board without notice other than such resolution. Section 5.9. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by or at the request of the Chairman of the Board and may be conducted either within or without the State of Delaware. Section 5.10. Notice of Meetings. Notices and agenda of any special meeting of the Board of Directors shall be given in accordance with these By-Laws at least three (3) days in advance thereof by written notice to each director at the address shown for each director on the records of the Association. Neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors need be specified in the notice or waiver of notice of such meeting, unless specifically required by law, the Articles of Incorporation, or these By-Laws. Section 5.11. Action Without a Meeting. Any action required by law to be taken at a meeting of the Board of Directors, or any other action which may be taken at a meeting of the Board of Directors or a committee thereof, may be taken without a meeting, if a consent setting forth the action so taken shall be signed by all directors or by all the members of such committee entitled to vote with respect to the subject matter thereof, as the case may be. The consent shall be evidenced by one or more written approvals, each of which sets forth the action taken and bears the signature of one or more directors or committee members. All approvals evidencing the consent shall be delivered to the Secretary/Treasurer to be filed in the records of the Association. The action taken shall be effective when all the directors or the committee members, as the case may be, have approved the consent unless the consent specifies a different effective date. Any such consent shall have the same force and effect as a unanimous vote. Section 5.12. Quorum. One-half of the directors then in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting, provided if less than one-half of the directors are present, a majority of the directors then present may adjourn the meeting to another time without further notice. Withdrawals of directors from any meeting shall not cause failure of a duly constituted quorum at that meeting. Section 5.13. Action at a Meeting. The act of the majority of the directors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the Board of Directors, unless the act of a greater number is required by law, by the Articles of Incorporation, or by these By-Laws. Section 5.14. Proxies. At all meetings of the Board of Directors, a director may vote by proxy executed in writing by the director and authorizing a director in attendance at the meeting to act for such absent director or by designating a person to act as a director, in writing, on his/her behalf. A director may confer a limited or general proxy, which shall be valid only for the meeting and on such date identified therein, unless that meeting is continued for lack of a quorum. Before or at the time of the meeting, such proxy shall be filed with the Executive Director and the Chairman of the Board and shall state clearly the scope of authority granted. Any copy, facsimile or other reliable reproduction of such writing may be used for any and all purposes for which the original writing could be used, provided such writing is a complete reproduction of the original writing. Section 6.1. Committees of the Board of Directors. A majority of the Board of Directors may create one or more additional committees of the Board, which committees, to the extent specified by the Board and not otherwise prohibited by law, may have and exercise authority of the Board of Directors in the Management of the Association. The designation of any committee and the delegation thereto or authority shall not operate to relieve the Board of Directors, or any individual director, of any responsibility imposed upon it or him by these By-Laws. Section 6.2. Action of Committees of the Board. A majority of a committee of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum. The Act of a majority of committee members present and voting at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the committee. A committee may act by unanimous consent in writing without a meeting in the manner provided by these By-Laws for written consents of the Board of Directors. Some or all committee members may participate in and act at any meeting through the use of a conference telephone or other similar communications equipment. No member of a committee of the Board may act by proxy. Subject to these By-Laws and to action by the Board of Directors, a majority of the members of a committee of the Board shall determine the time and place of meetings and the notice required for meetings. Section 6.3. Advisory Committee. The Board of Directors may create one or more advisory committees or other advisory bodies and appoint persons to such advisory committees or bodies who need not be directors. Such advisory committees or bodies may not act on behalf of the Association or bind it to any action but may make recommendations to the Board of Directors or the officers. Section 6.4. Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall be a standing committee of the Association. The Nominating Committee shall have the following responsibilities: to recruit qualified candidates for elective positions of the Association; and to recommend removal of a director. Section 6.5. Working Committees. The Board of Directors may from time to time, in its discretion, by resolution passed by a majority of the Board of Directors, designate, and appoint other committees of one or more directors which shall have and may exercise such lawfully delegable powers and duties conferred or authorized by the resolutions of designation and appointment. The Board shall have power at any time to change the members of any such committee, to fill vacancies, and the discharge any such committee. Section 6.6. Special Interest Committees. The Board of Directors, at their discretion, can also create Special Interest Committees, in which each Director is free to be a participating member. If any cost is incurred by a Special Interest Committee, the Special Interest Committee will levy an assessment to fund such Special Interest Committee activities. Section 6.6.1. Membership. A Director may appoint another employee of his/her company to represent him/her as a participating member of a Special Interest Committee or of a subcommittee of a Special Interest Committee. The maximum number of members of a Special Interest Committee or of a subcommittee shall be the number of full members of the Association. At least one Director must be a member of each Special Interest Committee. Section 6.6.2. Dues. The costs and expenses relating to the work of any Special Interest Committee or sub-committee shall be borne only by those member companies whose director so elects to participate. Section 6.6.3. Voting Rights. Each member of a Special Interest Committee or a sub-committee shall be entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the members. Section 6.6.4. Tenure. The tenure of a Special Interest Committee member is the same as the tenure of the Director who participates in the Special Interest Committee or who appointed the committee member who participates in the Special Interest Committee or subcommittee. Section 6.6.5. Resignation, Removal. Any member may resign from a Special Interest Committee by filing a written resignation with the Chairman of a Special Interest Committee. Any member may be removed, with just cause (such as nonpayment of dues), by affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Special Interest Committee, provided that thirty days written notice is given to such member in advance of such vote and provided that such member is offered the opportunity to be heard by the committee membership before such vote. Section 6.6.6. Reinstatement. Upon written request signed by a former member and filed with the Chairman of a Special Interest Committee, the members may by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members reinstate such former member to committee membership upon such terms as the members may deem appropriate. Section 6.6.7. Vacancies. A vacancy in a Special Interest Committee membership by reason of resignation, death, or removal shall be filled, as necessary by the Board of Directors, taking into account the nomination of the member company represented by the former Director. Section 6.6.8. Presiding Officer of a Special Interest Committee. The presiding officer at any meeting of a Special Interest Committee shall be an elected Chairman by vote of a majority of Special Interest Committee members at a special meeting of a Special Interest Committee shortly before or after the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors. In the absence of the Chairman, the presiding officer of a meeting shall be any committee member elected chairman by a vote of a majority of the members present at the meeting. The Chairman shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualified or until such Chairman’s earlier death , resignation, or removal in the manner provided above. Vacancies may be filled at any meeting of a Special Interest Committee. Election or appointment of any member or agent shall not create any contract rights. Section 6.6.9 Presiding Officer of a subcommittee of a Special Interest Committee. The presiding officer of a subcommittee of a Special Interest Committee shall be any subcommittee member elected Chairman by vote of a majority of the subcommittee members. In the absence of the Chairman, the presiding officer of a meeting shall be any subcommittee member elected chairman by a vote of a majority of the members present at the meeting. The Chairman shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualified or until such Chairman’s earlier death, resignation, or removal in the manner provided above. Vacancies may be filled at any meeting of a subcommittee. Election or appointment of any member or agent shall not create any contract rights. Section 6.6.10. Role of Chairman of the Board in a Special Interest Committee. The Chairman of the Board is to be an ad-hoc non-voting member of every Special Interest Committee and subcommittee, and is invited to attend the meetings of a Special Interest Committee or subcommittee. Information exchanged at the Special Interest Committees’ or subcommittees’ meetings is not to be shared by the Chairman of the Board with those outside the committee membership unless so permitted by such committees. Section 6.6.11. Records. Special Interest Committees and subcommittee shall keep correct and complete books and records of account and shall also keep minutes of the proceedings of their members, and shall keep a record giving the names and addresses of the members entitled to vote. All books and records of a Special Interest Committee or subcommittee may be inspected by any member entitled to vote in a Special Interest Committee or subcommittee, or such member's agent or attorney, for any proper purpose at any reasonable time. Section 6.6.12. Access to Records. A Member company whose director does not elect to participate in a Special Interest Committee shall not be entitled to attend Committee or subcommittee meetings nor to have access to minutes and records or background information produced as a result of such meetings. A Special Interest Committee meeting may be opened to non-members by unanimous consent of the Special Interest Committee members. Minutes, records, and background information relating to work of a Special Interest Committee or subcommittee (including those in which all members do not participate) shall be provided only to the Executive Director, and to Legal Counsel, who would, in turn, make them available to member companies of the Special Interest Committee and to the Secretary¬/Treasurer in a sealed envelope for the Corporate archives. Section 7.1. Enumeration. The officers of the Association shall be a Chairman of the Board, Vice Chairman, Secretary/Treasurer, and such other officers or assistant officers as may be elected or appointed by the Board of Directors. Officers whose authority and duties are not prescribed in these By-Laws shall have the authority and perform the duties prescribed from time to time by the Board of Directors. Any two or more offices may be held by the same person. A director may be an officer. Section 7.2. Election and Term of Office. The officers of the Association shall be elected annually at the annual meeting of the Board of Directors, or as soon thereafter as conveniently possible. Each officer shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualified or until such officer's earlier death, resignation, or removal in the manner hereinafter provided. Vacancies may be filled or new offices created and filled at any meeting of the Board of Directors. Election or appointment of any officer or agent shall not itself create any contract rights. Section 7.3. Resignation and Removal. (a) Any officer may resign at any time by giving notice to the Board of Directors. A resignation is effective when the notice is delivered unless the notice specifies a date later than the date of delivery. The resignation of an officer need not be accepted in order to be effective. (b) The Board of Directors may remove any officer, either with or without cause, whenever in its judgment the best interests of the Association would be served thereby. Section 7.4. Vacancies. A vacancy in any office, however caused, may be filled by the Board of Directors for the unexpired portion of the term. Section 7.5. Compensation. The officers of the Association shall serve without compensation unless otherwise specified by the Board of Directors. Section 7.6. Chairman of the Board. The Chairman of the Board shall in general supervise and control all of the business and affairs of the Association. The Chairman of the Board or any other proper officer of the Association may sign any deeds, mortgages, bonds, contracts, or other instruments which the Board of Directors has authorized to be executed, except in cases where the signing and execution thereof shall be expressly delegated by the Board of Directors or by these By-Laws to some other officer or agent of the Association, or shall be required by law to be otherwise signed or executed, and in general he shall perform all duties incident to the office of the Chairman of the Board and such other duties as from time to time may be prescribed by the Board of Directors. When present, he shall preside at all meetings of the members and of the Board of Directors. Section 7.7. Vice Chairman. In the absence of the Chairman of the Board or in the event of his inability or refusal to act as Chairman of the Board, the Vice Chairman shall perform the duties of the Chairman of the Board and, when so acting, shall have all the powers of, and be subject to all the restrictions placed upon, the Chairman of the Board. (e) keep a register of the mailing address of each member, director, or committee member, which shall be furnished to the Secretary/Treasurer by such member, director, or committee member. The Secretary/Treasurer shall also have charge and custody of and be responsible for all funds and securities of the Association, receive and give receipts for moneys due and payable to the Association from any source whatsoever, deposit all such moneys in the name of the Association in such banks, trust companies or other depositories as shall be selected by the Chairman of the Board, disburse the funds of the Association as ordered by the Board of Directors or the Chairman of the Board or as otherwise required in the conduct of the business of the Association, and render to the Chairman of the Board or the Board of Directors, upon request, an account of all his transactions as Secretary/Treasurer and on the financial condition of the Association. The Secretary/Treasurer may contract with an individual, who is not a member of the Board, to perform certain functions with the prior approval by the Board. Any such contracted functions that involve the assessment, receipt, or transfer of moneys shall require periodic audits of all transactions by the Secretary/Treasurer. The Secretary/Treasury shall in general perform all the duties incident to the office of Secretary/Treasurer and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him by the Chairman of the Board or by the Board of Directors. If required by the Board of Directors, the Secretary/Treasurer shall give a bond (which shall be renewed regularly), in such sum and with such surety or sureties as the Board of Directors shall determine for the faithful discharge of his duties and for the restoration to the Association, in case of his death, resignation, retirement, or removal from office, of all books, papers, vouchers, money, and other property of whatever kind, in his possession or under his control belonging to the Association. Section 8.1. Contracts. The Board of Directors may authorize any officer(s) or agent(s) of the Association to enter into any contract or execute and deliver any instrument in the name of and on behalf of the Association, and such authority may be general or confined to specific instances. Section 8.2. Loans. No loans shall be contracted on behalf of the Association and no evidences of indebtedness shall be issued in the name of the Association unless authorized by a resolution by the Board of Directors or by action of a duly empowered committee of the Board. Such authority to make loans may be general or confined to specified instances. No loan shall be made by the Association to a director or officer of the Association. Section 8.3. Checks, Drafts, Etc. All checks, drafts, or other orders for the payment of money, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness, issued in the name of the Association, shall be signed by such officer(s) or agent(s) of the Association and in such manner as shall from time to time be determined by resolution of the Board of Directors. In the absence of such determination, such instruments may be signed by the Chairman of the Board. Section 8.4. Gifts. The Board of Directors may accept on behalf of the Association any contribution, gift, bequest, or devise for the general purposes or for any special purpose of the Association. The Association shall keep correct and complete books and records of account and shall also keep minutes of the proceedings of its members, Board of Directors, and committees having any authority of the Board of Directors, and shall keep a record giving the names and addresses of the members entitled to vote. All books and records of the Association may be inspected by any director, any member entitled to vote, or any director's or such member's agent or attorney, for any proper purpose at any reasonable time. The Board of Directors may provide a corporate seal which shall be in the form of a circle and shall have inscribed thereon the name of the Association and the words "Corporate Seal" and "Delaware." Section 12.1. Manner of Notice. Whenever under the provisions of law, the Articles of Incorporation, or these By-Laws, notice is required to be given to any member, director or member of any committee designated by the Board of Directors, it shall not be construed to require personal delivery. Such notice may be given in writing by depositing it in a sealed envelope in the United States mails, postage prepaid and addressed to such member, director, or committee member at his or her address as it appears on the books of the Association, and such notice shall be deemed to be given at the time when it is thus deposited in the United States mails; or such notice may be effected by facsimile transmission with printed evidence of successful transmission or electronic mail with printed acknowledgment of receipt, or given in writing by any other means and if given by such other means, shall be deemed given when received. Such requirement for notice shall be deemed satisfied, except in case of meetings of members with respect to which written notice is required by law, if actual notice is received orally or in writing by the person entitled thereto as far in advance of the event with respect to which notice is given as the minimum notice period required by law, the Articles of Incorporation, or these By-Laws. Section 12.2. Waiver of Notice. Whenever any notice is required to be given by law, by the Articles of Incorporation or by these By-Laws, a waiver thereof in writing signed by the person or persons entitled to such notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be deemed equivalent to the giving of such notice. Each person who at any time is or shall have been a director, officer, employee, or agent of the Association or is or shall have been serving at the request of the Association as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise, shall be indemnified by the Association in accordance with and to the full extent permitted by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware as amended from time to time. The foregoing right of indemnification shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which a person seeking indemnification may be entitled under any by-law, agreement, vote of members or disinterested directors, or otherwise. If authorized by the Board of Directors, the Association may purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person to the full extent permitted by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware as amended from time to time. A vote of a majority of the number of Directors may alter, amend, or repeal the By-Laws or adopt new By-Laws. Such action may be taken at a regular or special meeting for which a quorum is present and for which written notice of the purpose shall be given. If such action is taken without a meeting, all of the Directors entitled to vote thereon must consent in writing. Upon dissolution of the Association, no funds shall be distributed, directly or indirectly, to any member, officer, or director of the Associa5tion, or to any private individual. Rather, after payment of any outstanding debts, any funds remaining shall be distributed as determined by the Board of Directors, in accordance with the purposes for which the Association was incorporated.

2019-04-23T12:18:29Z

https://www.corar.org/by-laws

Everyone experiences ‘mountaintop moments’ in their spiritual lives. These are times when we feel close to God; we expect Him to move. Our faith is engaged. When we are in the midst of a mountaintop moment, we FEEL God’s presence surrounding us. Moses experienced a literal mountaintop moment when he received the law from God on behalf of the Israelites (Exodus 24:12-18). Sitting on a mountain in prayer for forty days and forty nights is something you can only accomplish in the Faith Zone! Moses was literally surrounded by God’s presence, like a cloud. Undeniable. When we are in the midst of a mountaintop moment, God’s presence, His existence, is undeniable. He is near; we are undeniably WITH the Almighty and He with us. For me, typically, these moments have happened for me on the cusp of big changes in my life. When I have felt lost or unsure, God has guided me. The reality is that God’s presence has never left me since I invited Him into my life, so why is it in times of trial or confusion that His presence is most obvious to me? Because, when we have big choices to make, or face situations that we can’t handle, is when we seek God most desperately. Psalm 63 was written at a time when David was desperately seeking God. As opposed to a mountain-top moment, David was alone in a desert wilderness. He was the King, but he was fleeing his son Absolom, who wanted to kill him over a whole other family drama. The psalms are songs of worship. Although David was surrounded by desert, he didn’t praise like a man in the desert. He praised as if he was climbing a mountain, to encounter the very presence of God. His circumstances pulled him towards despair, but his heart went the opposite way: to hope, to God. David’s worship prayer doesn’t ignore the fact that he’s in a desert, “a dry and parched land where there is no water”, he just doesn’t allow his situation to be the defining factor on whether or not he encounters God. David knew something that we all need to remember: God is the source of all life. Without God sustaining him, the desert would get the better of him. As long as God is with us, there is hope. Although he FELT far from God, David still praised Him. Alone in a desert, under threat of death from his own family, David prayed “your love is better than life”! Why was David able to understand God’s goodness in the midst of a trial? An experience is so much more powerful than a story. David wasn’t clinging to the stories in an ancient book. He wasn’t worshiping a concept. He wasn’t following a set of rules. He had experienced God – his power and his glory. His love, better than life!To sustain our faith between mountain-top moments we need to experience God. How though? Firstly, by seeking Him. I remember, as a child losing a precious possession (usually a puppy from a puppy surprise toy) and going to my mother to see if she could magically make it appear. She always said “where did you last see it?” and sent me retracing my steps. Infuriating, but reading this psalm, I see the value. When you lose something, you go back to where you last had it. Now, David had not lost God (God is very hard to lose, one does not simply misplace the creator of the universe). What David had lost was the feeling of closeness with God. Feelings don’t always reflect truth. Our feelings are affected by so many things that God is unaffected by: our health, other people, the weather, finances, videos of cute animals on the internet, the news.I could go on all day about things that I’ve cried about in the last week that do not change the goodness of God one little bit. But I won’t. “He remembered us in our weakness. Go back to where you experienced Him in the past. For David, it’s the sanctuary. You will ALWAYS find life in scripture. When you seek God in His Word, you will ALWAYS find a fresh, God-breathed word for today. To experience God in the desert, we must SEEK HIM. It’s the habits that we build in the light that sustain us through the darkness. We need a reservoir of revelation. My best friend and I live in different states now. We both have small children and are involved in our churches. Plus she is literally the most disorganised person I know. Sometimes, I don’t hear from her for months at a time. BUT, I never doubt that she loves me.I don’t doubt she is still my friend just because I haven’t heard her voice for awhile. Why? Because of the fight we had after I laughed at her for walking into the boys toilets in grade 7. Because of the legendary practical jokes we played on our teachers at the end of grade 10. Because when I used to argue with my sister and storm out of my house I would go to hers. I could go on and on and on. I don’t doubt her, because we have years, decades of shared history. A couple of months of silence will never change our history. It’s the same with God. I may feel as though He is silent, but when I open the Bible, the truth is still there. There are still thousands of years’ worth His love. It is still life-changing. I may feel as if He is distant, but I still remember the night at a Connect group run by ill-equipped but enthusiastic 14 year old, that I decided to take a risk on Jesus. I still remember praying for a woman in the Philippines, whose heart was failing, and seeing the colour come back into her face and hear her praise God without pain for the first time in months. I still remember seeing God move in my school when I was in year 11 and 12 at a public school and seeing three people praying once a week at lunchtime turn into a group of 80 running a service at lunchtime. I remember being called into the principal’s office to be told I was doing a great job but could I please stop because too many people were getting saved. I remember God coming through. Again and again. When I am in the darkness, I remember what I saw in the light. That’s what it means to testify. That’s why David was able to praise in the desert. A mature faith doesn’t rely on every moment to be a mountaintop, because, if there were no valleys, there would be no mountains either. That’s geography, but it’s also life in abundance. I cling to you, your right hand upholds me. We often hear of people who’ve been able to just hold on: hold on to hope against the odds, that sort of thing. David takes it a step further; he clings. What’s the difference between holding on to God, and CLINGING to Him? There are two ways that I walk my dog: without her harness and with her harness. She pulls like a steam train and the harness works by putting pressure on her shoulders if she pulls too hard. When I walk her WITH the harness, I hold the lead, but when I walk her WITHOUT the harness, I CLING to the lead. Think of a rock climber holding onto a cliff face. He’s pretty happy. Not too far up, looks like it’s a wall he has climbed before, maybe he’s just super skilled. Whatever it is, he’s got it under control, he’s not bothered. However, check out this guy! He is clinging, not holding on. He’s not having such a great time. He really desperately doesn’t want to let go of that rock. So what is the difference between them? Other than the potential for a horrible death. What’s the difference between walking my dog with or without her harness? What’s the difference between hanging on the a cliff face or clinging on for dear life? What’s the difference between letting your relationship God tick along comfortably and clinging to Him desperately, with all you have? When Saskia and I go for a walk without the harness, there is a risk that she might pull the lead out of my hand and take herself for a walk. When a climber switches the local indoor climbing wall for a real live mountain, the risk increases exponentially. Could it be that you are living a life where you don’t actually need God to uphold you? Perhaps God is calling you today to take a risk on Him! Climbing the same indoor climbing wall over and over again with the same group of friends might be fun and it might keep you fit, but how much more exhilarating is it to explore real mountains? Attending church every week is a good thing to do, you get to be part of an amazing community, there’s food, good music, it’s all good. BUT how much more will you get out of it if you take a risk: join a team, lead a connect group, speak prophetically into someone’s life, invite people into your world. Putting your spare change in the offering will certainly help the offering be bigger, but if you take a risk and add some faith to your giving, if you make your generosity hurt just a little from time to time, add an element of sacrifice, you will see God move and bless you. Sometimes, we will feel close to God, on the mountaintop and sometimes, we will feel far away. Sometimes that’s a result of seasons and circumstances and sometimes, our own sin causes us to withdraw from God. Whatever is going on, we never lose God, only our perception of His presence. He never abandons you, He never will. He promises unfailing love. When you lose the feeling of His nearness, resist the urge to withdraw. Don’t let the enemy reduce your faith, which the Bible says can move mountains, to something as flimsy as a feeling. Seek – go back to where you last found His presence. Remember – Remember His goodness when you find yourself in the dark. Testify – tell yourself the stories of what he has done in the past. Cling – take risks. Live a life that needs His right hand to uphold you. Above all, remember. He never gives up. He never abandons you. He is always faithful and His love is better than life. He is the beginning and the end; the same, yesterday, today and forever. We are all familiar with sacrifices in life. Some sacrifices are large and significant; others are more everyday. Sacrifice could mean anything from forgoing the last piece of pizza for your friend to giving up a kidney for a family member , just like a member of our Energizer family did a while back. Making sacrifices is a noble pursuit. As a nation, on ANZAC Day, we remember and honour the sacrifices made by thousands of service personnel throughout the various wars our country has been involved in. Parents sometimes remind their children of what the sacrifices involved in raising them. We are about to celebrate the birth of Jesus; He was born so He could be a Holy sacrifice for humanity. That Holy sacrifice is at the very core of Christianity; without it Christianity would not exist. So as Christians, we are very familiar with the concept and see it as noble. As we embrace a new era, I believe we will have a greater understanding of sacrifice. Often we pursue and celebrate the various acts of sacrifice, but miss the real heart and motivation behind it and take on a martyr-type spirit. To make real and genuine, life-changing sacrifice part of our lives in a new era, we need to understand what God desires from us most. Interestingly, He doesn’t ask for martyrs but, as King Saul found out, He rates obedience above sacrifice. Our submission to God and our obedience to His voice should be our sacrifice to Him. Our submission to Him will always trump our various acts of sacrifice, which all too often, in our humanity, we live to resent. Submission to God brings freedom; seeking acts of sacrifice alone can become religious. In our world I’m humbled by the amazing sacrifices you all make to see our church grow and lives impacted. Let’s keep making the source of motivation our obedience to His voice and submission to God, then we will continue to live in freedom and true joy. See you at our services this Sunday and let’s keep making intentional pre-service prayer part of our culture! Marketing companies spend a lot of time, effort and money developing packaging, because packaging sells; we’re attracted to the bright and shiny. At times the packaging can be even more exciting and durable than the product it contains. You probably still have shoe boxes that contained shoes that have long since expired! And of course, the beautiful iPhone boxes: all part of the “Apple experience”: too beautiful to discard, they mostly outlast the phone they once carried. Collections of Grange Hermitage, the famous Australian red wine, have sold for over 150 000 dollars. However, to those uneducated in the world of wine, a bottle of Grange worth thousands of dollars may look less impressive than a ten dollar bottle, even though the contents are worlds apart. Another version says earthen vessels, meaning common everyday crockery. All of us can feel rather ordinary and feel like we fall well short of the perfect package, even cracked or broken like a clay jar or piece of everyday crockery. Our God’s power is not limited by the size, quality, or finish of the container. His power can’t be contained and was never supposed to be contained. Out of your imperfection or brokenness can flow a power that can’t be contained, managed or even fully understood. Out of our imperfection flows true perfection. Let’s not see our brokenness as a limitation, but rather an opportunity and channel for God to do something magnificent through us. Let’s be specific with our prayer this weekend, especially in our pre-service prayer meetings. Pray for new people, salvations, breakthrough in giving and for powerful life-changing encounters with God. Just over a year ago, we moved house. As with any new abode, there were a few little adjustments we wanted to make and, for me at least, the addition of a dishwasher was top priority. So yesterday, I got my dishwasher installed; I obviously need to work on my prioritising skills! There is nothing more relaxing, as far as I am concerned, than the gentle hum of a magical cupboard doing the dishes for me. It is a far better use of space, IMHO, than the boring old regular cupboard that was there before. My husband is very good at a lot of things, but carpentry is not really one of them. Sadly for us and our new magic cupboard, this is also true of me. So on Tuesday we had this dishwasher delivered, and, unsure of what to do with it and how to get it from sitting in the hallway to performing its miraculous function in the kitchen, I left it where it was. Tuesday night is the night we host Connect Group at our house and so when “the homies”, as my three year old calls them, arrived, I proudly showed off my new dishwasher to them and explained my problem of how to get it into a kitchen which had no dishwasher-shaped hole, without breaking said kitchen. Now one of our Connect Group homies is also one of our dearest friends (they all are really, but this is a story about one in particular). Josh is the person who first went out of his way to befriend and welcome us when we first showed up at Energizer Church, close to a decade ago. He has helped me out of plenty of tight spots, from picking up children from care when I was stuck in traffic, to changing flat tyres, and many other situations. It is in his nature to be generous, and I have seen proof of that time and time again. Without hesitation, Josh offered to come and install the dishwasher for us later in the week, which he did. He did an incredible job and, true to form, found three other things to fix in my house while he was here. “Uncle Josh has done a great job!” declared Jasper and he was right. When we discussed how we might pay him, Josh said “in beer, but only if you drink it with me”. This says so much about him and so much about what it means to be generous. The goal of his generosity was not to get something; it was relationship. True generosity has no ulterior motive other than to love. Josh is a skilled tradesperson and his time is valuable, but he demonstrated that relationships are more valuable by helping us out when he didn’t need to. Generosity doesn’t always mean giving large sums of money. It means being free with whatever is in your hand. For Josh, what was in his hand that day was super tradie skills and a couple of “spare” hours (let’s be honest, there’s no such thing as free time, just time we make free). He took what he was good at and was generous with it. What I am best at is writing, so, inspired by Josh, today I am using that gift to be generous with my honour. My bank account looks pretty sad (maternity leave life!) but I have a “spare” hour, so I can donate that to write this article. Hopefully, you read it and decide to take whatever is in your hand to show some generosity today as well. That’s how it works; generosity breeds generosity. One of my favourite passages of the Bible is found in Ezekiel 47, where the prophet saw a vision of a small stream that became first a creek and then a river. Wherever that river flowed, there was life and vitality, even as it made its way east, through the desert, eventually bringing life to the once lifeless dead sea. Marshes remain salty because only a small amount water flows in, but is unable to flow through and flush out impurities, hence the swamp remains toxic. Therefore, the best way to deal with a swamp is not to try and remove all the impurities and toxins, but to introduce adequate fresh water and provide a path for it to drain away. As the fresh, clean water flows through, toxins, salt and sludge are washed away, making way for life to return. Purity is not so much about living to certain standards and ideals; it is more about living in such a way that impurity is flushed out of our lives by the life-giving spirit of God. That flow is increased as we allow that spirit to flow through us, removing contamination and bringing life to those around us. This Sunday we’re going to look at what purity really is; what are the benefits of purity and how do we find it? Remember, pre-service prayer before all services: let’s make it a priority! A while ago I shared a God Story in one of our Sunday services, a snippet of the works of God in my life: how God has taken myself and my family from a complicated and unpleasant living situation to a much better one. Truthfully, there is so much more to the story. It was one of those “when it rains it pours” type scenarios. Throughout this time, I have really had to learn that waiting, exercising patience, is a verb. It’s not something you do passively all the time. As the psalmist says, “I waited patiently for God,” but, like him, I still cried, at times literally. I think the relentless crying out is what gets God’s attention. Any parents out there know there is only so much crying out a parent can bear before they act on their child’s behalf. Perhaps it’s not all about the getting what we want, or even need, as much as these experiences shape who we really are. Not so many months ago, four to be precise, we found ourselves moving into what we thought was to be a very good home. It didn’t turn out that way, sadly. One thing about this house was that its foundations were bad. Regardless of everything else that was the matter, this particular experience seriously challeged my own foundations. As a result, I have thought and prayed long and hard about faith. Nothing says, ‘draw near to’ or ‘lean on God’ like hard times, right? Well, not always. Life is about choices and it really can go either way. Now, I am not saying that’s how I was heading. To be honest, I am beginning to feel like I am majoring in difficult life situations, one after another. Faith is now my go-to; it’s my only life boat; it’s all that I have. Even with faith as my faithful go-to, I couldn’t seem to activate my go-go-gadget faith arms and get anything flowing. During this period, my frustration was beginning to grow very wild. We had a green light to leave this hideous house as soon as we could and yet, for the first time in our lives, finding another property was hard. At times it felt impossible. We’ve never before had to look for seven days, let alone seven of the longest weeks of my life! Luckily for me, I have a friend named Jen. She is a storyteller and is often on the hunt for stories just like mine. She messaged me one morning and asked if I had or if I knew of any God Stories. Because I am hilarious, I half jokingly said “if we get this house we are applying for today, I will stand up and be your God story Sunday”. Well, who knew that was all that it would take to get my prayers answered and we would be approved that very day. Note to self for future reference! Funnily enough, it just so happened that I had listed Jen as a character reference for the real estate agent as well! For my faith to be activated, I had to activate my faith, myself. I had to be willing to step out of myself: and step out I did. At that moment, just like the psalmist, my feet were totally steadied and not only was my burden lifted, I felt like I had a new song and that it would be completely true, that many would see what he has done and be amazed. I don’t know that anyone was that amazed but it is amazing and I am amazed all the time at the faithfulness of God in my life. If you read Psalm 40 in its entirety, you will notice two parts. The first is David praising our God for pulling him out of the pit. Like every good rescue story, he went on to live hsppily ever after… not. David found himself in another pit, only this time he was strengthened by the truth he acquired in the first pit. His response is probably how we all should respond: remembering God is our helper and our saviour, as proclaimed in verse 17. So now I know that I’m not just becoming skilled at dealing with difficult situations; God is building my faith. He’s allowed me to be wiped off my feet at times so I can find him on my knees. While I’m walking around flapping like a duck, God is using my last test to prepare me for the next one. I look forward, strangely, to the next one. I really like guitars, but I also really like my wife, who really likes not being broke. Buying new guitars and staying married (or at least not being broke), can sometimes mean selling old guitars. Saying goodbye to old ones, means saying hello to new ones. Changing into my work uniform works a lot better if I first remove my pyjamas. Being ready for a new day, means leaving behind the night before. When I first moved to Hobart, I missed Launceston, I wanted to hold on to my life up there, but my future was in Hobart, and I couldn’t stay in Launceston and also live in Hobart. I had to leave Launceston behind. Stepping into a new era as a church is going to mean embracing change for each of us personally. It’s going to mean leaving some things behind. Lately, I’ve been asking myself what I need to leave behind to enter a new era? The sin that trips us up will be different for all of us, but all of us have the same decision to make: will we leave it behind to step into a new era? This isn’t something that just happens; we need to make plans and be strategic. What determines your success at throwing off the things that would hold you back is what you plan to replace them with. Deciding not to do something is much harder to stick to than deciding to do something else instead. Throw off gossip, take up kind words. Throw off self-medication, take up supportive friendships and healthy habits. Throw off bitterness and take up thankfulness. Throw off laziness and take up discipline. God transforms us from one glory to the next glory. Transformation is a process of change. If we hold on to what God did years ago, living in ‘the glory days‘, we risk holding up the process of transformation, and missing out on the ‘ever increasing glory’ God wants to bring us into. Let’s not forget what God has done for us in the past, Rev 12:11 reminds us that “they (that’s us) have defeated him (our accuser) by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony”, but let’s always seek God for what he’s doing next. Where is the next victory? What’s the new ground to take? Where is God leading us right now? Tradition isn’t inherently bad, but tradition for its own sake can distract us from the spiritual reality we live in; we miss the point! Some of the things I was taught growing up in a pretty conservative church environment were much more ‘man-made ideas’ than ‘commands from God’. Let’s measure everything we hear against God’s word, and throw out anything that doesn’t line up. Joshua and Caleb were the only two, out of all the Israelites, who came close enough to the promised land to actually walk into the promise. Imagine the disappointment they must have felt as a whole nation had to turn their backs on that promise and just walk away. Imagine trying to live the next forty years full of faith and expectation, when they knew they had come so close. Often, to fully embrace a new era, we have to let go of the past. For Joshua, God was saying more than the obvious. He was telling him to let go of the disappointment; let go of the old thinking; see yourselves differently. See yourselves as owners, rather than borrowers; see yourselves as inhabitants, not wanderers; see yourselves as thrivers, not survivors! For Joshua to make this shift he had to let go of the Moses era, which was an era of survival; it was living day to day and hand to mouth. That era was over. However, the thing Joshua had to do was be courageous enough to walk into and lead a nation into the promise. Three times the Lord said to Joshua “be strong and courageous”. We know that God is our strength; we know that when we are weak, He is strong. God did amazing, powerful things that Joshua could never have dreamed of, but what only Joshua could do, was use his own strength and courage to leave the familiar, leave the disappointment and walk across that river into a new land and a new era. What is God asking you to leave behind as we walk into an exciting new era? Let’s remember to be filled with faith, courage and expectation this Sunday!

2019-04-26T07:49:44Z

https://energizerchurchblog.com/category/devotionals/

Semple, K. E., Zhang, P. K., and Smith, G. D. (2015). "Stranding moso and guadua bamboo. Part II. Strand surface roughness and classification," BioRes. 10(3), 4599-4612. In this study OSB strands produced by a CAE 6/36 disk flaker from re-saturated moso and guadua bamboo tissue were classified by surface quality and compared with industrial aspen OSB strands. Strands were first classified into three groups based on surface appearance and texture. The topographic features that characterize the surface were then measured using a laser surface profiler to give two surface roughness indicators; average roughness (Ra) and average maximum roughness (Rz). Guadua strand surface quality was extremely poor compared to moso due to its very large, dense vascular bundles. Ra and Rz values for many bamboo strands, particularly guadua, exceeded the typical diameter of resin droplets dispensed during industrial OSB blending, meaning that excessive roughness could compromise bonding efficiency in bamboo OSB. In Part II of this series on stranding moso (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel) and guadua (Guadua angistifolia Kunth) bamboo, the surface quality and roughness indices of strands were assessed. Part I (Semple et al. 2015a) covered strand production using a CAE 6/36 laboratory disk flaker, pole characteristics affecting strand size and quality, and compared frequency distributions for strand width and thickness against a standard industrial aspen OSB mill furnish. To minimize the amount (and cost) of resin required to manufacture OSB, strands are spot-welded together by very small, dispersed droplets of resin (Kamke et al. 1996; Smith 2003a,b). There is very little information available on the measured surface roughness of OSB strands, and none for bamboo strands. Information on how it may affect the efficiency of bonding of small droplet arrays deposited during the resin atomization and blending process is also lacking. The very rough surfaces of many of the bamboo strands observed in Part I may be different to and outside the range of surface roughness found in standard OSB furnish, and potentially reduce the bonding efficiency of very small adhesive droplet arrays. The surface of a machined piece of wood (such as a sliced OSB strand) is a complex function of three levels of texture (Marian et al. 1958): the woods’ own anatomical features (e.g., vessels), intentional machining features (e.g., smooth slicing by a planer or roughening from sand paper), and errors of form (e.g., material distortion and variability in tooling and machine performance that produces ‘background’ effects such as waviness or deep cracks). Notwithstanding errors of form, the induced surface roughness of wood adherends has significant effects on adhesive wettability and final adhesive bond strength and fracture toughness (Collett 1972; Ebewele et al. 1980; Nussbaum and Sterley 2002). To bond wood surfaces, specialized liquid adhesives have been developed that allow wetting and conformation with the surface, but limit seepage into the substrate and its resultant starvation of the glueline. Therefore surface characterization of wood and OSB strands commonly includes assessment of surface energy, with measurement of contact angles in relation to adhesive wettability (Shupe et al. 1998; Maldas and Kamdem 1999; Shi and Gardner 2001; Nussbaum and Sterley 2002). One of the biggest problems with defining wood surface roughness in relation to adhesion is the porous and permeable nature of the wood, giving it ‘internal roughness’ that is not picked up by stylus tracings (Ebewele et al. 1980). Some drawbacks of stylus tracings include slow measurement speed, surface damage, catching of the stylus in holes or deep fissures, 2-dimensional sampling, results being influenced by environmental vibrations, and stylus and arm variables (Devoe et al. 1992; Hu and Afzal 2005). Today, stylus tracings have largely been replaced by non-contact methods of laser displacement sensing of the surface to map the surface topography (Lundberg and Porankiewicz 1995; Sandak and Tanaka 2003; Sandak et al. 2004; Hu and Afzal 2005). A commercially available non-contact laser profiling system was used in this study, due to occasional deeply fissured surfaces, and detached tissue on bamboo strands susceptible to dislodgement by a stylus. The objective of this study was to measure the surface roughness indices (average roughness, Ra, and maximum roughness, Rz of bamboo strands classified by feel as ‘smooth’ or ‘rough’ and compare these indices with those measured on ‘smooth’ and ‘rough’ industrial OSB strands produced from aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx). The results are compared to and discussed in relation to the known size of resin droplets administered during OSB furnish blending. Assessment of strand surface quality was done in two ways. First, a qualitative classification using a combination of visual and tactile assessments of each measured strand from Part I was made as to whether each strand fell into one of three surface roughness groupings: (1) rough on both sides, (2) smooth on one side and rough on the other, or (3) smooth on both sides. Tactile assessment of surface roughness can be subjective, particularly if there are several categories, and the boundaries between categories are indistinct. For this reason, the number of categories was restricted to three, with most sampled strands easily classified into one of the three. Second, a laser surface profiler from LaserScan LT (Solaris, San Francisco, USA), fitted with a Keyence K2000 Series LK-031 sensor head, was used to measure the topographic features, i.e., the height and depth of the ridges and valleys running parallel to the length of the strand. This was done to quantitatively characterize surfaces assessed subjectively by touch as either ‘rough’ or ‘smooth’ in each type of sliced tissue (aspen, moso, and guadua). Surface profile data were mapped and analyzed using Solar Map Universal 3.2 software. Six specimens, each of seven types of surface, were scanned for a total of 42 scans. The seven surface types were (1) aspen ‘smooth’, (2) aspen ‘rough’, (3) moso ‘smooth’, (4) moso ‘rough’, (5) guadua ‘smooth’, (6) guadua ‘rough’, and (7) a ‘smooth’ reference surface of sliced moso bamboo veneer. This cabinet-quality veneer is produced in China by pre-softening large laminated billets and using a large sharpened wedge blade to slice thin veneer sheets measuring 2400-mm × 1200-mm × 0.6-mm in thickness. The veneer is kept intact by a layer of high tear strength paper adhered to the back. and Rpi and Rvi are the ith highest peak and lowest valley, respectively. A DX100 Olympus Digital Light Reflection Microscope (5x magnification) was used to examine the sliced transverse cross-sections through the culm wall of moso and Guadua tissue. This was to provide a visual comparison of the morphology of the vascular bundles likely affecting the surface quality of the sliced strands. Cursory examination of both industrial aspen mill strands and bamboo strands suggested considerable visual and tactile variation in the surface roughness of strands. The surface quality of wood products is still often assessed by feel (tactile) judgment, but due to the complexity and variability of the material no universally accepted standard parameter for characterizing and comparing the roughness of wood surfaces has ever been developed (Fujiwara et al. 2004). The macroscopic visual appearance of strand surfaces of moso, guadua, and aspen mill strands subjectively assessed ‘rough’ and ‘smooth’ to touch is shown in Figure 1a to c. Figure 1d shows the surface condition at the site of node tissue in the culm wall. Note the much wider zone of node tissue in the guadua strands. Slicing through the site of the embedded node tissue in the culm wall of guadua resulted in a very uneven, and in many cases broken up, surface. Fig. 1. Surface appearance of: (a) moso, (b) guadua, (c) aspen mill strands. The top strand surface in the images was classified as ‘rough’, and the bottom strand surface was classified as ‘smooth’. (d) shows the appearance of the sliced node tissue in moso and guadua. The proportions of moso and guadua strands falling into each of the three surface quality categories, stranded using the same flaker operating parameters, are given in Table 1. The majority (60%) of industrial aspen strands could be classified as ‘smooth’ on both sides, and 10% were classified as ‘rough’ on both sides. Experiments (Semple et al. 2014) in adjusting tissue MC and flaker operating parameters to optimize the thickness distribution and quality of strands from moso bamboo found that strand surface quality for moso was very sensitive to tissue moisture content, knife protrusion settings, material feed rates, and whether the pieces were stranded horizontally or vertically, i.e., slicing across or along the grain, respectively. Full tissue saturation above 130% MC, low knife protrusion settings, slower feed rates, and stranding parallel to the fiber direction are all necessary to maximize the proportion of ‘smooth-both-sides’ strands. Despite these efforts, no more than about a quarter of the bulk moso strands could be classified as ‘smooth’ on both sides. Another quarter of the bulk moso strands were distinctly smooth on one side and rough on the other. The rough surface of these moso strands is characterized by the presence of very thin and flat strips of parenchyma tissue that has sheared away from the bulk strand tissue, as seen in Fig. 1a and close-up in Fig. 2a. The observed generation of rough surfaces is believed to be due to tensile stress and shearing forces acting on the backs of strands. This may be caused by the angled back of the cutting blade. The counter knife angle is designed to force sliced wood veneers to break up along the grain into narrower pieces to ensure most strands end up between about 25 and 50 mm in width (Maietta et al. 2011). A higher angle is used for denser, stronger woods. A schematic diagram of the slicing action is shown in Fig. 3. Three factors that were unable to be changed during stranding were the knife profile, counter knife angle, and the need to boil the pieces to re-saturate them prior to stranding. According to De Vallance et al. (2012), two adjustable process variables — MC and knife angle, directly impinge on the strand size and surface quality of ‘difficult-to-strand’ hardwoods like red oak. Knife angle critically affects the surface quality of veneer sliced from blocks (Spelter 1991). De Vallance et al. (2012) were able to make significant improvements to the size and quality of red oak strands by reducing knife speed down from current industrial flaker settings and using blades with a lower counter knife angle, thus placing less fracture stress on the material. Here, the bamboo tissue was saturated to its maximum capacity to ensure that tissue dryness was not a limiting factor, but it was not possible to adjust the counter knife angle. It is therefore possible that further improvements in the quality of both guadua and moso strands could be had by reducing or eliminating the counter knife angle, as well as other adjustable parameters such as cutting speed. The profiled counter knife is also unnecessary since the width of bamboo strands is already constrained by the limited culm wall thickness. Strand quality in guadua was markedly lower than that of moso, despite using the same stranding parameters used to produce the best outcome for moso. From Table 1 only 5% of the sampled bulk guadua strands could be classified as ‘smooth’ on both sides. The majority of guadua strands (65%) were both visually and tactilely ‘rough’ on both surfaces. Many of these were split apart, as seen in Fig. 2b (top strand), rather than sliced cleanly, as seen in Fig. 2b (bottom strand). The appearance of the transverse surface across the grain of the culm wall of moso and guadua is shown in Fig. 4. The very large and solid vascular bundles present in guadua give it higher average density and far superior flexural stiffness than moso. From Part I, the average basic density of the stranded guadua and moso culm tissue was 533 kg/m3 and 447 kg/m3, respectively. Comparative tests on the two species by De Vos (2010) showed guadua to be 75% higher in MOE (14 GPa) of internode tissue than moso, but only slightly higher in MOR (130 MPa compared to 115 MPa for moso). Interestingly, De Vos (2010) found guadua to be less than half the Janka hardness of moso (2500 N compared to almost 6000 N for moso internode tissues). Despite this apparent difference in hardness, guadua was still far more problematic to strand than moso, likely because of its greater average density and the more extreme differences in density and hardness of the two main culm wall tissue components: the fiber bundles, and the surrounding parenchyma ground tissue. Many of the guadua strands tended to split apart rather than slice cleanly, producing a rough surface with lots of raised ridges that correspond to the separation of the very large and solid fiber bundles (also known as vascular bundles) from the much softer and weaker parenchyma tissue. The largest of the vascular bundles of guadua were around 1.1 mm high and 0.5 mm wide, similar to those observed and measured by Aijazi (2013) in scanning electron microscopy images though the culm wall cross section of guadua. These very large, closely spaced fiber bundles in guadua tissue are in contrast with the much smaller and more discrete vascular bundles of moso tissue of the transverse section of the culm wall. In contrast, moso vascular bundles are approximately 40 µm high and 300 µm wide (Dixon and Gibson 2014). In the moso tissue sampled, many of the fiber sheathes (there are four in a whole fiber bundle) appeared not to be fully solidified, as shown by the light brown zones. This suggests that the fibers may have not yet reached their full maturity and density, and helps explain the much lower basic density of the moso (447 kg/m3). After 1 year, bamboo fibers are hollow and thin walled, and over several subsequent years the fiber walls thicken and the cells solidify almost completely, leaving minimal lumen space (Leise and Weiner 1996). While the volume fraction of fibers in the culm wall of bamboo is strongly gradational across the culm wall, the average volume fraction for guadua ranges from about 42% to 49% (Estrada et al. 2014). Fiber volume fraction for moso is on average around 40% (Osorio et al. 2010), and ranges from 15 to 20% in the inner wall to 60-65% at the outer wall (Amada et al. 1997). Guadua fibers are not only more voluminous compared to moso, but they are also very dense at 1440 kg/m3 (Trujillo et al. 2010). The fibers are extremely tough and strong with a reported tensile strength and elastic modulus (tensile) of chemically extracted fibers of 234 MPa and 20.6 GPa (Ramirez et al. 2012), and for fibers extracted using optimized mechanical extraction, 800 MPa and 43 GPa, respectively; these values are comparable to those of glass fibers (Van Vuure et al. 2009; Trujillo et al. 2010). The parenchyma cells of the ground tissue surrounding the vascular bundles are very short and blocky with thin walls (Leise and Grosser 1972; Leise 1998), and the tissue density is just 330 kg/m3 (Dixon and Gibson 2014). Its strength is only a tenth of that of the vascular bundles themselves (Amada et al. 1997). Unless the blade is very sharp and slices cleanly through the fiber bundles longitudinally, the shearing force exerted along the culm wall will simply rupture the parenchyma tissue surrounding the fibers, leaving them exposed on the surfaces of strands, giving the kind of surface seen in Fig. 2b (top strand). In the stranded culm materials the frequency of nodes in the culm was less for guadua (3.3 nodes per m) than moso (3.8), but the node plates and embedded node tissue in guadua was over twice as thick (Semple et al. 2015a). Note in Fig. 2d the much greater damage to the surface caused by slicing through embedded node tissue in guadua compared with moso. Previous research (De Vos 2010) has noted the very poor planed surface quality of solid guadua tissue, especially at the nodes. In the node zone of the culm wall the anatomy of the vascular bundles changes considerably, becoming extensively branched, intertwined, and interconnected by repeated anastomoses (Grosser and Leise 1971). Fiber length is also shortest at the nodes, leading to greater tissue weakness (Leise and Grosser 1972; Shao et al. 2010). Sampling of the noded strands from guadua found up to 45% of the bulk strands broken into two shorter pieces. Slicing this tissue would be akin to trying to slice through a knot of very thick rope. The only known previous attempt to convert guadua tissue to strands was conducted by Dagilis (1999), similarly using a disk flaker. The author found that wafer quality was so poor as to preclude the fabrication of waferboards (the precursor to OSB), but did not elaborate on any wafer quality parameters such as breakage or surface characteristics. Short of simply cross cutting guadua culms into shorter rounds and discarding the node sections, there appears to be currently no practical way of removing the node plates. Since docking culms into short lengths is impractical and wasteful, a purpose-designed corer with a hardened steel or diamond-tipped tooling head would be a useful development for the guadua processing industry. The nodes are also largest and most numerous in the bottom portion of each whole culm, so one relatively simple strategy for minimizing the effects of nodes on OSB boards may be to separate the lower portion of each culm and only use the strands from these in the core layers of boards where consistency of strand length and strength properties is not as critical. Average Ra and Rz values, and coefficient of variation (CV) for the six specimens from each of seven surface types are given in Table 2. A visual example of the raw surface roughness profiles (Fig. 5) and the typical 3-D topographic map constructed for a surface (Fig. 6) is shown for the ‘smooth’ and ‘rough’ surface of guadua strands. For the purpose of this study, a characteristic average roughness index was measured to characterize the two subjective tactile roughness groupings ‘rough’ and ‘smooth. The smoothest of the ‘smooth’ to touch surfaces was the fine sliced moso cabinet-makers veneer, Ra = 7.19 µm, followed by the ‘smooth’ moso strands, Ra = 7.70 µm. Corresponding Rz values for these two surfaces were 37.63 µm and 43.97 µm, respectively. Interestingly, the industrial aspen strands classified by touch as ‘smooth’ were similar in measured surface characteristics to the guadua strands classified as ‘smooth’; Ra = 10.11 µm and 10.70 µm, and Rz = 57.98 µm and 57.33 µm, respectively. The strands from the three tissue types classified by touch as ‘rough’ were more variable in their measured surface characteristics. The roughest surfaces were found on guadua strands, Ra = 23.38 µm. It is interesting to note that all the strand surfaces subjectively classified by feel as ‘rough’ were remarkably similar in the measured topographic feature that makes them noticeably rough to feel, i.e., the average vertical distance of the five highest and lowest peaks and valleys of the surface, represented by Rz. Average Rz values are 113.83 µm, 115.43 µm, and 115.22 µm for the ‘rough’ to touch aspen, moso, and guadua strands, respectively. However, note also the very high CV values in Table 2, especially for Rz of ‘rough’ surfaces indicating the large variation in measured roughness within the two groups. Accurately correlating measured (contact or non-contact method) surface roughness parameters with tactile roughness has proven very difficult (Fujii et al. 1997; Fujiwara et al. 1998, 2001, 2004). A surface rated very smooth to the touch can have a few very narrow, but deep, fissures caused by slicing along a vessel element that can greatly skew mathematically derived roughness parameters obtained directly from a measured profile. An example of this is the ‘smooth’- rated surface of guadua strands, whereby there is a deep valley caused by slicing lengthways though a vessel element within a fiber bundle (Fig. 2a and Fig. 3a). Topographic features as this had an upwards skew effect on the Ra for ‘smooth’ guadua strands compared with ‘smooth’ moso strands, both of which felt similar to the touch. Better linkage of tactile roughness with measured roughness indices is possible using a Robust Gaussian Regression Filter (RFRF) (Brinkmann et al. 2000). This reduces or eliminates ‘outlier’ effects that cannot be discerned by, or affect, the feel of the overall surface (Fujiwara et al. 2004). However, if considering surface roughness in relation to adhesion, such filters can mask the presence of topographic features that strongly influence adhesive interaction with the surface and the ability to form adequate bonds. The results from the surface roughness measurements has potential implications for the efficiency of bonding with small resin droplets dispensed from spinning disk atomizers during OSB strand blending. Numerous studies have shown that for a given dose of resin, many very small droplets or particles of solid resin and wax lead to superior flake or OSB board properties rather than fewer, larger resin spots (Schwarz et al. 1968; Kasper and Chow 1980; Ellis 1993; Kamke et al. 1996; Saunders and Kamke 1996; Smith 2003 a,b). The size and spacing of the droplets is critical. Optimum resin spot diameter has been shown to be between about 300 µm and 400 µm, with spacing no greater than 300 µm (Smith 2003b). There is no information directly linking the size of the pits and fissures in machined OSB strands with the size of the droplets administered during blending of strands with resin. A recommended droplet diameter for a typical PF resin used in OSB manufacture, dispensed from a spinning disk atomizer (SDA) is 94 µm (Smith 2003b). Experiments using industrial blender operating parameters (resin flow rate, SDA disk rotational speed) by Zhang et al. (2008) found much smaller droplet diameters ranging from 0.25 to 60 µm. 90% of the spray volume consisted of droplets <30 µm, and up to 15% of the spray volume consisted of droplets <10 µm in diameter. This was smaller than the average peak-valley difference (Ra), and certainly smaller than the average maximum roughness (Rz) of the rough-surface bamboo strands. If the strands being blended have high peaks and deep valleys, then the very small droplets administered by SDA during blending are likely to disappear into fissures, and will be unable to contribute to bonding. A deeply fissured surface (such as the loose side of a veneer) also creates the opportunity for adhesive over-penetration and starvation of the glueline, particularly for resins with low surface tension (Shupe et al. 1998). Therefore, surface roughness and topography of wood adherends, such as veneer or strands, could greatly affect the bond strength depending on the adhesive system, and its amount and distribution on adherends. The bond strength of discrete and scattered resin spots between OSB strands relies on the ability of strands to plasticize and deform sufficiently during hot pressing to form very tight, continuous wood-wood contact (Wolcott et al. 1990). The vast majority of bonds between strands result from a resin spot on one strand contacting a resin-free area on an adjacent strand (Smith 2003b). If smooth, intimate contact between the two surfaces is not made, then a bond is unlikely to be formed, and that resin is wasted. Aspen strands soften, compress and conform tightly to one-another during hot pressing, and administering very small droplets during blending does not appear to pose any significant problems for product quality. Investigations on pressing bamboo strand boards (Semple et al. 2015b) found that, unlike aspen, the harder and denser bamboo strands do not compress and conform to each other under normal OSB hot pressing conditions, leaving visible gaps between strands. This means that bonding by tiny, discrete droplets in bamboo strand boards could be more sensitive to the surface roughness of bamboo strands. Further work is required to examine the interactions between bond strength formation and the surface roughness of bamboo strands. Moso and guadua bamboo produced different strand surface quality when stranded using a disk flaker designed for relatively soft, low density woods such as aspen. The majority of guadua strands were visually and tactilely classified as ‘rough’ on both sides, and only 5% could be considered ‘smooth’ on both sides. The remainder had one ‘rough’ and one ‘smooth’ surface. About a quarter of moso strands were ‘smooth’ on both sides, compared with 60% of aspen mill strands. Average measured surface roughness (Ra) of the ‘smooth’ moso strand surface was 7.7 µm, while that of aspen mill strands and guadua were similar at 10.1 µm and 10.7 µm, respectively.The Ra value of ‘rough’ strand surfaces was 17.4 µm, 20.9 µm, and 23.4 µm for aspen, moso, and guadua, respectively. The average maximum roughness (average distance between the five largest peaks and valleys, Rz) values were similar for all three strand types classified as ‘rough’; approximately 115 µm. The average and maximum roughness values for the strand surfaces exceeded the reported diameter of most droplets dispensed by spinning disk atomizers used in OSB furnish blending. This could potentially affect bonding efficiency, particularly in the case of the bamboo strands, in which there was a much greater proportion of very rough strands, and which do not conform and compress during hot pressing. 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2019-04-24T10:24:08Z

https://bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu/resources/stranding-moso-and-guadua-bamboo-part-ii-strand-surface-roughness-and-classification/

Which event do you think will come out a winner or loser tomorrow Sunday July 15, 2018. The one and only Pacquiao or INC Lingap? Well, how does the boxing world feel about the great Pacman? “Manny Pacquiao will step into a boxing ring for the 69th time as a professional on Saturday night when he faces hard-hitting Lucas Matthysse at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As he approaches the age of 40, the fighter who was once considered the greatest boxer on the planet has watched the reflection of his finest years as a pugilist grow smaller and smaller in his rearview mirror until they are almost unrecognizable. Nevertheless, he’ll step between the ropes again for reasons that appear to be clearly financially driven against Matthysse. It wasn’t long ago that any fight involving Pacquio would invariably be a PPV attraction. His bout against Matthysse will be streamed on ESPN+, which seems like a pretty steep falloff for a man who was involved in the biggest pay-per-view of all time just three years ago when he lost a unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. You can read more about that fight here . And how about the INC Lingap? The Manila Times put out a story of this activity scheduled also for July 15, 2018. “The Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) is set to hold a massive anti-poverty program under its Lingap sa Mamamayan (Lingap) project on July 15. Around 150,000 people are expected to participate in the activity to be held at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila as “part of the Church’s resolve to do something concrete to combat poverty [in the country]and around the world,” according to INC general auditor Glicerio Santos Jr. The vision is perfect, almost anyway. A homegrown church with a membership of shall we say 5 million feeding and treating the needs of the rest of the world reaching as far as the continent of Africa. But come to think of it, how does the King secure the logistics for such an event. Easy, require all the locales to donate their share in the event through kind or equivalent money. There is also the Tanging Handugan or Special Offerings. The membership solely shoulders the expenses. Ministers? No they do not. Not even the King. WE the members support them, from the food they eat to the lavish lifestyles they support. And what verse do they show to support this? Maybe we should have been content with that one glass of water. Doesn’t it say in the bible that we should “not add or take away”? So maybe it should have been only one glass, no more no less. Anyway, back to the subject. Curious though is the insistence of the King to hold it at the Quirino Grandstand. Wouldn’t it have been global in a sense if it had been held simultaneously in different locales all over the Philippines? Much more practical too. The working brethren would not have a difficult time to participate since it is being conducted at their own locale. Every province and city would also have benefited then. Not like the proposed Luneta venue. Buses will be rented to ferry the visitors from their locales to the venue, then they will have to be brought back to their locales. The accompanying brethren will have to manage breakfast and lunch for their visitors and themselves because this is not included in the Lingap. Beneficiaries to the event would be limited. Didn’t the King’s crooked knights foresee this? Of course they did. The problem here is publicity. No media coverage if done at the locales. The kingdom needs publicity, to present an image of godliness, compassion, and love towards its fellowmen. And there’s the Guinness to consider, right? But the way I see it, the King needs assurance that he is still in control and is subtly showing our political friends that he is still a force to be reckoned with come election year and that is next year – National and Local elections. Up for grabs is the position of Senator, Congressman, Mayor, Vice-Mayor, etc. Easy money as they say, for the King and his Knights of the crooked table and some crumbs for Frank the pugs. Well, how can you blame them with all the mortgaged church properties nearing remata. Ka Tacio wala akong FB.Ang totoo kaya lang ako nakasusulat dito ang anak ko ang nag set up nitong laptop na giangamit ko.Sad to say wala akong gaanong alam sa makabagong teknolohiya ngayon. Malayo sa akin ang anak ko.nxt time mag meet kami patuturo ako kahit sa FB. Ka Shane Michael,TAMA ka,Hindi ako si Jesus at ang mga Character na binanggit ko na NAGTAGO ngunit di kahulugan ay DUWAG,Sagot ko yan kay Coward Like you na sabi bakit AKO NAGTATAGO? Gaya ng sabi ko “marami na akong hinarap na MT at maging mga “ministro”,HINDI nila MASAGOT at MASIRA ang Paninindigan ko sa panig ng KATOTOHANAN–“sila” ang mga AYAW na akong Kausapin at Dalawin,sino ngayon ang DUWAG sa Katotohahan,”sila” o AKO? Kung nagtatago man akong sa pangalang bibliko,hindi dahil TAKOT akong matiwalag,ayoko muna dahil sa paminsan-minsan na “nakasasamba pa ako” NALALAMAN ko kung anong mga TURO at ARAL ang Binabaluktot o Pinipilipit “nila” para ILIGAW ang mga kapatid na walang Malay!!Hindi ako PERPEKTO,may mga pagkakataong MALI ako,ngunit sinisikap ko na kung MAGAGAMIT ko ang mga TALATA sa BIBLIA,ginagamit ko,sapagkat ITO,(mga Salita ng DIOS) ang PINAKAMABISA na Panlaban sa Lahat ng Kasinungalingan at Maling Aral o Turo sa KANINOMANG “nangangaral ng Ebanghelyo”.!! Tama ka rin ka Lost Sheep,ngunit kung HAYAG ang kasamaang ginagawa at napatunayan,HUMAHATOL ka ba o kung HINATULAN mo,mali ba yon! Halimbawa,yung mga “kapatid” na pumatay kay Mayor Bote– sinabi ko mga MAMATAY TAO kayo,kakahiya kayo,(INC) pa naman kayo. Nang sabhin kong Kriminal sila,mali ba yung pagsasalita kong iyon na PAGHATOL sa kanilang karakter? Gaya ng nasa JUAN 7:24 Huag kayong MAGSIHATOL ayon sa anyo,kundi MAGSIHATOL kayo ng MATUWID na Paghatol!! Samakatuwid,pued kang humatol BASTA Matuwid na paghatol. Isa pang halimbawa: Nahuli kang Nagnanakaw sa akto,sinabihan ka o hinatulan ka ng mga tao o kapitbahay mo “Magnanakaw ka”,kasalanan ba yun?Di ba hinatulan mo yung tao ayon sa MALI niyang ginawa,kaya ang tawag na sa kanya Magnanakaw,di ba? Heto pa ang isang magandang Halimbawa sa PAGHATOL– alam natin ang EVM church mga SINUNGALING at mga DUWAG sa panig ng Katotohanan,diba? Kung sabihin ko na HINDI sila ligtas.mali ba yun? Ang sabi sa APOC. 21:8 ang DUWAG at SINUNGALING sa dagat-dagatang Apoy mapupunta!! Sinuway mo ang TUNAY na PAMAMAHALA na Ibinigay/ipinagkaloob sa ka EGM,LIGTAS ka ba? Si EVM hindi tunay na TP,ALAM halos ng Lahat pati na yang Sangoons na yan,INUTUSAN sila ni ka ERDY na “maghalal na Papalit sa KANIYA” pero di nila Sinunod.Kung sinabi kong Peke is EVM(paghatol) nagkasala ba ako,gayung TOTOO naman na ito ang Habilin ng ka EGM sa “sanggunian sa Pamumuno ni J$” na magkaroon ng Halalan para pumalit sa ka EGM,tapos PUMUESTO si EVM,di ba PEKE siyang TP?? Mali ba ang Hatol ko na PEKE siya? Ka Bible Bot– Sa Hebreo 1:8 malinaw ang nakasulat– But as to the Son,He says,GOD is Thy throne forever and forever…then 0n 9 it says –Thou has loved righteousness,and hated iniquities,therefore GOD,Thy GOD “annointed thee”. Nothing in these verse Proved that Christ was/is GOD!! If Christ is God as belief by others and using these verses,HOW COME He(Christ) was Annointed by GOD? It is very clear GOD was the ONE who annointed Christ,not God annointed (another) God,Right? On Colosians 2:9 it says— For in Him(Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of Godhead bodily. Does it means Christ is GOD because God dwells in Him? If he(Christ) is God in this Verse,WHO is the GOD that Dwells on HIM? So there will be 2 Gods if we will accept that becoz God dwells on Christ,christ is also God?How About Moses n others Prophets? God was with Moses too.God was with Elijah too and annointed them with the H.Spirit.ARE THEY GODS? Christ divine nature DOES NOT proved or Proof that He is GOD. God is Holy,Christ is Holy,God is Truth,Christ is Truth,God is Life and Christ is Life–It only shows that SOME qualities of GOD,Christ Have,but it doesn’t mean he is God.The truth God says,YOU(pertaining to all mankind) must be HOLY,because I AM HOLY!!When God Created Mankind it was for their Holiness,but bacause our LOLO n LOLA Adan n Eba,Disobeyed GOD,we INHERIT their Characters–DISOBEDIENT to GOD!! Do you know that the true Christians are Holy? That was proclaimed by apostle Paul and the HOLY SPIRIT DWELL in us,he said You are the Temple of the Holy Spirit!! Are we God becoz the H.Spirit and God dwells in us if we lived a Life of righteousness n holiness? In John 10:30 Christ and the Father are ONE in taking care of the Sheep or their people not in NATURE,Just read verses 27-29,then 30.Is what our Lord JesusChrist proclamation in John 17:1,3 is not ENOUGH PROOF that He is not God? He was praying at the Father and says ,THIS is ETERNAL Life,that they may KNOW “YOU,the ONLY TRUE GOD”.!! Just asked anyone who believed that Christ is GOD like this,Is our Lord JC telling the TRUTH when He said that the ONLY true GOD is the Father.And asked them too,WHOM I am going to BELIEVED,you or our Lord JesusChrist? Very simple questions that those who believed that Christ is God, CANNOT answer!! The point about Col 2:9 is that the New World Translation states “the fullness of the divine quality resides in bodily form” means this is used as an adjective just like John 1:1 Moffatt states “the Word was divine” Revised English Version states “the fullness of what God was resides in bodily form” and “the Word was what God was“ are both adjectives. The Godhead is not a divine being but rather the qualities of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. John 10:29 and John 14:28 Jesus even states the Father is greater. REV is the only truly Unitarian bible. Think of a system, family or partnership united. There is a right end Unitarian sect that believes the Father is true God but recognizes the Godhead as a unity of God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. Mga kapatid,sa tagal ko ng nagbabasa ng Biblia,may ISANG talata akong nabasa na,ITO lang talatang ito,SIRA na ang paniniwala NINOMAN na Dios ang Cristo.Marami silang mababasa na kung ano-anong pangontra sa mga talata na binabasa natin para patunayan na si Cristo ay Dios din.Ngunit itong nasa Deuteronomio na nabasa ko noon pa,HINDI nila matutulan at di aayon sa paniniwala nila na Dios ang Cristo.Heto mga kapatid sa 32:39 ng Deut. heto ang nakasulat: Tingnan ninyo ngayon,na AKO,samakatuwid baga’y AKO nga,At walang dios sa AKIN:AKO’Y” pumapatay”,at AKO’Y” bumubuhay”,AKO’Y” sumusugat”,at AKO’Y “nagpapagaling”;at walang makakaligtas sa Aking kamay. Heto ang mga TANONG na dapat itanong sa naniniwalang si Cristo ay Dios? Si Cristo Bumuhay ng patay at Nagpapagaling,ngunit SAAN MABABASA na si CRISTO pumatay ng tao,nagbigay ng karamdaman o may sinugatan na tao? Kapag may nabasa kayo(tanong mo sa kausap mo) na si Cristo pumatay at nanugat o nagbigay karamdaman sa kaninomang TAO,tatanggapin ko na Dios si Cristo!! Gawin mo nang six months bro. Biro lang ha…Daniel Matsunaga’s gonna miss you more. Bro. WS, it’s been two weeks now since your last post. Anything new? What’s new? At least if bibliko is around he shall make sure this blog remains active. As another instance of the eerie resemblance of the INC saga and Trump’s presidency, I just saw this article after googling “CNN breaking news”: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jim-acosta-anti-media-trump_us_5b61415fe4b0b15aba9dcc10. CNN’s Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta, is “very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in the conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt”. Sadly, in our case, the hostility whipped up by EVM and his ministers, especially in their worship service sermons (“puksain mo sila”) already resulted in, at least, 4 violent deaths (Fruto, Villocino, Ledesma, Patungan). And the climate of fear still persists within the church as EVM lords it over with his “ obey and never complain” mantra. In reality though, the true INC members who have decided to stay are not really afraid but are just patiently waiting for EVM to be replaced and the church to be restored to its pristine condition through divine intervention. Hi Brethren,I’m back.Thanks sa pag-aalala nyo sa travel ko.I have to work tonite.Just got home this morning. Salamat sa inyong lahat.Happy to be back!! Thank you bros, you are back. I thought we’ll still wait for another article from bro. WS before we can have an exchange of views again. I like the analogy you presented bro. Filosofo Tacio about Trump’s and EVM’s administration. Indeed, they really share a lot of of strategies in common. Strategies that suppress the rights of people and stay in power to be in control of many lives. In our case, the rights of brethrens. How I wish for the day to come so soon when the Church will go back to its pristine state, unblemished and pure for the glory of God! May nagbalita sa akin na ang webek sa lokal ng Hawaii ay NAUDLOT dahil nag-Brown-Out!! Nawalan ng electricity dahil “walang pa palang permit” na nakuha para sa okasyon ng ihandog ang kapilya.Balita rin na “lahat ng mga maytungkulin at mga ministro” ay INALISAN ng mga karapatan dahil sa pangyayaring iyon.Okey lang na Pumalpak sila kasi balita HINDI pa Kumpleto ang KAYARIAN ng Kapilya eh inihandog na agad!! Ganyan pala ngayon,kahit di pa AYOS lahat ang kaayusan ng isang kapilya,INIHAHANDOG na pilit para may Maipagyabang sila na may “bagong kapilya” na naihandog.!! KAILAN sa panahon ng ka EGM nangyari ang ganyan?,WALA,wala kahit Isa,ngayon sige lang “basta may maipagyabang na inihandog na kapilya” ok lang kahit may KAPINTASAN.!! Ang isa pang kaipokritahan ng mga ito,ang mga ipinakikitang kapilya sa TV ay karamihan yung magaganda kahit panahon pa ng ka EGM.WALANG ipakita na mga Baranggay Kapilyates at mga Kapilya na bulok na at hindi maipagawa na nasa mga probinsya.Mga kapilya na halos sinlalaki lang ng mga garahe at walang kaayusan,ITINATAGO at INILILIHIM sa publiko at mga kapatid.!! Napanood nyo ba yung episode 14 nila Miguel? Tinanggal si BOB “big fat liar” ah,mukhang napagalitan he he he..ipinalit kapatid ni ka Jon Dizon.May Drama pa sila sa huli pati na si Miguel na akala mo sincero sa pagsasalita na gustong “magpaiyak”.Hanga ako sa mga ito,sanay na sanay ng “magsi-arte” sa harap ng telebisyon,sanay “manghamak” ng kapuwa.Tama si bro.Edge,ano ang masama sa isang ministro na magtinda ng tubig sa “malinis na paraan ng paghahanap-buhay” kesa NAKIKINABANG sila(mga OWE/STF) sa NAKAW na abuloy at Handugan na ukol para sa AMA.Mga ministro ang mga ito sa TV pa man din,nanghahamak ng kapuwa dahil Nagtitinda lang ng Tubig? Paano yung mga kapatid na basurero at street Vendor–hahamakin din nila? Ganyan na ang ASAL ng mga ministro ng EVM church,mga Mapagmataas.Mayayabang at Mapanghamak ng kapuwa-Tao!! Ang lalakas ng loob magsabi na “kami ang tunay na defender of Faith”? sabi nga kapal Muks nyo,wala na kayong HIYA.!! Marami pa akong mga kaibigang kapatid na Silent Defender at sabi nga nila,alam namin na maraming maling nagyayari sa Iglesia.Lagi nilang sinasabi na,basta dito na lang muna kami,hihintay na lang kung kailan ito(ang Iglesia) ibalik sa dating kalagayan na matuwid. Ang kakatuwa sa mga karamihan sa kanila,sumasamba sila pero di naman daw nila iniintindi ang itinuturo dahil paulit-ulit lang at parang sirang plaka.Ayoko lang silang hiyain,GUSTO kong sabihin sa kanila,Bakit sumasamba ka pa,di ka naman pala nakikinig? Nag-aabuloy ka at naghahahndog at naglalagak sa pasalamat,di NAKIKIISA ka pa rin sa mga LIDER? Alam nilang/mong MALI bakit nanjan ka pa? Di ba isang kalokohan o kamalian iyong alam di ayos/tama pero nanjan ka?Lalo na ang iba at may Tungkulin pa–Napipilitan o Natatakot na HINDI sumama sa mga Aktibidad,kalayawan man o kabanalan na matatawag-di nakikiisa ka pa rinsa EVM Church? Paano kang naging “defender” di ka kumikibo o nagsasalita ng katotohanan? Kung babalikan Aral natin ang mga IBINUBUKOD ng Dios na ILILIGTAS NIYA,either IBUBUKOD Niya o PAALISIN sa dakong pupuksain o gugunawin ng Dios.Tulad ni Noe–pinasakay sa DAONG.Si Lot at Pamilya PINAALIS sa Sodom at Gomora.Ang unang Bayan kailangan KASAMA ka ni Abraham at ng Bayang Israel na pinamahalaaan ni Moses.Ang Unang INC dapat KAANIB ka dito at ng sumama ang mga LIDER,sabi ng Dios–LUMABAS ka sa Kanya BAYAN ko ng HINDI ka madamay sa SALOT na gagawin ng Dios(ito nga ang unang Babilonia-ICAR na ngayon). Kaya AYWAN ko,kung papaano kang maliligtas kahit Silent Defender ka pero NANJAN ka kay EVM.HINDI ka naghahayag ng mga Kamaliang ginagawa nila,bagkus TAKOT kang magsalita at natatakot o napipilitan ka pang sumunod sa takot mo na matiwalag at itakwil ka ng mga mahal mo sa buhay o mga kaibigan at kakilala mong kapatid na puro Bulag na at Panatiko,di ba? Ito lang ang masasabi ko ukol sa mga nananatili at naghihintay ng pagbabago.Papaano kung iyon palang mga tiniwalag nila at kusang humiwalay na ay PAGBUBUKOD na pala ng AMA? Sino ngayon ang Ligtas at di Ligtas?IIWAN ko na sa inyo mga kasagutan Bro.!! Totoo ba mga Bro. na ang mga SCAN,mga Nakasuot na lang ng Barong shirt o polo barong dahil “maganda ang Imahe” nila sa buong mundo dahil “mababait sila” at walang sangkot sa anomang mga krimen at anomalya? Balita eh “binawi na lahat ng UNIPORME nila at isang mataas na Opisyal sa Sangoons at inatasan ukol dito? Nagtatanong lang po. Pansamantala lang iyan at ibabalik din sa kanila ang mga uniporme. Gusto ng Opisyal na iyon na ma-SCAN ang bawat uniporme kung alin ang amoy Defenders. kasi po sumabog na ang balitang pangulo ng SCAN ang tumira ky mayor Bote. In fairness, personal na away nila ng mayor yun dahil sa property or business.

2019-04-24T14:52:05Z

https://increflections.com/2018/07/14/mid-year-fight-of-champions-pacquiao-vs-inc-lingap/comment-page-2/

Whilst I am finally loving the way my body feels, now that I am actually getting fitter and healthier, I sometimes have to drag myself to my classes at The Circuit Factory. The aches from the last session, or the tiredness from no sleep, or the huge tub of ice cream I ate last night, all will me to put on my yoga pants and settle down on the sofa with wine and more ice cream. So I've found that there are several essential oils that have the ability to dissolve each and every one of those devils on my shoulder, and make getting to the gym just that little bit easier on my resolve. Deep Blue is the ultimate soother for sore and aching muscles after that intense work out. I add it to the bath the following morning and it really helps to soothe all those aches and pain and give my body what it needs to relax and unwind. I also dilute it in coconut or olive oil (it's quite cooling on my skin) and apply it topically to whichever muscle is doing the most complaining. It really helps me to feel more normal, so I don't have to hobble back to the gym (or let those muscles give me an excuse for sitting on the sofa!). There is literally nothing like doing a Circuit Factory class when you're all heavy with the weight of all the crap you've eaten that day. In the past I've often just made excuses and not gone, worried I might actually be sick. Grapefruit essential oil has been great in relieving those sugar cravings, so I am abstaining from the ice cream more often. So I feel lighter, and it doesn't feel like such a drag getting off my backside and going to class. I kinda need to breathe when I'm working so hard my lungs want to explode. So the biggest excuse I make for myself is that I can't possibly go to the gym when I've got a little sniffle. I'm not sick, but I can't breathe, so it's not worth it. So I apply Breathe to my chest three times a day, and definitely before class, as it helps to support my respiratory system to clear my airways. I can get to the gym and get on with my day. I really want to kiss the person who invented these! After another sleepless night with my two angel babies, the last thing I want to do is go to the gym. I want to conserve my energy for lifting my wine glass and crying at soppy movies. Mito2Max is a great supplement which supports the body's optimum aerobic capacity and supports stamina naturally without the use of stimulants like caffeine. Wintergreen is great for when you tweak a tendon or a muscle. It's fantastic at supporting the body's natural healing and it supports the body as it tries to reduce inflammation and heal the pull to the muscle. I apply it twice a day to any injuries I pick up. Does this help you with any of your excuses? I have been looking for a gluten free cheese cracker recipe for a while. S's favourite snacks are goldfish crackers or mini cheddars. Plus I'm rather partial to them as well! So I wanted to find a gluten free version so that I can indulge, and reduce S's gluten intake a little bit. S is a typical toddler, so she won't be fooled by bad knock off versions. If it doesn't taste perfect, she simply won't eat it. That's why I love this gluten free parmesan cracker recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring. They don't taste like they are gluten free and they have a great crunch to them. I use their "Mock Better Batter" flour blend, and I find it works great as a gluten free flour for quite a few of their recipes. We can't get Better Batter flour blend in Dubai or in the UK, so I can't just order it in from Amazon. I've started making the dough in large batches and freezing it. I'm not sure if the crackers would retain their crunch if you froze them after baking them. They taste just as good after the dough has been frozen as they do if you make them completely fresh. Make sure you roll them out pretty thin though, because otherwise they lose their crunch when you store them. If they are thin, then they stay crispy and crunchy for over two weeks (not that they usually last that long!). I tend to use cookie cutters to get interesting shapes, but you could easily just slice the dough up before baking (I'm a bit OCD about wonky crackers, clearly been eating store bought crackers for a long time). I've also used normal buttermilk instead of the cultured buttermilk and found that it worked just fine, but the crackers need more cooking so that they are still crunchy. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit or 175 degrees celsius . Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornmeal, baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt and buttermilk blend, and whisk to combine well. Add the finely grated cheese, and mix to combine. Add the 4 tablespoons butter and the milk, and mix until combined and the dough begins to come together. Divide the dough into two parts, and press each into a small ball. Place the first ball of dough between two sheets of unbleached parchment paper, and roll into a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick (about the thickness of a nickel). The dough should roll out quickly and easily. With a fluted (or simple round) 1-inch cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place them on a prepared baking sheet, about 1-inch apart (they will not spread during baking). Gather and reroll scraps. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Using a toothpick, poke 4 evenly spaced holes toward the center of each of the rounds of dough. Poke the holes in a tight circular motion to create well-rounded holes. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of all of the rounds of dough lightly with the remaining teaspoon of melted butter. One tablespoon of melted butter should be enough to cover all of the rounds lightly. Sprinkle the tops of the rounds liberally with coarse salt. Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake, rotating once during baking, for about 12 minutes, or until the crackers are dark golden brown on the edges and lightly golden brown on top. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. For best results, store at room temperature in a sealed glass container, to maintain crispness. It's funny how life takes you on different twists and turns, many of them were never in the plan, or turned out like you expected. For me, becoming an expat was one of those unexpected twists, and it definitely did not turn out the way I thought it would. As I'm sure I have said before, I have never had this burning desire to live overseas. I wasn't one of those people who was desperate to disappear on a gap year to Australia or the Far East. Don't get me wrong, I love my holidays, but permanently immersing myself in another country, I'd never really wanted to. I was more than happy in the UK, and as I chose a career path which was only really applicable in the UK and a handful of other countries (in a previous life I was a lawyer), I hadn't really set myself up for a life abroad. But Gary has always wanted to work overseas. He has made that more than clear from the moment we got together. We discussed it, and discussed it, and discussed it, but as time went on, it slipped further to the back of my mind. Until the offer of a job in Qatar came through. I'm usually a bit of a believer in fate, I believe that things seem to click together at the right time. If it feels right, it probably is. With the job in Qatar, it was fairly clear that things were clicking together. We were only three months away from getting married (a prerequisite if I wanted to live with Gary in Qatar). We had already discussed starting a family soon after we were married (necessitating a career break for me). We had already started looking at houses, in readiness to move out of our apartment and start a new chapter. We snuck off to Qatar for the weekend to investigate and we liked what we saw. It was obvious that there would be a culture difference, but English was commonly spoken and there was a large amount of expats living in Qatar, making the transition much smoother. Then, less than nine months after we arrived in Qatar, a job came up in Dubai. I was pregnant and getting more and more so each day, and the clock was ticking as to whether we would even be able to get out of Qatar before it was too late for me to fly. I did not fancy an eight hour road trip through Saudi Arabia when nine months pregnant. Again everything seemed to come together so that, in the nick of time, we moved to Dubai. In less than four weeks, we moved countries, found an apartment, found a hospital and had a baby. Dubai has been the most amazing place for us to have started our family. We had the most amazing care from the hospital for both of our children, and we've had the most amazing opportunity to experience Dubai as a family. We've made some amazing friends. Friends that have become family to me. Friends who all jumped up and offered to look after Miss S while I was in hospital having Mister L. Friends who would happily come over at the crack of dawn to look after the kids if I wasn't well enough. There is something about being expats that has banded us all together. We have leaned on each other much more than we probably would have if we were in the UK with family close by. And that has been such a blessing, as it turns out. One of the hardest things when you are an expat is not having family nearby who can just pop over. And yet my friends have more than made up for that by being so amazing. I feel like we've all changed and grown, but grown together, as our children have grown alongside us. I'm not the person I was when I left the UK. Not only have I had the opportunity to meet the most amazing people, I've also had the chance to experience another amazing culture. I knew nothing of Islam before I left the UK (and I'm no whizz at it now!). I had no understanding of the religion, or it's people. My understanding of Islam was limited to what was in the newspapers, along with some limited wider reading. I hadn't realised what a limited view that actually was until I lived in the Middle East. Living in a muslim country has given me a new appreciation for other people's religions, and how to respect those religions. It also gives you a hugely different view on the politics of the Middle East, and on the decisions that are made in rooms far away from here. I am a much more worldly person that the one that left the UK four years ago. I feel like I have morphed and changed and expanded (metaphorically, thankfully not physically!). Seeing more of the world, and spending more than a week in one place, has changed my perspective on so many different things. It has also taught me my own strength. It's taught me that I can move house, move country, move continents, without much chaos. It's taught me that I can make friends, can build relationships and bonds with people, again and again and again. And that those friendships might just become some of the most important to me. It's taught me that I can take care of two children while Gary works abroad, for weeks at a time. It has taught me that I can be patient and calm, when there are no reinforcements. It's taught me that I can maintain and even improve relationships with friends and family that are still in the UK. That the miles between us really do mean nothing at all, as long as we love each other, and want to support each other. It's taught me that I can watch friends leave, and smile even when I wanted to cry. To see the bigger picture for not only me, but for others. To see what is best, and to encourage and support their decisions, even if they aren't the decision I'd wish they'd make (for purely selfish reasons). I love Dubai, but the time has come to leave it. To leave behind the place where we built our married life together. To leave the apartment that we brought our children home to. To leave the friends who have gotten me through the first tough years of motherhood. As I look around me, I wonder how we will ever do it. To sell or pack up all of our worldly possessions (which have multiplied in four years), and ship them across two continents. I wonder how we'll ever settle into another life, a very different life than the one we are leaving behind. I know that we can, and that we will. I know that it will be easy and hard in equal measure. I know I will grieve and rejoice in equal measure, as we begin our new lives. There are so many opportunities lost to us, but so many more that we will gain. It's hard to leave when you aren't fed up of where you are, but then that's also exactly the time to go. Again it feels rather like fate has intervened, there were so many coincidences that happened as we walked towards this decision, towards the new job, new home, new life. I will miss Dubai, and all of those amazing people we leave behind. But they have a very special, and very warm place, in my heart. Dubai has made me the person that I am today, and for that, I'm more grateful than I can possibly express. I thought we'd avoided the toddler tantrums with S. Ok, stop laughing..... seriously, stop laughing. In hindsight it was the most ridiculous thing, but as S approached two and a half, and she hadn't really progressed into full meltdown mode, I thought she was just one of those kids who didn't really have them. She had strops now and then, but no hysterics, and she was fairly easy to cajole out of them. At the time, I kept saying "they'll come", but to other people. The fact that they really were going to show up didn't really lodge itself in my brain. And then the world came crashing down with meltdowns and throwing herself on the floor and using the word "no" so many times a day I felt like screaming my head off. My particular favourites both revolve around chocolate. First of all there was the time when she asked for ice cream, and then had a meltdown when I opened the ice cream instead of the chocolate I'd bought for baking.... in public, which included lying on a bench for fifteen minutes screaming her head off and crying hysterically.... while I ate most of the ice cream. Then there was Valentines day, when she was given chocolate hearts in every shop we went into (in Dubai they give chocolate to children A LOT!), and then had huge hysterics demanding chocolate as though I'd refused to let her have any. Cue a twenty minute crying fit in the double pram while I wandered around and ignored her. I am not the most patient. I can pretty much ignore the full blown tantrums, because there isn't really a way to stop them once they've started and it's better for S if we just ride the wave of emotions for a little while and let her sort herself out. But the incessant not listening, and refusal to do anything I ask her to (even if it's something she really wants to do).... it makes me grit my teeth and want to punch a wall. So I've had to develop coping mechanisms to get through the every day hum drum of the two year old's basic ignorance of anything she hasn't started by herself. Now, I'm not saying these coping mechanisms will work for everyone, but they do help me keep my temper in check (most of the time). So if they help anyone else, even a teeny tiny bit, then that's all good! This one has been the biggest one for me. I used to ask S to get her shoes, or come here, or whatever, and she'd ignore me. She would ignore me again, and again, and again regardless of whether I raised my voice, got cross or upset. So to save my own sanity, I decided to accept that she's not quite in that place yet where she can listen all the time, and that me getting cross doesn't benefit any of us. So I now ask her once. If she doesn't move, I take her hand and gently (but firmly) lead her to her shoes, or to have her nappy changed, or to have her dinner. This lessening of expectations has really helped my stress levels, and I even feel that S listens to me more as a result, because the way that I ask has changed because I'm not gearing up to have to shout. I don't really like the idea of Time Outs, because they are often perceived as abandoning your child. But sometimes, they are just necessary. Like when S pushes her baby brother so hard he falls over and bangs his head, for the fifth time that morning. Or when she runs off in the park and I have to scramble to grab L and chase after her. Our Time Outs take place in the pram. I try to not make it about punishment, although sometimes I am REALLY mad that her brother has hit his head HARD. I explain that she needs to be nice to her brother and that if she can't be calm with him, she needs to sit in the pram until she calms down. At most she gets left for a minute and then I go back and calmly explain what went wrong, and how we can fix it. She then says sorry and kisses me and L before moving on. This does seem to work temporarily, but not for long. Although she is a toddler so I'm not sure it would work for a long period of time no matter what tactic I used. This one has been a big revelation for me. I forget in the hustle and bustle of the day that S doesn't always know, or remember, what's happening that day, and so she doesn't know why I'm asking her to do things. I now try to continually give her cues throughout the morning about where we are going and why, so that she is really for the changes that are coming. So while I'm making breakfast I'll tell her that after breakfast we can get ready and go to the park/see friends/go to nursery, and I repeat it as I move through the morning tasks like dressing and brushing hair. I've found it makes her much more willing to sit still and have her hair brushed, to go and get her shoes and to generally move a little bit quicker. I also give her count down warnings before we leave places. I'm pretty honest about timings, but S knows the order the warnings come in, so she is much more prepared to leave by the time I am ready to go. It's made the upset at leaving a lot easier to handle. Spending all day with young children does wear on me quite quickly. I love them to death but it's really hard trying to think for three people, to keep everyone entertained and on track and teach them about the world and how to live in it all at the same time. I don't always succeed in keeping calm, in fact I shout and stress more than I would like. So on the days when the stress threatens to take over, I make sure that the kids and I have had doTERRA's Balance blend applied to the backs of our necks. It really helps to bring everything back into perspective, especially when all three of us get a dose of Balance all at the same time! i think it's one of my most used essential oils, and I think I'll be needing it for the next few years, while S gets out of and L gets into the toddler tantrums. So those are the mechanisms that I employ at the moment to keep myself sane and to get through the day unscathed, do you have any more tips? I feel like I say this all the time, but I wish I had known about essential oils when I was pregnant and when my kids were really young. I could have really offered them some additional support (and something to help me get through those tough early days too!). For those of you who have young babies, or are pregnant and expecting your bundle of joy, here are the five essential oils that I would arm myself with if I were pregnant again! On Guard is such an important blend in this house! Babies and toddlers seem to get every single germ that comes within a ten mile radius of them! I use a single drop of On Guard in 10mls of coconut oil or olive oil and apply it to their feet every day to give their immune systems a much needed boost! Lavender is the ultimate essential oil for babies. It's fantastic for general calming, so would be amazing during the witching hour (if you don't know what that is, don't ask, better to remain oblivious!), it also helps to wind a baby down for bed. I also use it in the bath as it's great to support the skin as it repairs and renews itself. Now I have a crawling baby and a running toddler, Lavender comes in handy for all those cuts and scrapes that come with moving targets! I don't think I mention Lemon too much but it's great oil for babies. It can be used to help the body to bring down a fever (rather than peppermint which can be too strong for some babies) and it's a great essential oil for supporting the body as it deals with the aftereffects from vaccines. Given our babies get so many in the first year, it's a nifty little oil to have on hand. Fennel is my first essential oil I reach for when my baby's reflux flares up. It's really gentle on the stomach, but it helps to strengthen and support the digestive system. I would also use it on babies who have colic as often babies with colic have some kind of digestive upset and could do with the additional support. I feel like I've been using this everyday for months on end. When my baby and toddler are sick, they are always sick with a massive snotty nose. I have no idea where my kids get all the green mucus from! Breathe is fantastic at helping the respiratory system as it tries to clear out all the gunk. It's particularly useful at night, because if your baby can't breathe, they can't sleep, and if they aren't sleeping, neither are you. Are there any other essential oils that you think should in the new baby survival kit? These brownies have been on my mind for sometime. I love love love mint chocolate, sometimes a little bit too much! So I've been dying to make these triple chocolate mint brownies from Clean Eating with a Dirty Mind and see if they are really as good as they look. They are. In fact, I think they are better! They are really rich and squidgy, but the mint makes that all work perfectly! I'm always struggling to really make Paleo recipes that make people want to eat the whole lot in one go, but these are definitely one of those desserts. So take a look at the recipe and then go make some! I also substituted the peppermint extract for doTERRA peppermint essential oil because I couldn't find peppermint extract in Dubai. I swapped the 1/4 of a teaspoon of peppermint extract for just 8 drops of the peppermint essential oil. I think any more than that and you would swamp the recipe, because the chocolate bar you are adding in also has mint in it. If you taste the batter after you have added the eight drops, you'll be able to check whether it has enough mint for you. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C. 3. Once the chocolate is melted, slowly stir in the liquid coconut oil. 4. Then stir in the almond butter, maple syrup, peppermint extract and eggs. 5. Now whisk in the dry ingredients, the coconut palm sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder. 7. Grease an 8×8″ square glass pan with coconut oil or butter and pour in the brownie batter. 8. Cook for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy!

2019-04-20T10:31:06Z

http://the21stcenturymama.blogspot.com/2015/05/

The European Road Championships 2015 in Tartu, Estonia are about to begin. Here's a quick look on all you need to know about the race. Trofeo Karlsberg is one of the hardest races in the Juniors racing calendar. It's a UCI race and has the status of a nations cup stage race, meaning the teams competing consist of national teams. Representing 19 countries in total including some strong cycling nations such as Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, USA and Italy, just a few to mention. The race consisted of 3 days of racing and 4 stages in total between 5th and 7th of June 2015. Together with part of the Finnish team we started our journey towards Gersheim, Germany on June 2nd. Last week I got a call and that changed my plans for the upcoming week. I was supposed to go to Pirkan Pyöräily and ride the 217 km long route, but instead I will head towards Germany tomorrow. More precisely, Trofeo Karlsberg together with the Finnish Junior National Road Cycling Team. We will leave Turku tomorrow evening and will arrive at our destination in Gersheim on Thursday. It's now more than a week ago since the TS Kortteliajot was ridden and I finally got time to put together a small race report. The TS Kortteliajot Sunday started off with slight rain in the morning, meaning the race would be ridden in wet conditions. That would make the hard race even harder. Fincycling had a 5 man strong team for the race. The Simo Klimscheffskij memorial race opened the Skoda Maantiecup last weekend in Turku, Finland. Fincycling had a 6 man strong team for the race consisting of; Joel Bergman, Simo Terävä, Jaakko Hänninen, Aku Keloneva, Ville Hirvenoja and Jonas Nordström. This weekend is the official grand opening of the Finnish road cycling season. Simo Klimscheffskij memorial ride will be ridden on Saturday and TS Kortteliajot will be ridden on Sunday. Fincycling will be racing on both days. It has been a great couple of weeks with a lot going on around Fincycling. As I am writing this, the team is heading for Otepää, Estonia for the second training camp this spring. The first training camp was held in Tikkurila between March 21st and 22nd. Another important event, a press conference, was held on Monday March 30th. A new team and new sponsors were introduced and the event was well noticed by the Finnish press. In this article you can read about the first training camp, the Fincycling 2015 team, the schedule for 2015 and about the Fincycling press conference. The Fincycling project continues to grow as we saw an agreement between the Cycling Union of Finland (Suomen Pyöräilyunioni ry) and Fincycling take shape January 6th 2015. The great efforts done by the whole Fincycling team has paid off, and for the coming years 2015 - 2017, Fincycling will be taking care of the U19 boys training and racing schedule. This if something is a proof of a job well done and shows the level of trust for this project. First season for Fincycling is now behind. A first year is often a year of learning, both for the cyclists and the staff. And this was exactly what the first year was for Fincycling as well, learning by doing. And there was a lot of doing. The Cup of Zemgale stage race in Latvia began today in a great way. The 3,1 km long prologue was won by Niklas "Nikke" Henttala representing Fincycling with an average speed of 47,29 km/h in 3 minutes and 56 seconds. Niklas is one of the talented Junior riders in the team, and he will be wearing the leader's yellow jersey tomorrow. You can find the full result list here. The race will continue with a 70 km stage tomorrow following by another ITT stage. The race will end on Saturday August 30th. Five stages with somewhat short stages will make the race really explosive. Juniors from many strong cycling countries are represented, such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Belarus and Finland of course. What's great about this week's race is that the Fincycling squad is actually "bigger" than usual. Besides juniors who have been competing with Fincycling throughout the season, also juniors who will join the squad next year have the opportunity to race with the team. The only way to become a professional is to compete on a high level, and with Fincycling this opportunity is given to our young talented riders. At the beginning of the season talking with the Fincycling people, we heard that the first year will be dedicated to the junior boys aged 16-18 and that the project would aim to support even girls and U23 men in the future, maybe in some years. Well the Fincycling squad has already done something supportive for both of those. Earlier this month in Norway, the Fincycling team introduced girls in their squad in the Arctic Heroes of Tomorrow Race (more of this later). And again, in Cup of Zemgale the Fincycling team is introducing Laura Vainionpää (W U23) to the racing field. It's a great way to gain experience competing with the guys. It is with joy I watch the Fincycling team, that began as a project only less than a year ago, grow and do so much good to the sport in Finland. More than any Finnish national organization has been able to do in a long time, maybe ever? Having heard how the boys have learned during this year, and been able to improve as cyclists both in and out of the saddle makes me really feel positive about the future of Finnish cycling. Of course there are lots and lots of work to do and we know the road to the elite is tough, but all the hard work done by the Fincycling team gives a solid ground for our juniors to build on. Fincycling season is well on its way, and so far the team has been racing in Estonia, Finland and Poland. Next up is a stage race in Finland this weekend (AHH etappiajot) and Switzerland (46ème Tour du Pays de Vaud) next week. Aleksi Hänninen, Niklas Henttala, Lauri Koski, Erik Relanto, Jaakko Hänninen and Antto Tunkkari build up the Fincycling team in AHH etappiajot and the team representing Fincycling in 46ème Tour du Pays de Vaud is Aleksi Hänninen, Niklas Henttala, Lauri Koski, Erik Relanto, Antto Tunkkari and Marco Tapio Niemi. As a small wrap up from the early season start here is a small recap of day 2 in Turku a couple of weeks ago, part 1 you can still find here. After a great day one and a successful gala-evening Fincycling was ready for day two, TS Kortteliajot in Turku, a real spring classic in Finland. Every team and rider in Finland wants to win this race, and usually it ends up in a bunch sprint. Team Fincycling was having five riders for the race, Sasu Halme, Aleksi Hänninen, Antto Tunkkari, Waltteri Lepistö and Arttu Suvisaari. And off it went, Fincycling at the front, of course! The boys reacted to all breakaway attempts, strong performance once again! Who's keeping up the pace and making the race difficult for everyone? Fincycling of course! Sasu had a super strong day! He was attacking and attacking and closing gaps, working like Voigt one could say! Antto was misplaced in the bunch and lost control to the front and was flagged off towards the end.He really fought until the end! Charly giving feedback and support for a good job done. TWD Länken had a stronger team this time and Ilari Kahila took the win after a perfect leadout. A superb job all day by Sasu, he finished 7th with the same time as the winner. Fincycling after the finish. Good job all weekend! It was great to see the guys executing the tactics set up for both days and they really made the race hard for everyone. Experience is what is needed to win, the boys are on their way on the learning curve, and having seen the attitude the whole team has it is a promising start indeed. So let's wish our guys the best for AHH etappiajot and the 46ème Tour du Pays de Vaud next week. Kilpapyöräily ry., founded in October 2013, has started the season 2014 with a great pace. The association aims to lift the Finnish cycle racing scene to a level where it deserves to be – it’s after all one of the most popular competitive sports in our neighboring countries. The founding members of the association (27 members) have all achieved an internationally successful career, and some are still active in the world of elite cycling. Such members are Jussi Veikkanen, Kjell Carlström, Charly Wegelius, Joona Laukka, Mika Hämäläinen, Jukka Heinikainen and Kimmo Kananen – to name a few. Ambitious goals were set up for the first season: 16-18 year old junior cyclists from national teams around the country will be participating in both international and top national races, resulting in some 65-70 race days during the 2014 season. The operations are made possible by dedicated voluntary work by the founding members and by the financial support from the sponsors, SKODA, Helkama, PowerBar, Sportful, Shimano, EuroSport, Polar, dmp, Javatrans and Leijona-tuote. During the 2014 season, at least 14 boys will participate in international races, following the international rules of attending with a six man strong team in each race. The first kickoff was held with 14 boys at Solvalla Idrottsinstitut between January 31st and February 2nd. The aim of the camp was to inform the boys, their coaches and parents about the project and what it would be all about. Charly Wegelius (Garmin-Sharp), Kjell Carlström (IAM Cycling), Kimmo Kananen (Shimano), Jani Paju (Fustra), Juho Suikkari and Marko Vauhkonen all acted as instructors during the weekend. Focus was also set on the comprehensive training programs and the professionals shared their knowledge with the coaches. As cycling is a sport where proper set-up and equipment matter, the boys were instructed about the importance of an accurate bike fit and the impact it can have in both comfort and efficiency on the bike. These instructions were provided by Shimano Nordic and Fustra. The technical and tactical aspects were also highlighted and presented both with interactive conversations and through watching some interesting videos. The importance of nutrition during both training and racing was equally highlighted. Fincycling team is energized with PowerBar products. Our boys made a trip to Estonia during Easter. The team consisted of Simo Terävä (16), Jonne Itkonen (16), Jaakko Hänninen (17), Ville Hirvenoja (17), Walteri Lepistö (18) and Lauri Koski (18). In Estonia we lived and trained together with the National Junior cycling team of Estonia who live and train in Audentese Sports-school in Otepää. A race was also scheduled for Sunday, a national race with 271 cyclists at the start line, among them ex-professionals and team Alfa Baltic, a professional team from Latvia. The Fincycling team started off well and the boys executed and followed the pre-planned race tactics all the way. A good effort was rewarded with a great 14th place for Waltteri Lepistö (5th in the youth classification). Toomas Kirsipuu, a legendary Estonian ex professional cyclist was also impressed by the Fincycling team effort. Toomas, who today actively supports the local junior cyclists, also participated in the race and therefore closely followed the Fincycling team in action. April 26th and 27th marks the official cycling season opening in Turku, Finland. Fincycling took part with a team consisting of Aleksi Hänninen (18), Sasu Halme (18),Waltteri Lepistö(18), Antto Tunkkari (18) and Arttu Suvisaari (18). Charly Wegelius, former world-class professional cyclist and today one of the sports directors at Team Garmin-Sharp flew to Finland and joined the team on Saturday morning. Charly Wegelius was the sports director for team Fincycling during the weekend. Having such a person in the team as Charly gives the boys in Fincycling the best possible guidance and support on their way to the world elite. The race tactics was again executed close to perfection and our rider Aleksi Hänninen was in the 12-man breakaway, which went all the way to the finish. The race was won by a Latvian professional rider, Maris Bogdanovics, and Aleksi finished 10th overall being the best junior. The Finnish spring classic, Turun Sanomien kortteliajot the following day was another good performance by the team. The race plan was executed once again well, and especially Sasu Halme had a strong day in the saddle being at the front throughout the race and fighting at the final bunch sprint. TWD-Länken, the number one road cycling team in Finland this time had more riders and a stronger team and made a good leadout for the winner Ilari Kahila. Sasu Halme crossed the finish line as 7th rider and secured the junior overall win with Aleksi Hänninen taking overall second place for team Fincycling (Pavel Sveshnikov 3rd). During the weekend Kilpapyöräily ry. also organized a cycling season 2014 - opening gala as a part of financing its own operations. The work done by the association has drawn a great attention in significant cycling countries, therefore many professional teams and cyclists donated valuable items for an auction held at the gala. Items were donated by reigning road cycling world champion Rui Costa (Team LAMPRE-MERIDA), Team SKY, Sylvain Chavanel (Team IAM Cycling), Daniel Martin (Team Garmin-Sharp) and the reigning Finnish road cycling champion Jussi Veikkanen (Team FDJ.fr) to mention a few. The project also awoke interest and enthusiasm, which culminated in the auction. –A great project to support our youth, educating both internationalization and cycling at the same time, Marko Toivonen, Sales Manager of DMP Diesel added. He became the owner of a valuable Team Sky signed jersey. The first international race, La Coupe du Président de la Ville de Grudziadz (UCI 2.1), was ridden in Poland between May 1st and May 5th. The race included 5 stages with a total length of 408,1 km. A UCI 2.1 race is the highest category for juniors where only national-, Team- and clubs can attend. 176 riders, 36 teams with 10 nationalities entered the race. A major part of the roads were in bad shape, which would make the race really hard. Aleksi Hänninen (18), Marco-Tapio Niemi (18), Lauri Koski (18), Waltteri Lepistö (18), Arttu Suvisaari (18), Erik Relanto (17) formed the Fincycling squad with Mauno Uusivirta as soigneur (former professional cyclist with both Olympic and world championship experience) and Marko Vauhkonen as sports director. Few Fincycling boys have international experience. The objectives were to work well as a team and use the knowledge learnt during winter and spring from both Kjell Carlström and Charly Wegelius. The race began with a 12, 5 km team time-trial, Marco-Tapio was the only boy to have previous experience of a team time-trial. With a great support from Mauno Uusivirta who has lots of experience of team time-trials the team ended up with 21st place having an average speed of 49, 8 km/h, a really good effort. The following stage was ridden that same day and the rest of the stages in the coming days. Fortunately the condition of the roads was a bit better towards the end. Unfortunate was that two boys did catch a cold in the really chilly weather. Sports director Marko Vauhkonen was really pleased by all the actions during the race. Attitude, willingness to learn and team spirit could not have been better. – I really got emotional when I watched our boys execute everything they’ve learnt during the project so far, a really great way to show their respect for all people involved in the Fincycling project. The race in Poland was a great boost in the team self confidence, to the grade where Fincycling actually dominated the race events during the last stage. The whole team worked really hard to push Aleksi Hänninen to a podium place and top 15 overall position that day. Despite hard work, this time the goal was not reached, but the confidence within the team really grew a lot. Experience and confidence are key success factors in developing as a team and a cyclist. 1. Placing among the top third in the team classification. 36 teams started (5-6 man teams) where only 24 managed to finish the race, Fincycling being the 12th best team. Now it’s time to rest, go to school and prepare for future races. The next race will be between May 24th and May 25th where team Fincycling will participate in AAH Etappiajo, a Finnish national stage race (Elite) in Hyvinkää. When the race in Hyvinkää is finished, the team will immediately head for the next race in Switzerland, where they will participate in 46ème Tour du Pays de Vaud UCI 2.1 between May 29th and June 1st. Part 2 of the cycling weekend in Turku will be released soon, stay tuned! You can find Part one here. Fincycling opened the national racing season last weekend in Turku.This is the first part of the race report from the weekend and includes the story from Simo Klimscheffskij’n muistoajo - race on Saturday (and loads of pictures and a video). The second part will cover the following day of racing - TS Kortteliajot on Sunday. Saturday began with the team arriving to Turku at around mid-day. The team for the weekend was built up by 5 guys, Sasu Halme, Aleksi Hänninen, Antto Tunkkari, Waltteri Lepistö and Arttu Suvisaari. Usually the team consists of 6 riders but this time Jaakko Hänninen was unfortunate to be ill just before the race and couldn't participate. Marko Vauhkonen would serve as the mechanic and Charly Wegelius, also known as the sports director of Team Garmin-Sharp would be the sports director for Fincycling during the weekend. So again, the boys would have a highly skilled and experienced team to back them up. After a proper briefing by Charly Wegelius, it was time to change to race outfit. I have to say this team kit is really good looking. Not to mention it is the same quality Team Tinkoff-Saxo is racing. The race would be in Hirvensalo, just outside of Turku, this served as a good warmup for the guys, some 6 km to spin the legs before the race would start. The race would be 73 kilometers long and be ridden on a circuit with a length of 4 kilometers. The finish would be on top of a 800 m long hill, hard after many laps riding it over and over again. The race was pretty hectic. On each lap there was at least one breakaway attempt, and the Fincycling guys did a great job in having at least one cyclist at the front at all time, catching up those breakaways. And on one lap the breakaway was succesful, and there was Aleksi Hänninen working to form a proper gap to the peloton. The final climb was hard as expected and blew the legs out of many riders. Aleksi managed to hang in the last hundred meters and finished 10th. The other guys did tried to attack from the peloton in the final lap but didn't manage to create a gap to the peloton, and finished with the main group. All in all, a strong ride by the whole team, the boys were riding like men. Aleksi took 1st place in the M-18 class, next year the whole race! The next part will cover the Finnish spring classic TS Kortteliajot. Last but not least a little sneak peek in the Fincycling team car where Charly Wegelius gives instructions to Aleksi riding in the breakaway. Note! If you do want to use any of the pictures, please contact me! Fincycling, the cycling project started by Kilpapyöräily ry. is really moving forward in a great pace. The first race in Estonia 18th - 21st of April is just behind the corner and this is the first time we will see the young boys competing in their Fincycling equipment. Not long after that we will see the boys competing in Turku, Finland where also I will be reporting from. This will be the 26th and 27th of April, with Simo Klimscheffskij muistoajot on Saturday and TS Kortteliajot on Sunday. Besides these races, on Saturday 26th of April a cycling Gala will be held in Turku. Present will be some big names from the world of cycling as well as influential people in Finland. During the evening some of the names in the Fincycling team will be presented. To support the team, an auction will be held. There are some great items in this auction, for instance the current road cycling world champion jersey by Rui Alberto Faria da Costa, just one great item to mention. All the proceeds from the auction and the Gala will be used to support the Fincycling cyclists. If you have any questions regarding the Gala, you can for instance shoot Suomen Pyöräily nousuun facebook page with a message. The official invitation (in Finnish) you can find here. Another great thing for supporting the Fincycling team is the Kjell Carlström pyöräilyleiri (Kjell Carlström cycling camp). This is a training camp held in Solvalla idrottsinstitut 1.4 - 4.5.2014 and is a complete package with information about nutrition, how to train right, equipment, how to ride in group and much more. The coaching will be done by professionals such as Carlström himself. This is a unique chance for any active cyclists to improve both knowledge and results with the help of real cycling professionals. More information is found in Finnish and Swedish. It is great to see the Fincycling team gain more and more attention all the time, and it will be really exciting to have the race season opened soon. Besides the Fincycling team schedule, these young boys also compete for their local cycling teams in Finland. So a lot of racing coming up for the young cyclists. And as we all know, that's the only way to make progress and that's the way to do a name for yourself if you want to become a professional cyclist. These boys are on the right track. Let's keep the wheels turning! Read more about the Fincycling official launch here. The project launched by Kilpapyöräily ry, to lift the Finnish competitive cycling to a level where it deserves to be at, was finally publicly presented yesterday. Fincycling.com is the site where you will in the future be able to find all about the Fincycling Team and the progress. Of course I will be closely following this team and the project as well. To have such a professional and experienced squad including big names in cycling, both nationally and internationally known names (Carlström, Veikkanen, Wegelius, Laukka, Kananen and the list goes on and on) makes this project really stand out. Fincycling is a great example of what passion and will can create. The people involved have invested a lot of their spare time and money to this project, for many it is about giving back to cycling what cycling has given them. It is with great warmth and joy I watch this project progress day by day closer to the season start. It was also great to see that media had found interest in the project, our national public broadcasting channel YLE also presented Fincycling in the evening sports-news in both Finnish and Swedish. Link to Finnish here and in Swedish here. We also connected with Kjell Carlström, live on stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico with 120km to go. In a couple of months the Fincycling team has taken great leaps forward, and knowing the pace and the passion for the ones working on this project, we are surely going to see some great news in the upcoming months as well. So stay tuned, the season begins in April, I will keep you updated! As some of you might remember I wrote about the Finnish cycling project that aims at lifting our road cycling future to a whole new level. We have a strong history in endurance sports such as cross country skiing and running, but in cycling we've never been able to reach a level such as our Scandinavian neighbors Sweden, Norway and Denmark has. One could blame it on the weather conditions, but that doesn't make sense since our neighbors have the same conditions. I’m really happy and at the same time super excited about this new project that will hopefully have a huge impact in our cycling culture and finally help our young talents to reach the top elite in cycling. Suomen Kilpapyöräily ry (freely translated Finnish Cycle Racing association) was founded by 27 members not just anybody, but by the cycling elite in Finland including such names as current professional cyclist Jussi Veikkanen former professionals Charly Wegelius (directeur sportif, Team Garmin Sharp) and Kjell Carlström (directeur sportif, IAM Cycling Team) who are both still involved in the professional cycling today. Just last week I had the opportunity to meet one of the founding members of Suomen Kilpapyöräily ry., Marko Vauhkonen. Marko has a strong background in cycling, as one of his best personal achievements as a cyclist he mention the year 1984 and the Nordic championships (track) where he took a bronze medal. He has a strong background in international cycling as well, having experienced both European and world championships in both road- and track cycling. Marko Vauhkonen - Suomen Kilpapyöräily ry. I was really excited to meet him. Since I hadn't heard a lot about the project, but I knew there were many really big names behind it, I knew it would be big. We took a coffee and sat down, I thought it would be an hour, but I guess it took more than two and a half hours at the end. I guess when you have two cycling freaks talking about cycling, you shouldn't assume such things. Juho Suikkari, Kimmo Kananen, Kjell Carlström, Jari Vanninen, Peter Selin, Patrick Wackström, Sixten Wackström, Marko Vauhkonen, Mika Hämäläinen, Kimmo Karhu, Oscar Stenström, Tauno Hietala, Peter Klimscheffskij, Vesa Rauttu, Pertti Linna, Jouni Hakala, Joona Laukka, Jussi Veikkanen, Harri Hedgren, Veikko Sinisalo, Juha Poutiainen, Kari Myllymäki, Vesa Mattila, Jukka Heinikainen, Christian Selin, Charley Wegelius and Jyrki Tujunen. Many of you recognize some or most of of these names for sure. So after a "short" introduction of presenting myself to Marko and vice versa, I was eager to know how and why this project got started? It was easy for Marko to answer this question. It struck me how fast everything was built up. This of course is just a sign of how passionate these guys are about cycling and about their will to really do something important and big for cycling. At this point I was eager to know more and tried to take in all information possible. Q: What are the main goals for the project? “We want to look at this, not just as a single thing that will take our youth quickly to the top, but as a complete learning experience for our young riders. We have a clear mission to build sustainable, competitive and healthy youth. Money should not be an obstacle for anyone and our mission is to help, support and advice young riders how to be independent and help them gain international experience, which is such a crucial component in being successful. Cycling races were won by individual efforts back in the 1930’s, but today you win and lose as a team. All of us involved, we have a strong knowledge in the world of cycling all the way from the early -80’s, and we want to share that experience with our youngsters. We really want to emphasize the fact that cycling is a team sport more than anything else. We want our riders to really feel and internalize that what you give to the team, you’ll have back doubled. A team is as strong as its weakest link. Cycling races were won by individual efforts back in the 1930’s, but today you win and lose as a team. All of that makes sense, right? Think about being a young rider and having a team like that behind you, supporting, sharing thoughts and advice with you. Being together with your role models and having them support you must be a “dream come true” for any athlete. Q: What can you tell us about the support and visibility of the campaign so far? So at this point, having the backgrounds I really wanted to know more about the cyclists, the team the first training camp, well everything. I tried to hold myself together. Q: About the team, can you tell us more about the age group, what type of riders you have selected and how is the selection done? Q: In social media we saw a couple of weeks ago pictures and some stories from your first training camp. How was it, what was the agenda and how would you sum up the training camp? “Honestly, I’d say it was as good as a training camp can be. No, actually it was even better. It was one of the best training camps I've seen and experienced content-wise in my life. Probably it was so rich in content that the youngsters weren't able to assimilate everything, but if they were able to memorize 30 % of what was said, they already took a great leap forward as cyclists. Besides great lectures and support by Kimmo Kananen, Kjell Carlström and Charly Wegelius, we had an individual bike fit for the guys, surprisingly all had to make some adjustments in their positioning on the bike. We also had the opportunity to have Jani Paju with us, who introduced Fustra to the guys. Fustra has been a success in many countries and is also used by the top elite as a way to improve especially your core strength. In cycling, Fustra is used for instance by IAM Cycling Team. We also focused on activities that were not related to cycling where the focus was on building team spirit. And I think we nailed that as well, better than expected. As a final question I wanted to know when we’ll see a Finn on the podium, either in a spring Classics race or on a grand tour. Marko didn't need to think for long. And so, two and a half hours later we realized it was already pretty late. Time goes by so fast when you talk about cycling. I’m really excited to follow this project, and having heard many details I cannot yet reveal here, I’m looking forward to a year in cycling I've never experienced before. It was also really great to meet Marko, such a great person! I will be reporting about the project as it progresses so stay tuned! We will see the new team compete for the first in Finland in Turku, April 26th and 27th. So stay tuned for updates, there will be some great news, I promise you that!

2019-04-22T22:30:47Z

https://www.invisiblehillcycling.com/journal?category=Fincycling

Gorogoa is a puzzle game where you must slide 4 tiles around the screen, zooming in and out and overlapping/joining their features to progress a fantastic story. There are 11 Steam Achievements, all documented in the walkthrough below. This chapter begins with a single scene of a colorful creature making its way through a village. Zoom out, then wait as the boy flips through his book. Click on the colorful creature diagram, then on the blue bowl twice. Zoom out and you will now have access to 4 tiles. Top Left: Drag the white window frame to the top right. Top Right: Zoom out of the window frame, then scroll right to see the boy in his closet. Top Left: Zoom in on the city view with the red symbol on a door. Drag the door frame to the top right, overlying the boy in the closet, and he will walk outside. Top Right: Drag the boy down to the frame below, and you will see him thinking about the red symbol. Zoom out of the closet, then into the painting of the apple. Top Left: Scroll left from the door with the red symbol, then zoom in on the bird after it lands on the branch. Bottom Left: Zoom in twice on the blue bowl, then the red apple will fall into the bowl First Fruit. If you load this chapter directly, it begins with a bird flying away from the branch at the top left, as the red fruit falls from the top right into the bowl at the bottom right. Top Left: Zoom out, then zoom in on the 2 towers connected by a stairway. Bottom Right: Zoom out and you will see the creature in the background again. Drag the boy up to the top left. Top Left: After the boy enters the doorway, drag the frame back to the bottom right, and he will climb the stairs to the left tower. Bottom Right: Zoom in on the buildings in the back to see a new doorway on the left. Drag this up to the top left. Top Left: After the boy enters the top doorway, drag the frame back to the bottom right, and he will walk out to the balcony, then continue right. Bottom Right: Click on the sign and the view will scroll right, where the boy notices an archway has been bricked over; he will walk back to the left. Scroll to the left, then zoom in further on the sign. Drag the frame of the sign to the bottom left. Bottom Right: Drag the garden archway to the bottom left. Bottom Left: After the boy walks through to the garden, zoom in twice to the statues. When the boy has placed the blue bowl down, zoom in once more. Drag the bowl and fruit outline to the bottom right. Zoom out twice to see some ruins and a boy on crutches. Zoom in 4 times on the flames, until you reach a close-up corner of Gorogoa. Swap this tile with the one in the top right. Bottom Right: Drag the bowl and fruit outline to the top right Second Fruit. Top Left: Drag the tile to the bottom right. Top Right: Drag the tile to the top left. Bottom Left: Drag the tile to the top right. Top Right: Zoom out, scroll right and focus on the lantern. If you load this chapter directly, it begins with the green fruit falling from the statue's hand into the bowl. Top Left: Zoom out and scroll right to see the boy sitting on a rock, then zoom out to see the boy sitting in a darkened building. Bottom Right: Scroll up to see a star in the sky. Top Right: Drag the lantern down over the star at the bottom right. Bottom Right: Zoom out, then focus on the mirror and zoom in twice more to reach a room with a shelf and another round window. Zoom in on the left side of the shelf. Drag this tile to the bottom left. Top Left: Zoom in on the shelf at the top left, then drag this tile to the bottom right. Once the shelves are connected, they will tilt and several items will fall off. Bottom Right: Zoom in on the box of pencils, then drag the frame to the top right. Zoom out from the pencil image, and zoom in on the rocks. Top Right: Drag the frame back down to the bottom right. Bottom Right: Zoom back out to the shelf. Bottom Left: Zoom in on the box of nails, then drag the frame to the top left. Zoom out from the nail image, and zoom in on the cloud image. Top Left: Drag the frame back down to the bottom left. Bottom Left: Zoom back out to the shelf. It should now tilt to the right. Zoom back out, then click on the round window above. Bottom Right: Drag the lantern to the bottom left to light it. Bottom Left: After the moth lands on the lantern, zoom in on it twice to see the yellow symbol. Drag the frame to the bottom right. Zoom out to see a standing statue pointing to the left, and the colorful creature will glide past in the background. Bottom Right: Zoom out 3 times, then click on the thought bubble of the garden statue - the boy will walk across the linked garden balcony scenes to the left. Drag this tile to the top left. Bottom Left: Scroll left to see a broken horse statue, then zoom in once to see a tower with a yellow banner near the top. Top Left: Zoom out and scroll left, then zoom in on the top shelf. Wait until the first rock falls and smashes the vase, then immediately zoom in further. The yellow banner here will line up with the one below. Bottom Left: Wait until the rock falls from the top left tile to the bottom left. Drag this tile to the top right. Top Left: Quickly zoom out once, then zoom in on the banners just below. Drag this tile to the bottom right. Bottom Right: Wait until the rock reaches the top of this tile, then drag it to the top left. Top Right: Zoom in to the window, then zoom in on the red and blue banners on the left. Drag this tile to the bottom left. Wait and the falling rock will smash open the moth's container. There is an achievement for getting this right on the first attempt First Try. Top Left: Zoom out, scroll right, and zoom in twice to the thought bubble of a constellation. Drag this to the bottom right to find a star. Bottom Left: Drag this tile to the bottom right to light the unlit lantern. Bottom Right: After the moth lands on the lantern, zoom in on it twice to see the yellow symbol again. Drag the frame to the top right. Zoom out to see an angel statue pointing to the left. Drag this tile to the top left. Top Right: Zoom out 4 times to return to the broken horse statue, then scroll right. You will see the boy carry his bowl to the far left, across the linked frames. Top Left: Scroll left to find the boy sitting in a graveyard. Zoom out to find a boy in a library. Top Right: Scroll left to return to the broken horse statue. Zoom in twice, then click on the strange device at the top right, and zoom in once more so the gauge is in the middle of the picture. Top Left: Click on the boy and watch his thoughts, then drag him to the bottom right, leaving a clock tower behind in the background. Zoom in twice on the clock tower, and drag this frame to the bottom left. Zoom out, then focus on the compass with the blue dial. Bottom Right: Zoom out and scroll right to see a fireplace, then zoom in 3 times, so you can see flames and the bottom half of the bronze cauldron - this should cause the gauge on the strange device to change so the red dial points to the maximum pressure. Top Right: Zoom in on the dial so that it stays fixed in this position. Bottom Right: Zoom out 3 times, then click on the globe, followed by the magnetic star on top - the compass will rotate to point at the star. If you want an extra achievement, follow these instructions, but if you are going for maximum speed and minimum moves, skip this section. Move the bottom right tile to the bottom left, so the compass dial points down. Drag the top right tile over the top left tile, so the time looks like approximately 6:30. Drag the bottom right tile over the top left tile. Zoom out twice to see a horse at night time Right Wrong. Zoom back in to the clock twice. Drag the bottom left tile to the bottom right. Drag two tiles from the top left to the bottom left and then the top right. Top Right: Drag the top right tile over the top left tile, so the time looks like approximately 6:20. Bottom Left: Drag the bottom left tile over the top left tile. Top Left: Zoom out twice, then click on the star in the sky. Bottom Right: Zoom out from the star and focus on the moon, then drag this to the top left. Top Left: After the moth lands on the lit moon, zoom in on it twice to see the yellow symbol once more. Drag the frame to the top right. Zoom out to find a night scene. Top Right: Zoom out twice, then scroll left. Look out the window, then scroll right. Wait for the boy to walk to the far left across the linked frames. Top Left: Scroll left and watch as the boy collects the yellow fruit Third Fruit. If you load this chapter directly, it begins with the boy walking to the right after collecting the yellow fruit in his bowl. Top Left: Scroll right, then zoom out to see a group of photographs. Zoom towards the top left photo, then the gap between this and the one to the right. Top Right: Scroll left, then zoom out and click on the boy in the library to see that he is dreaming. Drag this frame down to the bottom right, to reveal another scene with a boy sitting inside a window. Drag this down to the bottom left. Now drag the map tile from the top right to the bottom right, to show a different part of the map. Bottom Right: Zoom in on the star 3 times to show two doorways linked by stairs. Drag the two doorways up to the top left. Top Left: Drag the two doorways back to the bottom right. Now scroll to the right and zoom in. Bottom Left: Zoom in on the bell 3 times, then scroll up to see a boy walking with a bell. Top Right: Zoom in on the books, then the 2 yellow books, then the left yellow book twice. Bottom Right: Zoom out 2 times, then zoom in once. Drag this tile to the top right. Top Right: Wait until the white scene is on the left, then zoom in on it twice, and the boy will walk across into this tile. Top Left: Zoom out twice, then zoom in twice on the bottom right photograph. Top Right: Drag this tile over the top of the one on the top left. Top Left: Drag the frame back over to the top right, and the boy will leave here and continue to the left. Zoom out, then focus on the gap between the current photograph and the one to the left. Top Right: Zoom out twice to see a round stained glass window with a symbol of a tower currently on the left (with a white background). Bottom Left: Scroll down, then zoom out. Zoom in on the candle twice, then scroll down. Focus on the wheel of the wheelbarrow. Top Right: Drag the stained glass frame down to the bottom left. Bottom Left: Wait for 3 rounds of turning of the wheelbarrow wheel so that the tower with the white background is at the bottom, then drag the stained glass frame back to the top right. Top Right: Zoom in 3 times on the white tower at the bottom. Drag this to the top left. Top Left: After the boy climbs the stairs, drag the frame to the top right. Scroll left and then zoom in to see the boy waiting at the top of some stairs next to some blue paint. Top Right: Zoom out 3 times to find a blue pattern with four symbols around the edge - the one you need is a castle that is currently on the left side. Bottom Right: Zoom out twice, then zoom in twice on the blue book. Drag this frame to the top right. Bottom Left: Zoom out, scroll up and zoom out again, then focus on the silver ladel. Zoom in and scroll right - you will see a boy with a cane slowly climbing some stairs. Drag this frame to the top right. Top Right: Wait for one set of stairs to be climbed, then drag the frames back to the bottom left and then bottom right. Zoom in on the top symbol 4 times, then drag this tile to the top left (to swap positions). Top Right: Zoom out twice, then focus on the bottom left photo and zoom in twice more. Drag this tile to the top left (to swap positions again). Bottom Right: Zoom out twice, to be back at the 2 yellow books. Bottom Left: Scroll left and zoom out twice. If you load this chapter directly, it begins with the boy walking to the left to collect the blue fruit. Top Right: Zoom out 3 times. Scroll left, then drag this frame to the top left Fourth Fruit. Bottom Right: Zoom out 3 times, so you see the old man in the yellow window. Bottom Left: Scroll to the right. Click on the calendar, then the picture of the rings, and finally the single gold ring. Drag this frame to the bottom right to create a gold coin. Top Left: Scroll to the right. Look at the sign on the right, then click on the purple symbol. Drag the frame to the top right. Zoom out to find the purple train stop. Top Right: Zoom out twice, and a train will pull up next to the boy. Zoom in twice on the coin slot. Bottom Right: Drag the coin to the top right. Top Right: After the train leaves, zoom in twice on the map that is revealed by the piece of paper falling to the ground. Zoom in twice more on the green segment of track. Drag this tile to the bottom left. Top Left: Scroll left twice, then zoom in on the green arch and the tracks will line up with the tile below. After the train goes past this track segment, zoom out and scroll right twice. Wait for the train to arrive at the purple station and then leave again. Go left twice to follow the boy, then back to the right. Drag this tile to the top right. Bottom Left: Zoom out once, then zoom in twice on the pair of hands with the scissors and needle/thread. Drag this tile to the top left, and it will connect with the other tile. Top Right: Click on the boy's thought bubble, then drag the frame to the bottom right. Zoom out, then back in on the hand pointing to the left. Bottom Right: Drag the frame up to the top right. Top Right: Zoom back out, and the boy will walk across to the left. Zoom in on the small door near the ground, then drag this tile to the top left (to swap positions). Top Right: Focus on the thought bubble, then drag the frame to the bottom left. Zoom out, then back in on the hand pointing to the left. Top Right: Zoom back out, and the boy will walk across to the left and through the doorway. Top Left: Zoom out then focus on the circular window and zoom in to see the boy is now tiny. Zoom in on him twice, then focus on his thought bubble. Drag the frame to the bottom left. Move the tile to the top right. Top Right: Zoom in on the picture of the girl pointing up. Bottom Left: Drag the frame up to the top right. Top Left: Zoom out, then focus on the junction of red and yellow train tracks. Drag this tile to the bottom right. Top Right: Zoom out. Scroll up to see the boy at the top of the red ladder, then watch him climb down to the linked tile below. Scroll back down and zoom out twice, then focus on the yellow ladder. Drag this tile to the bottom right (to swap positions). Bottom Right: Zoom out, then scroll up and zoom in on the boy at the top of the tower. If you load this chapter directly, it begins with the boy collecting the purple fruit at the top of the tower. Top Right: Zoom out 3 times. Bottom Right: Drag the frame to the top right Fifth Fruit. Top Right: After the boy falls from the skies, zoom out and scroll up 3 times. Focus on the thought bubble. Now there are 5 puzzles you can complete in any order by clicking on the circular offerings. They will be shown here from left to right. Top Right: Drag the frame to the top left. Zoom out, then drag another frame to the bottom right. Zoom out, go through the doorway and scroll to the left. Click on the boy, then focus on his thought bubble. Top Right: Zoom in on the red symbol. Top Left: Drag the frame over to the top right. Top Right: Drag the frame to the top left. Zoom out, then drag another frame to the bottom right. Zoom in five times on the only section you can view, and you will end up in a garden. Top Right: Zoom in on the green symbol. Top Right: Drag the frame to the top left. Zoom out, then drag another frame to the bottom right. Zoom in on the glowing star. Bottom Right: Zoom out, then focus on the moth and wait for it to fly up to the star and burst into flames. Zoom back out, then focus on the boy again. Drag the frame up to the top right. Top Right: Zoom in on the yellow symbol. Top Right: Drag the frame to the top left. Zoom out, then drag another frame to the bottom right. Zoom out once more to see a series of gears. Focus on the yellow gear, then drag this frame to the bottom left. Scroll down to see the boy walking in the desert. Top Right: Zoom out once. Wait until the blue symbol in the top left gear has reached the top position, then zoom in on it. Top Right: Zoom in on the blue symbol. Top Right: Drag the frame to the top left. Zoom out, then drag another frame to the bottom right. Drag this tile to the top left (to swap positions). Top Left: Zoom in on the colorful image. Drag this tile to the bottom left. Bottom Left: Zoom in on the cushion. Drag this tile to the top right (to swap positions). Top Right: Zoom in on the purple symbol. Bottom Left: Drag the frame over to the top right. Once you have completed all 5 offerings, you will have completed the main game Devotion. There are additional achievements that you may now receive for completing the game in under 500 moves Dexterity and in under 30 minutes But Why?. From the main menu, you should now also be able to scroll to the far right and select to play the demo. The demo begins with a single scene of a colorful creature making its way through a village. Zoom out, then wait as the boy flips through his book. Click on the colorful creature diagram, then on the blue bowl twice. Zoom out and you will now have access to 4 tiles. Top Left: Zoom in on the city view with the circular hole in a wooden door. Drag the door frame to the top right, overlying the boy in the closet, and he will walk outside. Top Right: Drag the boy down to the frame below, and you will see him put down the blue bowl. Zoom out of the closet, then twice into the painting of the apple. Bottom Right: Zoom in twice on the blue bowl, and this tile will link with the one above. Top Left: Zoom out from the wooden crate, then focus on the bird that lands on the branch. After the apple falls down into the bowl, zoom out, then focus on the 2 wooden buildings linked by stairs in the background. Top Left: After the boy enters the doorway, drag the frame back to the bottom right, and he will climb the stairs to the left building. Bottom Left: After the boy walks through to the garden, zoom in twice to the statues. When the boy has placed the blue bowl down, zoom in once more. Drag the bowl and fruit outline to the bottom right. Swap this tile with the one in the top right. Bottom Right: Drag the bowl and fruit outline to the top right. Top Right: Zoom out and scroll right. Drag the frame to the bottom right. Move this tile to the top left (to swap positions). Top Right: Zoom in on the broken window. Top Left: Focus on the top left picture, then drag this frame to the bottom right. Top Right: Part of the window will break some more, so now you can go inside. Scroll left, then zoom in on the yellow bench. Bottom Left: Zoom out twice, then focus on the yellow bench. Move this tile to the top left, and it will link with the top right tile, with a yellow fruit rolling to the left. Top Left: Drag the frame to the bottom left, then zoom out. Bottom Left: Zoom out, then focus on the right picture, and zoom in further on the gold ring. Move this frame to the top left (to swap positions) and the boy will end up collecting the yellow fruit. Bottom Left: Zoom in once on the boy. Move this tile to the top right, and the boy will climb down and open the shutters. Bottom Right: Zoom out, and you will see the creature move past in the background. Top Right: Zoom in, scroll down, then zoom in on the train once it pulls to a stop. Drag this frame to the bottom right, and the boy will climb out towards the train. Bottom Right: Drag the frame back up to the top right. Zoom in twice on the man in the yellow window. Top Left: Drag the ring frame down to the bottom right to create a coin. Top Right: Zoom in twice on the the coin slot. Bottom Right: Drag the coin up to the top right, and the boy will board the train Old is New.

2019-04-22T20:18:51Z

https://www.walkthroughking.com/text/gorogoa.aspx

2015 NBA Power Rankings: Who's on Top Heading into Playoffs? No, Jim Mora. We're not kidding you. We, too, are excited for the NBA playoffs. After five-and-a-half months of back-to-backs, TNT Thursday nights and countless hours debating who's better and who's best, it's finally time to let the players and coaches decide a true champion. To be sure, you'll hear no complaints from me about the season that was. The 2014-15 campaign was arguably the most exciting and intriguing one the Association has seen in some time. From the rise of the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks to the depth of competition out West to the scramble to fill out the Eastern Conference bracket, there was nary a dull moment from start to finish in the league's schedule. That being the case, it might seem like a tall order for the playoffs to live up to the regular season that just transpired. But without a clear-cut favorite to take home the Larry O'Brien Trophy, this postseason is shaping up to be every bit as captivating as the slate that preceded it, if not more so. Before we get wrapped up in all the best-of-seven series to come, let's look back to see how the NBA as a whole finished up by ranking each of the 30 teams based on how they played down the stretch and which players they had available. Another year, another sad slate of basketball for the Minnesota Timberwolves. An incessant spate of injuries—from Kevin Martin's wrist to Kevin Garnett's knee to Shabazz Muhammad's finger to the ankles of Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic and beyond—doomed the Wolves to their 11th straight trip to the lottery from start to finish in 2014-15. LaVine might (eventually) be one of those teammates. The UCLA product nearly averaged 19 points, five rebounds and five assists while shooting better than 40 percent from three over his final 18 games (17 starts). The Wolves can look forward to a summer marked by growth from their youngsters, rather than one consumed by the inevitable ouster of an anxious franchise cornerstone. That, in itself, could be enough to ignite a productive offseason in Minnesota, along with whatever the team yields from its latest lottery pick. And if the Wolves can exterminate their infestation of injury bugs before October, they just might make something meaningful of 2015-16. Nerlens Noel won't likely wind up as the NBA's Rookie of the Year, but unlike last year's winner (Michael Carter-Williams), the Kentucky product can probably count on a long-term future with the Philadelphia 76ers. Noel did plenty to make up for lost time after missing what would have been his maiden campaign in 2013-14 while recovering from a torn ACL. He led all rookies in double-doubles and was the only player in the league to finish in the top 10 in both steals and blocks, all while missing a mere six of his team's 82 games. Each game, eight Sixers staffers would track different metrics, including shot contests, hustle plays and how quickly players attacked different areas after an offensive miss and filled sections of the court defending in transition. After the game, the overall team and each player would receive a grade, 1-20, with the latter being the highest. Brown said more than 60 percent of the time in games this season, the team finished at a respectable 16. As for Noel, more than 60 percent of the time he was better than 12 in games. But the most significant number is this: When he was an 18 or higher, the Sixers won 15 of the 18 games. Noel may not be the star of the future for the Sixers, but if everyone else plays as hard as he does, the team should still be in good shape long-term. The Orlando Magic were never likely to so much as sniff the playoffs this year, even in the weak East. From the get-go, their roster was more smorgasbord of useful pieces than cohesive whole and wasn't likely to move much from the former toward the latter under the uninspired auspices of Jacque Vaughn. The team's decision to can Vaughn during the season confirmed as much. Whoever fills Orlando's void on the bench more permanently will be charged with that same daunting but doable task—of molding the likes of Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and the fruit of the Magic's lottery pick into an honest-to-goodness team. James Borrego, who replaced Vaughn on an interim basis, will get a look at the gig, following a so-so second-half audition. "I absolutely believe that I can do this," Borrego told NBA.com's John Denton. "My confidence is very high, and this position has forced me to get there. Give our players credit and our staff credit because they have helped me get through this." Granted, Borrego isn't out of the woods just yet. According to the Orlando Sentinel's Brian K. Schmitz, Michael Malone, who was one of the finalists to succeed Stan Van Gundy three years ago, is among those eager to interview for the gig. If there's any consolation for Orlando's post-Dwight Howard doldrums, it's that the team's job opening could be the most desirable one in the NBA this summer. If the Los Angeles Lakers didn't, in fact, hit rock bottom this season, then they're going to need some sturdier digging equipment. After losing a then-franchise-record 55 games last year, the purple and gold managed to fall even further in 2014-15. They registered their first 60-loss campaign and their lowest single-season winning percentage while logging more games lost to injury than 2013-14's snakebitten bunch. Steve Nash was done before the schedule began. Rookie Julius Randle broke his leg in Game 1. Kobe Bryant's shoulder gave way in January. By the time the Lakers made it to the finish line, four more guys (i.e., Nick Young, Ronnie Price, Wayne Ellington and Dwight Buycks) would suffer season-ending injuries. Lin really wanted this to work, entering this season with one of the most unstable career paths in sports history. And in search of feel-good stories in an unquestionably dry spell for the franchise, the Lakers hoped bringing Lin back to his birthplace would spark the sort of special stuff we all know he's had in the past. Instead, Lin was downright disappointing night after night early in the season. He was unnerved by Lakers coach Byron Scott's lack of belief in his game and discouraged by the rising negativity all around him. Chances are that Lin will find employment elsewhere this summer. In his place, the Lakers will likely turn to rookie Jordan Clarkson, the lone bright spot amid this year's cloudy misery, or a high-priced free agent of some sort to run point. And, with any better luck, the Lakers will have the pieces in place to restore some of their signature shine next season. Like the Lakers, the New York Knicks came into the 2014-15 season intending to win, even though the circumstances were ripe for failure. Injuries and roster turnover all but assured the Knicks of a return trip to the lottery, as did the 5-36 start that the instability precipitated. Carmelo Anthony's decision to undergo knee surgery after the All-Star Game was merely another nail in New York's orange-and-blue coffin. As miffed as many folks in the Big Apple may be with the job Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher have done in leading the Knicks so far, not everyone in town is so down on the team's prospects. Nobody expected the season to be like this. We all expected at least to somewhat compete in the Eastern Conference. At the end of the day we wanted to make a playoff push, but that's not how the season played out. This next season for me and for the organization and for Phil this is where we earn our money. This is where it starts. We got to put our money where our mouths (are) at. We've been put in a situation where the pieces are broken and a lot of things have been changed around here. Now we got a clean plate. We got a chance to get a top draft pick. We got a lot of money in the cap. So we got to put that to work. We got to put something together. The Charlotte Hornets could have easily blamed their 5-16 finish to the 2014-15 season—and the playoff shortfall it sealed—on the incessant spate of injuries, but they didn't. "This is a disappointing year. We took a step back," head coach Steve Clifford admitted, per The Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell. "We weren't as disciplined, we made too many mistakes, more nights when we weren't ready to play. We're not a 33-win team. And I'm primarily responsible for that." The players, to their credit, aren't running from their failures. Lance Stephenson, for one, doesn't intend to shoot 17 percent from three forever. "My three-point percentage was the lowest ever in history. That's terrible," Stephenson said, per The Charlotte Observer. "I have to come in and figure out how to be a better shooter. Being a good shooter will help my overall game. When people sag off of me (playing him to drive), it's harder for me to be successful. "It's confidence—just wanting the shot to go in so bad and then you lose your confidence. That plays a major part when you don't have confidence in your shot. This summer I'm going to find my confidence." While Stephenson spends his offseason trying to gain confidence, Al Jefferson will be doing his darndest to lose weight—before and after he officially opts into the final year of his contract. "I've got unfinished business here. That's not even an option for me," Jefferson said, per The Observer. "Unless something dramatic changed, I can't see myself opting out, and leaving that bad taste in my mouth. And in the Charlotte Hornets' mouth. I can't walk away from that." What could be worse than a ninth straight year without playoff basketball for the Sacramento Kings? How about another tumultuous summer, perhaps one featuring DeMarcus Cousins' departure? Rumors are already swirling about Boogie's availability, courtesy of head coach George Karl's candid comments on Monday. "I've had some great players and I've never had one player that I have said is untradeable," Karl said, according to CSNBayArea.com's Bill Herenda. "You always got to be ready for the possibility of a great trade that could come your way. "I know I respect him (DeMarcus Cousins) a tremendous amount...I think our give and take and our communication has been almost on a daily basis...until we can really get to a special place together, I think we've got to continue to communicate, what he wants and what I want." The relationship between star player and coach will be crucial to the Kings' fortunes going forward. Cousins and the Kings seemed ready to thrive early on, when they got off to a 9-6 start under Mike Malone. But Boogie's 10-game absence on account of viral meningitis gave Sacramento's higher-ups the daylight they needed to part ways with Malone. That move ushered in two months of rote mediocrity under interim coach Tyrone Corbin, before Karl came aboard during the All-Star break. Though a lukewarm convert to a faster tempo, he has thrived in a system that emphasizes spacing, passing and movement, not unlike Mike Krzyzewski's philosophy last summer with Team USA. It isn't a coincidence that Cousins had triple doubles in two of his last three games and is ranked fifth in the league in scoring (24.1), third in rebounding (12.7) and 11th in blocks (1.75). And, of course, first in the hearts of Sacramentans. Coaching played a pivotal role in the Denver Nuggets' ongoing doldrums this season. Head coach Brian Shaw continued to push his square-peg/round-hole approach by playing slow with a team and in a city for which a faster pace would have made more sense. His philosophy backfired, to the tune of a 20-39 start and a subsequent pink slip. According to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nuggets' search for a long-term replacement is already underway. Melvin Hunt, the Nuggets' interim coach, will get a crack at it, though he'll hardly be the only one to get an interview. His competition will likely include former head coaches (Michael Malone, Mike D'Antoni, Alvin Gentry, Scott Skiles), current NBA assistants (Portland's David Vanterpool) and eager college guys looking to make the jump (Florida's Billy Donovan, Iowa State's Fred Hoiberg). "I'm not a coach, but I do think we're Denver," said general manager Tim Connelly, per The Denver Post's Chris Dempsey. "We've got to play with pace, we've got to play uptempo basketball. And uptempo basketball can take on various styles. We're certainly looking for a coach that understands how we've been successful in the past and probably how we'll be successful in the future, with fast basketball and playing with pace." Whatever hopes the Phoenix Suns had of battling for the West's No. 8 seed for the second year in a row went right out the window during a 1-10 stretch over the final three weeks of the 2014-15 season. "I don't think that truly reflects where we are and the season we had," said Suns president Lon Babby during the team's exit interviews, according to AZCentral.com's Paul Coro. Perhaps not, though the fact that Phoenix bobbed its way into and out of the playoff race as often as it did was reflective of an unsteady situation on the court and in the locker room. "We didn't have all guys that were just concerned with winning," head coach Jeff Hornacek said, per Coro. That much was clear once Goran Dragic publicly demanded a trade (and got his wish) and Isaiah Thomas followed him out the door at the February deadline, albeit to a different destination. All told, the Suns' point guard experiment didn't pay off like they'd hoped. Fortunately for folks in Phoenix, the team will be flush with cap space to restock the roster, once the front office decides how to spend its fifth straight lottery pick. "This year was more of a humbling experience," said general manager Ryan McDonough, per Coro. "I think we'll all learn from it and get better from it and bounce back." A busy season will give way to an even busier summer for Detroit Pistons head coach/team president Stan Van Gundy. The shocking decision to cut Josh Smith in December breathed new life into the slumping squad. The trade-deadline arrival of Reggie Jackson eventually did the same, albeit after a slump in the wake of Brandon Jennings' Achilles tear. "We made some progress—not enough—but some progress at both ends of the floor," Van Gundy said during his exit interview, according to MLive's Brendan Savage. "Going forward, we feel like we've established a base of good young players. Over the last two-thirds of the year, which is not a small sample size, we played .500 basketball, which would have put us in the top five in the East over that time period. "So we think things are looking up going forward." How Detroit's fortunes fare from here on out will depend on what Van Gundy is able to accomplish from his front-office post this summer. Come July 1, Greg Monroe will be an unrestricted free agent, Jackson will be restricted, and Andre Drummond will be eligible for a sizable contract extension. Those three aside, the Pistons figure to make a pitch to at least one Michigan native: Golden State's Draymond Green. If Van Gundy plays his cards right, his Pistons might (finally) be in position to snap their six-year playoff drought next spring. Last year, the Miami Heat finished up in the NBA Finals, fighting an ultimately futile battle for their third straight championship. This year, their summer will start two months earlier, without a seventh straight playoff appearance. The biggest difference, of course, is LeBron James. He left South Beach; therefore, the sands aren't quite as warm as they otherwise would be for the Heat. But the story of Miami's demise is much broader than that. Between Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Josh McRoberts, Luol Deng and Hassan Whiteside, the Heat racked up frequent flyer miles going to and from the training room to cover the cost of travel for their summer vacations. "It's just tough, man," Deng told Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick. "It's just been that type of year. It seemed like the whole year, we were always fighting and dealing with something, instead of staying consistent and just kind of playing our game. I'm not making excuses or anything, but no one on this team can tell you that they've had a consistent rhythm the entire year. It's been tough to be consistent. We've had guys in and out. You have different roles." Those roles may be more defined next season if Pat Riley has his way in the coming months. With better health and the retention of Goran Dragic and Deng, both opt-out candidates, the Heat could field one of the best starting fives not only in the East but in the entire league. Lose either or both of those guys, though, and Miami's path back to relevance might not be so smooth. Paul George's comeback from his devastating leg injury serves as an all-too-perfect microcosm of the Indiana Pacers' season as a whole. Like their wounded superstar, the Pacers fought through pain, uncertainty and doubt to put themselves in position to control their own destiny at the end. Aside from George, Indiana had to survive lengthy stretches without stalwarts like David West and George Hill, along with newcomers Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Miles. Against all odds, the Pacers hung around the muck at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, just in time for George to return to action. His mere presence gave Indiana a much-needed shot in the arm; the Pacers won their first five games with George in the rotation, despite him never playing more than 18 minutes in a given game. But, on the final night of the season, the calf in George's other leg gave way, as did the Pacers' postseason hopes in Memphis. "Just came off a screen and felt a pop, but they looked at it and it's nothing more than just a calf strain," George said afterward, according to The Indianapolis Star's Candace Buckner. "It wasn't a knee injury but it's tough, you work so hard in rehab and have something else pop up. The good thing is, I know we've got a long summer and a lot to look forward to." So do the Pacers, assuming West and Roy Hibbert—both of whom can opt out of their contracts—don't leave Naptown this summer. Russell Westbrook's response to his first scoring title could easily double as the Oklahoma City Thunder's thoughts on this lost season of theirs. "S---. It doesn't mean nothing," Westbrook said after OKC's season-ending win over the Timberwolves, according to ESPN.com's Royce Young (h/t Bleacher Report). "Good job. Hooray. I'm at home, watching other teams play. Doesn't mean nothing." Westbrook's disappointment is understandable, if not downright appropriate. He wound up with career highs in nearly every counting category, including points (28.1), assists (8.6), rebounds (7.3) and steals (2.1). But Westbrook's best efforts weren't enough to overcome devastating injuries to Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka. Nor could general manager Sam Presti's moves make up for those losses, though the additions of Dion Waiters, Enes Kanter, D.J. Augustin and Kyle Singler should serve the Thunder well going forward. With that supporting cast in place and its stars in better shape, OKC should find itself back in the title hunt next season. Whether Scott Brooks is there to guide the Thunder is another story. According to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the team will evaluate its relationship with Brooks, who has one year left on his contract—much like the injured superstar whose absence doomed OKC. Lionel Hollins' assessment of his Brooklyn Nets' chances against the Atlanta Hawks was as harsh as it was accurate. "I don't think we have any advantages over the Hawks," Hollins said, per The Brooklyn Game's Devin Kharpertian. That may sell his team a bit short. Surely, Atlanta doesn't have anyone who can compare with Brook Lopez's size and skill in the post. Lopez finished the season on an absolute tear, averaging 23.7 points and 9.4 rebounds over a 16-game stretch that saw the Nets go 11-5. Nor can the Hawks claim to boast the best individual perimeter player in this series. That distinction belongs to Brooklyn, courtesy of former ATL resident Joe Johnson. Other than those points of contention, Hollins is probably right. By and large, Brooklyn has been mediocre and uninspiring this season. Then again, as much of a sting as Hollins' comments may have carried, they still paled in comparison to the five-alarm fire that spewed out from Paul Pierce's mouth, courtesy of ESPN Boston's Jackie MacMullan. Lost amid the hubbub over Paul Pierce ripping the Nets a new one in public were his comments regarding the Toronto Raptors, the Washington Wizards' first-round playoff opponent. "We haven't done particularly well against Toronto, but I don't feel they have the 'It' that makes you worried," Pierce told ESPNBoston.com's Jackie MacMullan. "There isn't a team I look at in the Eastern Conference that makes me say, 'They are intimidating, we don't have a chance.'" To Pierce's point, the Raptors swept the Wizards in their three regular-season meetings. But the most recent two of those tiffs were decided by a total of six points. And if the games are close between Toronto and Washington, Pierce certainly won't be one to hide from the moment, especially in Canada. Forget about all the usual tropes about how terrible the Eastern Conference is and how that somehow degrades the Milwaukee Bucks' finish as the sixth seed. The fact that the Bucks are in the playoffs at all right now is nothing short of a Wisconsin miracle. Milwaukee won a league-worst 15 games last season and could have plunged back to similar depths this time around in light of all the setbacks this squad suffered over the course of 2014-15. Instead, the Bucks fought through injuries (Jabari Parker, Ersan Ilyasova, John Henson), trades (Brandon Knight) and outright defections (Larry Sanders) to nearly triple their win total from a season ago. And how, pray tell, did they do it? Among other things, behind a long-armed, switch-heavy defense—orchestrated by head coach Jason Kidd—that wound up second in the league in efficiency, per NBA.com. These fans hate each other, too. This isn't a theory — it's scientific fact proven by years of mutual enmity between Bears and Packers fans. Now imagine that same level of anger and hostility, but on a basketball court. Spectacular, right? Joakim Noah calling Giannis Antetokounmpo soft in the playoffs could create our first Internet civil war. Now imagine future battles between Chicago South Side natives and Simeon's own Jabari Parker and Derrick Rose. I can't take it. The Boston Celtics needed quite a bit of outside help to secure a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Between the Cleveland Cavaliers resting their stars during a recent home-and-home with Boston and the rest of the East's fringes falling off, the C's benefited from a conference-wide "effort" to get them into the postseason—in addition to their own 24-12 surge over the final 36 games. But it was another outside assist that might have given a certain Celtic the extra energy he needed to nudge this scrappy squad up the standings. According to The Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach, Isiah Thomas—who had his fair share of battles with the C's as a member of the "Bad Boy" Pistons in the 1980s—texted words of encouragement to Isaiah Thomas upon the latter's arrival in Beantown at the Feb. 19 trade deadline. "This is gonna change your career," Zeke wrote. "They're one game out of the playoffs. Lead them to the playoffs." That's precisely what the younger Thomas did while averaging 19 points and 5.4 assists off the bench. Thomas could use a few more texts like that from his almost-namesake in the days to come, as his C's prepare to take on LeBron James' Cavs in the first round of the playoffs. No team did more to boost its collective stock after the All-Star Game than the Utah Jazz. Once the break came and went, the Jazz went 19-10—the fifth-best record in the West—while holding opponents to a league-low 94.8 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. Enes Kanter's trade-deadline departure and Rudy Gobert's subsequent explosion as a starter had plenty to do with that. For his efforts, Gobert figures to garner plenty of votes for Most Improved and Defensive Player of the Year honors. Of course, Gobert wasn't the sole reason Utah finished with a record good enough to qualify for the playoffs in the East. Gordon Hayward's borderline All-NBA play had plenty to do with it, as did Derrick Favors'. As Grantland's Zach Lowe wrote of that duo, "They've been really good on both ends, and Hayward carried Utah's offense without much help from any perimeter threat until Rodney Hood emerged over the last 25 games." "Clearly we sit here today in a better position than when we started," general manager Dennis Lindsey said during the team's exit interviews, according to The Salt Lake Tribune's Aaron Falk. "The group is moving in the right direction." If three-point shooting is, indeed, all the rage in the NBA, then the Toronto Raptors are as fashionable as any team around. They finished among the top 10 in three-point makes and attempts, went 19-2 when they made more than 10 threes in a given game and became the second team in league history with five players who knocked down at least 100 treys apiece. The only other team to pull that off? The 2008-09 Knicks. Of course, this year's Raptors fared far better than those Knicks did. New York lost 50 games that year. Toronto, on the other hand, fell just one win shy of 50 on the other side of the ledger but still came away with a second straight Atlantic Division title and a franchise record for victories in a single season. Next up: a first-round date with the shooting-averse Wizards, whom the Raptors swept during the regular season. The Portland Trail Blazers aren't short of reasons to worry about their postseason prospects. Their wing depth has been decimated by injuries, with Wesley Matthews, Arron Afflalo, Nicolas Batum, Dorell Wright and C.J. McCollum all falling victim. Worse still, the Blazers will have to begin their playoff push on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies. Halfway through the season, Portland looked like a dark-horse contender — a two-way powerhouse seasoned with rare roster continuity and some playoff experience. Their starters could hit the marks of Terry Stotts's "flow" offense while wearing blindfolds, and they had improbably sharpened into a borderline top-five defensive team. Despite the doom and gloom around Rip City, the Blazers still have two huge factors in their favor: LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard. Those two carried Portland past Houston in last year's playoffs, combining for 55.3 points, 17.5 rebounds and 8.7 assists in a six-game victory. The Memphis Grizzlies won't exactly be a picture of health for their first-round series against Portland, either. Marc Gasol returned from a sprained ankle in time for the Grizzlies' season finale, but he wasn't joined by Mike Conley and Tony Allen. They've been sidelined by foot and hamstring injuries, respectively, and may remain so for some time, per The Commercial Appeal's Ronald Tillery. Those absences figure to be massively problematic for Memphis, despite the decimation that Portland has suffered. As much as the Grizzlies' universe revolves around Gasol and Zach Randolph in the middle, it's Conley, who would otherwise be charged with checking Damian Lillard, and Allen (aka "The Grindfather") who serve as the heart and soul of this squad. There are many ways to compare the strength of the West to the weakness of the East, but perhaps none is more striking than where the Dallas Mavericks stand at season's end. In the Western Conference, the Mavs' 50 wins were only good enough to snag the seventh seed. Were Dallas an Eastern Conference squad, it would start the playoffs at No. 3, matched up against the Bucks in the first round. Instead, the Mavs will have to face the Houston Rockets in a series whose subplots have their own subplots. "That's for the media to talk about," Dirk Nowitzki said, referring to the off-court drama between Mavs owner Mark Cuban and Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, per Mavs.com's Earl K. Sneed. "That's for fun little side notes, I guess, which the players don't really care that much about. It's about which team comes out at the end. Obviously, they have home-court advantage. We'd love to go down there and steal one or steal the first one, but it's going to be tough." It'll be even tougher if Chandler Parsons—one of the sticking points in the ongoing feud between these two teams—isn't ready to play in Game 1. He missed the last six games of the regular season while resting his swollen right knee. Head coach Rick Carlisle, though, is confident that Parsons will be available. Parsons' offensive versatility and familiarity with Dallas' Texas foe will be vital to the Mavs' attempt to spring the seeded upset. For every transcendent superstar, there is an initial foray into the playoffs, one that sets the stage for the years to come. In 2006, LeBron James averaged about 31 points, eight boards and six assists while carrying the Cleveland Cavaliers to a second-round loss against the Detroit Pistons. In 2010, Kevin Durant poured in 25 points per game (albeit on a subpar 35 percent shooting) in a six-game loss to the eventual-champion Lakers. What will 2015 bring for Anthony Davis? Probably not much in the way of victories. His New Orleans Pelicans will have to contend with a Golden State Warriors squad that is coming off a historically great regular season. However Davis fares from here on out, folks in the Crescent City won't soon forget what The Brow did to put the Pelicans back into the playoffs for the first time since 2011, when they were still the New Orleans Hornets. In what was, to date, the biggest game of his NBA career, Davis dominated the streaking San Antonio Spurs, piling up 31 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks in 43 minutes of a 108-103 win for New Orleans. "Honestly, I know I all told ya'll before this game it didn't mean nothing, but I tried to downplay it because I didn't want to get too excited," Davis said afterward, via ESPN. "It meant a lot—and we played like it meant something. Now, they'll have to locate their hearts and put them back in place, lest they let the Warriors stomp them from the get-go. Physically speaking, Derrick Rose may not be the same player he was prior to his three knee surgeries. But from a confidence standpoint, he's as sturdy as ever. "I believe I'm one of the best players in the NBA...still," Rose insisted, even after leaving the Chicago Bulls' season finale early with soreness in his left knee, per ESPN.com's Nick Friedell. The Bulls can only hope Rose's confidence will pay actual dividends in the playoffs. With Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich all battling injuries, Chicago will need whatever it can squeeze out of the former MVP if it's going to be more than a dark horse in the East. After all the ups and downs, the injuries and roster changes, the Houston Rockets wound up with the No. 2 seed in the West—which probably beats out most preseason predictions. It's one thing to snag such prime seeding on the strength of James Harden's MVP-caliber campaign. It's another thing to capitalize on it. To that end, the Rockets may have help on the way if they can stay alive long enough. Patrick Beverley, who was recently ruled out for the season after undergoing wrist surgery, could be back at point guard in Houston...assuming the team hasn't been eliminated by mid-May. "I don't care about the pain. I can play through pain. I've been playing through all type of stuff the whole year, so I can play with the pain," Beverley told Fox26 Sports' Mark Berman. "I just have to get this cast off. When the cast comes off May 18, May 20th, wrap it up with tape and (I'll) be good to go. I don't care how weak it is. I don't care how strong it is. I don't care about that. "As soon as this cast is off I'm back to business." In the meantime, the Rockets will have to contend with the likes of Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker at the point, with the hope that whatever Harden, Dwight Howard and their supporting cast can do will be enough to see Houston through to the Western Conference Finals. However and whenever the Atlanta Hawks' surprising season winds up, they can take pride in what they've accomplished together. Despite turmoil at the front-office and ownership levels, the Hawks managed to set new franchise records for consecutive wins (19), All-Stars (four) and total single-season victories, among other things. In the bigger picture, the Hawks earned the respect of the rest of the league, which could pay off handsomely (i.e., via free-agent signings) in the years to come. "I think there's been a couple of times during a game, end of games, when we're gonna win, and the other team will come up and say 'man, I love how you guys play,'" Kyle Korver told NBA.com's David Aldridge. "They just got, you can tell, they're like, I would love to play for your team. That's the ultimate sign of respect in the NBA. When you're on a team, and your team's supposedly good, but man, I'd rather be on your team. It feels good to hear that." You know what would beat that? The Hawks' first trip to the penultimate round of the playoffs since 1970. Remember when all the Chicken Littles huddled in northeast Ohio (and across the country, for that matter) were wondering why the sky was falling on the Cleveland Cavaliers and how they'd ever survive it? A second-place conference finish did wonders to erase memories of the panic that set in amid the Cavs' disappointing 19-20 start. Cleveland now looks like the favorite to win the East (and a co-favorite to win it all), thanks in no small part to a second half that saw the Cavs win 34 of 43 games. Well, maybe not right away. The Cavs should make quick work of the Celtics in Round 1. After that, though, Cleveland's path through Chicago and Atlanta will put this team's title-contending chops to the test. There were eight scenarios for a first-round playoff opponent for the Clippers heading into Wednesday’s final day of the regular season. Four of the scenarios had the Clippers playing the Memphis Grizzlies for the third time in four years. Two of the scenarios had them facing Dallas and one had them meeting Houston in the first round. The last scenario – a scenario some would classify as worst-case – had the Clippers, the league’s second-hottest team, facing the San Antonio Spurs, the hottest. And wouldn’t you know it, the worst case became the reality. The Clippers, though, aren't about to complain about their cruel fate. "I'd rather go through them now while we're fresh," said DeAndre Jordan, per ESPN.com's Arash Markazi. They'll have to hope that their own season-ending hot streak (seven in a row, 14 of 15) gives them enough juice to overcome a San Antonio Spurs squad that was riding an 11-game spurt prior to a defeat to the Pelicans in the finale. Has there ever been a stronger sixth seed in any postseason in any sport than this year's San Antonio Spurs? All they did was win 11 games in a row and 21 of 24 prior to the season's final night. They might have made it 12 in a row and 22 of 25 if not for a poor opening to what turned out to be a 108-103 defeat in New Orleans. "That first half was the worst we've played in a long time," head coach Gregg Popovich said afterward, via ESPN. "The Pelicans were on fire. They were committed. They were playing hard. They had a lot to play for and it showed." The Spurs had plenty to play for themselves. A win would have locked them into the No. 2 seed in the West as the Southwest Division champions, with a first-round matchup against the Mavericks. Instead, San Antonio will begin its title defense in L.A., opposite a Clippers team that the Spurs swept out of the second round three years ago. Tiago Splitter's ongoing calf troubles have cast some doubt on San Antonio's chances of repeating. But if the Spurs can get him back in time for the Western Conference Finals, they'll pose a serious threat to Golden State's dream season. A great regular season guarantees the Golden State Warriors nothing more than the No. 1 seed in the West and a pitfall-filled path to the NBA Finals. And, of course, the No. 1 spot in the last power rankings of the regular season. To be sure, the Dubs didn't just coast their way to the top. Rather, they fought to the very end for each of the 67 wins they racked up. Stephen Curry certainly didn't take anything for granted. Over the final 18 games of the season, the presumptive MVP knocked down 52.3 percent of his long-range looks on the way to shattering his own record for single-season three-point makes (286). As easy as Golden State made the regular season seem, the playoffs will look like anything but that. First comes figuring out how to contain Anthony Davis. Then, the Warriors will likely have to contend with the "Grit-N-Grind" Grizzlies. And before the Dubs can book their first trip to the Finals in 40 years, the defending champion Spurs will have a word or two to offer. Golden State had better hope, then, that the same stroke that helped Curry knocked down more than half of his treys over the last month of the season and another 77 in a row in a single practice holds true during the pressure cooker of the playoffs. Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.

2019-04-25T06:33:14Z

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2431688-2015-nba-power-rankings-whos-on-top-heading-into-playoffs

"And they're off!" My grandpa would begin one of his classic jokes. In the fast-paced clip of a horse race announcer, he continued, "It's cabbage by a head, carrot in a bunch. Toothpaste being squeezed out on the rail. "And Diaper, bringing up the rear!" That last sentence always came with a special gravitas. It was a perennial favorite. We would ask him to tell it to us again and again. Recalling it now, I can still clearly hear his voice. Those familiar words came back to me yesterday. The day after Halloween, and the holiday season is upon us. So often it feels like the gates opening with the crack of a starting pistol as we bear, full speed ahead, towards the Thanksgiving and Christmas. Part of the joy of the holidays is the sense of anticipation they create. Sharing them today fulfills some of my own anticipation. After testing pie crusts and sampling fillings, those recipes are now displayed on magazine racks around the country, and I finally get to share the tear sheets. I think the images are among the best that Stephen and I have worked on together. I hope you enjoy this visual taste of the holiday sweets to come. For the recipes, get your copy of Simply Gluten-Free. My great grandmother Virginia Goettl sat at the kitchen table of my parents' Denver apartment when someone started the tape recorder. "I was born in 1906 in Europe," she began. "I was a year old when I—" My grandma, Virginia's daughter Betty, cut in. "Whereabouts in Europe, mom?" "I was born in Bosnia... Bosnia was a province of Austria-Hungary that they recaptured from the Turks in the early 1800s," she explained after my hearing-impaired grandpa mistakenly thought she said Boston. It was a quiet family evening in August 1982. My parents were there (my mom was seven months pregnant with me) with my grandparents and my dad's cousin Julie. You can hear the sound of plates being cleared in the background as my dad and grandma set out to capture Virginia's story. "Okay, what we wanted to record mostly was about history, about family history..." Betty starts to explain at the beginning of the tape. Earlier this year, I borrowed the three tapes they created, and started what I've come to call the "Family History Project." My great grandparents had a life of unplanned adventure after my great grandpa John was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1929. Their story is beyond the scope of a single blog post. Those tapes, though, and some of the simple and straightforward statements that emerged from them have shed unexpected light on questions I've had about my family history. Since my first family recipes post about kiffels, I've wondered why my "German" family prepared so much Hungarian food. We have a cookbook of different family recipes that my aunt collected for a reunion in 1999. All of the ones attributed to Virginia indicate a strong eastern European influence. And it's not just hers, but several of her relatives' recipes for goulash and paprikash, as well as my mom's kiffels, all point to a past situated well outside the borders I grew up associating with my family. I don't have all the answers for why my family continually talked about their strong German roots yet were actually located in the southeastern territories of Austria-Hungary. But the straightforward sentence, "I was born in Bosnia," explains why I grew up with the hearty and comforting flavors of foods infused with Hungarian paprika. It made me excited to try a recipe for "Real Hungarian Goulash," that my Aunt BJ submitted, explaining that her Aunt Helene Kailer made the stew for her after her first son was born. Preparing the simple, tomato-based beef stew connected me to a part of my family's past that I now perceive more clearly. I will continue exploring the various facets involved in my Family History Project, examining how a disease led the Goettls from Ohio, through the Deep South, and eventually landed them in Phoenix, Arizona. I can see that path laid out in the food we love, and the recipes we've shared with one another. So, we'll start at the beginning, with the Hungarian food that I grew up believing was German. Here is Aunt Helene's goulash. And, as my mom was careful to instruct me, be sure to get the Hungarian paprika in the red tin! It's the best. 1. In a dutch oven or stock pot, heat oil to low. Add chopped onion and cook slowly until onions are transparent (about 15 minutes). 2. Add red bell pepper and continue to sauté until tender (5-10 more minutes), stirring regularly. 3. Cover the onions and peppers with the stew meat, and allow meat to brown. 4. Stir in paprika and tomato paste, and then add enough water to cover the meat. Add carrots (if desired). Cover and let cook over low to medium-low heat for 1 1/2 hours, uncovering the pot for the last 30 minutes so that the stew thickens slightly. 5. Serve over noodles, and garnish with parsley. A warm and crispy hash brown potato shell filled with cheese, eggs, and sausage. In my family, this particular breakfast was a staple of potluck brunches, family gatherings, and, most memorably, Christmas morning. It’s easy—spread the hash browns in a pie plate, layer in sausage and cheese, and then pour in a few whisked eggs on top. The result is an appetite-inducing, eye-pleasing addition to the breakfast table. When Simply Gluten-Free Magazine asked us to work on a brunch menu for the March/April issue, this breakfast casserole was one of the first recipes I thought to include. A few phone calls to mom, and I had the details of the recipe sorted. It became my favorite part of a story on hearty brunch dishes that I ended up developing, which also included a potato medley hash and a creamy grits bar (a nod to my adopted home in the South). Working on these recipes gave me a chance to write about one of my favorite ways to share breakfast: a gathering of fellow soccer fans on a Saturday morning to watch English Premier League soccer and cheer on our favorite team, Chelsea FC (Go Blues!). The breakfast casserole had the most personal significance to me. Like Mom’s Chicken Soup, it conjures up happy memories. This time, it's Christmas morning and I can instantly see mom behind the stove in the little kitchen of our house in Longmont, Colorado, pouring the egg mixture into the pie plate just before popping it into the oven. Those memories make it a favorite family recipe. It’s also a recipe for classic comfort food. This recipe is durable, satiating, and delicious. And it’s versatile. It will always be a crowd pleasure with breakfast sausage and cheddar, but swap in swiss and use turkey sausage or even ham and it will be equally tasty. For a healthier option, one could do egg whites and toss in some chopped kale or spinach, or make it vegetarian by eliminating the meat entirely. It’s the perfect recipe for the cook who loves to experiment. A few ingredients, simple instructions, and a world of possibilities—I’m increasingly convinced those are the elements behind a family favorite that just about anyone can enjoy. Breakfast casserole that I food and prop styled for Simply Gluten-Free Magazine. Photo by Stephen DeVries. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and brown hash brown, flipping them once (about 3 minutes on each side). Mold hash browns into a 9-inch pie plate. Layer turkey sausage on top of the potatoes, then add the shredded cheese. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, half & half, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture over cheese layer. Note: The hash browns do not need to be fully cooked before placing them in the pie plate, and slightly undercooked potatoes will make for a firmer casserole crust. Growing up, I counted my grandma among my biggest heroes. She always had things for us to do, and new adventures to embark upon. From homemade fetticini noodles, to little water color painting sets and embroidering lessons, to kitchen-sink science experiments—everything we did had a little lesson to be learned, a nugget of knowledge to take away. I can see so much of who I've become in the natural curiosity she helped cultivate in me. Grandma "running eggs" at their chicken farm in Colorado. She was nothing if not a hard and dedicated worker. Was our celebration of George Washington's birthday a little silly? Perhaps. I suppose the whole idea was birthed out of trips to Colonial Williamsburg, and a shared love for history among my parents and grandparents. As a kid, it was full of imaginative possibilities. No wonder I went on to pursue history full-time. The best part was that grandma never broke character. There was no cynicism in her recreation, no laughing at herself, only a little flair for the dramatic. It lent gravitas to the scene, and made it that much more realistic and significant to everyone else. A young me, proudly posing before our dimly-lit colonial dinner table. Apparently, they pulled out all the stops in George Washington's day with blue paper napkins. The memories of George Washington's birthday came back to me while making my mom's chicken soup the other day. Since my immediate family no longer lives in Colorado, and my grandparents' farm—the setting for the birthday festivities—was sold 20 years ago, food has become an important link to fond memories of the past. As I smelled the soup on the stove, I thought, "It smells like home." Not our physical house, but the feeling of being at home. If the smell of home exists, for me, it is made-from-scratch chicken soup. I don't remember exactly what we ate during the birthday. Considering grandpa's sweet tooth, I have no doubt that a historically inaccurate cake was involved, probably of the chocolate variety. Whatever else was on the table, I'm sure it was hearty, warm, and satisfying—like my mom's soup. So in honor of George Washington's upcoming birthday, and the precious memories I have attached to it, I thought I'd share mom's soup recipe. It cooks slowly, as good things do. Hopefully it will warm your heart the same way it continues to warm mine. Heat oil in the bottom of a large stock pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion, and stir regularly until onion is clear — about 2 minutes. Add the whole chicken (including the skin and bones) to the pot, and add enough water to cover. After water begins to boil, reduce heat to a simmer with cover slightly ajar for 2-3 hours, or until chicken is completely cooked and the meat is coming off of the bone. Turn stove back to medium heat, and return strained broth to the stock pot. While allowing the chicken to cool slightly, chop the carrots and celery and add them to the broth. Skin and debone the chicken. Then return the meat to the stock pot. Add rice, and allow the pot to simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste, and/or a chicken bouillon to enhance the flavor. Top with chopped parsley before serving. Allowing the chicken to cool slightly before deboning eases the process, and makes the fatty tissue and bones much easier to remove — it will also keeps you from scorching your fingertips. This soup freezes well, and makes great leftovers. My mom always said the second bowl was the best. If you're looking for a little extra kick, throw in some hot sauce for added spice. Trust me, it's delicious. My Twitter feed is an eclectic hodgepodge. There will be 140 characters worth of organizing ideas from Real Simple, followed by a thoughtful question about women and faith from Rachel Held Evans, and then there's the Arabic-language update with news from Cairo. In a way, it's evidence of the many directions my life has taken in the last four years. And as Twitter reminded me a few days ago, I just passed my four-year "Twitterversary." Stephen while stuck on an icy Hwy 280 for four hours. Late-January is full of odd anniversaries for me. Yesterday, Facebook was abuzz with recollections of the South's Snowmageddon from a year before. People across the region were hit by a surprise snow and ice storm that left them either stuck in their cars or abandoning them and walking home. Kids and teachers couldn't leave school. I had the good fortune of only making a four-hour round trip drive to Tuscaloosa, while Stephen's casual drive to Home Depot turned into a 12-hour trek across town that included walking six-miles in the ice. I have not gone a week in the last year without hearing someone regaling their experiences during that storm, or relating my own. But something strange occurred to me during those frozen, snowed-in days last January. They marked three years since I was also stuck at home, but this time for a completely different reason. On January 25, 2011, the Egyptian Revolution started, and like so many other millions, I was there. With tight curfews and no police force, people generally stayed close to home. That's when I joined Twitter. It had become the most effective way to track the news—at least until Mubarak turned off the internet. Three years later, I found myself again feeling simultaneously cut off and exhilarated. Yet in January 2014 I ultimately felt safe and secure, just a little bit cold. In Cairo, things were much less certain, and while I did not feel I was directly in harm's way, our circumstances were defined by a lack of security. Me after evacuating Cairo in early February, and making my way to Cambridge, UK A cozy seat at a warm pub with a good friend was exactly what I needed. Photo by Galina Mardilovich. As people have continued to recount their Snowmageddon experiences for the last year, there has been a cathartic quality to all of it. People were traumatized. And trauma leaves a deep psychological mark. It has to be expunged, and for me and the Southerners around me that meant talking about it. It would have been awkward to bring up in those conversations how privileged we are to be able to talk and laugh about our experiences. To be able to recount our trauma and breath a large sigh of relief with smiles on our face at the end. Not everyone gets to recall their trauma that way. Not everyone gets such quick relief. For those most hopeful in Tahrir Square in 2011, their dreams of democracy and real change have been largely dissolved by a new military dictatorship. It was 50˚F in Birmingham one year after Snowmageddon. It was literally a warm balm on the storm's temporary wounds. At the same time, Egypt's revolution is being recalled with images of the new leadership's most recent victims—Shaima Al-Shabbagh brutal shooting in the midst of a peaceful anniversary protest and the death of at least 18 other people. There is no need to diminish the trauma of last year's storm. But there's a perspective we could take in recalling our own discomfort—one where we realize that we found quick relief where so many others are still waiting. When it comes to holiday traditions, Easter can be confusing. For many Christians the celebration of Christ’s resurrection stands at the heights of the sacred calendar. Yet most of traditional practices — including the name of the holiday — have pagan roots. Where did the word Easter and its bunny come from? Well, that would be a reference to Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility whose sign was a rabbit. While the Easter table might lack the kind of nostalgic grounding in tradition that one experiences at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I find this freeing. For us, Easter has become a time to create new holiday memories and traditions with our friends. Since it takes a two-hour drive or a four-hour flight to spend the holiday with family, I try to incorporate family by including some traditional family recipes on the menu. For this year, I’ve adopted the traditional Hungarian kiffel (something we usually eat at Christmas) to our celebration of the resurrection. The kiffel combines cream cheese pastry and a touch of jam for a mixture of savory and sweet that’s hard to resist. This also kicks off a series on traditional family recipes that I plan to continue sharing on the blog. I figure, what better way to explore the history of what we eat, than to delve into the foods I associate with my family history? Whenever I eat a kiffel, I think of my dad sneaking a few each time he passed through the kitchen and my mom telling him to save some for the rest of us. It makes them all the more special to think about my grandma and great grandma making them before me. While our families will be celebrating Easter across the country, our little Alabama duo will think of them fondly and enjoy a cookie in their honor. It’s not a bunny or an egg — but who said those had all that much to do with celebrating the resurrection in the first place? Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut in cold butter and cream cheese. Working with your hands add in sour cream and egg yolk so that the dough forms a soft ball. Be careful not over mix the dough — if it has a marbled look, that’s okay. Divide into two balls, wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (can be refrigerated overnight). Working one ball at a time, unwrap roll out on a sheet of parchment paper dusted with tapioca starch. Roll out dough until it is 1/8 inch thick. Cut dough into 2” squares and place a 1/2 tsp. of filling in the center. Fold into triangles or cylinders. *My information on the history of Easter came from Cathy K. Kaufman’s “Easter” entry in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (1ed.), Andrew F. Smith, ed., Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed online at http://www.oxfordreference.com.libdata.lib.ua.edu/view/10.1093/acref/9780195154375.001.0001/acref-9780195154375-e-0280?rskey=iQtsmi&result=7 on 18 Apr. 2014. It sits perched in the health food aisle of the grocery store — bags of flax seed lined up among the organic granola, peanut butter, and other natural, specialty foods. I sprinkle a little of it on my breakfast yogurt nearly every morning. Some even use a combination of flax seed and water to replace eggs when baking. While flax has become a fixture in the modern market for green living, its journey into today’s diets was more laborious and nuanced than one might expect. The original production of flax focused on textiles rather than dietary consumption. Flax is the plant behind linen, and historically its value comes from its fibers, not its seeds. Cultivation of flax for linen was especially prominent in northern Europe, where people in France, Flanders, Germany, and Ireland began cultivating the crop as early as the Bronze Age (2300-500 BC in Europe) and the practice rose to prominence during the medieval period. With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, and Stephen and I planning a trip to Ireland for later this month, it seemed appropriate to give a few details on the Irish experience of flax production. For the Irish, linen became especially profitable by the late-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, by which time the British government began investing in expanding linen production. While traveling in Ireland, Arthur Young, an Englishman, remarked, somewhat condescendingly, on the importance of linen to the Irish economy, commenting, “The only considerable manufacture in Ireland which carries in all its parts the appearance of industry is the linen, and it ought never to be forgotten that this is solely confined to the protestant parts of the kingdom...” Young continued that considering the French example, this was not to say that the Catholics were incapable of such production, but that the Irish Catholics of the south had yet to capitalize on linen in the same way as the northern Irish protestants. Apparently, even the history of flax and linen are riddled with the confessional divisions of Anglo-Irish, Protestant-Catholic rivalry that run throughout Irish history. Young was right in seeing the promise of commercialization in the linen market. By 1810 farmers had sewn 70,000 acres with flax, and that number more than doubled by the 1850s when flax grew on some 175,000 acres. But the mid-nineteenth century also saw blight to potato crops and the devastating Irish Potato Famine, which left a million people dead and saw another 1.5 million emigrate, mostly to the United States. While that traumatic and devastating loss is responsible for the growth of a robust Irish heritage in the U.S., it also marked the decline of the Irish linen industry. The flax seeds — a byproducts of linen production — not only became an eventual ingredient in health food, but the oil derived from pressing the seeds, known as linseed oil, is used in oil paints, varnishes, and linoleum. What does all of this have to do with the Linzer Torte, you might ask. Well not a whole lot, except that the Linzer Torte traditionally uses walnut flour — something that I am allergic to, so I thought I’d try an alternative. I combined almond flour and flax seed meal to arrive at a delicious and hearty crust for my torte. When I started thinking about what laid behind that creation, I decided to explore the history of flax in greater detail. 2 1/2 sticks butter - cold, unsalted, and cubed. Optional: 1 cup slivered almonds. Note: You can make the torte as either a circle or a square. This recipe makes enough for two 9 inch round pans, two 8 inch square pans, or one 9x13 rectangular pan. Because I wanted to cut mine into square bars (as opposed to wedges) I opted for the single 9x13 pan. If you are making a circular torte, it is preferable to use a cake pan with a removable bottom. Stir together the almond flour, flax seed meal, and sugar. In a large bowl stir gluten-free flour, cinnamon, clove, and salt together until well blended. With a fork or pastry blender, work cubes of butter into the almond and flax mixture until it as a course, crumbly texture. Stir in the sugar, almond, and flax seed mixture. In a small dish, beat together the egg, egg yolk, and lemon zest until combined, then stir into almond and flax crumbs. Gently kneed the dough to fully incorporate the egg mixture, and the dough forms into a ball. Divide dough in half if making one torte, or into quarters if making two. Place one portion into the bottom of the pan and use your fingers to press it evenly across the pan and about 1 1/2 inches up the side of the pan. It should be evenly distributed across the bottom of the pan, but does not need to be smooth. Bake the shell or shells for 12 min. While the shell(s) bake, roll out the remaining dough between sheets of wax or parchment paper until it is 1/4 inch thickness, and one inch bigger than the pan. Then place it in the freezer to chill for approx. 20 min. Remove shell(s) from the oven and let cool slightly. I put dry, gluten-free bread in the food processor to create my bread crumbs until it was as fine as possible. Stir jam until it is soft, and spread it across the shell(s). Remove dough from freezer and cut into 1/2 inch wide strips, cutting through the dough and waxed paper. Use the lift the waxed paper, and place the strip, dough side down, onto the filling. My dough was fairly stiff after coming out of the freezer, so I was able to handle it without cutting through the wax paper. Arrange strips on a diagonal about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch apart, layering them in a criss-cross patterns to make the lattice top. My dough was not pliable enough to weave into a traditional lattice, but layering them on the diagonal still created a nice, diamond-shaped effect. Use leftover pieces to fill in any gaps. Mix egg yolk with water and brush all of the lattice and border. Sprinkle with slivered almonds, if desired. Bake torte for 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and place on rack. For best flavor leave the torte or tortes stand uncovered overnight before serving. Note: I adapted my recipe from one posted last December on Smitten Kitchen. If you are looking for a traditional recipe that uses walnuts, I would recommend following her example. *Earlier this month I had the opportunity to share my experience of being diagnosed with celiac and going gluten free with fresh style magazine. I shared a recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and my go-to gluten-free flour blend on the magazine's blog, You can download a printable version of the recipe for the cookies and the flour blend here. Information on the history of flax and linen came from The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages, and The Oxford Companion to Irish History. For those especially curious, you can read all of Arthur Young's eighteenth century observations about Ireland on Google Play.

2019-04-18T16:59:17Z

http://www.annalisedevries.com/blog/

Background The distribution of cigarette prices has rarely been studied and compared under different tax structures. Descriptive evidence on price distributions by countries can shed light on opportunities for tax avoidance and brand switching under different tobacco tax structures, which could impact the effectiveness of increased taxation in reducing smoking. Objective This paper aims to describe the distribution of cigarette prices by countries and to compare these distributions based on the tobacco tax structure in these countries. Methods We employed data for 16 countries taken from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project to construct survey-derived cigarette prices for each country. Self-reported prices were weighted by cigarette consumption and described using a comprehensive set of statistics. We then compared these statistics for cigarette prices under different tax structures. In particular, countries of similar income levels and countries that impose similar total excise taxes using different tax structures were paired and compared in mean and variance using a two-sample comparison test. Findings Our investigation illustrates that, compared with specific uniform taxation, other tax structures, such as ad valorem uniform taxation, mixed (a tax system using ad valorem and specific taxes) uniform taxation, and tiered tax structures of specific, ad valorem and mixed taxation tend to have price distributions with greater variability. Countries that rely heavily on ad valorem and tiered taxes also tend to have greater price variability around the median. Among mixed taxation systems, countries that rely more heavily on the ad valorem component tend to have greater price variability than countries that rely more heavily on the specific component. In countries with tiered tax systems, cigarette prices are skewed more towards lower prices than are prices under uniform tax systems. The analyses presented here demonstrate that more opportunities exist for tax avoidance and brand switching when the tax structure departs from a uniform specific tax. Significant increases in cigarette excise taxes have been shown to be the most effective policy for reducing smoking.1 Tobacco excise taxes can be levied in two forms: specific and ad valorem taxes. A specific excise tax is a monetary tax levied based on the quantity of tobacco products (eg, per pack or by weight). While an ad valorem excise tax is a tax levied as a percentage of the value of tobacco products (eg, manufacturer's price or retail price).2 Although most governments impose certain excise taxes on cigarettes, the structure of these taxes varies markedly by countries. For instance, while many high-income countries (HICs) rely solely on specific excise taxes on cigarettes, European Union (EU) countries are required by the Council of the EU to impose excise taxes consisting of specific and ad valorem components, with a minimum floor. In addition, individual EU countries decide on the share of each component in total taxes under rules stating that the specific component must be between 5% and 76.5% of the total tax share of the weighted average price of cigarettes.2 ,3 As a result, individual EU countries rely differently on the specific and ad valorem components of their total cigarette excise tax. Despite these various excise tax systems, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how cigarette prices, through which taxation ultimately impacts smoking, are distributed in different systems. In particular, for LMICs where smoking is prevalent, the importance of tax structure as a factor mediating the effectiveness of tobacco taxation in controlling tobacco use has rarely been studied or discussed. For example, recent studies from China suggest that cigarette demand is relatively unresponsive to price, which might be a result of China’s complicated tiered tax structure that results in very low prices for some brands.5 ,6 Therefore, it is important to understand how cigarette prices are associated with tax structures in order to maximise the impact of tobacco taxation on tobacco use. From an economic perspective, given that the cigarette market is usually dominated by a small number of companies in most countries, cigarette price distributions may largely depend on taxation systems. Economic models have implied that, compared with specific excises, ad valorem excises tend to lead to lower prices and may encourage trading down, for example, the purchase of cheaper cigarettes.2 This is because an ad valorem tax structure creates incentives for manufacturers to produce low quality, low price cigarettes. In contrast, specific excises, in the form of taxes or a tax floor, tend to lead to higher prices, in that producers have incentives to raise prices when they can claim all the increased revenue (which is not the case for ad valorem excises). In addition, specific excises would reduce consumers’ incentives to switch down when taxes increase by raising the relative price of lower-price to higher-price brands. In their examination of cigarette prices in 21 EU countries, Chaloupka et al7 find that the price gap between premium and low-priced brands is smaller in countries with a greater specific component to excise taxes. However, that study is based on empirical evidence from EU countries that all use mixed taxation systems with different shares of specific and ad valorem taxes and, as a result, cannot directly compare pure specific, pure ad valorem and mixed systems, or tiered and uniform systems. Moreover, the price gap in that study is based on prices collected by the Economists Intelligence Unit for one leading international brand and one leading local brand, thus not reflecting the full distribution of cigarette prices in the market. Meanwhile, other than the aforementioned reasons, if the relative price of lower-priced brands relative to higher-priced brands increases, the market share of low-priced brands will likely fall. Therefore, compared with ad valorem excises, specific excises might lead to even higher prices with less price variability. The empirical evidence on the former hypothesis is shown in studies using data from HICs with purely specific tax systems. Nargis et al8 used four waves of data from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Surveys in Canada and the USA to examine the association between brand choice and relative prices and found that an increase in the relative price of lower-priced to higher-priced brands is associated with a decrease in purchasing of lower-priced brands in both countries. Sobel and Garrett9 also found that increases in the specific taxes in the USA lead to a lower market share for lower-priced generic brands. Several factors other than tax structures, such as tax avoidance and tax evasion, are likely to shape the cigarette price distribution as well. In some countries, taxes on tobacco are levied differently across jurisdictions such as states, provinces and Indian reservations. Therefore, cross-national-border and cross-jurisdiction-border shopping is one way to avoid taxes. For instance, in Canada and the USA, some excise taxes are exempted in aboriginal reserves and Native American reservations.1 In a recent paper Merriman17 assessed the extent of avoidance/evasion by collecting littered cigarette packs around Chicago, and found that three-fourths of the packs collected in Chicago did not bear the Chicago tax stamp. Using data from 15 ITC countries, Guindon et al18 found that more than 10% of smokers report engaging in tax avoidance or tax evasion in Canada, the UK and Malaysia. Tax evasion, such as large-scale smuggling, could also contribute to an increase in the share of low-priced cigarettes. Although there is insufficient evidence that large-scale smuggling lowers average retail prices, some research has indicated that illicit trade could burden low-income countries disproportionately, where illicit cigarettes constitute 16.8% of the market compared with 9.8% of the market in HICs.19 The cigarette prices that we examine in this paper are survey-derived prices that reflect the combined effects of tax structures, tax avoidance and tax evasion. Although it is impossible in this study to disentangle the contribution of each to the distribution of cigarette prices, we hypothesise that the tax structure plays the most important role in cross-country differences in the price distribution. Moreover, unlike tax evasion and tax avoidance by switching to cheaper cigarettes, which may have a greater effect on prices at the lower end, differences in tax structures would have an effect in shifting the overall distribution of cigarette prices. In summary, a greater price gap among brands could reduce the effectiveness of taxation in reducing tobacco use by increasing opportunities for substitution to cheaper brands as taxes rise. Among many tax structures, the uniform specific tax structure simplifies the taxation system and has advantages in raising the average prices and the relative price of lower-priced to higher-priced cigarettes. As a result, a uniform tax structure can increase the effectiveness of tax increases in reducing smoking.1 Therefore, analysing the price distribution using survey-derived data will add to the empirical evidence on how price distributions and gaps differ under alternative tax structures. Tax structures that lead to higher average prices and smaller price gaps can lead to a more effective tax system for reducing smoking. In this paper, we use data taken from 16 countries of the ITC Project, which cover many types of tax structures, to describe and compare cigarette price distributions across different tax structures. Cigarette prices were derived for each country using the most recent data from the ITC Project Surveys.ii The ITC Project consists of parallel longitudinal surveys of smokers and other tobacco users (and non-users in most countries) conducted in 22 countries inhabited by more than 50% of the world’s population, 60% of the world’s smokers and 70% of the world’s tobacco users. The ITC Surveys are designed to evaluate the policies of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.20 For the analyses reported in this paper, we selected ITC countries where cigarette purchase information was collected from smokers. The price per pack of 20 cigarettes was thereafter derived from the money spent in the last purchase and the number of cigarettes that were bought.iii In order to compare prices and their distributions across countries, we converted the derived prices in local currencies into constant 2010 international dollars using the purchasing-power parity and consumer price index of the country. Purchasing-power parity conversion factors and the consumer price index for each country were obtained from the International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook database. In order to reflect the market share of cigarettes at different price levels, we use consumption weights to obtain aggregated measures of cigarette prices. Namely, for each individual smoker, we calculate how many cigarettes they smoke per day and construct a consumption weight as the ratio of his or her own consumption to the total consumption of respondents to the survey. These consumption weights are applied to cigarette prices when reporting mean, median and quartile prices. Survey-derived prices are likely to better reflect the price distribution in the market than are other sources of prices, especially when we are interested in comparing the price distribution under different tax systems.21 These comparisons shed some light on the association between tax structure and price distribution, and resulting opportunities for tax avoidance under different structures. As discussed above, the tax structure could be exclusively specific, ad valorem, or a mixture of the two. Alternatively, taxes can also be levied uniformly or by tiers. Economic reasoning implies that tax structures with tiers or that rely more heavily on ad valorem excises will yield more opportunities for tax avoidance and branch switching. In the ITC Project sample of countries, a majority rely on uniform taxes, with only Brazil, Republic of Korea, China and Bangladesh applying tiered taxes. Most non-EU HICs including the USA, Canada, Australia and Republic of Korea, and some LMICs including Brazil, Uruguay and Mauritius solely rely on specific excises. In contrast, Bangladesh and Thailand rely on purely ad valorem excises; and China, Malaysia and EU countries apply mixed systems of specific and ad valorem excises, while individual countries may largely rely on one of the components. The analyses in this paper proceed as follows: In table 1, after ranking countries by tax structure, the percentage of the specific component among the total excise tax, and the amount of total excise taxes, we present comprehensive statistics for price distribution by countries. In particular, mean, median, SD and skewness of prices are reported to show how much prices are skewed towards lower prices under alternative tax structures. The first quartile, third quartile and IQR, which is measured by the difference between the first and third quartile, are also reported. In addition, we calculate and show the ratio of the IQR to the median, which shows price variability around the median price. Other important statistics such as the minimum price, maximum price, price range and the ratio of the price range to the mean are also shown in table 1. Also, in figure 1, we exhibit price distributions by countries using boxplot to visualise the statistics that are reported in table 1 and to present the price distribution and variability in one graph. In table 2 we show, by tax structure, countries where prices are skewed in different directions and those where prices are most heavily skewed (skewness statistics are greater than 1 or smaller than −1). Finally, in table 3 we select and pair countries that are close in income levels and in the amount of total excise tax but that employ different tax structures, in order to compare their mean and variance using a two-sample comparison test. Boxplot of cigarette price distributions by country. AU (Australia), CA (Canada), MU (Mauritius), US (the USA), UY (Uruguay), KR (Republic of Korea), BR (Brazil), NL (The Netherlands), MY (Malaysia), UK (the UK), DE (Germany), MX (Mexico), FR (France), RC (China), TH (Thailand) and BD (Bangladesh). In table 1, we categorise countries by their tax structures and the percentage of specific taxes among total excise taxes; VATs are excluded. Among countries with a mixed uniform tax structure, The Netherlands has the largest share of the specific component while France has the smallest (range: 9.4–67.3%). Although China imposes a small specific excise, the system largely relies on the tiered ad valorem component. And in general, for countries that impose a similar amount of total excises, those with simpler tax structures tend to have higher average prices. For instance, Mauritius and Mexico impose total excises of $2.45 and $2.29, respectively, but the mean price for Mauritius which uses a uniform specific tax structure is $1.29 higher than Mexico where a mixed tax structure is used. Among EU countries, The Netherlands and France impose total excises of $3.37 and $3.80, respectively, while The Netherlands with a larger specific share has a mean price $0.49 higher than France, which has a larger ad valorem share. The skewness statistics show that in countries where tiered taxes are applied, prices are more likely positively skewed, indicating that there are fewer higher prices in the distribution. In contrast, most countries with a uniform tax structure have skewness statistics close to 0, suggesting prices are relatively symmetric. When comparing Malaysia and Mexico, where a mixed structure is applied in both cases but Malaysia has a larger share of the specific tax component, more prices in Mexico are lower while more prices in Malaysia are higher. The ratio of the IQR to the median reported in table 1 shows how prices deviate around the median. In countries with a purely ad valorem tax system, such as Bangladesh and Thailand, and China, which largely employs ad valorem taxation, this ratio is as high as 0.51–0.89, which suggests greater price variability around median prices. On the other hand, other than Uruguay, the USA and Canada where cross-jurisdiction shopping opportunities are relatively available, countries with mixed and specific uniform structures tend to have prices that vary less around the median, with ratios less than 0.25. When looking into the price range measured by the distance between the maximum and minimum prices, there is no clear pattern by different structures. However, if we compare how great the range is in contrast to the mean, the results indicate that the range is six to nine times as large as the mean in Bangladesh, China and Brazil, where taxes are levied by tiers, while other countries have ratios in the range of 1–4. In addition, China has a price range of $17.6, which is extremely wide compared with its average price. Table 2 summarises countries by comparing mean and median prices, as well as the skewness of prices. In the upper panel, we report countries where the mean price is higher than the median and those where the price mean is lower than the median, respectively. In contrast to the median, a higher mean suggests a positively-skewed price distribution that prices concentrate at lower values; and a lower mean suggests the opposite. These measures show that among the seven countries with the purely specific tax structure, four countries have mean prices larger than the median and three have mean prices smaller than the median. However, the mean and median prices are very close in magnitude for most countries with a specific tax structure. The skewness statistics reported in the lower panel show that prices are largely skewed to lower values in China, Brazil, Mexico, Bangladesh and Republic of Korea, where either tiered or ad valorem taxes (ad valorem component in mixed structures) are applied. This finding suggests that tiered and ad valorem taxes may distort cigarette prices towards lower values, increasing opportunities for switching to cheaper cigarettes as tax increases. In addition, prices are heavily skewed to lower values in the USA, which might reflect tax avoidance by cross-jurisdiction shopping. Finally, we select and pair countries that are close in the amount of total excise taxes but that use different tax structures, to compare their mean and variance using a two-sample comparison test. The selected country pairs are as follows: for LMICs, Uruguay (specific uniform) and Brazil (specific tiered) are paired to compare uniform and tiered tax structures; Mauritius (specific uniform) and Mexico (mixed uniform) are paired to compare specific and mixed structures; Malaysia and Thailand are paired to compare mixed and ad valorem uniform structures; and Malaysia and Mexico are paired to compare mixed structures with different shares of specific components. For HICs, Australia and the UK/France are paired to compare specific and mixed uniform structures. In addition, The Netherlands and France/Germany are paired to compare mixed systems dominated by specific and ad valorem components, respectively. The hypotheses that more complicated tax structures tend to have a higher price mean and present a smaller price variance are tested, with the rejection of these hypotheses suggesting the opposite. The results of the two-sample mean and SD (variance) comparison tests are shown in table 3. Although the mean comparison tests do not reject the hypothesis for one set of paired countries (Australia vs the UK), the remainder do. The rejection of this hypothesis for a majority of the comparisons indicates that countries where tax systems are simpler tend to have higher average prices than countries that impose similar total excise amounts but that have more complicated tax systems. The two-sample SD comparison tests of prices within each development group (HICs vs LMICs) yield similar results: cigarette prices show greater variability in countries where tax structures are more complicated. For example, the specific tiered system of Brazil has a higher SD than the specific uniform system of Uruguay. In particular, when comparing within the uniform tax structure, the mixed system of Mexico has a higher SD than the specific system of Mauritius, and the same conclusion holds for the SD comparison between Australia and the UK. Although the SD comparison of Australia and France suggests the SDs of the two countries are about the same, Australia has a much higher mean price than France. The mixed system of Malaysia has a higher price SD than the pure ad valorem system of Thailand, which suggests that mixed system in LMICs may not be superior to a pure ad valorem system in lowering price variability. The mixed system of France, which relies heavily on the ad valorem component, has a higher SD than The Netherlands, which relies heavily on the specific component. The same conclusions are found when comparing The Netherlands with Germany and Malaysia with Mexico. In sum, more complicated taxation systems tend to have greater price variability, and therefore are likely to provide more opportunities for tax avoidance by brand switching. In this paper, we employed data for 16 countries taken from the ITC Project to construct survey-derived cigarette prices for each country. These self-reported prices were weighted by cigarette consumption and described using a comprehensive set of statistics. We further compared these statistics for cigarette prices under different tax structures. In particular, countries that are close in the amount of total excise taxes but that impose different tax structures were paired and compared in mean and variance using a two-sample comparison test. There are a few limitations to these analyses. First, we presented direct evidence of price distribution in countries where different taxation systems are imposed. However, we did not estimate or analyse the associations between the type of tax structure and measures of the price distribution. Therefore, we cannot conduct a formal test of these associations. In addition, tax structures were grouped using two characteristics: the component of specific and ad valorem excise taxes, and if tiered rates are levied. As a result, it is difficult to disentangle the extent to which tiered and ad valorem tax structures distort the price distribution. Finally, we did not explicitly control for various forms of tax avoidance or evasion, such as cross-border shopping. Further research using times series data from many countries with different and changing tax structures is needed to address these limitations. Our investigation illustrates that, compared with uniform specific taxation, other uniform tax structures (ad valorem uniform and mixed uniform structures) tend to have price distributions with greater variability. Also, compared with uniform taxation, tiered tax structures tend to have price distributions with greater variability. Countries that rely heavily on ad valorem and tiered taxes generally have greater variability in prices around the median. Among mixed taxation systems, countries that rely more heavily on the ad valorem component tend to have greater variability in prices than countries that rely more heavily on the specific component. Among different tax structures that impose similar total excise taxes, simpler structures tend to have higher price means. In countries with tiered tax systems, cigarette prices are more skewed to lower prices than prices under uniform systems. The analyses presented here demonstrate that when the tax structure departs from uniform specific taxes, more opportunities exist for tax avoidance by switching down to cheaper brands. These results also provide a potential explanation for why smokers in countries with a complicated tax structure, such as China, are often found to be relatively unresponsive to cigarette prices. In light of our findings, countries that solely rely on ad valorem excises would see tax increases have a greater impact on tobacco use if they were to switch to a pure specific taxation system. Similarly, for countries with a mixed taxation system such as Mexico, Malaysia and EU countries, increasing the share of the specific component or switch to a pure specific taxation system would enhance the effectiveness of the tax in reducing tobacco use. Finally, our findings indicate that tax structures have a substantial impact on price variability in cigarette markets, thus likely impacting smoking behaviours, including prevalence, consumption and cessation. Future research should explore how tax structures affect these smoking behaviours. Economic models have suggested that a simple taxation system that applies a uniform specific excise tax has advantages in raising average cigarette prices, reducing tax avoidance and switching down, and discouraging manufacturer's incentives for pricing strategies that lower market prices. However, there is insufficient empirical evidence on how prices are distributed under different tax structures. In this paper, we present and compare price distributions under alternative tax structures. We find that, compared with a uniform specific tax structure, tiered structures and other uniform tax structures tend to have price distributions with greater variability. Among mixed taxation systems, countries that rely more heavily on the ad valorem component of the total tax tend to have greater price variability than countries that rely more heavily on the specific component. In countries with tiered tax systems, cigarette prices are skewed more towards lower prices than are prices under uniform tax systems. We would like to thank Anne Chiew Kin Quah for her valuable comments and support. IARC. Handbooks of cancer prevention in tobacco control. Vol. 14, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2011. WHO. WHO technical manual on tobacco tax administration. WHO, 2010. . Tobacco taxation in the European Union, CESifo working paper, No. 1718, 2006. WHO. Increasing tobacco taxation revenue in Egypt. WHO, 2010. . Is cigarette smoking in poorer nations highly sensitive to price? Evidence from Russia and China. J Health Econ 2004;23:173–89. . How Do Chinese Smokers Respond to Changes in Cigarette Prices? Working Paper. 2012. . Cigarette Excise Taxation: The Impact of Tax Structure on Prices, Revenues, and Cigarette Smoking. NBER Working Paper 16287. 2010. . (forthcoming). The Choics of Discount Brand Cigaretts: A Comprehensive Analysis of International Tobacco Control (ITC) Surveys in Canada and the United States (2002–05). Tobacco Control Supplement 2013. . Taxation and product quality: new evidence from generic cigarettes. J Political Econ 1997;105:880–7. . Cigarette purchase patterns in four countries and the relationship with cessation: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey. Tob Control 2006;15(Suppl III):iii59–64. . Use of discount cigarettes by smokers in 20 communities in the United States, 1988–1993. Tob Control 1997;6:S25–30. . Discrepancies in cigarette brand sales and adult market share: are new teen smokers filling the gap? Tob Control 1997;6:S38–43. . The effect of Taiwan's tax-induced increases in cigarette prices on brand-switching and the consumption of cigarettes. Health Econ 2005;14:627–41. . Use of less expensive cigarettes in six cities in China: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) China Survey. Tob Control 2010;19(Suppl 2):i63–68. . A Cross-country Analysis of Cigarette Prices and Affordability: Evidence from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey. Working Paper, 2012. Chaloupka FJ, Kostova D, Shang C. Cigarette excise tax structure and cigarette prices – evidence from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey. Working paper, 2013. . The micro-geography of tax avoidance: evidence from littered cigarette packs in Chicago. Am Econ J: Economic Policy 2010;2:61–84. . (forthcoming). Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion: Comparison of 15 ITC Project Countries. 2013. . The impact of eliminating the global illicit cigarette trade on health and revenue. Addiction 2010;105:1640–9. . The conceptual framework of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Project. Tob Control 2006;15(Suppl 3):iii3–11. Orzechowski & Walker. Tax burden on Tobacco. Historical Compilation, Vol. 46. 2011. BMJ Publishing Group Limited takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the translation from the published English original and is not liable for any errors which may occur. Contributors The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors. Funding The data collection for the ITC Project is supported by grants R01 CA 100362 and P50 CA111236 (Roswell Park Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center, and P01 CA138389, R01 CA090955) from the National Cancer Institute of the USA, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (045734), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (57897, 79551 and 115016), Commonwealth Department of Health and Aging, Canadian Tobacco Control Research Initiative (014578), National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (265903), the International Development Research Centre (104831-002), the International Development Research Centre (African Tobacco Situational Analysis), New Zealand Health Research Council (06/453), New Zealand Ministry of Health, Mexican Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (Salud-2007-C01-70032), Bloomberg Global Initiative—International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the French Institute for Health Promotion and Health Education (INPES), the French National Cancer Institute (INCa), Observatoire français des drogues et toxicomanies (OFDT), The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) (The Netherlands), German Federal Ministry of Health, Dieter Mennekes-Umweltstiftung and Germany Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Cancer Research UK (C312/A6465), NHS Health Scotland (RE065), Flight Attendants’ Medical Research Institute (FAMRI), GlaxoSmithkline (3516601), Pfizer (Ireland), the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Malaysian Ministry of Health and Thai Health Promotion Foundation. A Senior Investigator Award from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and a Prevention Scientist Award from the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute for the third author and the SILNE Project is funded by the European Commission through FP7 HEALTH-F3-2011-278273. Ethics approval All ITC Surveys were conducted with the approval of the Office of Research Ethics Committee at the University of Waterloo, Canada and the respective internal ethics board for each country. ↵i Ex-factory price means the price at the factory, and does not include any other charges, such as delivery costs or taxes imposed later in the distribution chain. ↵ii These are 2011 surveys of the USA, Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, Germany, Uruguay, Mauritius and Mexico; 2010 surveys of the Republic of Korea, the UK and Bangladesh; 2009 surveys of Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand and China; and the 2008 Survey of France. ↵iii The cigarette price is derived from price per carton, price per pack, price per stick and the number of cigarettes in each carton or pack. ↵iv Throughout the paper, total excises do not include value added taxes (VATs). The amount of ad valorem taxes in China were imputed using the weighted average retail cigarette prices and average VAT and ad valorem tax rates reported in China Statistical Yearbook. The ad valorem tax in Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico and Bangladesh were imputed using ad valorem tax and VAT rates and average cigarette prices. Ad valorem taxes in EU countries were imputed using the ratio of ad valorem to specific components and the amount of specific taxes. ↵v From this point, taxes refer to the taxes for a pack of 20 cigarettes.

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https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/23/suppl_1/i23?ijkey=4522b13a2e2f84e5230fa0dd82da29a17c867c80&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

John L. Hilton is adjunct professor of statistics at Brigham Young University. This chapter is reprinted by permission, with slight alteration for clarification. First published in BYU Studies 30/3 (1990): 89—108. In 1980 Wayne A. Larsen, Alvin C. Rencher, and Tim Layton published the first complete analysis of the Book of Mormon using the then adolescent tool of computerized stylometry, or wordprinting.1 They analyzed author-specific word-use rate to show that the purported authors in the Book of Mormon are statistically different—that not one but many authors contributed to the book. Since then the science of wordprinting has continued to undergo considerable critical evaluation, particularly in its application to the Book of Mormon. Shortly after BYU Studies published Larsen, Rencher, and Layton’s pioneering work, I joined forces with a small group of scientists in Berkeley, California, who were attempting to verify the accuracy of wordprinting in general and to check the Larsen-Rencher-Layton results specifically. After seven years of study and development, we concluded that wordprint measurements are now at the stage where scholars can use such tests confidently and without personal bias to analyze contested authorship in many literary works, including the Book of Mormon. This paper explores our conclusion by (1) discussing some general ideas about wordprints and wordprinting, (2) reviewing some early wordprint studies in the evolution of wordprint science, (3) summarizing the development of a new measurement technique, including important control studies to verify the objectivity of that technique, and (4) setting forth some verified Book of Mormon measurements. Before proceeding, I will establish the need for wordprints for the Book of Mormon and also discuss one important caveat. The need for rigorous, legitimate wordprint measurements is obvious in attempting to settle some of the most prominent controversies surrounding the Book of Mormon: Are the word patterns of Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, or Solomon Spaulding measurable in the Book of Mormon? Can wordprinting show that different sections of the Book of Mormon were written by different authors? Does Joseph Smith’s role as translator obfuscate patterns unique to ancient authors? Fortunately the Book of Mormon is a near-ideal document for such objective wordprint studies, provided the measurement is made correctly. Of course, wordprint analysis, while it can measure certain facts objectively, cannot prove the holiness of the Book of Mormon. The understanding that the Book of Mormon has a divine origin is obtainable only by developing faith. Thus, while valid and objective wordprinting is no substitute for faith, wordprinting can, nevertheless, bolster the establishment of faith by rigorously demonstrating factual information about the book. Wordprinting is a developing science, notwithstanding that the first written suggestions that something like wordprinting might be useful in objectively identifying authors appeared at least as early as 1851. Yet, because of the complexity of the measurements, the first credible studies had to await the availability of modern computers with their precise counting accuracy and high-speed computation. Therefore, wordprinting has undergone almost all of its significant development during the last thirty years. Most modern wordprint techniques measure only the placement of “noncontextual” words. Noncontextual words like the, and, a, of, etc. are often capable of being interchanged or even dropped without a loss of overall meaning; they seem to add little in context information, often being consciously ignored by writer and reader alike. Obviously, measuring noncontextual words makes word-printing less sensitive to the subject matter. In addition, the technique improves statistical accuracy. Noncontextual words typically make up 20% to 45% of the total text, thereby providing a high number of statistical “events,” and the larger the statistical measurement is, the more reliable the results are. Wordprint measurements made from large numbers of noncontextual words continue to show that an author’s free-flow writings use these words in a habitual, nearly subconscious, unique way.4 However, if the author consciously imposes an external structure, the free flow of the author’s wordprint pattern is modified, and accurate wordprint measurements become more difficult to obtain. Wordprinting measures the difference in the way noncontextual word patterns occur in two compared texts. Usually one of the texts is of disputed authorship while the other is by an author suspected of writing the disputed text. If the same word pattern is found to be statistically different between the two texts, we identify the difference as a rejection.5 The total of the rejections measured when the two texts are tested for a large number of word patterns is identified as the number of rejections. The larger the number of rejections, the more likely the disputed text was not written by the author of the other compared text. Thus, testing a contested document against comparable texts from all possible candidate-authors will identify the most likely writer by eliminating authors whose texts generate high numbers of rejections. Finding the most likely writer depends on the word-printing technique’s accuracy. The accuracy (and usefulness) of a wordprint measuring technique critically depends on the statistical reliability in detecting which of its tested text pairs are not written by the same author. Statistical reliability is rigorously demonstrated by using the technique with a large number of control-author texts for the purpose of verifying the authorship of known texts. These texts correspond in size and include examples of the different literary parameters (genre, subject matter, writing period, position in an author’s career) that are to be studied later. The verifying measurements made between two control texts written by the same author are identified as within-author tests. The tests between texts written by different authors are called between-author tests. The statistical separation measured between the overall distributions of a large number of the within-author and between-author tests is the valid measurement of what will be expected when a contested author is later tested with the same technique. In other words, the difference between the number of rejections found between texts by the same author and texts by different authors will serve as a standard. This standard is used to evaluate the numbers of rejections found when testing texts of contested authorship. Measuring the differences in word patterns between texts is the basic process of a wordprinting technique. Verifying such a technique, while straightforward in principle, is in practice very tedious. Thus, during the years of wordprinting development, many proposed wordprint measuring systems were verified only superficially on a narrow set of texts. Unfortunately, researchers often assumed that a wordprint measuring technique shown valid for one set of literary parameters would also be valid for all others. We now realize such assumptions are not valid; we must successfully verify each wordprint measuring methodology with control texts which represent all the literary parameters that are to be reliably measured later on. Perhaps one of the earliest successful wordprint studies in the United States was the classical work by the statisticians Frederick Mosteller and David L. Wallace, who published their work on author identification in 1964.6 While not the first scholars to attempt computer-assisted stylo-metry, they published one of the first complete and internally consistent studies on a set of historically important documents. Their work convincingly identified the author of several anonymously published Federalist Papers. Mosteller and Wallace measured the rates at which simple, noncontextual words were used per 1000 words of text. This statistical model appeared adequately sensitive and valid to unambiguously show that James Madison was the author of the disputed documents. They showed that the other two possible candidate-authors were overwhelmingly excluded as authors of any of the twelve disputed documents. The wordprint study on the Federalist Papers had several advantages which facilitated statistical measurements. First, the documents are lengthy, were written in the same genre on the same subject, and have essentially the same vocabulary. Additionally, for control texts Mosteller and Wallace were able to use uncontested writings by the suspected authors, writings which are of the same length, genre, subject, and vocabulary as the suspect texts. That the simple Mosteller and Wallace wordprint technique had been shown to be valid only for their single, nearly ideal class of texts was at first not appreciated as important. Not all succeeding studies had documents that presented as favorable a situation as did that of Mosteller and Wallace. In addition, most later wordprinters did not execute their studies in such a thorough way. Many omitted any independent control studies to confirm that their wordprint techniques were valid for their given case. As a consequence, some published studies purportedly giving objective answers later proved to be inaccurate. The first extensive wordprint measurements of the Book of Mormon appeared in 1978 when Alvin C. Rencher and Wayne A. Larsen began reporting their pioneering study in author identification. This work was followed by their complete report in 1980.9 They also coined the term wordprint, and introduced to Church and world scholars the interesting possibility of objective author identification in the Book of Mormon. They used information gained from earlier approaches and applied the simple noncontextual word-use rate of Mosteller and Wallace’s technique but coupled it with a powerful, multivariate statistical analysis. Unlike previous studies which introduced the concept of hand-tabulated word measurements to the Book of Mormon,10 the 1980 wordprint study published by Larsen, Rencher, and Layton was widely recognized as important both within and without the Church.11 If the measurement technique was in fact objective and verifiable, any competent student could duplicate the calculations to determine answers to a number of questions that have remained controversial among Book of Mormon believers and detractors. Along with others who found the reported work of the BYU team of Larsen-Rencher-Layton interesting and challenging was a small group of scientific researchers in northern California to which I belonged. Our group, later known as the Berkeley Group, included major contributors from different scientific disciplines and differing religious persuasions. All of us shared the scientific curiosity which led us to test the intriguing Larsen-Rencher-Layton claim. In the fall of 1980, we began our study. As the major LDS contributor in the group, I was little different from my agnostic and Jewish colleagues: each of us seriously questioned whether objective measurement could determine who did or did not write a controversial document like the Book of Mormon. Therefore, armed with a healthy skepticism, we began a confirmational study—the kind of study scientists typically perform in the physical sciences—to recalculate the wordprint measurements while correcting any procedural or calculational flaws which could potentially have confused the results of the original study. During the time our Berkeley Group was doing its work, other Book of Mormon scholars were also studying the approach proposed by the Larsen-Rencher-Layton team. One of the most notable of these is the University of Utah statistician, D. James Croft. His work is that of a competent scholar as well as a conscientious believer in the divinity of the Book of Mormon. His published work is a carefully reasoned critique of the Larsen-Rencher-Layton paper.14 As would be expected from a scholar of the exact sciences, he cautioned his LDS readers about the unverified nature of the methodology: “Close scrutiny of the methodology of the BYU authorship study reveals several areas which seem vulnerable to criticism.” After calling for a redevelopment of methodology which could circumvent the specific areas he found questionable, he concludes, “Certainly any research done in the future will be indebted to Larsen, Rencher and Layton, who called our attention to an interesting and challenging area of Book of Mormon study. At the present time , however . . . it would be best to reserve judgment concerning whether or not it is possible to prove the existence of multiple authors of the Book of Mormon” (21). We kept in close contact with Dr. Croft and others15 who were contributing to the continuing refinement of wordprinting during the years when our independent methodology was under development. We appreciated the continuing contributions of these scholars as they helped us insure that the suspect areas recognized in the earlier methodologies would be avoided and that the verification of our new wordprint measuring technique would be complete enough to insure reliable answers. Our new conservative measurements incorporate six points which were not used in earlier Book of Mormon wordprint studies. These points contribute to improved reliability when 5000-word texts are tested. They are (1) measuring the author’s wordprint by studying the use rate of sixty-five noncontextual word-pattern ratios as proposed by Morton (1985); (2) abandoning the commonly accepted statistical assumption of “normality” of word distribution and instead using the Mann-Whitney nonparametric statistic, which does not require the unverifiable normality simplification; (3) developing a “wrap-around” word-group counting method which helps break apart clusters of similar words in the sampled text words (this method helps provide the statistically required word-group homogeneity); (4) making comparison measurements between just two texts at a time; (5) using the oldest extant Book of Mormon manuscripts (the texts used do not include the repetitive use of the phrase and it came to pass, nor do they include significant direct quotations from the King James Bible—including such text would distort the noncontextual word counts for each author); and (6) verifying the sensitivity of the computer coding and measurement methodology by measuring a diverse set of texts of nondisputed authorship which represent the appropriate literary parameters. Deriving the model becomes relatively unimportant compared to designing the control studies which verify or disprove the validity of the method. For our control studies, we specifically chose a representative set of literary texts which would test the extremes found in English-language writings. When we tested these control texts, we found that our technique yielded well-defined, bell-shaped distributions, showing that our new wordprint technique is essentially insensitive to the textual changes introduced by the differing literary parameters of genre, subject matter, writing period, position in an author’s career, or normal publication editing. Specifically, this extended verification study tested the validity of our model by calculating 325 diverse wordprint tests. These tests studied 26 noncontroversial 5000-word texts which had been written under various conditions by nine different control authors (see Appendix 3). The within-author and between-author results rigorously supported the basic wordprint assumption: although all authors have many writing habits in common, they each show measurably unique, stable rates for some noncontextual word patterns. Among the nondisputed documents that were used in the testing were texts by Oliver Cowdery and samples of Joseph Smith’s autographic and dictated writings. The results of our verification tests are displayed in figure 1. Thirty-three of these tests are made by comparing texts written by the same author; 292 of the tests compared one author’s writing against that of another author. The black bars represent the 33 within-author measurements, which yield a statistically smooth distribution peaking at about 2 rejections, a result that is theoretically expected.19 The distribution peak for between-author comparisons is about 7 rejections. Therefore, about two-thirds of the true between-author measurements fall above even the extremes of the within-author distribution. This result means that when any 5000-word disputed text is tested against a known author’s comparable works and measures 7 or more rejections, the two texts are very likely not written by the same author.20 The lower the number of rejections, the greater the likelihood that the two texts were written by the same author; the higher the number of rejections, the more likely that different authors composed the two compared texts. If we have only two 5000-word texts and their paired testing measures 1 to 6 rejections (as is expected for a true between-author pair in about one-third of the cases), we cannot assign authorship unambiguously because the within-author and between-author distributions overlap each other in this range. Similarly, for the few tests (about ten percent of the true within-author cases) that measure zero rejections, there is a high probability that the compared texts were written by the same author. We wished to make the most conservative measurement possible; therefore we compared the two Book of Mormon authors who have the largest number of 5000-word texts. Further, even though our verification testing showed that our new wordprint measuring technique is not unduly sensitive to normal changes of genre, we still chose the more conservative comparison by testing only within the same literary form. Therefore, we selected for our critical Book of Mormon verification measurements three independent, 5000-word texts from the didactic writings of each of the two major purported Book of Mormon authors, Nephi and Alma. Those texts are the largest same-genre pair in the book. Besides eliminating any possible lingering concern that changing genre might artificially cause additional rejections, the use of the didactic genre has the advantage of essentially excluding the possibly troublesome phrase and it came to pass. This phrase is the only phrase used repetitively enough in the Book of Mormon to be troubling to wordprint measurements. Our results are displayed starting with figure 2, which shows the distribution of the number of wordprint rejections for the six possible within-author tests of Nephi against Nephi and Alma against Alma. The within-author tests for both show the same distribution as the within-author tests of our control studies, shown in grey in figure 2. Figure 3 is a plot of the rejection distribution calculated from the between-author tests of direct interest to the Book of Mormon authorship question. The black bars show the comparisons of the texts purportedly written by Nephi when tested against those purportedly written by Alma. The tests show the same relatively large number of rejections found in the between-author distribution in figure 1 (shown in figure 3 in grey), which was derived from the comparisons made between the texts of the different control authors. Table 1 shows the measurements for the individual wordprint tests used in producing figures 2 and 3. Taking the comparisons of Nephi versus Alma, we found that in eight of the nine tests, 5 or more rejections resulted. Four of these tests produced 7, 8, 9, and 10 rejections. These four high-rejection tests (which yielded 7, 8, 9, and 10 rejections) independently measure a statistical confidence of greater than 99.5%, 99.9%, 99.99%, and 99.997% probability that the measured rejections show that the author’s patterns are very different consistent with Nephi’s texts having been written by a different author than wrote Alma.21 Therefore the Book of Mormon measures patterns of different authors according to its own internal claims. By using a new wordprint measuring methodology which has been verified, we show that it is statistically indefensible to propose Joseph Smith or Oliver Cowdery or Solomon Spaulding as the author of the 30,000 words from the Book of Mormon manuscript texts attributed to Nephi and Alma. Additionally these two Book of Mormon writers have wordprints unique to themselves and measure statistically independent from each other in the same fashion that other uncontested authors do. Therefore, the Book of Mormon measures multiauthored, with authorship consistent to its own internal claims. These results are obtained even though the writings of Nephi and Alma were “translated” by Joseph Smith. We also described control studies of modern language academic translations where, in practice, a single translator can consistently preserve the unique wordprints of the several original authors he has translated. Useful noncontextual word patterns meet the following conditions: they yield an unambiguous count, they occur frequently, they have common alternate expressions, their use rates tend to become habitual, and they are minimally affected by the period of the writer’s career, the subject matter, and the genre. Therefore, useful word patterns are typically made up of key words such as common articles, conjunctions, and prepositions. Measurements are calculated from the ratio of the overall key-word-use rate against the same key-word-use rate in certain sentence positions, word collocations, proportional pairs, or the use of key words adjacent to certain parts of speech and novel vocabulary words. # represents the number of end of sentence markers fws represents the first word in a sentence lws represents the last word in a sentence 2nd lws represents the second to last word in a sentence fb means “followed by” pb means “preceded by” x represents any word r+l means that the word to the right and left are unique within the original 1000-word block. The photonegative of the 1966 filming of the Book of Mormon printer’s manuscript was courteously supplied, without endorsement, by the History Commission of the RLDS Church. By October of 1982, a board of seven editors prepared a primitive Book of Mormon text using the following sources: (1) a computer file of the 1830 Palmyra first printed edition of the Book of Mormon developed in the BYU Language Research Center by L. K. Browning, (2) the photo-offset copy of the first edition printed by Wilford C. Wood, (3) a copy of the text of extant sections of the original dictation manuscript collected by L. K. Browning, and (4) the complete printer’s manuscript. The editors prepared a composite file of the oldest sections from each manuscript to complete a Book of Mormon text computer file which we named “The Most Primitive Book of Mormon Manuscript Text.” The editors also prepared and verified line headers which identified the apparent original author, the literary form, modern book, chapter, verse, and line notation for each line of text. Similar line headings are now published in Book of Mormon Critical Text: A Tool for Scholarly Reference, Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (hereafter cited as FARMS) STF-84aa, 3 vols. (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1984—87). Does the Race of Man Love a Lord? an essay on American and European mores (1902) in The Complete Humorous Sketches and Tales of Mark Twain, ed. Charles Nelder (New York: Doubleday & Company, 1961), 686—96. “Early Days,” a narrative (1875) in Mark Twain’s Autobiography (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1875), 81—123. “Extracts from Adam’s Diary,” fanciful fiction, a spoofing translation, likely a satire on the Book of Mormon (1893) from “The Diary of Adam and Eve” in The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain, ed. Charles Nelder (New York: Doubleday and Company, 1985), 272—80, 288—94. “Eve’s Diary (Translated from the Original),” companion to “Extracts from Adam’s Diary” (C. above), author attempting to write for two different people (1905), 281—8. Written religious discourse and biographical essays from Messenger and Advocate (1830). A second selection from the same article series as used in (A) (1830). Life of William Shakespeare, an essay, only 3528 words (about 1770). Photocopy in possession of the author, original found in Yale Library. The Number of the Beast, fanciful science-fiction narrative; first-person narrative chapters simulating the writing of his character Hilda (New York: Ballantine, 1980). A second selection from The Number of the Beast, chapters simulating the first-person narrative of his character Deety (A. above). The Rambler, first part of the newspaper essays (1750). A second selection from The Rambler (1751). The Idler, newspaper essays (1758). A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, a personal travelogue (1775). A second selection from (D) above (1775). The Fountains: A Fairy Tale, fanciful narrative (1766), only 4879 words (London: Elkin Mathews and Manot, 1927), 9—48. Autographic letters to wife Emma, friends, and the Church (1834—38) in The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, comp. and ed. Dean C. Jessee (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984). A second selection from (A) above (1836). Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith—History 1:1—75, dictated and carefully polished with the assistance of his clerks (1834—38). “The Novella,” an essay, written in English, in Twelve German Novellas, ed. and trans. Harry Steinhauer (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977), Introduction, ix—xxiii. A second selection from (A) above plus 1000 words from (C) below (1977 and 1974). Heine and Cecile Furtado: A Reconsideration, biographical essay, written in English, Modern Language Notes 89 (April 1974): 422—47. Michael Kohlhaas, novella, written in German (about 1850), trans. Harry Steinhauer (1977—see VII. A. above). A second selection from (A) above (about 1850). A third selection from (A) above (about 1850). Love and Friendship Tested, novella, written in German (about 1770), trans. Harry Steinhauer (1977—see VII. A. above). A second selection from (A) above (about 1770). 1. For Larsen, Rencher, and Layton’s Book of Mormon wordprint study, see “Who Wrote the Book of Mormon? An Analysis of Wordprints,” BYU Studies 20 (spring 1980): 225—51. 2. For a detailed discussion of wordprinting single-authored texts with a few thousand words, see John L. Hilton and Kenneth D. Jenkins, “On Maximizing Author Identification by Measuring 5000 Word Texts” (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1987). 3. Works known to be written prior to computer-aided authorship are essentially immune. In principle one can argue that a modern, computer-assisted forger could manufacture a document capable of deceiving an authorship measurement. To attempt such a forgery would be an enormous task and would still leave the forger unsure beforehand as to which of all of the possible word patterns the wordprinter would ultimately use to test the manufactured document. Of course, such a fraudulent document would be susceptible to detection by the standard procedures now used to identify any pastiche. 4. To be a valid measurement, the words must be essentially the free-flow choice of the purported author. Extensive quoting of someone else’s words is different from free paraphrasing and, of course, tends to produce a wordprint closer to the pattern of the one being quoted. Further, deliberately writing to an externally imposed pattern which restricts the normal noncontextual word choices of the writer or repetitively using normally noncontextual words in textually important ways can also change the wordprint patterns. For an example of deliberate change in a wordprint, see Tim Hiatt and John Hilton, “Can Authors Alter their Wordprints? Faulkner’s Narrators in As I Lay Dying,” Selected Papers from the Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual Symposium, ed. Melvin Luthy (Provo, Utah: Deseret Language and Linguistic Society, 1990). Examples of these wordprint problems found in the Book of Mormon are the extensive quotations from the King James Bible and the repetitive use of the phrase and it came to pass. Proper wordprint testing must take these special problems into account. 5. A rejection results from the statistical calculation of a null-hypothesis rejection (p<.05) for any one of the tested word patterns as the two texts are compared. A rejection is considered statistically useful only for word patterns that can be found five or more times in either of the compared 5000-word texts. 6. For the 1964 study, see F. W. Mosteller and D. Wallace, Inference and Disputed Authorship: The Federalist Papers (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1964); second edition published as Frederick Mosteller and David L, Wallace, Applied Bayesian and Classical Inference: The Case of the Federalist Papers (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1984). 7. Morton’s arguments for using word-pattern ratios instead of simple word-use rates are found in A. Q. Morton, Literary Detection: How to Prove Authorship and Fraud in Literature and Documents (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1978). 8. Kendra L. Lindsay, “An Authorship Study of the Pauline Epistles” (master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1986). 10. Perhaps the most significant of the precomputer studies was Glade L. Burgon’s “An Analysis of Style Variations in the Book of Mormon” (Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1950). 11. Some publications that support Larsen, Rencher, and Layton’s work, besides those referenced in nn. 8 and 14, include New Era 9 (November 1979): 10—3, and Noel B. Reynolds’s Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins, Religious Studies Monograph Series, vol. 7 (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1982). Perhaps the latest neutral reference to their work, representing those in the scholarly community, would be Joseph Rudman at the Dynamic Text Conference, Toronto, Canada, 7 June 1989. In his presentation on authorship attribution in the literary computing session, Rudman noted their work as significant. Among the anti-Book of Mormon references, likely the most extensive work provoked by the Larsen-Rencher-Layton study was an attempt at a wordprint measurement by Ernest H. Taves as reported in his book Trouble Enough: Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1984), 225—60. Unfortunately, the Taves study was fundamentally flawed as described in the critique of his work (John L. Hilton, “Review of Ernest Tares’ Book of Mormon Stylometry,” [Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1986]), and therefore did nothing to add to or detract from their work. 14. D. James Croft, “Book of Mormon ‘Wordprints’ Reexamined” Sunstone 6 (March—April 1981): 15—21. 15. Significant assistance was received from Yehuda Radday of the Department of General Studies, Technion University, Haifa, Israel; Kenneth R. Beesley, graduate student working with Sidney Michaelson and A. Q. Morton, University of Edinburgh, School of Epistemics, Edinburgh, Scotland; and A. Q. Morton, The Abbey Mannse, Culross, Fife, Scotland. Personal communications. 17. Subsequent to our study of the works of two German authors, we extended our work to include three more semiclassical German novella authors, all of whom had been translated by the same German-to-English translator, Harry Steinbauer. All of our new measurements gave the same results as before: each German author’s translated work was internally consistent but distinctly different from all other translated authors’ measurements. 18. Not all translators need show these differing patterns. Some translators think their nonliteral “free translation” is preferable. Complete free translations could be expected to yield only the translator’s personal paraphrase of the ideas from the original text. In the extreme, free translations would produce only a single wordprint pattern for all of the translator’s personal writings and translations of different foreign authors’ works. 19. Typically between 40 to 47 of Morton’s 65 word patterns are measured often enough to be accepted as statistically useful. We therefore expected that true within-author comparisons show an average rejections number at slightly over 5% (i.e., .05 x 40=2) as we compared the two texts, at alpha .05 or 95% probability. Our results confirmed our expectations. 7 rejections (t=2.76) gives >99.5% confidence that the two texts are statistically different and therefore written by different authors. 8 rejections (t=3.39) gives >99.9% confidence that the two texts are statistically different and therefore written by different authors. 9 rejections (t=4.02) gives >99.99% confidence that the two texts are statistically different and therefore written by different authors. 10 rejections (t=4.64) gives > 99.997% confidence that the two texts are statistically different and therefore written by different authors. 21. Furthermore, because the data are categorical and in a statistical sense (approximately) independent, the probability is vanishingly small that Nephi and Alma could have had the same author in spite of all four texts measuring with high rejections. The combined probability would approach 1.3 x 10-14. (This calculation is simply the product of each of the four probabilities for same authorship—one minus the probability for different authorship reported above—which would be .005 x .001 x .0001 x .00003 = 1.3 x 10-14.) Approximate independence of the four paired-test texts is assumed, as is customary in wordprinting (see A. Q. Morton, 154—5, n. 7). This approximate simultaneous calculation shows an enormous statistical overkill, demonstrating overwhelming statistical separation between the didactic writings of the purported Book of Mormon authors Nephi and Alma. 22. Care was taken to insure that the texts used to represent the free-flow writing of Oliver Cowdery, Solomon Spaulding, and Joseph Smith were correctly chosen for minimal editorial rework and that they were correctly entered into the computer. In the case of Joseph Smith two of the three 5000-word files were taken from his own autobiographic writings, the third from the earliest version of his dictated work used for Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith—History 1:1—75. Solomon Spaulding was sampled from a certified transcript of his manuscript labeled “Manuscript Story.” Oliver Cowdery is represented from bylined articles taken from numbers of the Kirtland, Ohio, newspaper Messenger and Advocate printed during the time he was the active editor.

2019-04-25T06:39:24Z

https://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1099&index=12

The Basques (Basque: euskaldunak; Spanish: vascos; French: basques, English: /bɑːsks/ or /bæsks/) are an indigenous ethnic group characterised by the Basque language, a common Basque culture and shared ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous to and primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria), a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France. Basque in French and English. Basco in Gascon and Portuguese. The English word Basque may be pronounced /bɑːsk/ or /bæsk/ and derives from the French Basque (pronounced French pronunciation: ​[bask]), which is derived from Gascon Basco (pronounced /ˈbasku/), cognate with Spanish Vasco (pronounced /ˈbasko/). These, in turn, come from Latin Vasco (pronounced /wasko/), plural Vascones (see History section below). The Latin labial-velar approximant /w/ generally evolved into the bilabials /b/ and /β̞/ in Gascon and Spanish, probably under the influence of Basque and Aquitanian, a language related to old Basque and spoken in Gascony in Antiquity (similarly the Latin /w/ evolved into /v/ in French, Italian and other languages). In Basque, the people call themselves the euskaldunak, singular euskaldun, formed from euskal- (i.e. "Basque (language)") and -dun (i.e. "one who has"); euskaldun literally means a Basque speaker. Not all Basques are Basque-speakers. Therefore, the neologism euskotar, plural euskotarrak, was coined in the 19th century to mean a culturally Basque person, whether Basque-speaking or not. Alfonso Irigoyen claimed that the word euskara comes from an ancient Basque verb enautsi "to say" (cf. modern Basque esan) and the suffix -(k)ara ("way (of doing something)"). Thus euskara would literally mean "way of saying", "way of speaking". One item of evidence in favour of this hypothesis is found in the Spanish book Compendio Historial, written in 1571 by the Basque writer Esteban de Garibay. He records the name of the Basque language as enusquera. It may, however, be a writing mistake. Since the Basque language is unrelated to Indo-European, it has long been thought to represent the people or culture that occupied Europe before the spread of Indo-European languages there. A comprehensive analysis of Basque genetic patterns has shown that Basque genetic uniqueness predates the arrival of agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula, about 7,000 years ago. It is thought that Basques are a remnant of the early inhabitants of Western Europe, specifically those of the Franco-Cantabrian region. Basque tribes were already mentioned in Roman times by Strabo and Pliny, including the Vascones, the Aquitani, and others. There is enough evidence to support the hypothesis that at that time and later they spoke old varieties of the Basque language (see: Aquitanian language). In the Early Middle Ages the territory between the Ebro and Garonne rivers was known as Vasconia, a vaguely defined cultural area and political entity struggling to fend off pressure from the Iberian Visigothic kingdom and Muslim rule to the south, as well as the Frankish push from the north. By the turn of the first millennium, the territory of Vasconia had fragmented into different feudal regions, such as Soule and Labourd, while south of the Pyrenees the Castile, Pamplona and the Pyrenean counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe, Ribagorza (later Kingdom of Aragon), and Pallars emerged as the main regional entities with Basque population in the 9th and 10th centuries. The Kingdom of Pamplona, a central Basque realm, later known as Navarre, underwent a process of feudalization and was subjected to the influence of its much larger Aragonese, Castilian and French neighbours. Castile deprived Navarre of its coastline by conquering key western territories (1199–1201), leaving the kingdom landlocked. The Basques were ravaged by the War of the Bands, bitter partisan wars between local ruling families. Weakened by the Navarrese civil war, the bulk of the realm eventually fell before the onslaught of the Spanish armies (1512–1524). However, the Navarrese territory north of the Pyrenees remained beyond the reach of an increasingly powerful Spain. Lower Navarre became a province of France in 1620. Nevertheless, the Basques enjoyed a great deal of self-government until the French Revolution (1790) and the Carlist Wars (1839/1876), when the Basques supported heir apparent Carlos V and his descendants. On either side of the Pyrenees, the Basques lost their native institutions and laws held during the Ancien régime. Since then, despite the current limited self-governing status of the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre as settled by the Spanish Constitution, many Basques have attempted higher degrees of self-empowerment (see Basque nationalism), sometimes by acts of violence. Labourd, Lower Navarre, and Soule were integrated into the French department system (starting 1790), with Basque efforts to establish a region-specific political-administrative entity failing to take off to date. There are three other historic provinces parts of the Basque Country: Labourd, Lower Navarre and Soule (Lapurdi, Nafarroa Beherea and Zuberoa in Basque; Labourd, Basse-Navarre and Soule in French), devoid of official status within France's present-day political and administrative territorial organization, and only minor political support to the Basque nationalists. A large number of regional and local nationalist and non-nationalist representatives has waged a campaign for years advocating for the creation of a separate Basque département, while these demands have gone unheard by the French administration. There are 2,123,000 people living in the Basque Autonomous Community (279,000 in Alava, 1,160,000 in Biscay and 684,000 in Gipuzkoa). The most important cities in this region, which serve as the provinces' administrative centers, are Bilbao (in Biscay), San Sebastián (in Gipuzkoa) and Vitoria-Gasteiz (in Álava). The official languages are Basque and Spanish. Knowledge of Spanish is compulsory under the Spanish constitution (article no. 3), and knowledge and usage of Basque is a right under the Statute of Autonomy (article no. 6), so only knowledge of Spanish is virtually universal. Knowledge of Basque, after declining for many years during Franco's dictatorship owing to official persecution, is again on the rise due to favourable official language policies and popular support. Currently about 33 percent of the population in the Basque Autonomous Community speaks Basque. A world map showing the estimated distribution and concentration of people of Basque descent by country. Miguel de Unamuno said: "There are at least two things that clearly can be attributed to Basques: the Society of Jesus and the Republic of Chile. Chilean historian Luis Thayer Ojeda estimated that 45 percent of immigrants to Chile in the 17th and 18th centuries were Basque. Over 2.5 million Basque descendants live in Chile; the Basque have been a major influence in the country's cultural and economic development. A large wave of Basques emigrated to Latin America. Substantial numbers also settled in North America. In addition to Chile in Latin America, they settled in Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Basque place names are to be found, such as New Biscay, now Durango (Mexico), Biscayne Bay, Sacatepequez, Antigua Guatemala and Jalapa, Jalapa (Guatemala), Aguerreberry or Aguereberry Point in the United States, and the Nuevo Santander region of Mexico. Nueva Vizcaya was the first province in the north of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico) to be explored and settled by the Spanish. It consisted mostly of the area which is today the states of Chihuahua and Durango. As a result of state language promotion, school policies, the effects of mass media and migration, today virtually all Basques (except for some children below school age) speak the official language of their state (Spanish or French). There are extremely few Basque monolingual speakers: essentially all Basque speakers are bilingual on both sides of the border. Spanish or French is typically the first language of citizens from other regions (who often feel no need to learn Basque), which maintains the dominance of the state tongues of both France and Spain. Recent Basque Government policies aim to change this pattern, as they are viewed as potential threats against mainstream usage of the minority tongue. The Basque language is thought to be a genetic language isolate. Thus Basque contrasts with other European languages, almost all of which belong to the broad Indo-European language family. Another peculiarity of Basque is that it has been spoken continuously in situ, in and around its present territorial location, for longer than other modern European languages, which have all been introduced in historical or prehistorical times through population migrations or other processes of cultural transmission. Basques have a close attachment to their home (etxe(a) 'house, home'), especially when this consists of the traditional self-sufficient, family-run farm or baserri(a). Home in this context is synonymous with family roots. Some Basque surnames were adapted from old baserri or habitation names. They typically related to a geographical orientation or other locally meaningful identifying features. Such surnames provide even those Basque whose families may have left the land generations ago with an important link to their rural family origins: Bengoetxea "the house of further down", Goikoetxea "the house above", Landaburu "top of the field", Errekondo "next to the stream", Elizalde "by the church", Mendizabal "wide hill", Usetxe "house of birds" Ibarretxe "house in the valley", Etxeberria "the new house", and so on. In contrast to surrounding regions, ancient Basque inheritance patterns, recognised in the fueros, favour survival of the unity of inherited land holdings. In a kind of primogeniture, these usually are inherited by either eldest male or female. As in other cultures, the fate of other family members depended on the assets of a family. The wealthy Basque families tended to provide for all children in some way while the less affluent had only one asset to provide to one child. However, this heir often provided for the rest of the family. Unlike England with the strict primogeniture where the eldest son inherited everything and did not provide for others. Even though they were provided for in some way siblings had to make their livings by other means. Before the advent of industrialisation, this system resulted in the emigration of many rural Basques to Spain, France or the Americas. Harsh by modern standards, this custom resulted in a great many enterprising figures of Basque origin who went into the world to earn their way, from Spanish conquistadors such as Lope de Aguirre and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, to explorers, missionaries and saints of the Catholic Church, such as Francis Xavier. A sprout of Protestantism in the continental Basque Country produced the first translation of the new Testament into Basque by Joanes Leizarraga. After Henry III of Navarre converted to Catholicism to become king of France, Protestantism almost disappeared. Bayonne held a Jewish community composed mainly of Sephardi Jews fleeing from the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions. There were also important Jewish and Muslim communities in Navarre before the Castilian invasion of 1512-21. The Banu Qasi, a muladi dynasty descended from Count Cassius, even ruled a small predominantly Muslim Basque emirate in the Ebro valley for over two centuries. Nowadays, according to one single opinion poll, only slightly more than 50% of Basques profess some kind of belief in God, while the rest are either agnostic or atheist. The number of religious skeptics increases noticeably for the younger generations, while the older ones are more religious. Pre-Christian belief seems to have focused on a goddess called Mari. A number of place-names contain her name and would suggest these places were related to worship of her such as Anbotoko Mari who appears to have been related to the weather. According to one tradition, she traveled every seven years between a cave on Mount Anboto and one on another mountain (the stories vary); the weather would be wet when she was in Anboto, dry when she was in Aloña, or Supelegor, or Gorbea. One of her names, Mari Urraca possibly ties her to an historical Navarrese princess of the 11th and 12th century, with other legends giving her a brother or cousin who was a Roman Catholic priest. So far the discussions about whether the name Mari is original and just happened to coincide closely with the Christian name María or if Mari is an early Basque attempt to give a Christian veneer to pagan worship have remained speculative. At any rate, Mari (Andramari) is one of the oldest worshiped Christian icons in Basque territories. Although the kingdom of Navarre did adopt feudalism, most Basques also possessed unusual social institutions different from those of the rest of feudal Europe. Some aspects of this include the elizate tradition where local house-owners met in front of the church to elect a representative to send to the juntas and Juntas Generales (such as the Juntas Generales de Vizcaya or Guipúzcoa) which administered much larger areas. Another example was the fact that in the medieval period most land was owned by the farmers, not the Church or a king. The largest symbol of Basque identity in football is Athletic Bilbao. While there are other clubs within the Basque Country, such as Real Sociedad, Deportivo Alavés and CA Osasuna (the only club in La Liga that has a Basque name — osasuna means "health"), Bilbao's cantera policy has meant the club refuses to sign any non-Basque players. Each April the week-long Tour of the Basque Country showcases the beautiful rolling Basque countryside. In Navarre, Basque has been declared an endangered language, since the anti-Basque and conservative government of Navarrese People's Union opposes the symbols of Basqueness, highlighting a Spanish identity for Navarre. As with their language, the Basques are clearly a distinct cultural group in their region. They regard themselves as culturally and especially linguistically distinct from their surrounding neighbours. Some Basques, especially in Spain, are strongly nationalist, identifying far more firmly as Basques than as citizens of any existing state. Others do not, feeling as much Basque as Spanish. Many Basques regard the designation as a "cultural minority" as incomplete, favouring instead the definition as a nation, the commonly accepted designation for the Basque people up to the rise of the nation-states and the definition imposed by the 1812 Spanish Constitution. Initially Haplogroup R1b was theorised to be that a Palaeolithic marker, introduced when Europe was repopulated after the Last Glacial Maximum, about 25,000 years ago. As such, Basque populations were used as proxy representatives for the "Palaeolithic component" in admixture studies that tried to quantify the extent of Neolithic diffusions. Such studies concluded that the main components in the European genomes appear to derive from ancestors whose features were similar to those of modern Basques and people of the Near East (or Western Asia), with average values greater than 35% for both these parental populations, regardless of whether molecular information is taken into account or not. The smallest degree of both Basque and Near Eastern admixture is found in Finland, whereas the highest values are, respectively, 70% "Basque" in Spain and roughly 60% "Near Eastern" in the Balkans.(p.1365 Table 3) This theory encountered inconsistencies even prior to most recent chronological re-evaluations. That R1b should be a Palaeolithic marker was an ad hoc assumption suggested by Semino et al. (2000) and propagated by subsequent scholars without further analysis. Higher resolution STR analysis of R1b lineages from other western European populations (e.g. Italy or Britain) show that their populations appear to derive from the Basque ones. Several ancient DNA samples have been recovered and amplified from Palaeolithic sites in the Basque region. The collection of mtDNA haplogroups sampled there differed significantly compared to their modern frequencies. The authors concluded that there is "discontinuity" between ancient and modern Basques. In 2015, a new scientific study of Basque DNA was published which seems to indicate that Basques are descendants of Neolithic farmers who mixed with local hunters before becoming genetically isolated from the rest of Europe for millennia. Mattias Jakobsson from Uppsala University in Sweden analysed genetic material from eight Stone Age human skeletons found in El Portalón Cavern in Atapuerca, northern Spain. These individuals lived between 3,500 and 5,500 years ago, after the transition to farming in southwest Europe. The results show that these early Iberian farmers are the closest ancestors to present-day Basques. The official findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States America. "Our results show that the Basques trace their ancestry to early farming groups from Iberia, which contradicts previous views of them being a remnant population that trace their ancestry to Mesolithic hunter-gatherer groups," says Prof. Jakobsson. Among the most notable Basque people are Juan Sebastián Elcano (led the first successful expedition to circumnavigate the globe after Ferdinand Magellan died mid-journey); Sancho III of Navarre; and Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Society of Jesus. Don Diego de Gardoqui Arriquibar (1735–1798) was Spain's first Ambassador to the United States. Miguel de Unamuno was a noted novelist and philosopher of the late 19th and the 20th century. 1 2 "Diáspora vasca, la octava provincia" [Basque diaspora, the eighth province] (in Spanish). eke.eus. Retrieved 2 November 2016: There are about 10 million Basque descendants who continue to live for their language and culture. 1 2 V. inkesta soziolinguistikoa 2011 [V. Sociolinguistic Survey] (PDF) (in Basque). Vitoria-Gasteiz: Central Publications Service of the Basque Government. 2013. ISBN 978-84-457-3303-5. Retrieved 2 November 2016. ↑ "INE". INE. 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2014. ↑ "Census 2000: Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000" (XLS). U.S. Census Bureau. 22 January 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2016. ↑ "Basque". Britannica Online for Kids. Retrieved 16 March 2013. ↑ "Basque". Oxford Reference online. Retrieved 3 November 2016. ↑ Totoricaguena, Gloria Pilar (2004). Identity, Culture, and Politics in the Basque Diaspora. University of Nevada Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-87417-547-9. Retrieved 3 November 2016. ↑ "The Basque Paradigm: Genetic Evidence of a Maternal Continuity in the Franco-Cantabrian region since Pre-Neolithic Times". The American Journal of Human Genetics. 90 (3): 486–493. March 9, 2012. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2012.01.002. PMC 3309182 . PMID 22365151. ↑ "See EUSKALTERM, the Basque Public Term Bank, maintained by the Basque Government for these and other terms and their common translations". .euskadi.net. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-22. ↑ Douglass, William A.; Jon Bilbao (2005). Amerikanuak: Basques in the New World. University of Nevada Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-87417-625-4. Retrieved 3 November 2016. ↑ "Basque Culture Day". Basqueed.org. 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2010-08-22. ↑ Arturo Escobar Uribe (1950). Mitos de Antioquia. Introducción. ↑ "Sociolinguistics". Eke.org. Retrieved 2010-08-22. ↑ Gallagher, Brendan (27 February 2002). "France look to Basque prodigy". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2012. ↑ Aierdi Urraza, Xabier (24 July 2006). "Routes to linguistic and cultural integration for immigrants in the Basque Autonomous Community". euskara.euskadi.net. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. 1 2 3 Trask, Robert Lawrence (1997). The History of Basque. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-13116-2. Retrieved 3 November 2016. ↑ Moreno Cabrera, Juan Carlos (19 October 2006). "Misconceptions about Basque". euskara.euskadi.net. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. ↑ MITXELENA, Koldo, Apellidos vascos (fifth edition), San Sebastián: Txertoa, 1997. ↑ "Opinion poll on religion by GIZAKER" (PDF). EITB the Basque Country's public broadcast service. Retrieved 2010-08-22. ↑ Hadingham 1992. Note that Logroño is not a Basque town, but it was the see of the diocesis covering Zugarramurdi in 1610. The Spanish Inquisition rarely acted against witches, devoting most of its attention to Judaizers, Moriscos and Protestants. ↑ "Athletic Club sporting philosophy". Athletic-club.net. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010. ↑ "64% des maires basques favorables à un département Pays Basque". Maire-info.com. 2 Nov 2005. Retrieved 3 August 2012. ↑ Resolution of the General Assembly of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages, 13 September 2003 (Helsinki), on the situation of the Basque language in the Autonomous Community of Navarre. Reported in MERCATOR Butlleti 55: "Speakers of a regional or minority language should have the right to use their language in private and public life. Contrary to these principles, local authorities from Iruña/Pamplona (capital city of the Autonomous Community of Navarre in Spain) have been implementing a series of reforms to the Autonomous Community legislation limiting the use of the Basque language. Basque is the only endangered language in the Autonomous Community of Navarre..." ↑ "EITB: ''Basque parliament adopts resolution on self-determination''". Eitb24.com. Retrieved 2014-03-12. ↑ "Evolución de la identidad nacional subjetiva de los vascos, 1981-2006" [Evolution of the subjective national identity of the Basques, 1981-2006] (in Spanish). Euskobarómetro. 2007. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007: 33% of the Basque Autonomous Community in late 2006 identified as only being Basque. ↑ Li, J. Z.; Absher, D. M.; Tang, H.; Southwick, A. M.; Casto, A. M.; Ramachandran, S.; Cann, H. M.; Barsh, G. S.; et al. (2008). "Worldwide Human Relationships Inferred from Genome-Wide Patterns of Variation". Science. 319 (5866): 1100–4. Bibcode:2008Sci...319.1100L. doi:10.1126/science.1153717. PMID 18292342. ↑ "The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans: A Y Chromosome Perspective". Sciencemag.org. 2000-11-10. Retrieved 2013-03-26. ↑ "Y chromosome genetic variation in the Italian peninsula is clinal and supports an admixture model for the Mesolithic-Neolithic encounter". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 44: 228–39. 2013-01-30. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.11.030. PMID 17275346. ↑ Balaresque, Patricia; Bowden, Georgina R.; Adams, Susan M.; Leung, Ho-Yee; King, Turi E.; et al. (2010). Penny, David, ed. "A Predominantly Neolithic Origin for European Paternal Lineages". PLOS Biology. Public Library of Science. 8 (1): e1000285. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000285. PMC 2799514 . PMID 20087410. Retrieved August 19, 2014. ↑ Arredi, Barbara; Estella S Poloni; Chris Tyler-Smith (2007). "13. The Peopling of Europe". In Michael H. Crawford. Anthropological Genetics: Theory, Methods and Applications (PDF). Cambridge University Press. pp. 380–408. ISBN 978-0-521-54697-3. Retrieved 3 November 2016. ↑ Sjödin, Per; Olivier François (2011). "Wave-of-Advance Models of the Diffusion of the Y Chromosome Haplogroup R1b1b2 in Europe" (PDF). PLoS ONE. Public Library of Science. 6 (6): e21592. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021592. Retrieved 3 November 2016. ↑ Levy-Coffman, Ellen (17 August 2006). "We Are Not Our Ancestors: Evidence for Discontinuity between Prehistoric and Modern Europeans". Journal of Genetic Genealogy. Retrieved 3 November 2016. ↑ González, Ana M.; Oscar García; José M. Larruga; Vicente M. Cabrera (23 May 2006). "The mitochondrial lineage U8a reveals a Paleolithic settlement in the Basque country". BMC Genomics. 7 (1): 124. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-7-124. PMC 1523212 . PMID 16719915. Retrieved 3 November 2016. ↑ Grant, Bob (9 September 2015). "Ancient DNA Elucidates Basque Origins". the-scientist.com. Retrieved 2 November 2016. ↑ "Ancient DNA cracks puzzle of Basque origins". BBC.com. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2016. ↑ "Ancient genomes link early farmers to Basques". phys.org. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2016. The Oldest Europeans, J.F. del Giorgio, A.J.Place, 2006, ISBN 980-6898-00-1.

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This file discusses briefly (1) the four dimensions underlying the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and (2) several teaching approaches that will appeal to different MBTI profiles. The 126 item Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Form G, is the most reliable method for assessing student learning style. The MBTI provides data on four sets of preferences. These preferences result in 16 learning styles, or types. A type is the combination of the four preferences. The most common MBTI type for business undergraduates is the ESTJ, the Extraverted-Sensing-Thinking-Judger. The MBTI instrument should be administered in the first or second class period by the counseling center at your school. It takes about 45 minutes to complete the instrument. The counseling center can score the MBTI and share the data with the students. Students enjoy learning about themselves and find the MBTI data informative. This preference tells us how people "charge their batteries." Introverts find energy in the inner world of ideas, concepts, and abstractions. They can be sociable but need quiet to recharge their batteries. Introverts want to understand the world. Introverts are concentrators and reflective thinkers. Their motto is: Ready, Aim, Aim, ..... For the introvert, there is no impression without reflection. Extraverts find energy in things and people. They prefer interaction with others, and are action oriented. Extraverts are interactors and "on-the-fly" thinkers. Their motto is: Ready, Fire, Aim. For the extravert, there is no impression without expression. The majority of undergraduate students are extraverts. Based on data from the Center for Applied Psychological Type (CAPT) between 56% and 58% of over 16,000 freshman students at three state universities were extraverts. Interestingly, over 83% of college student leaders were extraverts, while over 65% of Phi Beta Kappas were introverts. Our own data base indicates that over 65% of business students are extraverts. It is not surprising that almost two-thirds of undergraduate business students are extraverts. Students may major in business administration because the business world appreciates and rewards action which coincides with the extraverts' strength. The majority of university faculty are introverts. CAPT reported that almost 55% of 2,282 faculty are introverts. Our own data base for business faculty indicates that over 60% are introverts.. Extraverted students learn by explaining to others. They do not know if they understand the subject until they try to explain it to themselves or others. Extraverted students have told us that they thought they knew the material until they tried to explain it to a fellow student. Only then did they realize they did not understand the subject. Both support learning through explaining, but provide quiet time for introverted students. Teacher poses question and provides quiet time for students. Teacher designates the explainer and listener within each dyad. Teachers pose question and provide quiet time for students. Each team member shares ideas with others in a round-robin fashion. Teams discusses ideas and reaches closure. Teacher critiques some team's answers and provide closure. In a seminal study, George Miller noted that people can hold 7 + 2 chunks of knowledge in their minds at any given time. If each knowledge chunk contains a specific fact, then the amount of knowledge possessed is limited. But if each chunk contains many interconnected facts, a network or framework of facts, then the amount of knowledge is almost unlimited. Introverted students want to develop frameworks that integrate or connect the subject matter. To an introvert, disconnected chunks are not knowledge, merely information. Knowledge means interconnecting material and seeing the "big picture." Faculty should teach their students how to chunk, or group and interconnect, knowledge. Introverted students will appreciate it, extraverted students may not. Nevertheless, cognitive psychologists tell us that through chunking, students master the material. We recommend that faculty teach students how to build a compare/ contrast table, flowchart, or concept map. Some of us choose to rely on our five senses. Some prefer taking in information through our "sixth" sense. Sensing people are detail oriented, want facts, and trust them. Joe Friday from the TV show Dragnet epitomizes the extreme sensing detective. All he ever wanted was "just the facts". Intuitive people seek out patterns and relationships among the facts they have gathered. They trust hunches and their intuition and look for the "big picture." The quintessential intuitive was Albert Einstein whose fanciful thought experiments revolutionized the 20th century. He could see patterns where others saw randomness or chaos. The majority of undergraduates are sensing students. Based on data from the Center for Applied Psychological Type (CAPT) between 56% and 72% of over 16,000 freshmen at three state universities were sensing students. Interestingly, almost 83% of national merit scholarship finalists and 92% of Rhodes Scholars were intuitive students. Our own data base indicates that over 65% of business majors are sensing students. The majority of university faculty are intuitive. CAPT reported that almost 64% of 2,282 faculty are intuitive. We obtained the same percentage from our business faculty data base. -application organizing strategy and (3) the advance organizer. In the what must be known (WMBK) method, we first ask: What is (are) the topic's most essential general principle(s) or goals? Place the answer in a goal box. We then ask: What topic(s) must be known such that students could achieve the goal? Place these subgoal boxes below the goal box and show an arrow leading from each subgoal box to the goal box. Continue to ask WMBK questions until you interface with material previously covered. You would then present the lecture by starting at the bottom of the diagram and work up towards the goal box. The A-T-A method begins with a faculty member presenting an (A)pplication (problem or mini-case) to the class. The students attempt to analyze and solve the case or problem without the benefit of the upcoming chapter's theory or ideas. Applications motivate sensing students to learn the material. Applications answer the question that sensing students often ask, "why am I learning this material?" After the class has struggled with the problem (and sometimes emerged victoriously), the teacher presents the chapter's (T)heory or ideas, and then applies it to the original application. Afterwards the teacher presents additional (A)pplications and has the students apply the theory. An opening application problem or mini-case should (1) be familiar to students, (2) engage their curiosity, (3) be almost solvable from previous text material or student experiences, and (4) be baffling, or counter-intuitive, if possible. A familiar problem assures sensing students that their experiences have prepared them to address the problem. The third attribute minimizes students' frustrations. The application should be "just beyond a student's reach". However, previously learned material or experiences should help students make a reasonable solution attempt. An application that is too significant a leap will cause frustration, and the feeling that the teacher is playing games with the students. David Ausubel's advance organizer is a brief lecture or demonstration during the introduction of the lecture that provides a mental scaffolding to anchor the new material. The advance organizer provides a set of highly general concepts that subsume the material about to be learned. An advance organizer taps into students' existing knowledge structures. It helps cross-list new information with already existing information and thus aids learning and knowledge retrieval. It makes the unfamiliar more familiar; it makes the abstract more concrete. Note how the following advance organizer taps into existing knowledge that the students should have already acquired. Goal:-----------Connects Indian history to an existing civil rights knowledge base. The advance organizer is not an overview. An overview would have introduced the students to the lecture's key ideas: Gandhi, salt monopoly, British policy, boiling sea water, etc.. The advance organizer provides a familiar setting to anchor new, and potentially strange, material. The organizer works because at a very general level, the marches of King and Gandhi dealt with charismatic leaders in a struggle against oppressive forces. For an African-American audience, the MLK organizer transformed an abstract lecture into a familiar and more concrete setting. 1. What do students know that at a very general level is similar to the subject matter about to be taught? 2. How can I demonstrate the connections between what is known and what is to be learned? Intuitive students prefer either the traditional Theory-Application-Theory approach or the A-T-A approach using discovery learning. We illustrate the A-T-A approach using discovery learning in teaching the central limit theorem in a basic statistics course. The teacher selects 50 numbers from a random numbers table, and develops a frequency histogram. The data are not bell-shaped. The teacher then selects 30 samples of size eight numbers (replacing each number after it is drawn) from the 50 numbers, computes the 30 means, and develops a frequency histogram for the means. The histogram is now roughly bell-shaped. The teacher concludes the demonstration by asking why is the histogram of means nearly bell-shaped. Using the discovery method, students hopefully will discover the reasons underlying the central limit theorem. The discovery method, or the why method, will appeal to intuitive students and will teach sensing students how to uncover general principles. In using this method, sensing and intuitive students should be combined in learning groups. The intuitive student can help the sensing student to discover the theory; the sensing student can help identify and marshal the facts of the exercise. Intuitive students must have the big picture, or an integrating framework, to understand a subject. The big picture shows how the subject matter is interrelated. Intuitive students can develop reasonably correct concept maps or compare and contrast tables. Fortunately, sensing students can be taught to do the same. Some of us choose to decide things impersonally on analysis, logic, and principle. Some of us make decisions by focusing on human values. Thinking students value fairness. What could be fairer than focusing on the situation's logic, and placing great weight on objective criteria in making a decision. Mr. Spock, science officer of the starship Enterprise, had an extreme preference for thinking. Feeling students value harmony. They focus on human values and needs as they make decisions or arrive at judgments. They tend to be good at persuasion and facilitating differences among group members. Dr. McCoy, Spock's colleague aboard the Enterprise, demonstrated a preference for feeling. Unlike the two previous sets of preferences, CAPT reports that on this dimension, the proportion of males and females differ. About 64% of all males have a preference for thinking, while only about 34% of all females have a preference for thinking. Our own data base indicates that over 70% of male and female under-graduate business students are thinking students. It is not surprising that the majority of business majors are thinking students. Business is, after all, the domain of logic and analysis. The majority of university faculty have a preference for thinking. CAPT reported that almost 54% of 2,282 faculty are thinking. Seventy percent of business faculty have a preference for thinking. Thus, on the thinking versus feeling preference, business faculty and students are similar. Thinking students like clear course and topic objectives. Clear course or topic objectives avoid vague words or expressions such as "students will appreciate or be exposed to." Rather, objectives are precise and action-oriented. By precise we mean that teachers can write objectives at three meta-levels of learning: rote, meaningful and integrated, and critical thinking. By action oriented we mean that the verbs describe what students must do, not what faculty will do. The Bloom et al. taxonomy provides guidelines for writing clear and meaningful objectives. 1. Make process suggestions to regain session focus. 2. Keep individuals from personally attacking one another. 3. Monitor time remaining within a session and gently remind members. 4. Encourage equal participation among members in discussion phase. 5. Demonstrate collaborative-seeking (WIN-WIN) behaviors. 6. Assure that recorder writes legibly. 7. Respond to group member's questions to you by restating the question and asking other group members to respond (the boomerang method). 8. Recognize that all the objectives and goals within a session may not completed. Get group to do the possible given the time constraints. 9. Use light-hearted (or self-deprecating) humor to break tension. 10. Keep group enthusiasm high and sell ideas to members. Some of us like to postpone action and seek more data. Others like to make quick decisions. Judging people are decisive, planful and selfregimented. They focus on completing the task, only want to know the essentials, and take action quickly (perhaps too quickly). They plan their work and work their plan. Deadlines are sacred. Their motto is: just do it! Perceptive people are curious, adaptable, and spontaneous. They start many tasks, want to know everything about each task, and often find it difficult to complete a task. Deadlines are meant to be stretched. Their motto is: on the other hand ... . The majority of undergraduate students are judging students. Based on data from the Center for Applied Psychological Type (CAPT) between 46% and 60% of over 16,000 freshmen at three state universities were judging students. Interestingly, almost 64% of Rhodes Scholars were perceptive students. Our own data base indicates that over 70% of undergraduate business students are judging students. The majority of university faculty also have a preference for judging. CAPT reported that almost 65% of 2,282 faculty prefer judging. We obtained the same percentage from our business faculty data base. We have found that the following hints on note taking and test taking help judging students learn more effectively. Most students can learn speedwriting in several minutes. Just omit all (or most) vowels. Or develop your own shorthand method. For example, mst stdnts cn lrn spdwrtng in svrl mnts. Jst omt ll or mst vwls. Draw a line down center of a notebook page. On the left-hand side, record the lecture (use speedwriting or your own shorthand notation). After class, write a commentary on the right-hand side. Include restating ideas in your own words, finding sources of confusion, identifying key points, looking for links to earlier learned material, and asking what does this mean to me (the student). Use different colors to record ideas presented in class and found in the text or readings. For example, use blue to code major ideas and green to code links to previously learned material. In answering an essay question, first Analyze the question and jot down key ideas, Organize the ideas into a logical sequence, and only then write the essay (Respond). To review an essay question, first read your answer. Then construct a essay question based on your answer. Now compare your question to the teacher's question. If different, revise your answer. This strategy ensures that students answer the teacher's question. Read the question's stem (the portion that contains the question) and write a brief answer. Then compare your answer to the four or five choices, and select the answer most similar to your mini-essay. Your universities' learning resource center is an especially good source for additional hints on note and test taking. Include several hints in each course syllabus. Spend a few minutes explaining these hints in the first class period. Occasionally remind the students of the hints (especially before the first exam). Judging students often reach too-quick closure when analyzing cases. Thus we recommend a second-look meeting. After completing the case, the group reviews their analysis. A student plays a "gentle" Devil's Advocate (DA) and challenges the group's conclusions. The DA should be prepared to recommend an alternative solution. This will force the group to consider the pros and cons of both approaches. The DA can also ask team members to state assumptions about stakeholders (those who are affected by or will affect the case solution) which must be true for the group's solution to be effective. The DA can then challenge the group to provide evidence that the assumptions are true. Guidelines for a second-look meeting should be included in the case preparation hints provided to students. Perceptive students often postpone doing an assignment until the very last minute. They are not lazy. Quite to the contrary, they seek information to the very last minute (and sometimes beyond). We recommend decomposing a complex project or paper into a series of sub-assignments and providing deadlines for each sub-assignment. The deadlines may keep the perceptive students on target. Decomposing a major project into sub-assignments provides the opportunity for continuous feedback to the student. Have students hand-in an audio tape with their sub-assignments. The teacher can then provide detailed audio (we speak faster than we can write) comments on content and grammar. When we have used the audio feedback approach, final papers are clear and readable, and thus less aggravation to read. Moreover, without the teacher's interim feedback, students lose an opportunity to improve their writing skills during the semester. The MBTI instrument is available from Consulting Psychological Press in Palo Alto, California. Percentage data taken from Isabel Briggs Myers and Mary McCaulley, Manual: A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Consulting Psychologist Press, 1985. George Miller, "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two," Psychological Review, April 1956, pp.81-97. David Ausubel, Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1968. Benjamin Bloom, M. Englehart, E. Furst, W, Hill and D. Krathwohl, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain, Longmans Green, New York, 1956. Return to Master Teacher document.

2019-04-25T00:42:52Z

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exhorting Israel and urging the people to return to God and His law. This book Baruch read to King Jeconiah and the whole people on a day of prayer and penitence. On the same occasion a collection was taken up among the people, and the funds thus secured, together with the silver Temple vessels made by order of Zedekiah after Jeconiah had been carried away captive, were sent to Jerusalem, with the request that the high priest Joakim and the people should apply the money to the sacrificial service and to prayers for the life of King Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar. Thus they might ensure peace and happiness under Babylonian rule. Above all, they were to supplicate God to turn away His wrath from His people. The piety of Baruch and the great favor he enjoyed with God were made known to later generations many years after his death, through the marvellous occurrences connected with his tomb. Once a Babylonian prince commanded a Jew, Rabbi Solomon by name, to show him the grave of Ezekiel, concerning which he had heard many remarkable tales. The Jew advised the prince first to enter the tomb of Baruch, which adjoined that of Ezekiel. In the presence of his grandees and his people the prince tried to open the grave of Baruch, but his efforts were fruitless. Whosoever touched it, was at once stricken dead. An old Arab advised the prince to call upon the Jews to gain entrance for him, seeing that Baruch had been a Jew, and his books were still being studied by Jews. The Jews prepared themselves by fasts, prayers, penitence, and almsgiving, and they succeeded in opening the grave without a mishap. Baruch was found lying on marble bier, and the appearance of the corpse was as though he had only then passed away. (73) The prince ordered the bier to be brought to the city, and the body to be entombed there. He thought it was not seemly that Ezekiel and Baruch should rest in the same grave. But the bearers found it impossible to remove the bier more than two thousands ells from the original grave; not even with the help of numerous draught-animals could it be urged a single step further. Following the advice of Rabbi Solomon, the prince resolved to enter the bier on the spot they had reached and also to erect an academy there. These miraculous happenings induced the prince to go to Mecca. There he became convinced of the falseness of Mohammedanism, of which he had hitherto been an adherent, and he converted to Judaism, he and his whole court. Not less famous is the tomb of Ezekiel, at a distance of two thousand ells from Baruch's. It is overarched by a beautiful mausoleum erected by King Jeconiah after Evil-merodach had released him from captivity. The mausoleum existed down to the middle ages, and it bore on its walls the names of the thirty-five thousand Jews who assisted Jeconiah in erecting the monument. It was the scene of many miracles. When great crowds of people journeyed thither to pay reverence to the memory of the prophet, the little low gate in the wall surrounding the grave enlarged in width and height to admit all who desired to enter. Once a prince vowed to give a colt to the grave of the prophet, if but his mare which had been sterile would bear one. When his wish was fulfilled, however, he did not keep his promise. But the filly ran a distance equal to a four days' journey to the tomb, and his owner could not recover it until he deposited his value in silver upon the grace. When people went on long journeys, they were in the habit of carrying their treasures to the grave of the prophet, and beseeching him to let none but the rightful heirs remove them thence. The prophet always granted their petition. Once when an attempt was made to take some books from the grave of Ezekiel, the ravager suddenly became sick and blind. For a time a pillar of fire, visible at a great distance, rose above the grave of the prophet, but it disappeared in consequence of the unseemly conduct of the pilgrims who resorted thither. 2- In the fifth year, and in the seventh day of the month, what time as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire. 4- And in the hearing of the nobles, and of the king's sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and of all the people, from the lowest unto the highest, even of all them that dwelt at Babylon by the river Sud. 5- Whereupon they wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lord. 9- After that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and the captives, and the mighty men, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and brought them unto Babylon. 12- And the Lord will give us strength, and lighten our eyes, and we shall live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and we shall serve them many days, and find favour in their sight. 13- Pray for us also unto the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God; and unto this day the fury of the Lord and his wrath is not turned from us. 14- And ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the feasts and solemn days. ............and we have been negligent in not hearing his voice. to give us a land that floweth with milk and honey, like as it is to see this day. ............ to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the Lord our God. 3- That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daughter. 4- Moreover he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach and desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them. 5- Thus we were cast down, and not exalted, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, and have not been obedient unto his voice. 6- To the Lord our God appertaineth righteousness- but unto us and to our fathers open shame, as appeareth this day. 8- Yet have we not prayed before the Lord, that we might turn every one from the imaginations of his wicked heart. 9- Wherefore the Lord watched over us for evil, and the Lord hath brought it upon us- for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he hath commanded us. 10- Yet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord, that he hath set before us. 12- O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances. 13- Let thy wrath turn from us- for we are but a few left among the heathen, where thou hast scattered us. 15- That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by thy name. 16- O Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us- bow down thine ear, O Lord, to hear us. 18- But the soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee praise and righteousness, O Lord. 19- Therefore we do not make our humble supplication before thee, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings. 21- Thus saith the Lord, Bow down your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon- so shall ye remain in the land that I gave unto your fathers. the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride- and the whole land shall be desolate of inhabitants. 24- But we would not hearken unto thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon- therefore hast thou made good the words that thou spakest by thy servants the prophets, namely, that the bones of our kings, and the bones of our fathers, should be taken out of their place. 25- And, lo, they are cast out to the heat of the day, and to the frost of the night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by pestilence. 26- And the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid waste, as it is to be seen this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Juda. 29- If ye will not hear my voice, surely this very great multitude shall be turned into a small number among the nations, where I will scatter them. 30- For I knew that they would not hear me, because it is a stiffnecked people- but in the land of their captivities they shall remember themselves. 33- And return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds- for they shall remember the way of their fathers, which sinned before the Lord. 34- And I will bring them again into the land which I promised with an oath unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be lords of it- and I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished. 35- And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they shall be my people- and I will no more drive my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them. 1- O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee. 2- Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for thou art merciful- and have pity upon us, because we have sinned before thee. 3- For thou endurest for ever, and we perish utterly. 4- O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, hear now the prayers of the dead Israelites, and of their children, which have sinned before thee, and not hearkened unto the voice of thee their God- for the which cause these plagues cleave unto us. 5- Remember not the iniquities of our forefathers- but think upon thy power and thy name now at this time. 6- For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise. 7- And for this cause thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in our captivity- for we have called to mind all the iniquity of our forefathers, that sinned before thee. 8- Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity, where thou hast scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to payments, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which departed from the Lord our God. 9- Hear, Israel, the commandments of life- give ear to understand wisdom. 11- That thou art counted with them that go down into the grave? 12- Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom. 13- For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou shouldest have dwelled in peace for ever. 14- Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding; that thou mayest know also where is length of days, and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace. 15- Who hath found out her place? or who hath come into her treasures ? 17- They that had their pastime with the fowls of the air, and they that hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and made no end of their getting? 19- They are vanished and gone down to the grave, and others are come up in their steads. 21- Nor understood the paths thereof, nor laid hold of it- their children were far off from that way. 22- It hath not been heard of in Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in Theman. none of these have known the way of wisdom, or remember her paths. 24- O Israel, how great is the house of God! and how large is the place of his possession! 25- Great, and hath none end; high, and unmeasurable. that were of so great stature, and so expert in war. 28- But they were destroyed, because they had no wisdom, and perished through their own foolishness. 29- Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her (Wisdom, Sophia), and brought her down from the clouds? 30- Who hath gone over the sea, and found her, and will bring her for pure gold? 31- No man knoweth her way, nor thinketh of her path. Going across the Sea was the sin at Mount Sinai as they rose up to PLAY. This was musical idolatry worshiping the Golden Calf as the symbol of the Egyptian Triad: Osiris, Isis and Horus. We are not saved by FAITH ONLY. Paul speaks of THE FAITH as replacing THE LAW. THE FAITH is the Christian system. We know this because people who lived under THE LAW were men of personal faith (Heb 11). THE LAW applied to the LAWLESS. The law used the ORIENTIAL INCENTIVE which was physical punishment. If we are not under the SCHOOLMASTER we are no longer under ANY human agency which had rather CONTROL than to let the people LEARN the lessons directly from God incarnate who left his written Word. A "child" is accused by Jesus as being the "chorus leaders" as the lost Jews piped hoping to get Him to sing and dance the perverted ritual of Dionysus. A "child" here is huios which means that we have GRADUATED from human tutors. Paul wrote the same message to the Colossians. This was not redundant but God assured that we have "two or three witnesses" for all of His teachings or doctrine. Philosophia (g5385) fil-os-of-ee'-ah; from 5386; "philosophy", i.e. (spec.) Jewish sophistry: - philosophy. Philosophos (g5386) fil-os'-of-os; from 5384 and 4680; fond of wise things, i.e. a "philosopher": - philosopher. Isa 33:18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers? Shaqal (h8254) shaw-kal'; a prim. root; to suspend or poise (espec. in trade): - pay, receive (-r), spend, * throughly, weigh. Gadal (h1431) gaw-dal'; a prim. root; prop. to twist [comp. 1434], i. e. to be (caus. make) large (in various senses, as in body, mind, estate or honor, also in pride): - advance, boast, bring up, exceed, excellent, be (-come, do, give, make, wax), great (-er, come to... estate, / things), grow (up), increase, lift up, magnify (-ifical), be much set by, nourish (up), pass, promote, proudly [spoken], tower. Teraphiym (h8655) ter-aw-feme'; plur. per. from 7495; a healer; Teraphim (sing. or plur.) a family idol: - idols (-atry), images, teraphim. Suzoopoieo (g4806) sood-zo-op-oy- eh'-o; from 4862 and 2227; to reanimate conjointly with (fig.): - quicken together with. Rom 10:3 For they, being ignorant of Gods righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Dikaiosune (g1343) dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay; from 1342; equity (of character or act); spec. (Chr.) justification: - righteousness. Fulfill: Pleroo (g4137) play-ro'-o; from 4134; to make replete i.e. (lit.) to cram (a net), level up (a hollow), or (fig.) to furnish (or imbue, diffuse, influence), satisfy, execute (an office), finish (a period or task), verify (or coincide with a prediction), etc.: - accomplish, * after, (be) complete, end, expire, fill (up), fulfill, (be, make) full (come), FULLY PREACH, perfect, supply. 33- He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth, calleth it again, and it obeyeth him with fear. 34- The stars shined in their watches, and rejoiced- when he calleth them, they say, Here we be; and so with cheerfulness they shewed light unto him that made them. 36- He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. 37- Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men. 1- This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endureth for ever- all they that keep it shall come to life; but such as leave it shall die. 2- Turn thee, O Jacob, and take hold of it- walk in the presence of the light thereof, that thou mayest be illuminated. 3- Give not thine honour to another, nor the things that are profitable unto thee to a strange nation. 4- O Israel, happy are we- for things that are pleasing to God are made known unto us. 5- Be of good cheer, my people, the memorial of Israel. but because ye moved God to wrath, ye were delivered unto the enemies. 7- For ye provoked him that made you by sacrificing unto devils, and not to God. 8- Ye have forgotten the everlasting God, that brought you up; and ye have grieved Jerusalem, that nursed you. 10- For I saw the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting brought upon them. 11- With joy did I nourish them; but sent them away with weeping and mourning. 12- Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and forsaken of many, who for the sins of my children am left desolate; because they departed from the law of God. 13- They knew not his statutes, nor walked in the ways of his commandments, nor trod in the paths of discipline in his righteousness. 14- Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember ye the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting hath brought upon them. 15- For he hath brought a nation upon them from far, a shameless nation, and of a strange language, who neither reverenced old man, nor pitied child. 16- These have carried away the dear beloved children of the widow, and left her that was alone desolate without daughters. 17- But what can I help you? 18- For he that brought these plagues upon you will deliver you from the hands of your enemies. 19- Go your way, O my children, go your way- for I am left desolate. 20- I have put off the clothing of peace, and put upon me the sackcloth of my prayer- I will cry unto the Everlasting in my days. 21- Be of good cheer, O my children, cry unto the Lord, and he will deliver you from the power and hand of the enemies. 22- For my hope is in the Everlasting, that he will save you; and joy is come unto me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which shall soon come unto you from the Everlasting our Saviour. 23- For I sent you out with mourning and weeping- but God will give you to me again with joy and gladness for ever. 24- Like as now the neighbours of Sion have seen your captivity- so shall they see shortly your salvation from our God which shall come upon you with great glory, and brightness of the Everlasting. 25- My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you from God- for thine enemy hath persecuted thee; but shortly thou shalt see his destruction, and shalt tread upon his neck. 26- My delicate ones have gone rough ways, and were taken away as a flock caught of the enemies. 27- Be of good comfort, O my children, and cry unto God- for ye shall be remembered of him that brought these things upon you. 28- For as it was your mind to go astray from God- so, being returned, seek him ten times more. 29- For he that hath brought these plagues upon you shall bring you everlasting joy with your salvation. 30- Take a good heart, O Jerusalem- for he that gave thee that name will comfort thee. 31- Miserable are they that afflicted thee, and rejoiced at thy fall. 32- Miserable are the cities which thy children served- miserable is she that received thy sons. 33- For as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and was glad of thy fall- so shall she be grieved for her own desolation. 34- For I will take away the rejoicing of her great multitude, and her pride shall be turned into mourning. 35- For fire shall come upon her from the Everlasting, long to endure; and she shall be inhabited of devils for a great time. 36- O Jerusalem, look about thee toward the east, and behold the joy that cometh unto thee from God. 37- Lo, thy sons come, whom thou sentest away, they come gathered together from the east to the west by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God. 1- Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of mourning and affliction, and put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh from God for ever. 2- Cast about thee a double garment of the righteousness which cometh from God; and set a diadem on thine head of the glory of the Everlasting. 3- For God will shew thy brightness unto every country under heaven. 4- For thy name shall be called of God for ever The peace of righteousness, and The glory of God's worship. 5- Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high, and look about toward the east, and behold thy children gathered from the west unto the east by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the remembrance of God. 6- For they departed from thee on foot, and were led away of their enemies- but God bringeth them unto thee exalted with glory, as children of the kingdom. 8- Moreover even the woods and every sweetsmelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God. 9- For God shall lead Israel with joy in the light of his glory with the mercy and righteousness that cometh from him.

2019-04-18T16:51:02Z

http://www.piney.com/Baruch.html

In 1994 when we launched the Journal of Buddhist Ethics (or JBE for short; http://www.buddhistethics.org) as the first online peer-reviewed journal in the field of Religious Studies, motivated by the outrageously high costs associated with the publication of traditional scholarly journals and the recognition that university libraries were regularly scaling back on their subscriptions to scholarly periodicals, almost everyone said that, despite the interesting topic and supporting technology, we would undoubtedly fail in our experiment. Now, more than fifteen years later, the JBE has won dozens of awards, held three online international conferences, has thousands of subscribers in more than sixty countries, is healthier than ever, and remains—as it has been since its beginning—totally free. In addition, there are many many dozens of Religious Studies journals thriving on the Internet (see, for example http://www.ucalgary.ca/~lipton/journalss.html). One decade later, it was becoming overwhelmingly apparent that textbook costs were mirroring the price explosion that had rocked the world of scholarly journals; and in subsequent years, our failing economy has only added to the dilemma. Today, for example, the retail cost of Mary Pat Fisher's highly popular 7th edition of Living Religions is about $100., Warren Matthews' fine World Religions sells for almost $110, and Robert Ellwood's still popular Many People, Many Faiths (9th edition) costs nearly $90. For colleagues teaching in our discipline—Buddhist Studies—the situation is perhaps worse. One of the most successful introductory volumes on the Buddhist tradition is the course text now called Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction by Richard H. Robinson (the original author), Willard Johnson, and Thanissaro Bhikkhu. It's a great book, but it costs $75. Since it is also important to have our students read textual materials, we need to add a book of scripture extracts like John Strong's wonderful volume The Buddhist Experience: Sources and Interpretations. But that book sells for about $80, so students using those two volumes in an introductory course need to pony up more than $150.00 at the start. Even if one finds a solid but more economically priced introductory text, like Donald Mitchell's Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience, which sells for $40, once you add in a volume of scriptures, the cost to students is still at least $100. To make matters worse, many students will buy the books, but do not even read them. Instead, in our new technological era, students' avenue of entry into the subject matter of our field is often through the Internet. Then, at semester's end, they simply sell the textbooks to a buyback dealer or their campus bookstore, and lose all but a few dollars of their original investment, while the bookstore or buyback dealer reaps a whirlwind of profit on the second (or third) time around. Is there some reasonable way around this "lose-lose" situation in which the students lose money, the publishers ultimately lose money through book resales (forcing new editions to be published as a possible antidote, driving prices still higher), and the authors lose money as well in lost royalties…while the bookstores reap multiple-time profits? At a time when students are spending many hundreds of dollars per semester on textbooks, and thus putting an enormous strain on their personal and family finances, is it possible to turn this unfortunate circumstance into a "win-win" situation that puts cash back in students' wallets, rewards authors for the often thankless task of writing excellent textbooks, provides great resources to students engaged in studying religions, and acknowledges what we all too clearly have learned in recent times: students live vast portions of their lives embraced by technology? Many, if not most students are rarely without their cellphone in their hand. They're constantly calling, or texting their colleagues. Their iPods are dangling from their earphones. Twitter is the new craze, and many students now sit in their wi-fi classrooms surfing the Internet instead of listening to their professors' lectures. One recent day, not too long ago, one of us walked out of class behind one of our students who immediately started texting someone on his cellphone. The student became so engrossed in his texting (or maybe even sexting) that he walked squarely into a lamppost, spilling coffee all over himself and breaking his eyeglasses! In 2004, we decided to embrace this new technology as a means of finding an alternative to continually rocketing textbook costs. We started the Journal of Buddhist Ethics Online Books project (http://www.jbeonlinebooks.org). A course textbook should be flexible, updatable, and provide a wide range of pedagogic resources. The digital medium is more suited than paper to meeting these requirements. In an environment where students increasingly turn to the Internet as their resource of first choice we think it makes sense to place the learning medium itself in a digital format from the outset, creating for the first time a seamless web of knowledge between the text book and other learning resources. Our first publication in 2004 was Buddhism-The eBook, which we co-authored. It consisted of 14 chapters spanning 391 pages. It also included more than 200 weblinks to the best Buddhist sites on the Internet, so users could seamlessly go back and forth between the eText and the Internet. Purchasers could order the eBook online for immediate download or fill out a mail-in order form, in which case they received the eText on CD-ROM via the postal service. We initially advertised the publication by sending announcements to listservs such as Buddha-L, and via the H-Buddhism network of Buddhist Studies scholars worldwide. In addition, we networked actively with colleagues throughout the world. Although we were well aware that some publishing pundits were arguing that print books were clearly on the way out, we were also aware that initial sales of scholarly eBooks were not doing very well. Some individuals are still suggesting that eTexts are not doing well. In a May 15, 2009 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeffrey R. Young claims that, "Yet so far sales of electronic textbooks are tiny, despite efforts by college bookstores to make the option to buy digital versions clearer by advertising e-books next to the printed ones on their shelves." In other words, we didn't really know what to anticipate. Many colleagues seemed to be wedded to favorite old texts, and adopting a new text, and especially one that embraced new technology, was just plain frightening. Nonetheless, initial sales were extremely encouraging and a number of colleagues adopted Buddhism-The eBook (http://www.jbeonlinebooks.org/eBooks/buddhism) as a course text. In subsequent years, aided by continued feedback from colleagues, new editions were produced. The current, third edition still has 14 chapters, but the organizational pattern has changed, as have the chapter contents. In addition it now contains a 40-page glossary of key terms. Soon a fourth edition will appear with even greater changes. Sales have been exceptionally brisk, aided by the fact that the eBook remains enormously affordable at $25.75, can be copied to a "jump" drive for portability, and can be utilized by in-class computers for easy referencing during class time. So far, there have been more than 40 class adoptions throughout the world. Based on the immediate success of Buddhism-The eBook, we pursued soliciting other scholars to help us expand our offering. As of this writing, we now have produced Hinduism-The eBook by Hillary Rodrigues, Christianity-The eBook by James Adair, Judaism-The eBook by Eliezer Segal, Japanese Religions-The eBook by Robert S. Ellwood, Introducing World Religions: The eBook by Victoria Urubshurow, and Introducing Daoism by Livia Kohn, Buddhism-The American Experience by Charles Prebish, Chinese Religions (by Mario Pockesi), and Islam (by William Shepard). New eTexts on Tibetan Religions (by Geoffrey Samuel), American Religions (by Charles Lippy), and What is Religion? (by Daniel Cozort) will be published shortly. What we share with each of our authors is a commitment to providing the best introductory volume possible for our students, at a price that is eminently affordable. Moreover, we have sought to include authors who are well known in their respective area of study. Ellwood, Kohn, Lippy, and Samuel, for example, are among the most respected scholars in their special area worldwide. To date our eText prices range from $16.95 to $35.95…far below the prices of the most successful traditional textbooks. As a result our authors have generally received royalties of 25 percent of gross sales, which is far above royalties paid by traditional presses. In addition, each eBook comes with an "Online" website for students which contains sample discussion questions, essay questions, exam questions, and more. For professors, each eBook offers a non-public website that includes sample syllabi, sample exam questions, evaluations, and so forth. Throughout the process, we have been aided by the technical genius of Blue Banana Designs (http://www.bluebanana.net), which created our web page, creates each eBook, manages all technical aspects of the project including eCommerce, and resolves any problems that emerge along the way. How does the above impact the publication of traditional paper-based textbooks? Articles in The Chronicle of Higher Education have repeatedly highlighted the dilemma facing traditional publishers. In an article dated July 11, 2008 Jennifer Howard noted "It's a world in which demand for electronic resources may drive demand for print resources—not kill it, as many have assumed—as researchers use the Internet to discover books or articles." Reflecting on the 2008 annual meeting of the Association of American University Presses, she went on to say "Panelists and questioners at a session on 'Taking Books Online' made the point that publishers need to get a better handle on how researchers actually behave." A few months later (on September 19, 2008) the same author published a follow-up story on the continued drop in textbook sales, and university presses' search for explanations of the drop. Then why are eBook sales still tiny, as Jeffrey Young maintained in the article cited above? Young cited a study at Northwest Missouri State University that concluded students didn't like Sony's eBook reader. Paul Klute, who ran the project, is quoted as saying, "It didn't lend itself to the way students study." And reaction to Amazon's new Kindle doesn't seem to be any better, especially with regard to its high cost. Young tells us that "Some professors who were early adopters of e-books say they had bad experiences. Back then many publishers simply sold noninteractive PDF documents that were difficult to navigate." But that isn't the case any longer, as new and more sophisticated PDF documents and software are being created and updated regularly. Nonetheless, many of our students still make the same claims. They argue that they simply cannot curl up on the couch with an eBook. Anecdotal evidence in our experiences around campus, in Student Unions and classroom buildings, suggests that students don't really curl up with textbooks on couches or easy chairs in those same facilities. Instead, they curl up with their laptops or Blackberrys. In other words, their argument sounds like that stale old bromide "Sorry professor, but my dog ate my assignment." Just another excuse for not actually doing their assignments. To actually argue that printed textbooks work better than any eBook is simply incomprehensible. There are some good alternatives though. Web sites like CourseSmart (http://www.coursesmart.com), a project supported currently by twelve publishers, offer eBooks on a wide variety of topics that are designed to be read on laptops or desktops (rather than Kindles or other devices) at highly reduced prices. Unfortunately, most professors and students have never heard of this program. Even if they had, the number of titles that fall under the category "Religion" is less than 50, and cover mostly introductory and/or world religions topics; and even with their greatly reduced price structure, they're still significantly higher than the eBooks offered in our project. Other projects, like Ebrary and NetLibrary offer eBooks to libraries, which on campus students can access free of charge. NetLibrary has a database of over 190,000 titles. Even traditional publishers are making some effort to get on board with additional electronic resources by including CDs with their printed texts or offering links to websites with additional materials. Yet, for obvious reasons, they just cannot go the whole route to completely electronic, and affordable, products. We believe that the slow movement of the learning curve on eBooks as college Religious Studies texts results primarily from professors simply not fully understanding what a remarkable pedagogical tool eBooks can be. And that, frankly, is hard to understand. Many professors have already dispensed with distributing paper versions of their course syllabi by posting them in Word or PDF format on their departmental webpage. Many professors often have "homepages" on their departmental webpage that include very sophisticated listings of Internet-based resources. Many professors routinely use complicated Power Point presentations in their daily classes. Many professors, using technology-based classrooms equipped with computers, regularly flash information from various course-related websites on their classroom screens. Many professors have eschewed showing "films" in their courses, replacing them with DVDs of the same materials. Many professors now manage class discussion forums through university-based software. Many professors send informational messages to their entire class roster via university-based software. And many professors even submit their course grades electronically through programs like "Banner" or "Blackboard." Technology has come to dominate our everyday courses. For a fine example of how this might work, and how technology can be our friend and ally, take a short visit to Professor Guy Newland's webpage for his "Buddhist Tradition" course at Central Michigan University (http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Guy_Newland/REL_320/rel_320_the_buddhist_tradition.htm). It's exemplary. In view of the above, why rely on old expensive fossils when one can make the total jump to eBooks? We believe that if professors would visit an eBook site, like ours at http://www.jbeonlinebooks.org, read our FAQ file and navigate around a bit, download some free sample chapters, and give them a try, their brief self-education would dispel their unfounded concerns about the value of this new technology. Why has our modest experiment been so successful while major publishers still seem to have less than remarkable results. Admittedly, we think it is a combination of the extremely fine user-friendly eBooks we have published and the very simple infrastructure we have been able to maintain throughout our history. We hope we can continue to offer students very fine eTextbooks in Religious Studies while enabling them to keep dollars in their pockets instead of ours! Anyone wishing more information can contact us, by e-mail of course. Charles S. Prebish holds the Charles Redd Endowed Chair in Religious Studies at Utah State University. He has published more than twenty books. He is best known for his work on Indian Buddhist monastic codes and the sectarian movement, and is considered a pioneer in the study of Western forms of Buddhism. He is a past officer in the International Association of Buddhist Studies and was a founding Co-Chair of what is now the Buddhism Section of AAR. Damien Keown is Professor of Buddhist Ethics at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He is one of the best known Buddhist ethics scholars in the world and has published more than a dozen books. His works on Buddhism and bio-ethics are considered seminal in the field, and he has lectured on aspects of this topic throughout the world. He is a former officer in the United Kingdom Association of Buddhist Studies.

2019-04-24T23:45:39Z

http://worldreligionsebooks.com/religious-studies-etextbooks-a-modest-experiment.php

Large banks have become synonymous with the words ‘scandal’, and ‘manipulation’ in recent years. Since the emergence of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007/08, several large banks were discovered to be committing large-scale malpractice, fraud or miss-selling of financial products — for the purpose of reducing costs and raising profits. Since 2008, the activities for the UK’s five largest banks alone, have led to over £25 billion in fines levied upon them by various regulatory agencies around the world including the UK’s very own Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The exact nature of the banks’ wrongdoing is wide-ranging and multifaceted which has led to an unprecedented level of intra-national co-operation between the worlds’ financial regulatory authorities such as the FCA, NFA, CFTC, ASIC, BoJ, FinMin and BaFin. Please note this content is for informational purposes only and may not constitute as legal advice. The information provided here is based on online research. If any mistake has been made, please let us know over the comment section. Duncan Lawrie has been hit by occasional instances where some individual accounts were hacked into. In addition, Duncan Lawrie has been known to provide personalised banking services to many people who had been engaged in LIBOR rate-fixing activities in the past. The bank has not been found to be directly involved or responsible for any of the actions that some of its members have engaged in though. From the dozens of available asset classes available to investors, banks were found to be taking part in illegal activities in some more than others. Client reporting, residential mortgages, loan securitisations and rate setting were the four areas banks were least compliant, according to regulators. Regardless of the territory, there’s been a bank conducting some form of malfeasance there over the past decade — and the worrying thing — is that banks’ behaviour has not changed in any meaningful way to curb the level of market abuse and manipulation. Banks have been embroiled in several market sectors when conducting their market abuse. Of the officially confirmed abuses, the following asset classes/markets were confirmed to have been severely impaired by banks’ behaviour. All of the above asset classes have been used by banks to either reduce the level of operational cost(s) or to market-make markets in their favour for preferential pricing and fees. Here are the highlights of the past decades’ market abuses, as claimed by regulatory agencies. Barclays and Citigroup were the hardest hit from a regulatory backlash perspective although both banks continue to operate thriving FX businesses to this day. Additional information on the FCA fines and activity may be found on our FCA page. The CFTC cites how “banks failed to adequately assess the risks associated with their FX traders participating in the fixing of certain FX benchmark rates and lacked adequate internal controls in order to prevent improper communications by traders.” The worst hit bank from the synchronised FX-rigging regulatory backlash in 2014 was UBS, reaping in excess of $800 million in fines. The Swiss giant is the only bank to be fined by three separate regulators in three different countries in a single day. FINMA found that over an extended period of time the bank’s employees in Zurich attempted to manipulate foreign exchange benchmarks. In addition, employees acted against the interests of their clients. For these indiscretions, FINMA fined UBS 134 million Swiss francs in confiscation of costs avoided and profits. in individual cases engaged in deception regarding sales mark ups and excessive mark ups associated with an internal product of the bank. Several large top-tier banks consequently beefed up their litigation war chests, although the nominal value of the fines levied remains disproportionally small compared to the market impact of their abusive market activities. In recent announcements, top-tier banks such as UBS, Barclays, Deutsche, HSBC and Citigroup have all reported increases in their litigation allocations and have warned shareholders that litigation costs will remain elevated at best for the foreseeable future given the range of manipulation and malpractice cases that have hit the largest banks over the past five years. Various banks have been penalised for mortgage market malpractices, interest rate derivative fixing and LIBOR manipulation, just a few examples of penalties applied in response to widespread impropriety found to be occurring at Tier 1 banks. One of the biggest debacles during (and since) the GFC has been Mortgages — otherwise known as mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Sometime after the GFC, it was discovered that prior to 2007, many of the world’s largest banks had been using sophisticated securitisation methods to package junk-level debt into AAA-rated securities comparable to US Treasuries. This imbalance was rubber stamped by credit ratings agencies and the newly-created sub-prime ‘toxic’ assets were presented as clean, wholesome investments investors had little risk of losing their money on. The reality was that these investments were in fact of low value, and when markets priced in the discounts, it was clear that hundreds of billions of dollars were in fact misspent/miss-invested which led to an inevitable rush for the exits and large-scale losses/drawdowns across the investment community. Both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — stalwart names in the US banking industry — were forced to become deposit-taking institutions simply to remain solvent. The major consequence of the sub-prime debt bubble was the GFC itself, because of the deep interconnected nature of modern markets. Iceland’s government was forced to default on many of its obligations because of the liabilities its domestic banks had racked up in league with US and UK counterparties. Bank of America was forced to pay a record $16.7bn (£10bn) to settle allegations that it misled investors into buying toxic mortgage securities. The bank said the “claims relate primarily to conduct that occurred at Countrywide and Merrill Lynch” before it acquired them during the height of the financial crisis in 2008. In February 2012, Citigroup was one of many banks that agreed to pay billions of dollars to settle charges brought by the US authorities over claims they used abusive methods to foreclose on homeowners hit by the bursting of the country’s property bubble. The agreement saw the banks pay $5bn directly to states in the form of cash fines, $17bn of debt written-off and a further $3bn in lower interest rates to homeowners. JP Morgan also paid $5.29 billion under the February 2012 foreclosures settlement, while another US bank, Wells Fargo, paid $5.35 billion. In October 2013, JP Morgan reached a $13bn deal with US regulators to settle claims that it miss-sold bundles of toxic mortgage debt to investors in the build up to the financial crisis. The largest single fine for any one bank in history — was the $1.9 billion fine levied on HSBC in 2012 for failing to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. HSBC paid almost $2 billion to settle allegations that its failure to enforce anti-money laundering rules left America’s financial system exposed to drug cartels. Unconfirmed reports at the time suggested HSBC was actually aware and complicit in helping money sourced from international criminal activity to be funnelled through its network of banks across South America, Africa and Asia. In yet another case of confirmed malpractice affecting thousands of clients, Barclays Bank was fined £37.75 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014 for failing to properly protect clients’ custody assets worth £16.5 billion. The FCA’s fine was the largest of its kind relating to custody assets. According to the FCA investigation, clients risked “incurring extra costs, lengthy delays or losing their assets if Barclays had become insolvent,” spanning 95 custody accounts in 21 countries. The FCA identified “significant weaknesses” in how the bank carried out financial services in the ‘Barclays Investment Banking Division’ between November 2007 and January 2012 – a period of history dominated by the global financial crisis. Appropriate management and real-time accounting of custody assets is often difficult due to liquidity availability and the complexity involved in managing a $16 billion of assets spread across multiple asset classes including property and fine art. The lack of price certainty for some assets was a factor in exacerbating the global financial crisis as market participants were unable to accurately see the true value of their portfolios. Amidst fear, panic and market volatility many market participants preferred to sell at the first rate available which in turn fuelled a negative spiral of declining asset prices, more selling and more asset price declines. In 2008 and since, the FCA has communicated on multiple occasions its view of the importance of safeguarding client assets for the good of the bank itself, the wider banking industry and the British economy. According to the FCA, Barclays did not accurately reflect ownership links within its Investment Banking Division and failed to establish legal agreements on many assets held there. In a further egg-on-face moment, Barclays was found to have claimed ownership rights to assets that actually belonged to clients. As is often the case with brand damaging regulatory penalties, Barclays Bank opted for the FCA’s early-settlement option and qualified for a 30% discount on the fine, saving the bank over £15 million. The full list of defendants in the case consists of major banking institutions: Bank of America; Barclays Bank; Citigroup Inc; Deutsche Bank; BNP Paribas; HSBC Holdings; Royal Bank of Scotland Group; Credit Suisse Group; UBS; Goldman Sachs; Nomura Holdings; Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. In revelations that have an eerie resemblance to the LIBOR fixing scandal, staff working for the 13 accused banks allegedly “communicated via private chat rooms” and “used digital communications to “submit identical quotes beginning at least in 2009”, according to an official statement from the AEPF. Also included in the court case is ICAP Plc, a UK-based broker-dealer clearing over $1.3 trillion in daily transactions. It is alleged that ICAP helped facilitate the manipulation of ISDAfix rates given the company’s prominent and dominant position in clearing transactions in the interest-rate derivatives markets. Recorded telephone calls and e-mails reviewed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) show that traders at the thirteen banks instructed ICAP brokers to buy or sell as many interest-rate swaps as necessary to move ISDAfix to a predetermined level. AEPF alleges that banks often kept rates artificially low, allowing them to generate substantial profits trading ‘swaptions’ – interest derivatives linked to ISDAfix rates. Deutsche Bank was fined £5 million for misreporting CFD transactions for almost 5 years between November 2007 and April 2013. Mr. Kai Lew, a Director of Institutional FX at Deutsche, was suspended as part of a manipulation investigation in April 2014. Libor, the London inter-bank lending rate, is considered to be one of the most important interest rates in finance, upon which trillions of financial contracts are based on. The LIBOR scandal was the largest in terms of magnitude, and yet the effect on financial markets was felt the least because of its institutional effect. LIBOR is generally used by financial intermediaries, for the purpose of setting short-term lending rates. Individuals borrowing money to buy a home would also use LIBOR but the impact on the homeowner is vastly smaller compared to an institution borrowing/lending capital on a daily basis. Swiss bank Credit Suisse agreed to pay a $2.6bn fine in May 2014 over allegations that it helped some of its US clients avoid paying taxes. In June 2014, BNP Paribas admitted to processing thousands of transactions through the US financial system on behalf of bodies in Iran, Cuba and Sudan, landing the French bank with an $8.9bn (£5.2bn) fine and leading to the departure of more than a dozen senior employees. Have Banks learnt their lesson? To date, not a single employee of any firm has been charged with a criminal offence relating to price fixing of any market, despite dozens of confirmed cases of market manipulation between multiple banks involving dozens of individuals. The effectiveness of ratings agencies and regulators seems to be minimal despite growing powers to regulate and restrict abusive market activity, including large fines. The regulators are either not effective enough or the bankers are too effective. Or in other words, either the regulators are not good enough at their jobs, or the banks are just too good at theirs for lawful business practise to predominate. Gargantuan banks and financial intermediaries remain largely unaccountable and beyond the reach of UK law when it comes to being penalised for wrongdoing, while their overall size and market dominance continue to grow year-on-year, in-line with investor expectations. Prior to the 2008 banking crisis, UK banks were only lightly regulated. Since on a global scale only minor regulations were enforced on banks, the regulators worried that banks would simply move abroad if they were too harsh. Like any other UK business, banks were subject to regulation by the OFT and the Competition Commission (now the Competition and Markets Authority). In addition, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Bank Of England, and the HM Treasury, all oversaw financial institutions. In 2013, the system was revamped. The FSA was replaced by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which is part of the Bank Of England, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). In addition, the European Banking Authority (EBA) keeps track of the strength of UK and other European banks. Money transfer scams are usually commissioned to law authorities rather than regulators. PRA: Prudential regulation of +-1700 financial services institutions, in order to maintain stability. FCA: The watchdog that ensures competition is maintained, and that the conduct of firms in the market meet legislative standards. EBA: Conducts regular stress tests, to determine how banks would fare in potential crises. UK banks have recently been subjected to “ring-fencing”, which forces banks to separate retail banking from riskier financial ventures. This is so that taxpayers don’t end up paying in the event of a collapse. Ring-fencing requires both sectors (retail and investment) to hold equal importance, which many banks are finding onerous. Sir David Walker, the former chairman of Barclays, insists that ring-fencing regulations are redundant and uniquely British, which will force banks to relocate. Banks will spend an initial £200 million to implement the reforms, and £120 million on extra staff requirements. The ring-fencing reforms themselves will cost banks billions of pounds to maintain. Banks are regularly inspected by the FCA, and in the case of non-compliance, the FCA has the power to ban financial products for up to a year while considering an indefinite ban. The regularity of inspections depends on how disastrous a firm’s failure would be. P1 firms are firms whose failure would cause lasting damage to their clients and the marketplace. They are inspected once a year. P2 firms are firms whose failure would cause significant damage which is, however, relatively easy to deal with. They are inspected once every two years. P3 firms are firms whose failure would not cause much damage to clients or the market, and are only supervised on a reactive basis. UK banks are allowed to accept international clients. However, there are stipulations attached. Many banks do not take on non-residents, because of the strict regulations. If the client is in the UK for over 6 months, it is far easier to set up a UK bank account. The client will be required to have extensive documentation, as the banks are wary of international scams.

2019-04-24T02:16:22Z

https://moneytransfercomparison.com/uk-banks-overview/

In the times we live in, it’s a fact that a lot of people download music and movies from the web through P2P or BitTorrent. The music and movie industries naturally see this as a threat and try to stifle it, but it seems these attempts are in vain. The idea is that companies, artists, actors and others should get paid for what they do, which is a fair assumption. The problem, though, is that the industry is stuck in old distributional chains where they had a lot more control. With the advent of Internet, however, things are bound to run out of control. My belief is that no matter how hard they try to legislate and to hunt people who fileshare down, the phenomenon will continue to exist, and also grow stronger in its rebelliousness against the “higher power”. The basic, let’s be outright honest about this, crap is that companies lose so-and-so much money on people who have seen, for instance, a movie by downloading it instead of going to the cinema. Just because someone has watched a movie illegally doesn’t mean that they otherwise would have paid to see it. Most people watch movies in a casual manner, and instead of having some kind of fake hopes that this would have been money in the bank for the company, just see the enormous marketing benefit of this! If they like the movie, they will tell their friends and recommend it. Their friends, in turn, might watch it in the cinema or buy the DVD; they might also just download it. Either way, if they like it, they will spread the word, and so on. Never underestimate viral marketing! Is what I want available when I want it? If not, how can I get it? That’s the core mindset of the audience, so it’s time to listen to them. People love using the Internet for accessing their favorite music and movies, but the services today aren’t well-developed enough and/or are so ridiculously overpriced that, as an example, a movie download will cost the same as buying the DVD in a store, but without the packaging and actual DVD record. What makes you think people would pay the same money for less value? Really? DRM is a joke. Really. Whenever a legally bought product, in any way, becomes harder to use than something that can be downloaded “for free”, why would people pay? Throw away all your demands for restrictions, because they simply won’t work. Let people share a movie or a song as many times as they want, through whatever medium they want. Forget about proprietary solutions that limit the user to a certain computer platform or digital music (e.g. MP3) player. If, for any reason, the distribution channel forces the end user to use a product from a certain provider, you’ve lost. There will always be cracks, hacks and workarounds, so you have to live with it. Tough, but that’s the reality; never think you can outsmart such a vast community of people who are very technically skilled. DRM of any kind is the road to failure. Some people will never pay, and that’s the way it is. A witch hunt will never make a difference, since their main goal is to get something for free, not the actual experience of what they’re getting. However, I sincerely believe that a majority people want to go the legal route and pay for what they watch/listen to. Anyone, who is, say, 25+ of age, have grown up in a world where you actually had to buy what you wanted, in terms of records and movies. Kids who are teenagers now, and the coming generations, learn to download things from the Internet before they learn to pay. And they are really the gist of the problem. If such a habit becomes a de facto standard for accessing any entertainment material, we will have to face a downward spiral with less and less income for companies producing music and movies. And then, at the end of the day, less quality content will be produced and distribution companies will go for the quick profit. Everyone loses. Whenever a music record, or, more importantly, a movie is released/having its premiere, people want it. Immediately! The buzz is right then, and as with all hypes, you have to let it work for you instead of against. Instead of fighting vigorously to quench it, music and movie companies have to start providing what people want. My humble take is that, if not already, the situation is on its way overboard. Listen to opinions, and try to meet the mass market’s need and desires, to able to outcompete illegal file sharing. In the area of TV shows and movies, people don’t want to wait for it to come to their country, or to wait another week for the next episode of their favorite series. We live in a on-demand world and if the audience wants to watch several episodes in a row, let them have it (given that it’s already produced, of course). When a movie (or TV show) premiers, make it instantly available as a download to all the world. Make it available in a format so attractive that searching through P2P and/or BitTorrent sites for a good quality copy is a waste of time. Reasonable pricing: maybe $0.50 for a song and $5 for a movie. Alternatively, offer free ad-sponsored solutions, which will be a good complement to buying. No DRM or any other lock-ins. Seriously. General availability. Everything that’s accessible through any other channel has to be available through the Internet as well. Some TV companies in the US made their TV shows available, ad-sponsored, online the day after they were shown on TV, which is, in general, a great idea. The problem with this, though (except for the fact that they haven’t been able to watch as the exact same time as the program), is, again, availability. Sure, US citizen could watch it, but what about the rest of the world? Sure, I understand the problematic situation that they can’t make it available to all the world simultaneously, while also trying to sell it to international networks. But this is most likely something that has to be changed to be able to cater to the whole world at once. So, the only good example I’ve seen so far of thinking in the right terms is Joost. It is ad-supported but otherwise completely free for the end user, who can choose to watch whatever he/she wants no matter the time (I’ve been beta-testing Joost for a while now, and will write a review about it in the future; stay tuned). However, Joost doesn’t yet offer movies so there’s a wide open field there to target. And I think this solution is one of the ways there are to go: offer good content as easily available as possible, with a different financing plan than current alternatives have. Anyone, who is, say, 25+ of age, have grown up in a world where you actually had to buy what you wanted, in terms of records and movies. I'm not sure if I agree on this. Of course, I'm not 25+ of age, but my father told me stories about taping CDs or radio shows on cassette, and while this is of course not comparable to today's quantity of illegally copying/reproducing media, it's basically the same thing and in that particular time frame just as illegal. You should also mention libraries that offer books, CDs, tapes and DVDs. Taping things on cassette and videotape caused a huge uproar at the time, comparable to the uproar burnable CDs caused when they appeared, and mp3 and other formats now. The solution was to add a royalty tax to the devices in the case of cassette and video recorders; the movie and recording industries weren't totally satisfied with the solution, but it struck a balance. Canada made a similar move with mass storage devices which all carry a tax paid to the industry under the assumption that everyone is at least part pirate. I don't entirely agree with the premise (everyone is guilty, tax them all) but it might be the only solution. For a similar view, take a look at Baen Free Library. <blockquote cite="http://www.baen.com/library/home.htm">Any cure which relies on tighter regulation of the market — especially the kind of extreme measures being advocated by some people — is far worse than the disease. As a widespread phenomenon rather than a nuisance, piracy occurs when artificial restrictions in the market jack up prices beyond what people think are reasonable. The "regulation-enforcement-more regulation" strategy is a bottomless pit which continually recreates (on a larger scale) the problem it supposedly solves. And that commercial effect is often compounded by the more general damage done to social and political freedom. I am a Canadian but that doesn't really mean I know anything more about the tax on CD/DVD-R than anyone else here. However, the tax must be small because, on sale this week, you can get a stack of 100 Fujitsu DVD-R discs for $25. I can't imagine that the tax would really be enough to cover the lost royalties on the 100 movies you could record to these discs. Secondly, I agree with all of Robert's comments with the minor exception of his assessment of a downloading fee of $5/movie. Given that rental shops charge just slightly more than that (albeit for a short-term rental and with a significant delay in availability), I think that closer to $3/movie would be the price point that buyers would be attracted to downloading. I am a Canadian but that doesn’t really mean I know anything more about the tax on CD/DVD-R than anyone else here. However, the tax must be small because, on sale this week, you can get a stack of 100 Fujitsu DVD-R discs for $25. I can’t imagine that the tax would really be enough to cover the lost royalties on the 100 movies you could record to these discs. $0.29 : audio cassette over 40min long. 66% of the levy is paid to the SOCAN, CMRRA, and SODRAC, 19.9% to NRCC for 'performers', and 15.1% to NRCC for 'makers'. The current levy schedule is pretty close to that. 'memory card' applies to SD, MM, and MemoryStick cards. Other formats are covered in some legalese document elsewhere. The costs are more or less covered since the *vast* majority of disc and memorycards sold are not used to store pirated movies/songs, they're used for more mundane purposes. Well, as I see it, seeding a TV series should be generally accepted. The reasoning behind this is that the companies producing them doesn't really lose any (larger sums of) money. This because of the TV series being public as they are broadcasted on TV already and that people gladly pay their TV license anyway. So basicly it's a choise of weither wait for it to broadcast on TV or being able to see it whenever it suits you. I'd choose the latter in most cases. I was just wondering.. if you could download movies for $5 or $3 and songs for cheap.. that still wouldn't stop the buyer from adding their movies to a P2P network.. perhaps even unaware they did. Of course there's always going to be piracy, but I do like the idea of better quality movies or what have you for a cheap price. Maybe they could even burn the name or id of the buyer within the movie itself, to deter people from sharing (if you get what I mean). You're right though Robert, I would gladly pay if it wasn't so expensive. I even find .99 cents ridiculous for an MP3 file. .50 sounds so much better, or even cheaper. Just like Hockey in Canada, it took them forever to realize nobody was physically going to the games anymore because the prices were ridiculous. Sometimes it's better to lower your prices, to increase sales (simple philosophy). Now.. if the cell companies would wake up and realize $2.50 for a ringtone is out to lunch! Thanks, Robert. I think the current mentality is costing the industry far more money than copying. They need to mass deliver and take advantage of economies of scale. They need to think beyond the United States. Living in Vancouver, Canada, I can't understand the current limitations (and I realize there are greater laws that might affect delivery – such as language rights, etc). With that said, the mentality is so wrong. If I want to, I should be able to buy now – don't turn me away. Both the industry and governments need to realize the importance of this. I own a TiVo, but they wouldn't ship it to Canada, so I had it sent to the US. Now, I want to take advantage of Amazon Unbox and download a tv show I missed (yes, even with TiVo 😀 ), but I'm not allowed, because I am not in the US (which if I was I could also do for free by simpy visiting the producers website). So, I can't do it for free, and I can't even pay them to do it???? Can someone tell me where the US ranks in population growth for the target demographic? Can you also tell me how many people live outside the US that fit the target (both in age and disposable income)? I believe that cost is the first issue. High prices make it more tempting to download than to buy. Lower prices and make your profit on volume. Take a page from tele-marketers and offer something "extra" for those who buy. When you buy an exercise machine because of an info-mercial they always give you something extra as an incentive to buy, like a cookbook. Add something that you can't download in the packaging to make it worthwhile to buy. Finally, work on a campaign to change attitudes about stealing, and it is stealing no matter how it's rationalized. The golden rule; "do unto others as you would have them do to you", "honesty is the best policy", "if you were the owner/song writer/band/movie producer… would you want this to happen to you?". I'm sure you can think of more. If you don't want to sponsor the message in advertisements, sponsor the message in movie and TV scripts. My experience is that I buy more cd's now that it's easier to download and listen to them first. Of course, I won't buy all. But I do buy the good ones. CD's I otherwise never would have bought. Heck, from artists I've never heard about before I stumbled upon them in some download. About DRM: I'm just not going to buy a (quite expensive anyway) DVD if I can't be certain it will play in my DVD player, car-dvd-player, notebook player or a player at my friend's house. Or if I can't make a backup copy. Don't know about the cities you live in, but were I live it's not a good idea to leave original CD/DVDs in your car (even hidden in the trunk). Thanks for your comments. And well, yes, there was a huge uproar about video, cassettes etc at the time, but it worked out fine, and the business didn't go down in flames, They just had to adapt, and now it is time, and it's more importantly than ever! Sweden also has a price added-on to cassettes, CDs, DVDs etc to try to cover up for pirated versions. But seriously, how fair and modern is that approach? How many people who download music and/or movies will burn it on a CD/DVD? Music will be transferred right to the MP3 player and movies will be saved on a computer's hard drive, or a hard-drive media center at home. I disagree very much with comparing unauthorized copying to stealing. After all there is one very important difference – theft concerns physical objects. A copyright owner does not lose his work when it is copied. A copyright owner can still sell his work, if someone has copied it. In fact, the copyright owner may in some cases have suffered no loss at all even if his work is copied. This is quite contrary to theft where the rightful owner does lose his property, is unable to sell it, and suffers a very tangible loss. This does not mean that I condone unauthorized copying of music, movies or software. Quite the contrary. But please don't use the corporate Newspeak. I don't down load music I like to blog to much for that ,it would take me away from blogging . I think people want more instant gradification and a lot of people well not get paid as much money in certain proffesions as they use to get paid . This is a transition period and new rules well be made . I really don't know how things well work out in the future but God takes care of the future God always takes care of the future . I am a downloader and have been since newsgroups were the start of everything. I believe I should have the right to test products whether that be music, software, movies or what have you. If I like it I buy it. Why would I want to buy something like software knowing that in two months there will be another version bigger and better. Maybe renting software would be the answer who knows. I believe in FTA as well even though I still pay for regular sattelite on top of it. We get priced to death on everything and we are sick of it. Cheers to the downloaders as I will always get what I can for free and only pay for the stuff that's worth it. I know, being in Australia, that a lot of people download stuff illegally because we have to wait MONTHS after things are released in the US to get it. Personally, I don’t download them, simply because I do not know how. For example, Gossip Girl is not on TV here, and we only just had season 4 released. And with Psych, we only have season 3 released on DVD, and they are airing season 6 in America! Fair enough if we have to wait maybe a week or so, but seriously, so many people would stop doing it if we got it faster.

2019-04-24T18:43:56Z

https://robertnyman.com/2007/03/27/people-will-always-download-movies-and-music-heres-how-to-address-it/

Why take your TEFL Course in Peru? Job Placement in Peru and employment contacts worldwide! Obtain life-transforming international work experience and be ready to teach English as a Foreign Language anywhere in the world. The TEFL Course in Peru is 4-weeks long, featuring 150 hours of course content, leading to the internationally recognized certificate in teaching English as a Foreign Language. Our TEFL Certification course in Cusco is fun, intense, and with lots of job opportunities, securing paid teaching positions all over the world. What’s more, this teacher training course has been developed over a period of years and is taught by some of the most respected trainers in the business. Successful graduates earn an internationally recognized and Accredited TEFL Certificate allowing them to teach anywhere in the world. Moreover, you can enjoy yourself and have fun in Cusco’s unique and wonderful culture! Cusco is perhaps the most visited city in Peru, and was also the first to be populated in South America, making it the birthplace of countless pre-Columbian civilizations and the ancient capital of the Incan Empire. Sitting at nearly 11,000 feet above sea level, Cusco is one of South America’s most extraordinary tourist destinations; it is one of the prettiest and cleanest cities in Peru. The imposing colonial architecture, the trimmed lawns and sweeping views work in flawless harmony to negate the pernicious effects of tourism. Peru’s diverse cultures and civilizations were some of the most advanced in the world, culminating in the well-known Inca Empire. During your free time, you can visit one of the new seven wonders of the world, Machu Picchu! The TEFL Course in Cusco is accredited, and quality assured, by The Ministry of Education in Peru. Having The Ministry of Education’s accreditation is proof we are commitment to providing an excellent academic program, which is recognized all over the world and of course grants you the opportunity to teach in the Peruvian Public Schools. Obtaining their prestigious accreditation requires a thorough process that evaluates the school’s high standards, under the best educational global practices, while also reviewing ethical academic values through a continuous improvement process. We follow the Standards of Good Practice from the Forum on Education Abroad and the Forum’s Code of Ethics for Education Abroad. Our internationally-accredited teaching English as a Foreign language certification in Peru is loaded with fun, intensity, and with teaching practice sessions for aspiring trainees to sharpen their teaching skills! The TEFL program in Cusco focuses on practical teaching, classroom management, lesson planning, and more. It includes 105 hours of classroom instruction and in-class presentations, 20-30 hours of required reading and focused written assignments, and 15+ hours of observation and practical teaching. Your teaching practice will be supervised and evaluated. Trainees will deliver lessons to non-English speaking classes and individual students and feedback is always provided, as this is critical to help participants improve their technique and increase their self-awareness in terms of teaching style. Equally important, a TEFL Certificate is your ticket to travel and work as a professional English teacher anywhere in the world; our TEFL graduates secure paid teaching positions in Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East and Africa due to our high standards and commitment to your future career. Job Offers in Peru within 30 days from graduation. The TEFL course in Cusco is aimed at those with no previous experience. It is a practical and thorough program in Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL), which covers all the important aspects of teaching methodology. During the 4-week, 150-hour course, participants will become familiar with the principles of successful ESL teaching and will develop practical skills needed to effectively teach English as Second Language (ESL). You will prepare and teach a minimum of 15 practice classes with real Peruvian students in a classroom setting. You will learn the theory of English language teaching, refresh your grammar skills, observe experienced teachers in action, and finally conduct practice classes of your own with real EFL Peruvian students. In fact, our trainees get more actual practice classes than any other provider. In the final week of the TEFL Course in Peru, TEFL participants take over a live English class with real, non-native students and teach 60-minute lessons for 5 days; during these lessons you are observed and critiqued by your TEFL Trainer. The practical teaching module also includes 3 additional mini-lessons (20 minutes each), where you’re observed by your TEFL Trainer and receive feedback. The TEFL Course in Peru also includes 6 hours observing experienced ESL teachers leading their classes. Our School in Peru also offers English classes to 1,600+ local students and it’s the third largest language institute in Cusco! Therefore, our own TEFL graduates are prioritized for English teaching positions and we hire 4-5 new teachers every month. We provide all teachers with the full ESL curriculum, syllabi, materials, quizzes, and exams which saves you a great deal of time and energy compared to other institutes. A TEFL certificate is the basic qualification that opens the door to teaching opportunities throughout Peru. New positions are available every month, year-round. In fact, the demand for English teachers is so high that TEFL graduates can immediately begin their career teaching English right after the course! TEFL graduates find opportunities working with adults and teens in both private institutes and public school settings. Private institutes hire year-round. K-12 schools follow the Latin American school year and tend to hire between January and February. The Peruvian culture holds “profes” in high esteem and you should be prepared to dress and act the part. Peru’s economy is growing between 5-9% every year, and it’s a large country with a population of over 30 million people. Peruvians place a high value on academic credentials and they’re always looking to advance their English language skills to remain competitive in the international market. The low cost of living in Peru means teachers can enjoy a good life, even on a modest salary. Peruvian food is delicious, comes in huge quantities and is cheap; Housing and travel are also very inexpensive. Depending on your lifestyle, a frugal English teacher can save money every month. The TEFL certification course in Cusco, Peru, exceeds all global TEFL standards and that is why we guarantee lifetime job placement assistance upon successful completion of the program. During your TEFL course in Peru, our instructor provides a full workshop on resume-building, job search, and various teaching opportunities all over the world. In Cusco, Arequipa, Trujillo, Chiclayo, and of course Lima, there are hundreds of private English institutes and K-12 schools. TEFL graduates who are willing to commit to a minimum of 1 year can obtain positions in K-12 schools. For teachers who prefer to commit for only 3-12 months find opportunities in language schools. Most English teachers work 25-30 hours per week, although total hours and curriculum standards are different from institute to institute. Graduates of the TEFL Course in Peru, have ob offers right after completing the program! We offer lifetime job-finding assistance for all TEFL graduates. In Week 2 of the TEFL Course in Peru, there is a job-finding workshop where our TEFL Trainer coaches participants on writing a proper résumé/CV for the international marketplace and walks them through different job opportunities. Our Graduated Trainers act as an ongoing professional reference for teaching jobs now and in the future, and every TEFL graduate receives a letter of reference from the school. The need for English teachers is growing and there are always opportunities available mainly in Cusco and Lima. Private institutes hire year-round, whereas K-12 schools, following the Latin American school year, tend to hire between January and February. TEFL graduates find opportunities working with all age groups in both private institutes and public school settings. Local students are eager to learn, yet easy going, making Peru a great choice for a first time English teacher! The low cost of living in Peru–where food, housing, transportation, and even travel are all cheap–means that an English teacher can enjoy a good life, even on a modest salary. Once you’ve completed the TEFL Course in Peru, you can easily find the right TEFL job! We guarantee lifetime job placement assistance upon successful completion of the program. During your TEFL course in Peru, our instructor provides a full workshop on resume-building, job search, and various teaching opportunities all over the world. You can choose between teaching positions in private language schools, state schools, universities, businesses, hotels, kindergartens as well as private tutoring and voluntary work. In Week 2 of the TEFL Course in Peru, there is a job-finding workshop where your TEFL Trainer coaches you on writing a proper résumé/CV for the international marketplace. Your trainer also walks the TEFL class through different job opportunities and what it’s like to live and work internationally. We provide lists of online resources with access to teaching jobs worldwide. Most importantly, your TEFL Trainer acts as an ongoing professional reference for teaching jobs now and in the future, and every TEFL graduate receives a letter of reference from The School. We make 3-5 job offers to our TEFL graduates every month. Successfully graduate from our TEFL Course in Peru, be a native English speaker (or Native-like), preferably have a 4-year University Degree, be aged between 18 and 65, have a passport with at least 12 months remaining, and no criminal record. Peru is geographically diverse with big cities, beautiful rural towns, and rustic, steamy jungles. Peru’s economic success and its popularity as a global tourist destination creates a huge need for English teachers. This beautiful country is located in the west central part of South America, and it is the 19th largest country in the world. It shares borders to the north with Ecuador, to the south with Chile and Bolivia, and to the east with Columbia and Brazil. Peru’s geography, climates, and cultures are very diverse due to the natural variation of its geography, which includes the Pacific coast, the Andes, and the Amazon Jungle. Cusco, the historic capital of the Inca Empire, is nestled in the Andes Mountains at an altitude of 3,326 m (11,200 ft). Cusco is also the mecca of South America and is one of the most sought-out travel destinations in the world. The Cusco area offers some of the richest collections of architecture, ceramics, and textiles known to man. You can experience the history and culture still alive in the city today. Cusco is the gateway to the sanctuary city of Machu Picchu and one of the most spectacular highlights of South America, and while it’s a city of 400,000 people, the center of Cusco always feels small and historic. Top attractions also include Las Maras Salt Mines constructed by a Pre-Inca civilization, and then economically exploited by the Incas; the Nazca Lines–more than one thousand geoglyphs mysteriously etched into the sands of the Nazca province; hiking a rainbow mountain; and of course the famous Inca trail leading to Machu Picchu. The Cusco area offers some of the richest collections of architecture, ceramics, and textiles known to man. Program participants can experience the history and culture still alive in the city today. The highlight of any trip to Cusco is a visit to the lost city of Machu Picchu or a hike along the Inca Trail. Peru’s culture is influenced by several ethnicities, first being the Spanish since the inquisition. Mestizos, or mixed Spanish and native, come second; Natives come in third; while Afro-Peruvians come in fourth. The late twentieth century brought about a large Asian-Peruvian community consisting of mostly Chinese and Japanese immigrants. A major influence of the cultures was on the cuisine, which is now globally renowned. Ingredients mostly consist of traditional indigenous and Spanish staples, but with the immigration of the Chinese, Peru was introduced to spices such as ginger and soy sauce, and that’s how Chifa was invented. African influence can be found in dishes like kebabs. The School in Peru is just a 3-block walk from Cusco’s Plaza de Armas, found right in the historical center and is just across the street from Q’oricancha—the holiest site in the entire Incan Empire. You’ll meet many international students with lots of opportunity to practice your Spanish. With large common areas, the institute is a wonderful gathering place for travelers from all over the world. Machu Pikchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru, above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll. BY AIR: Cusco’s airport is located about 15 minutes outside the centre of Cusco. There are currently no direct international flights to Cusco with the exception of some flights from La Paz in Bolivia with, so you will most likely have to make some sort of transit stop in Lima, Peru’s capital before flying on to any of Lima’s 29 international destinations. Flights from Lima to Cusco are an hour long. The same airlines also offer flights to Puerto Maldonado and Arequipa if you plan on visiting other parts of Peru during your trip. Cusco airport is small but does have internet access, a few basic cafes and souvenir shops and a VIP lounge. Cusco’s city center is easy to navigate on foot and everything is within a 15-20 minute walk. Public buses and taxis are also available at very low prices to get to the outer parts of the city. Taxis and ‘collectivos’ are commonly used when traveling outside of Cusco to the Sacred Valley. Private transportation and buses are available for travel to Arequipa and Lima, the Amazon, the Pacific Coast, or to Brazil, Bolivia, and Chile. Rental cars are available on a limited basis. Public transit: Cusco’s public transit runs from 6am to 9pm and costs less than 0.85 USD. If you plan to ride transit, be sure to carry cash and small coins. Large notes or foreign currency won’t be accepted. Taxi: The most popular taxi company is Taxi Turismo Cusco. If you’re hailing one off the street, look for the taxis with board signs on the roof, rather than independent, unmarked drivers. You’ll need to confirm the rate before accepting the ride. Sightseeing buses: If you’re suffering from sore feet, you can also see the city from a sightseeing bus. Cusco Panorámico Servicio Especial has departures from morning through to late afternoon, with each tour lasting just over an hour. Due to Cusco’s elevation, temperatures range from a low of 1°C (34°F) at night to a high of 21°C (70°F) during the day. ‘Green season’ is from November to April, and ‘dry season’ is from May to October with June being the coldest month of the year. The weather in Cusco during May-November (Dry Season) is sunny, warm days and cold, clear nights. In December-April (Rainy Season) intermittent rain and sun during the day with mild, rainy nights. The weather in Lima during May-October is cool, foggy days and cool nights. In November-April hot, sunny days and humid nights. 1-Jan, 29-Mar, 30-Mar, 1-May, 31-May, 24-Jun, 29-Jun, 28-Jul, 30-Aug, 8-Oct, 1-Nov, 2-Nov, 8-Dec, 24-Dec, 25-Dec, and 31-Dec. All year round, Cusco and its surrounding towns celebrate a mix of Inca and Catholic holidays, providing visitors with a variety of different cultural activities to experience. The Cusco area offers a plethora of historical sites. Most commonly, people like to explore the Sacred Valley, Lake Titicaca, and of course Machu Picchu. Housing assistance for your TEFL Course in Peru can be either with local families, independent residences, local hotels and more! Student residences are managed houses where you live with other international students. Both private and shared rooms are available. Breakfast and dinner are included 7 days per week. *Student Residences are available for groups only . Student Residence: Private 4 WEEKS $855USD. EXTRA WEEK $210 USD. Apartment: Private 4 WEEKS $495 USD. Hostel: Private 4 WEEKS $715 USD. EXTRA WEEK $185 USD. Hostel: Shared 4 WEEKS $270 USD. EXTRA WEEK $70 USD. Hotel: Private 4 WEEKS $2,105 USD. EXTRA WEEK $545 USD. Hotel: Shared 4 WEEKS $965 USD. EXTRA WEEK $250 USD. Some students prefer to use Airbnb instead, (visit https://www.airbnb.com), to arrange their own accommodation while taking the course in Peru. You can find housing in apartments, hostels, or single rooms at very affordable prices. The benefits of using this App is that you get to see different photos, read reviews of the place, a map to see the distance from the school, and you can talk to the owner directly. What are the requirements to teach English in Peru? Expenses vary depending on accommodations, personal preferences, and free time activities. Participants should consider snacks, drinks, toiletries, medications, travel, social activities, and emergencies. Note that host families include meals, but not snacks. The table below includes estimates of local prices to help plan your budget. Credit cards are accepted almost everywhere in Peru, though very small stores and markets may not accept them. ATMs are very accessible throughout Cusco. Lunch meals can cost between $3-$8 USD and dinner from $10- $30 USD, or you can buy groceries for about $50 USD. Transportation is less than $1 USD/ride and taxis can cost between $3-$6 USD. Does you provide TEFL job placement assistance in Peru? Housing assistance is available free of charge for those interested and can be either in shared housing, independent living, in local hotels/hostels, Airbnb or with local families. Yes, the TEFL course in Cusco is accredited by the Ministry of Education in Peru. Where can I teach upon graduation of the TEFL Course in Peru? How do I apply for my Tourist Visa to take the TEFL Course in Peru? You should apply for a 90-day Tourist Passport or Visa from the Peruvian Embassy or Consulate in your home country. This can normally be handled by post within a few days and is not expensive. You will not need any documentation from us to support an application for such a visa. Your passport must be valid for six months beyond the date of entry into Peru, and you must be able to obtain a police clearance certificate from your home country if you wish to work in certain countries. Most people from the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand do not need special travel visas to enter Peru. Citizens from these countries usually receive a 90 to 180 day tourist visa upon entering the country. If you are unsure in your particular case, please consult with your destination country’s local embassy for confirmation. Check here if your passport would grant you access to Peru with no Visa. What type of activities are there in Peru? There are many activities to do around Peru! These include cooking demonstrations, snorkeling, salsa dancing, hiking and more! Are there Volunteering Opportunities in Peru? Yes, Peru has many volunteer opportunities! We have had several of our students go on to participate in and really enjoy volunteering before or after the TEFL Course in Peru. Let us know in advance if you are interested so we suggest a few options. Yes-of course! Airport pick-up is included in all of our programs. The School’s professional drivers meet you outside of baggage claim as you exit the airport-just look for the yellow smiley face flag. You receive a Welcome Folder detailing your accommodations, orientation time, and our Emergency contact numbers. Depending on your time of arrival, you come to the School or go directly to your accommodations. Your orientation includes specific details about your program, a health and safety review, and a short walking tour to be sure you’re familiar with the area around the School. During your orientation, you also take a Spanish placement exam. Is Peru a safe country? No. The TEFL Course in Peru are designed to be inexpensive and to provide you with the most flexibility possible. We do everything we can to ensure your program abroad is safe and that you have a great experience; however, we strongly recommend medical insurance to every participant in case of emergencies and unforeseen problems or accidents. Spending money depends on your personal spending habits. It’s important to have money for personal expenses, sightseeing, souvenirs, etc. Generally speaking, we recommend bringing between $50 to $100 per week (USD). All major credit cards are accepted, though a little cash is always good to have on hand as small stores and shops in rural areas may not accept credit cards. The best method for getting money is to simply use ATMs-most banks offer easy ATM access and you can withdraw both dollars and local currency. What is the Suggested Packing List for Peru? The locals are quite conservative. Be sure to bring long pants, conservative length shorts, and t-shirts. Short skirts or shorts, small tank tops, and other revealing clothing may attract unwanted attention. The following is optional: Laptop computer (optional), Tablet, Notebook, pen and Spanish-English dictionary. We believe an important part of any program abroad is to get out and take part in sightseeing and local events. Travel plans are easy to arrange through our on-site travel partners. In Peru, there is plenty to see and do including cultural events, tours, treks, mountain biking, and outdoor markets. Our programs show you how to effectively teach English to non-native speakers and equip you with the tools and experience needed to be successful in the ESL classroom. You will come away from your TEFL training with a thorough grounding in both the theoretical and practical concepts required for teaching English to non-native speakers including: Speaking, Reading, Writing, Listening, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Pronunciation. The TEFL Course in Peru is a 12-Module course that provides you with an important set of competencies required to effectively teach English to second language learners. Participants in the TEFL Course in Peru are continually assessed throughout the program. There are no written examinations, but there are 2 required academic papers and a course portfolio. Class attendance is required. Yes! The whole world wants to learn English. People everywhere, especially young people, recognize that speaking English is their passport to better academic opportunities and a more successful career. Worldwide, there are many more ESL jobs than there are native-speaking ESL teachers to fill them, and this means that TEFL certified teachers are in very high demand in every part of the world. English teaching jobs are found in every country and in virtually every region of the world-Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. There is also high demand for professional ESL instructors in English-speaking countries such as the U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Yes-of course! We’re always happy to hire our talented, hard-working graduates of the TEFL Course in Peru. Yes. There are many opportunities for long-term permanent positions and for advancement into management, such as Director of Studies, Institute Director, and other administrative and executive positions. Other possibilities include teacher training (TEFL Instructor) and materials and curriculum development. In Latin America, ESL teacher salaries can appear very low at first, but remember the cost of living in Peru is very inexpensive. Most ESL teachers can earn enough to pay for a decent apartment (shared) and enough to cover food and other normal expenses, and travel by public transportation. Note that frugal teachers can likely save between $50 to $100 per month, but this depends a great deal on your personal spending habits. Note that private classes are often a great source of extra income for ESL teachers. However, you must be careful to know the rules of the institute you’re working for, because many schools prohibit their teachers from teaching outside students. Is a university degree required for the TEFL Course in Peru? We do not require a college degree to enter our TEFL Course in Peru. The most important qualification is the TEFL certificate itself. However, you may find resistance by some employers if you do not have at least a 2-year college degree. As well, especially in Asia and the Middle East, good ESL jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree. That said, with a TEFL certificate, it is certainly possible to find work without a university degree, especially in South America and other developing regions. Please note that all TEFL program participants MUST bring clothes for teaching classes. Whereas the dress code is casual during the TEFL Course in Peru, the Practical Teaching requires you to dress like a teacher, because you are teaching live English classes-this means well pressed slacks, skirt, or dress, nice collar shirt or sweater, and dress shoes. Yes, our professional drivers meet you outside of baggage claim as you exit the airport; simply find the yellow smiley face flag. You receive a Welcome Folder detailing your accommodations, orientation time, and our Emergency contact numbers. Depending on your time of arrival, you come to the institute or go directly to your accommodations. The TEFL Course in Peru is programmed from 9:00AM to 4:00PM Monday-Friday with additional work after regular class hours and assigned reading each night. As part of the course, you begin teaching right away, and every Friday and Monday are reserved for teaching practice, which takes place in 20-minute mini lessons, including feedback from your TEFL Trainer. At the end of the course, please take the time leave us your feedback card. Client service is important to us and we take your feedback very seriously—it helps us improve our TEFL Course in Peru so that future participants continue to have a great experience during their TEFL Course in Peru. In the evening, we celebrate graduation with our “TEFL Toast,” good food, and drinks; and everyone receives their official TEFL certificate. We have lots of large common areas to hang out and meet up with friends and other interns. At the institute, there is free WiFi, a computer lounge, free Spanish tutoring, and free coffee and tea. During your program, you should definitely take part in the free Tandem Conversation Program to further improve your Spanish. Every month we have a calendar of free activities including salsa dance classes, cooking lessons, movie night, and so on. Travel and excursions are easy to arrange. By taking our TEFL Course in Peru, you receive so much more than a TEFL Certificate and job contacts worldwide, you will get priceless experiences! Your classmates will be a fun mix of people of all ages and professions, from all over the world, creating unforgettable friendships and enjoying the endless surprises that Cusco has to offer.

2019-04-18T12:26:43Z

https://www.tefl-programs.com/destinations/tefl-course-in-peru/

In 1517, Martin Luther posted a list of 95 Theses on his church’s doors. His actions exposed the corruption of the Catholic Church and started what came to be known as the Protestant Reformation. Between the hours of 9 PM Saturday, February 16 and 9 AM Sunday, February 17, 2013, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others will post this list of 95 LDS Theses onto the doors of LDS churches around the world. Join the event here – If you don’t use Facebook, you can still participate! 1. Educate the membership on hidden and revised aspects of Church doctrine and history. 2. Influence Church leaders to officially address topics that have long been dodged and dismissed. Please share this site mormonreformation.blogspot.com and the event http://on.fb.me/SJEBtt on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and any other social media! Friend the event organizer on Facebook (Luther Day Saint)! 1. The primary translation method occurred by Joseph Smith putting his face in a hat and reading a rock known as a seer stone. Despite this, the Church frequently misrepresents the method Joseph used to translate. 2. There is no archaeological evidence of the Book of Mormon, a fact that seriously undermines its authenticity claims. 3. The Book of Mormon is filled with anachronisms that also damage credibility as a Divine record. 4. DNA evidence shows that Native Americans do not come from Middle Eastern heritage. Recently, the Church changed its claim that “the Lamanites are the principal ancestors of the American Indians” to the Lamanites “are among the ancestors of the American Indians”. 5. Many Book of Mormon names and places are strikingly similar to local name and places that Joseph Smith would have been familiar with. Such a resemblance is too close to be a coincidence. 6. The Book of Mormon teaches a Trinitarian view of the Godhead. Joseph Smith’s early theology also held this view. 7. Rather than translating with Divine help, evidence supports that Joseph Smith plagiarized a significant portion of the Book of Mormon from the Bible, Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews and other books contemporary to Joseph’s time. 8. For a book Joseph Smith claimed to be “the most correct of any book on earth,” it is suspicious that the text has undergone nearly 4,000 changes. Most of the changes, apologists argue, are small grammatical or punctuation fixes. However, there have been significant doctrinal revisions as well. 9. The Book of Mormon includes Biblical passages that were later changed in Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible. These Book of Mormon verses should match the inspired JST version instead of the KJV version that Joseph later revised. 10. The story of Laban in First Nephi illustrates that God’s command must invariably be followed, even if it means committing murder. This is a dangerous message that inspires religious extremism. 11. The Book of Mormon quotes Bible verses written after 600 B.C. In other words, these passages didn’t yet exist when Lehi left Jerusalem. 12. Despite Joseph’s claim that this record was written by Abraham “by his own hand upon papyrus”, scholars have found the original papyrus Joseph translated and have dated it in first century AD, nearly 2,000 years after Abraham could have written it. 13. Egyptologists have found the source material for the Book of Abraham to be nothing more than a common funerary text. Joseph was completely wrong in his translation. 15. Joseph was fooled into thinking the Kinderhook plates were ancient records and even attempted to translate them. This demonstrates that he had no real gifts of translation or Divine revelation. 16. Joseph Smith showed his ineptitude for translation when he declared a Greek Psalter to be Egyptian hieroglyphics. 17. Joseph Smith illegally married at least 33 women, some of whom were as young as 14 years old. Some of Joseph’s marriages were secured by promising salvation or threatening damnation. 18. Joseph Smith married at least 8 to 11 women who were already married to other men . This practice is known as polyandry, for which no reference can be found on the Church’s web site. In some cases, Joseph married the wives of men whom he had sent away on missions. Brigham Young also married other men’s wives. 19. It is known that Joseph Smith practiced polygamy, but it is also true that Joseph was accused of sexual impropriety multiple times in several states before the practice of polygamy was revealed and commanded. 20. Joseph Smith and a young woman named Fanny Alger engaged in what Oliver Cowdery called “a dirty, nasty, filthy affair”. Even if Joseph married Fanny as is claimed, he would have had no civil or spiritual authority to do so. 21. Leaders of the Church, starting with Joseph Smith, systematically lied about practicing polygamy. Even recent leadershave been deceptive about when and why polygamy was practiced. 22. Joseph Smith routinely lied to his wife Emma about his extra-monogamous activities, often making her feel alone, abused and foolish. Why would God reveal a commandment to His prophet that would require such deception? 23. In 1886, John Taylor received a revelation regarding the practice of plural marriage. In the revelation, the Lord told Taylor “I have not revoked this law, nor will I, for it is everlasting.” Four years later, Wilford Woodruff contradicted Taylor’s revelation by issuing the 1890 Manifesto. 24. The Church historically lied and presently still lies in telling the membership and outside media that polygamy ended in1890. In actuality, Church-sanctioned and performed plural marriages continued until 1904 and beyond. 25. Jacob 2:24 reads, “Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.” D&C 132:38-39 reads, “David also received many wives and concubines, and also Solomon … and in nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not of me. David’s wives and concubines were given unto him of me.” This is one example of many scriptural inconsistencies in LDS canon. 26. The Church allowed an adulterer, Richard Lyman, to serve as an apostle for 18 years before excommunicating him. Although it appears that fellow members of the quorum did not know about Lyman’s adultery, these “prophets, seers, and revelators” should have had the spirit of discernment to know of Lyman’s unworthiness. 27. Doctrine & Covenants 121:36 teaches that “the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven”, and can be “handled only upon the principles of righteousness.” Given this fact, ordinances performed unrighteously (such as those by Apostle Lyman for 18 years) should not be acceptable in the eyes of God or the Church. However, such ordinances are rarely, if ever, re-performed. 28. In defiance of God’s command to not join any churches, Joseph Smith tried to join the Methodist Church. 29. Joseph Smith told multiple different versions of the events surrounding the First Vision. He waffled on key details including when it happened and what he saw. 30. The First Vision was not taught in church until at least 12 years after it happened. Why would such a miraculous event not be shared at the outset? 31. Between the time of the First Vision and the translation of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith was convicted of fraud for taking clients’ money under false claims that he could detect the whereabouts of hidden treasure. 32. Several early accounts published by the Church claim that the angel who visited Joseph Smith was Nephi. This confusion calls into question the veracity of an actual angelic visit. 33. Given its dimensions and weight, the Gold Plates would have been quite difficult to transport. So the story of Josephescaping from attackers while carrying the plates is far-fetched. 34. The Church uses the testimony of the Three and Eight Witnesses to support the authenticity of the Gold Plates. But there are significant problems with these testimonies, including that one of the witnesses claimed to see the plates only with “spiritual eyes“. 35. Brigham Young claimed that there was a cave located at the Hill Cumorah containing “wagon loads” of ancient records “piled up in the corners and along the walls”. No such cave has ever been found. 36. Although the Priesthood is now taught to have been restored in 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery made no such claim until at least 1834. Why did it take five years for Joseph to tell members of the Church about the Priesthood? 37. The name of the restored Church was changed several times in the first few years after it was established. Why would a prophet receiving revelation have to revise the proper name of God’s Church so many times? 38. Joseph Smith smoked tobacco and drank tea, coffee, and alcohol long after he revealed the Word of Wisdom. In fact, Joseph Smith at one time had a bar in his house and also drank wine at Carthage shortly before he died. 39. Although apologists argue that the Word of Wisdom was initially a suggestion and not a commandment, Joseph Smith taught “that no official member in this Church is worthy to hold an office” if he neglects to obey the Word of Wisdom. By his own teaching, Joseph was not worthy to hold his calling of prophet. 40. Joseph Smith and other early leaders taught that because animals had spirits, they should only be eaten in times of “dire necessity”. Not only does the Church ignore this aspect of the Word of Wisdom, it also acts in direct defiance and hypocrisy by owning and operating the largest cattle ranch in the United States. 41. Brigham Young owned a distillery in Utah and sold whiskey to saints for Pioneer Day celebrations. 42. The official change of the Word of Wisdom from principle to requirement came with no claim of Divine instruction. On the contrary, the shift seems to have taken place for political reasons surrounding Prohibition and desire for mainstream Christian acceptance. 43. Members are taught to believe that Joseph Smith received the endowment through revelation. However, much of the temple ceremony was copied directly from Masonry. 44. The Church requires an oath of commitment from temple participants before the participant knows to what he or she is committing. 45. Until 1990, the temple ceremony contained violent penalties requiring members to make symbolic gestures of slitting their own throats and bowels. Recent Church leaders have been dishonest about these penalties. 46. The removal of these penalties, among other changes, came not by revelation but as a result of a 1988 survey that found that many members were uncomfortable with the endowment. 48. Leaders of the Church have allowed baptisms for dead Holocaust victims, despite promising not to do so. 49. The Church portrays Joseph Smith as a martyr jailed and killed for being a “lover of the cause of Christ”. He was actuallykilled for destroying private property, trying to marry other men’s wives, sharing Masonic secrets, anointing himself King of the world, and other reasons. 50. Church leaders teach that Joseph Smith destroyed the Nauvoo Expositor because it told anti-Mormon lies. In actuality, the newspaper truthfully exposed the Prophets extra-monogamous relationships, among other clandestine behaviors. 51. Joseph Smith claimed that he was going to Carthage “like lamb to the slaughter”. What the Church doesn’t teach is that Joseph had a gun in jail and shot several of his attackers. 52. Joseph Smith set apart his son, Joseph III, to succeed him as prophet. Brigham Young admitted this, but ultimately refused to cede his own leadership to Joseph III. 53. Joseph Smith taught that the moon is inhabited, and that its inhabitants are 6 feet tall and dressed like Quakers. Brigham Young also taught that the moon is inhabited, as well as the sun. 54. Through revelation, Joseph Smith assembled an army of saints to walk to Missouri to redeem Zion. Known as Zion’s camp, this march resulted in the death of 14 men and did not accomplish what it set out to do. However, the church still teaches that this chapter of church history was actually a test for future leaders and ultimately a success. 55. After Joseph Smith’s prophecy to sell the copyright to the Book of Mormon failed, he explained it away by saying thatsome prophecies come from the devil. 56. Joseph Smith made a number of other prophecies that never came to pass. Apologists use manipulative tactics to justify Joseph’s failures. 57. Brigham Young taught that Adam is our father and God, a teaching that later prophets have admitted as not true. More broadly, apostles have told us that the Lord permits false doctrine to be taught within the church. 58. Wilford Woodruff pronounced “the Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as president of this Church to lead you astray.” Unfortunately, this promise has been proven to be untrue. 59. Members of the Church are taught that prophets talk to God and speak for God. But some modern-day prophets admitted that they had never seen, heard, or received revelations from God. 60. The Quorum of the Twelve and members of the First Presidency are sustained as “prophets, seers, and revelators”. Regardless, they haven’t prophesied, seen, or revealed much of anything over the last 100 years. 61. The Church has changed the dates of events in the D&C in order to make Joseph’s conflicting claims appear more plausible. 62. In the 1980’s Church leaders bought forged documents that they believed to be authentic, with the intention of suppressing them. Not only does this event discredit the notion that the Brethren have the spirit of discernment, it also shows the extent to which the Church will try to hide information that disproves the Church’s exclusive Truth claims. 63. The “Teachings of Brigham Young” manual dishonestly implies that Brigham was a monogamist by listing only two non-concurrent wives. Church editors have also changed all of Brigham’s mentions of “wives” to “wife”. 64. For years, Church leaders have told the untrue story that Thomas B. Marsh left the church over “milk strippings”. In truth, Marsh left in large part because he didn’t agree with the violent practices of the Danites. 65. Brigham Young said “I have never preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call scripture.” Despite this prophetic utterance, later church leaders have dismissed as non-scriptural the Journal of Discourses, from which this quote and many other of Brigham’s teachings come. 67. The Church stifles honest scholarship of Mormonism, going as far as excommunicating people who find and publish history that contradicts the Church’s narrative. 68. The Church reports inflated and inaccurate membership numbers. 69. The 12th article of Faith states that “we believe in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” One way in which the Church ignores its own counsel is by baptizing illegal immigrants, and even giving them leadership callings. 70. The Church has knowingly allowed and at times encouraged unethical missionary recruiting practices including baseball baptisms in the U.K. and soccer baptisms in Latin America. 71. Leaders pursued plans to build a nine-story addition to the Missionary Training Center, despite having promised that no MTC building would ever exceed four stories. 72. Church leaders teach members to bear testimony in order to obtain one. This is a manipulative practice that leads toconfirmation bias. 74. Brigham Young and other Church leaders taught that some sins were so serious that they were beyond the reach of Christ’s atonement. These sins, Young taught, could only be atoned for by literally spilling the blood of the sinner upon the earth. 75. In the past, the Church tried to deny Young’s violent teaching. Now, most leaders admit that it was taught but denounce it as a false doctrine. 76. The Church has never truthfully admitted to, or apologized for, its involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a tragedy in which 120 emigrants were brutally slaughtered by Mormons at the command of Church leadership. 77. Brigham Young wrote a letter to Bishop Warren Snow of Manti, approving of violent actions taken by Snow. The Bishop had castrated a young man who was courting a woman Snow wanted to take as his own plural wife. 78. Even though Joseph Smith ordained a black man to the priesthood, the Church institutionally denied individuals of African descent full blessings of membership for over 100 years. 80. Despite overwhelming evidence of racism in the early modern Church, leaders continue to claim that the reason for the priesthood ban is unknown. As such, the Church has never admitted error or apologized for excluding blacks from the priesthood. 81. For many years, Church leaders taught that African Americans could only enter the Celestial Kingdom as servants. 82. Unbeknownst to most members of the Church, early Latter-day Saint women were given a form of the priesthood, which they used to bless others by the laying on of hands. Despite this precedence, women in the Church today do not hold the priesthood. 83. The Church has a long history of discriminating against women and teaching that they are to be subordinate to men. 84. In campaigning against marriage equality on Prop 8 in 2008, the Church violated requirements of tax exempt organizations. These actions contradict the charge to obey, honor, and sustain the law. 85. Many homosexual members feel guilt, depression, and shame as a result of the stiff anti-gay rhetoric taught by church leaders. Some have even been driven to suicide. 86. In the 1970’s, LDS-owned Brigham Young University conducted electroshock therapy on gay students to try to make them straight. 87. The Church refuses to disclose its finances, even to its tithe-paying members. This fact is even more discouraging given President Hinckley saying that financial “information belongs to those who made the contribution”. 88. In Kirtland, Joseph Smith set up an illegal bank that ultimately failed and caused many of the saints to lose their money. There is also evidence showing that Joseph intentionally misrepresented the solvency of his institution. 89. Despite being “lay clergy”, mission presidents receive a significant amount of financial benefits from the Church. What is more disturbing, however, is that these leaders are explicitly told not to disclose information on funds received, even to tax advisers or the government. 90. The Church spent billions of dollars for the recently completed City Creek Center. That the “only True and living Church on the face of the earth” would spend so much on a self-serving, for-profit venture is discouraging. 91. Even if no tithing funds were used for City Creek, as the Church claims, nearly all non-tithing funds in possession of the church are derived from tithing. 92. The Church, which preaches and expects modesty in dress and abstinence from alcohol, is hypocritical in its advertisingof the City Creek mall. 93. The Church relies on FAIR, FARMS and other apologists to defend the faith, but intentionally keeps some distance in order to maintain plausible deniability. 94. Church leaders often teach us that “warm feelings” are more valid in determining truth than actual, verifiable scholarship. 95. The Church ignores the issues and questions of sincere truth-seeking members of the Church. We earnestly petition the Church to provide official, honest, and complete responses to these issues.

2019-04-19T22:14:45Z

https://beggarsbread.org/2013/02/

My previous article was about setup Internet connection on Teracom router. Now it is the time to configure WiFi and WiFi security on Teracom router with BSNL DSL Connection. BSNL provides Teracom modem with routing facility. So, though it is a modem we can connect multiple computers to it if DHCP server is enabled on the configuration page. Setup wireless in Teracom wireless router is as simple as selecting the radio Wireless Network. In Wireless settings page we can select the proper encryption to secure its WiFi network from external intruders. This device has the facility to enable MAC Address Filtering to provide additional security. Let us check step by step how to setup WiFi security on this device. Please note that default Login IP address of Teracom Router is 192.168.1.1 but if you change that IP address, you should use the new IP address to the login setup page. Now you will be prompted to enter Teracom router username and password. Now click OK to login. Now you will be in BSNL overview page. If you are looking for steps to setup Internet on this device, click on the link below. Click on Wireless Network which located under Configuration tab. In this page, you can activate WiFi on BSNL Teracom modem. Turn on WiFi by selecting enable button opposite to Wireless Network. You can change the name(SSID) of your network by typing any name on the field Network Name(SSID). It is better to select channel selection auto because then the device will choose the best channel automatically. It supports the following encryption standards. Select proper encryption from the drop-down menu opposite to security options. If you are a home user and just need security and not worry much about it, the easier one is WEP 64 Bit Encryption. If you select this as the security option, you can type any hexadecimal number ( 0-9 and A-F) as the wireless key. Don't forget to click on confirm button. Now onwards you need to enter this ten digit key to log in to your wireless network. If you are very much conscious about the security of your wireless network, I recommend you to use WPA or WPA2. Then you should select Wi-Fi Protected Access or Wi-Fi Protected Access2 from the drop-down menu. You can select authentication mode for Teracom Wireless network as PSK and enter the Pass Phrase. After this, without this PassPhrase, no computers are allowed to join your wireless network. If you are facing any issues with connecting devices to WiFi network, follow the steps provided in the link below. In this tutorial, you have learned how to configure wireless on Teracom modem for BSNL Internet connection. You have also learned how to enable wireless security with BSNL connection. Teracom modem WiFi configuration is the same for most of the Teracom models. To learn how to configure Teracom modem with BSNL connection click on the link below. The configuration step is same for most of the BSNL type 2 modems. connection esp BSNL/Airtel. No need to pay anything anymore on renting or as caution deposit for Modem/Router from your providers. Leaving for abroad and selling it just for 4k rupees. Contact me @ gotovamsee@gmail.com/+919177971000 now. Thank you for your post. To know more about teracom modem wireless settings follow the link below. Best Teracom Modem Deals. Best suited for BSNL users. Type 11 Teracom BSNL wireless Modem. Connect multiple computers using same BSNL connection. I am now using WEP 64 bit encryption in teracom modem but don't think it is enough ? Can I upgrade to WPA without any issue ? Yes, we can enable WPA protection in BSNL Teracom modem. While selecting the wireless security settings you should select Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and create a pass phrase for it. I always recommend you to enable WPA in your Teracom modem than enabling WEP in it. WPA is more secure compared to WEP. Portable Play Station is compatible with 802.11B standard only. Please set your wireless network to 802.11B only and try to connect to the network. If still your Portable Play Station is not connecting to the Teracom wireless network, you may degrade your wireless security to WEP. It is because WPA sometimes shows compatibility and connectivity issues. error comes access point not getted what i have to do ? Could you please explain a little bit more about your issue? 1. Disable the security (wireless encryption ) and try to connect. 2. Change the Wireless network Name and Wireless channel. I recommend you to follow the thread for more help. can i connect MTS net connector through USB by teracom bsnl type 6 modem ? through USB by TERACOM BSNL type 6 modem ? if yes what shal i do ? Can you elaborate your question a little more? I have done the Terrcom MODEM LAN Configiration as mentioned. The lan is enabled in my laptop. and the connection is through but I am not getting the web page. and check whether you type the correct user name and password given from BSNL. If you type wrong user name or password while configuring the teracom modem, you will not be able to access Internet. I am new to BSNL, I did set upthe Lan and it is perfect. but Wireless I couldnt figure out what the issue is. Please select channel 1, 6 or 11. "the network did not assign a valid ip address in a given time .you may not have connectivity to network" I recommend you to go through the following post. Thanks a ton.. I was able to set up my internet connection. Your blog was really very helpful. I am happy to see this post helped you. Thanks Gopi for adding value to this post. WEP 64 bit encryption can use Hexa decimal keys and it should be 10 digits. Thanks for pointing our Rev's key's error (11 digits ). Thanx,that was pretty neat.My need is slightly different and i wonder if you can provide any input to me in this regard.I have Type 2 Teracom wireless Modem and i intend to do port forwarding,as i dont know nothing about port forwarding,i am unsure about what other details to provide you with,in case u require more details,kindly specify. You can find port forwarding option in BSNL Type 2 teracom modem under security tab. If you select the option direct key, you should manually give a 10 digit hexa decimal key. I have got a wireless printer (Dell V313)which I am not able to pair with the network. I have a wireless internet connection and a wireless enabled laptop (Dell). I am could connect my laptop to the internet without any problem. But my lap is not getting connected with the printer. The printer's WiFi signal is searching for signals but it is not able to find a device. Do I need a router for connecting the printer wirelessly? Hope I have not confused too much? Your Wireless Printer should have an IP address if you want to access printer from laptop wirelessly. So I recommend you to add a static IP to your printer in the same IP range of your Access Point. Then your printer may connect the wireless network. Please follow this step and if the issue is not fixed write back with details about your network diagram. Thank you Siju for the suggestion. To be frank, I never understood what you suggested to do. However, I tried to connect through the modem and it worked.. Eearlier I was trying to connect the printer directly to the laptop; in vain. Now, I switched on the wireless modem ( It is a router as per the Dept JTO), the printer and the laptop and tried to set up the printer as per the installation procedure. The printer got connected. Anyway thank you for the suggestions. When I typed 'admin' as user name and password, a message ''authentication error'' is displayed. what will be the reason? please help me. I am glad to see that your issue is fixed by yourself. Authentication error means you typed a wrong combination (or wrong)of Username/password to login your BSNL modem. Even when I typed the username and password as admin correctly, it shows authentication error. thanks a lot dude.....god bless!! Hi... I'm trying to connect to wireless on the terracom but it doesn't get past authenticating. I turned of authentication but it still doesn't connect. I've never used wireless so far on this modem. What could be the issue? user name: "admin" and password: "admin" does not work it seems. the dialog box, just keep me asking the username password. can you just a alternative way? Have you created a wireless key for the wireless network from teracom modem ? I recommend you to follow the steps provided in the link below. It seems you configured your Teracom modem with custom user name and password. Try to find the right user name and password or you have to reset the modem and reconfigure it. To know how to reset a modem, follow the steps in the link below. Here is one link which will help you for the same. thanks Siju... I finally figured out the issue. The Mac filter was set to whitelist. Once I disabled it... it connected like a charm. I am happy to see you fixed the issue by yourself. It is normal, modem produces heat while it is working. So better make sure there is a proper air circulation. If you find hardware issues with your BSNL modem, you should contact the local BSNL exchange. They will either repair or replace your faulty modem without any additional charges since it is under warranty period. I have a Teracom BSNL NON-Wireless CPE/Router. I have connected a DLink Access Point to one of the four lan ports on the BSNL Router. I am able to connect to the DLink Wireless network from my wireless laptop, and dial the internet from the BSNL dialer and then browse. The 192.168.1.1 doesn't open the Teracon/BSNL webpage. I get a DNS error. I want to configure the DLink AP to autodial the internet whenever someone tries to browse a website after connecting to the DLink Network. Please help with steps as I am not networking guy. For wireless issues please follow the steps provided in the link below. Wat is this.. It shows blank in my configuration page.. To know more about port forwarding in BSNL modem, click on the link below. In order to configure your BSNL modem in mts broad band connection, you have to have the configuration details from mts broad band customer care. Though some values are different the configuration of the modem is similar to the above post. Can you tell me what error you are getting when you try to connect to the Internet? Is it a wireless laptop or connecting with an Ethernet cable ? i have bsnl teracom wifi router and i have got a new MTS usb modem. how can i configure it, kinly do a favour to me. You cannot direct connect MTS USB modem to Teracom wifi router. However, using ICS you can provide Internet to Teracom and use it as a Wifi AP for other computers. If the default combination does not works, you might have configured a different user name and passowrd. So please try to remember that other wise the only option is reset and reconfigure the modem. But after reset you will loose all previous configuration. Can wifi be set in such a way that it will work only during specified hours. i.e. say 2 pm to 4 pm. I couldn't find any options in Teracom modem to accomplish the specified need. How much money I should spent to buy this teracom modem? Is this modem free from BSNL ? If yes what I should do to get modem free from BSNL ? who ever you are .. you are awesome! m getting msg again n again- connection to server 192.168.1.1 failed. If you are not able to access modem with 192.168.1.1 IP address, I recommend you to follow the steps provided in the link below. Thanks I was looking for a way to secure the wireless in BSNL modem. They didn't tell me how to secure the wireless and I know my neighbour was hacking my BSNL wireless Internet. With your steps I stopped him. Thanks to solve my problem. I have a teracom modem and I have configured it according to your instructions on this blog. Also I have enabled the wireless on the modem and done all the settings. Now both my laptop and desktop connects to the internet at the same time, one through wireless connection and other through LAN cable respectively. Usually I used to connect my desktop to internet by using a username n password but now after all the above configurations I don't have to use the username n password to connect to internet and the desktop connects automatically. The problem is that while I am connected to internet via wireless on my laptop I don't want the desktop to connect to internet directly without using username and password. What settings do I need to do so that my desktop doesn't connect to internet directly? You may reset the modem and do a power cycle to fix it. After this you should try to update the firmware. Doing PPPoE configuration, the user name and password are saved in modem and so you do not need to type them again to connect to Internet. Thats why your Desktop and Laptop connect to the Internet automatically without asking the User name and Password provided by your ISP. If you do not want this facility you should delete the PPPoE configuration and perform a bridge connection in your modem. So you should select bridge instead of PPPoE while configuring modem to ask the desktop before connecting to Internet. My android phone gets connected with Teracom WiFi modem, but not accessing internet. What settings are required for accessing internet? First step is to verify whether other computers connected to Teracom modem are going online? Please verify Internet configuration in Teracom first before start troubleshooting your Android phone. Hey Can you tell me how can I setup this BSNL modem? It is from Teracom as you mentioned here. I'm havin dis bsnl modem...is it possible to giv other wifi connections lyk beam....? If you are not able to join Teracom Wireless network, please click on the link below. have a query... about the teracom modem... the broadband works just fine.. i wanted to enable the wireless network and that happened well too.. though when i click on connect to the network, it shows an error.. on troubleshooting, it says "investigate router or access point issues".. kindly help.. You should make sure that Teracom modem is running on latest firmware version. If the issue persists flash the firmware. Is your wireless working fine with other devices ? May be another wireless network is saved in your galaxy in the same name. I recommend you to change the wireless network name (SSID) from Teracom modem and then try to connect to the new network name from your phone. If you forget your BSNL Modem password, please try the solution provided in the link below. Hi I am looking www.teracom.in but it says page cannot be displayed! any help? If you are not able to login to Teracom modem either your password is incorrect or you need to clear the cache and cookies in your browser. How to Connect Dongle in this Modem? We cannot connect dongle to Teracom modem now. I am having the bsnl Teracom router installed by bsnl personnel. Initially the wifi was strong and no problem. But after a week the signal become very poor and unable to connect through wifi but through Ethernet card it is working. How to solve wifi problem. Even bsnl guys cannot restore wifi connection. Pl help. Can you access the Wireless network from your BSNL router using other wireless devices like SmartPhone, Laptop etc ? If no, then the issue is with Teracom router. Check the following facts first. 1. Are you using any wireless devices like cordless phone in your home ? If yes it might cause interference. 2. Have you updated the firmware on Teracom router ? i don't see Wireless network option under configuration tab. what should i do ? When i give 192.168.1.1 on browser , i am unable to see Wireless Network option under configuration tab .. what should i do ? Hi Sachin, Can you write the model number of your modem ? Perhaps your modem does not have wireless feature. I don't think Teracom modem provided by BSNL supports network printer. Can you give me the exact model number of your modem ? Hi! Can I use The Teracom Modem in Wifi Station Mode other than the AP Mode? I do not think you can configure Teracom modem in station mode to accept signals from other APs. for that I am not able to entering to the tab it stock in the wifi page after selecting the language page. all my phones including a Samsung s3, tab and also my laptop all switch automatically connected to the wifi router. I wake up in the morning and just press again the connect button. Bingo...it is connected..!!! Not understand why it is behaving like this. I am not done any changes in routers settings also. Is it not connecting b'coz the routers frequency mismatch or anything else ?? From the details of your comment, it is clear that the issue is at your Nexus 10 side. I recommend you to follow the steps provided in the link below. I recommend you to follow the instructions provided in the link below. Are you trying to connect via wireless or Ethernet cable ? If it is a wireless connection, I recommend you to follow the steps provided in the link below. Seems a strange issue. Since the modem is giving connection to two devices (except two android phones)at the same time I think the routing feature is working fine. I suggest you to update the modem firmware and check for the issue. To download firmware, you might contact BSNL customer care. I recommend you to follow the steps mentioned in the link below. I have a samsung galaxy a5 and teracom BSNL modem. My phone's wifi not obtain the IP address and not connect with wifi. I m so worried about this... other wifi connection are connect but above teracom bsnl modem is not connect. I suggest you to follow the instructions provided in the link below. If this modem (Teracom T2-B-Gawv1.4U10Y-BI) is supplied by BSNL, you can follow the same instructions provided in this tutorial to enable and setup WiFi pasword. Under Wireless , you can change the current wireless password by changing the passphrase. For which model of Teracom WiFi router you want to limit the download speed ?

2019-04-22T06:15:34Z

https://www.corenetworkz.com/2010/06/setup-wireless-and-security-in-teracom.html

Nexusguard’s Q3 2017 Threat Report shows that 55 percent of DDoS attacks in the Q3 of 2017 were multi-vector attacks, blending UDP-flood, NTP amplification and other attack vectors. The survey analyzed more than 9,600 attacks. This number is 10 times more than the previous year. “To protect against these types of attacks, organizations need to develop coordinated efforts to uncover new threats, remedy affected apps and ensure mitigation methods can flex and suppress growing attacks,” Kasman added. As per the reports, China accounted for almost 21 percent of DDoS attacks worldwide in the third quarter. US stands at 5 percent. Another survey conducted by Imperva’s Global DDoS Threat Landscape shows that attacks on bitcoin exchanges represented 3.6 percent of network layer DDoS attacks during the quarter. The survey was conducted after analyzing 5,765 DDoS attacks. There is also rise in the number of high packet rate network layer attacks, in which the packet forwarding rate exceeded 50 Mpps or even 100 Mpps. “This is a cause for concern, as many mitigation solutions are ill equipped to process packets at such a high rate,” the report notes. AlertSec ACCESS is a patent pending technology designed to check that devices are encrypted before access to a network is granted. Laptop theft can lead to data breach. OptumRx, the pharmacy care branch of a health services and technology company in Minnesota suffered data breach due to the theft incident. An unencrypted laptop was stolen from an employee’s vehicle in Indianapolis, Indiana as per the reports. OptumRx mentioned that laptop belonged to an unnamed vendor who provides home delivery services to patients. Affected information included names, health plan names,addresses, prescription drug information, and prescribing provider information. For some individuals, dates of birth may have been exposed. It also confirmed that Social Security numbers, credit cards, and other financial information was not involved. Company did not specify the number of affected individuals. Also, Office of Civil Rights data breach portal didn’t mention the number of individuals affected by the security incident. OptumRx has now contacted local authorities and launched an outside investigation. It has also mailed notification letters to potentially affected individuals. The company is also working with local law enforcement. Vendor is asked to put in place additional levels of protection for its laptops. One free year of identity theft protection services is also offered to individuals. It is supplying each with a one-year subscription to LifeLock. With this service, LifeLock actively monitors an extensive online network for attempts to use your personal information. Whenever suspicious activity is detected, user will receive an alert via email or phone. It also provides services for missing wallet. It has asked users to just call— anytime, anywhere—and LifeLock will help cancel or replace the contents to stop fraudulent activities. Coverage under this scheme includes credit and debit cards, Social Security cards, driver’s licenses, insurance cards, checkbooks and travelers checks. Impersonating can be done and Identity thieves can redirect your mail, containing financial information and providing a fraudulent new address. LifeLock monitors these such kinds of requests and notifies the user. Identity thieves also get involved in illegal buy, sell and trade sensitive personal information on black market Internet sites. LifeLock now patrols over 10,000 criminal websites. Any suspicious activity is notified to the user. LifeLock works with bank to reduce emailing to affected individuals to avoid identity theft. Sign in to your secure member portal at LifeLock.com is available all the time. Alertsec is the full disk encryption service that delivers a mobile data protection system for all information stored on laptops used throughout your organization. Heath information was potentially compromised when laptop was stolen from doctor’s car. Around 400 patients are notified about the recent data breach. The incident took place at the Medical College of Wisconsin. According to the Medical College spokesperson, that a document with private information on about 400 patients was stolen from the vehicle, while a laptop with data on one patient was also taken. “Firm policies are in place prohibiting the downloading of patient information to portable media, as well as the secured transport of documents containing patient information,” read a Medical College statement obtained by WDJT. “We sincerely regret that this unfortunate event occurred. The purpose of this policy is to address the appropriate protection and encryption of all MCW Electronic Protected Information (EPI) when it is stored, transferred or accessed on any mobile device. Full mobile device encryption and related controls are required to access MCW’s electronic network or information through another means. All Workforce members must protect MCW EPI. Workforce members using a Mobile Device owned by a workforce member, an external entity or one provided by MCW, to access or store EPI must have encryption using an institution-approved tool. On personally owned devices (i.e. BYOD), should a workforce member choose not to permit MCW’s MDM tools and supporting processes on their personal device, access to MCW’s secured resources will be limited as outlined in procedure below. Suburban Lung Associates in Illinois may face a protected health information (PHI) breach after its medical record was found in the dumpster. Local CBS affiliate news station reported the incident. It found out that number of patient charts was thrown in the trash that contained PHI such as patients’ medical histories, Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses. According to the reports, CBS affiliate discovered that the dumpster belonged to Filefax, a company that stores and transports medical records. The news station broadcasted news with inputs from dumpster driver. The women driver explained that Filefax had allowed her to take the papers a week prior and she had made ten trips with 1,000 pounds of Suburan’s medical records. Filefax avoided news reporter after the incident. News station has alerted Northbrook police of the unsecure medical information, and police then ordered Filefax to secure the dumpster in their facility. Hospital mentioned that its security policy mandates that the vendor destroy all medical files. They also said that they believe in protecting patient’s information at priority and this breach is isolated incident. The Illinois Attorney General and US Department of Health and Human Services are now investigating the breach. Alertsec has created a web based encryption service that radically simplifies deployment and management of PC encryption by using industry leading Check Point Full Disk Encryption (former Pointsec) software. Organizations, especially corporate giants, have to have an information security policy in place that proves they have taken necessary steps and measures to safeguard the information they gathered. If these policies are not adhered to, the regulators may prosecute. Alertsec Xpress is used by organizations that have recognized the need to protect their information. Customers range from single-user sole traders and consultants to multinational companies with a large number of offices around the globe. Over 4 million users worldwide use Alertsec Xpress’s Check Point Full Disk Encryption. Medical Practice has notified 3000 patients who have suffered data breach due to employees who tried to contact them with intention of starting own business. Still there are conflicting reports about the involvement of a business associate (BA) and the dates of breaches. Information which was affected included patient names, addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and health conditions. On or about July 24, 2014, Owensboro Medical Practice, PLLC, and its business associate, Research Integrity, LLC, learned that a spreadsheet containing protected health information was wrongfully copied and removed from the offices of Research Integrity by a former employee. This occurred despite the fact that only properly authorized persons at Research Integrity had access to the spreadsheet. Owensboro Medical Practice and Research Integrity are both investigating the incident and taking steps to ensure that patient information is secure. The companies are also pursuing the return of all hard copies of all information from the spreadsheet, the deletion of all computerized versions of such information on a permanent basis, and permanent injunctions against the persons or entities who had possession of the data from utilizing such data in the future. White Lodging Services, a hospitality company that manages 168 hotels in 21 states under Hilton, Marriott, and Sheraton brand names, is investigating a suspected credit and debit card breach. It has suspected 14 hotels along with some hotel restaurants and lounges where the possible breach happened at point of sales systems. It suspected below establishments. Sheraton Erie Bayfront, Erie, Pa. Holiday Inn Midway, Chicago, Ill. Marriott Denver South, Denver, Colo. Marriott Indianapolis Downtown, Indianapolis, Ind. Marriott Richmond Downtown, Richmond, Va. Marriott Louisville Downtown, Louisville Ky. Renaissance Broomfield Flatiron, Broomfield, Colo. Radisson Star Plaza, Merrillville, Ind. Information about the breach first came to notice when security journalist Brian Krebs reported, Marriott properties operated by White Lodging Services based in Merrillville, Ind was affected by the unnamed card processors tied to fraud involving hundreds of credit cards to a number of this property. He reported location of other affected hotels as Austin, Texas, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Louisville, Ky., and Tampa, Fla., among other cities. White Lodge spokeswoman Kathleen Quilligan told The Times of Northwest Indiana, “An investigation is in progress, and we will provide meaningful information as soon as it becomes available,” White Lodge is owned by Dean White 90, whose Forbes estimation is $1.9 billion. His company manages 168 hotels under variety of brand names. Alertsec has created a web based encryption service that radically simplifies deployment and management of PC encryption by using industry leading Check Point Full Disk Encryption (former Pointsec) software. Organizations, especially corporate giants, have to have an information security policy in place that proves they have taken necessary steps and measures to safeguard the information they gathered. If these policies are not adhered to, the regulators may prosecute. A health data breach at Saint Louis University (SLU) affected 3,000 patients. Few SLU employees received a phishing scam mail and gave out their account information by mistake. About 20 SLU email accounts were accessed by the phishing culprits. These email accounts had protected health information (PHI) of about 3,000 people and about 200 Social Security numbers as well. According to the spokesman, employees’ financial information was the main target of the scam. And while no unauthorized financial transactions occurred, 10 employees changed their direct deposit information. Affected students were offered one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection and restoration to affected students. The University discovered that some SLU employees provided their account information in response to a sophisticated phishing email scam they received. A full-scale investigation was started immediately after the University learnt about the incident. Employees who were targeted by the email scam were notified, and their accounts were secured. While about 10 employees had direct deposit information changed, no unauthorized financial transactions occurred. As it appeared the main target of this scam must have been the direct deposit information of these employees. However, during the investigation, the University learned that the incident also resulted in unauthorized access to about 20 SLU email accounts belonging to approximately 3,000 individuals which contained their personal health information. This was mostly limited to diagnosis, procedure and medical chart information. The email accounts contained about 200 people’s name and Social Security Numbers. At present, there is no evidence to suggest that someone accessed any of the personal information in the emails. All individuals whose information was in the email accounts affected by the incident are being notified by the University. SLU has also notified law enforcement officials and has engaged the services of a global leader to avoid such incidents in future. University is providing the affected individuals with one year of free continuous credit monitoring and identity theft protection and restoration. Instructions for signing up for these free services are enclosed in the notification letters. Data breach incidents are increasing at fast pace and their impact is affecting millions of people. California being one of its victims, the personal information of millions of individuals were exposed in data breaches last year. Personal information of 2.5 million residents of California were exposed in 131 online data breaches in 2012, as indicated by a recent study done by Attorney General of California. However, more than half of these incidents were easily avoidable. In a report released by the Attorney General Kamala Harris she revealed that out of 2.5 million California residents affected by data breaches in 2012, 1.4 million would have been fine if the companies had encrypted their data. If the exposed data had been cloaked earlier these incidents would have never been reported under existing state law. According to some other findings in 2012, average of 22,500 people were affected in each breach. Majority of data leakage incidents were reported in retail industry followed by the insurance and financial sectors. More than 100,000 people were involved in five of the reported data breaches, more than half of breaches involved SSN. “Data breaches are a serious threat to individuals’ privacy, finances and even personal security. Companies and government agencies must do more to protect people by protecting data.” Harris said in a release. Harris gave some suggestions for companies and agencies, explaining them that data encryption should always be used to secure the data. She asked them to train their employees and contractors to improve the overall security in an organization. However, some experts in IT security industry declared awareness training to be a waste of money and time. She further proposed to improve the readability of breach notices, better the access to resources for victims of breaches involving Social Security and driver’s license numbers, and the passage of legislation mandating notifications of breaches involving the exposure of online credentials, such as usernames and passwords. French game maker Ubisoft has admitted that hackers have breached its networks, gaining access to usernames, email addresses and encrypted passwords. The incident likely affects millions of people worldwide. User access control is a cornerstone of information security management. Everybody needs it and does it. Yet in practice it’s poorly conceived, implemented and managed. It’s one of those elephants in the room: a problem that is highly significant, but difficult to tackle so business is reluctant to acknowledge it. If it wasn’t for compliance and internal audit the situation would be even worse. A number of theoretical models have been developed over the years but they don’t deliver in practice. We’ve got ACLs, Capabilities, MAC, DAC and RBAC, none of which work in a medium or large enterprise. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the models are too simple. Access control is too rich a subject to be determined by a single label or capability. Deciding whether a user can have access to an enterprise system is far from simple. It depends on who they are, what they are, how important they are, where they are, what they are doing, to whom they report, and what other access they might already possess. This requires unambiguous policy rules and reliable decision processes, supported by smart application front-ends, all of which are in short supply. Secondly, we rarely have enough knowledge in one place to make this work. Neither systems owners nor administrators have perfect knowledge of who does what across the enterprise and what access they require, especially in an organization that is continuously acquiring, divesting and restructuring business units. Thirdly, we don’t pay enough attention to administration. It’s too often poorly resourced and equipped. Cost savings can easily be made by streamlining processes and implementing better tools but this requires enterprise-wide cooperation and it’s rarely at the top of any business unit’s agenda. Fourthly, we are constrained by legacy systems and infrastructure which complicate the problem space and restrict the solution space. Ambitious visions quickly fade into the distance. An inescapable fact is that we can’t control a complex situation with simple controls. Today’s access requirements are a sophisticated blend of numerous factors. Access rights depend on multiple user characteristics that can be surprisingly hard to define measure and monitor. The end result is that it doesn’t get done properly. Instead we fudge it. We do the minimum we can to keep it going and rarely get around to developing the rich policies, knowledge base and streamlined processes needed to build a sustainable, effective access control system. In fact it’s much easier to close the back doors, through vulnerability management and penetration testing rather than to secure the front entrance. But compliance is catching up with the thousands of wrong profiles, toxic combinations and dead registrations. Sooner or later we will have to put aside the easy, quick wins and face up to the long-standing elephant in the room. Prevention is better than cure. Prevent your systems from attacks with Alertsec Xpress.

2019-04-20T20:57:33Z

http://blog.alertsec.com/category/uncategorized/

Indoor vegetation no longer handiest add color on your rooms, however they upload life and a experience of relaxed comfort. However, its now not as smooth as just selecting a plant from a nearby keep, putting it in a nook and hoping for the high-quality. There are a few simple policies you want to hold in mind while you are finding out which sort of flowers you would love to deliver domestic. There is room length to don’t forget, lighting, humidity and temperature. Of path there may be also your time, and what sort of of it are you willing to spend being concerned on your flora. It need not be a large commitment, but a bit of expertise before hand is precious while deciding on the right plant life for your life-style. There are many different styles of indoor flowers to pick out from and it’s all about alternatives. If you are a beginner then looking for some thing that is hardy and easy to care for based for your personal routines. Succulents inclusive of Cactus and Aloe Vera require little or no preservation aside from appropriate lighting fixtures and are very forgiving whilst you’re settling into a brand new routine of plant care. If you need a flowering plant, African Violets are every other easy opportunity that are to be had in almost any shade; however they do they require a chunk extra consistent care. They can develop both in natural and synthetic light and prefer to live put inside the equal region as soon as placed. Philodendrons are a favourite with each large and small leaf types and can be placed or hung in corners that do not have as lots direct light. English Ivy love a quiet nook out of the sun,they grows quick and as with maximum vines, are easy to transplant. Shamrocks are tremendous indoor plant life that have quite while blossoms and are one of the easiest house vegetation to take care of when you have a pleasing sunny spot for them to enjoy. The Peace lily is likewise an eye catcher, quite sturdy and is comfy in either sun or indirect sun. Aside from being beautiful, flowers are herbal air-purifiers. Areca Palms, Spider flora and many Ferns are all beneficially to our environment by means of cleaning our air from many pollutants such paints, gases and pesticides that we are exposed to day by day. When you buy your flora, make sure that they may be loose from any pests by way of checking the undersides of the leaves for any possible symptoms of sickness or bugs. Make certain to pick out plants that appearance clean, nicely-potted, and with healthy foliage and new increase. This entry was posted in Home and Garden on January 19, 2019 by blue. This entry was posted in business on January 16, 2019 by blue. Basement windows are important structures installed around basement windows which help to keep away any soil or dirt particles from getting in and damaging the basement window. These window wells can be quite captivating and have a lot of functional benefits to homeowners. Brighter rooms filled with natural sunlight are every homeowner’s dream or goal. If at all you want your basement to have great lighting, one should install a window well system. Natural light from the sun is able to get in through these window wells and light up the room making it brighter. Some people however choose to have artificial lights installed which don’t serve the same purpose as natural sunlight that provides warmth for you and your family. Window wells provide security and safety standards for all those homeowners who have them installed in their basements. In the market, one can find plenty of window wells that are made specifically for safety purposes for you and your family. A good example of window wells that are big enough to allow an adult to use them as escape routes are the egress windows. During emergency situations such as fire, floods or robbery, you and your family members can use these windows as exits to safety. In order to comply with safety standards, all homeowners are required to install egress windows in most states to act as fore exits during emergencies. The natural beauty of window wells and their covers make them very appealing. Most people should install them into their basements since they add to the appeal of their basements. Most people have them installed due to their safety benefits and seldom think of them beautifying the interior of their basements. One can find a wide variety of window well designs in the market which they can choose according to their taste. Custom window well covers are also available for one to choose from depending on the color or style they want. Doing so will help your family to be safe at all times, add beauty to your basement and comfort as well. Egress windows also help to bring in wind and air into the basement. One can always choose to install an egress window in their basements instead of having an airless and dark basement. Ventilation is thus improved as clean air will get into the room. This makes it more comfortable for your family to spend time in the basement peacefully. Homeowners should always ensure that they leave their egress windows locked. Leaving them open might cause intrusion by robbers who use them as entry points to your home. It is also crucial to protect your window well properly in order to prevent issues of leaking or flooding. This entry was posted in Uncategorized on January 13, 2019 by blue. A nicely built sports activities pitch and a first-class floor nicely enhance the usual of the game being performed and the players’ performance. Non league via to expert golf equipment and their ground staff purpose to provide the exceptional wearing experience inside their budgetary constraints. Professional recommendation can ensure you get the fine pitch inside your finances and could help keep away from destiny overall performance issues, which can encompass poor floor drainage, sunken areas, excess compaction, and bad root growth. A sports activities floor contractor can provide one of a kind production and preservation alternatives. These need to cater to your clubs necessities at the same time as handing over you a project to the best requirements and with minimal disruption to the membership. When choosing your sports turf contractor search for accreditations or institutions they have from professional bodies which relate to pitch specifications, standards of work and substances used. These can be from the IOG or LDCA as examples. Strip the existing floor the use of a GKB Combinator or Koro Field Top Maker. Football or Rugby pitch drainage technique to include predominant drain and laterals, backfilled with drainage gravel and sand. Spread and laser grade sports activities sand / rootzone. Final ground guidance using a Blec Rotor Rake. Apply a pre turf or seed fertiliser. Surface installation with soccer turf or sports seed. A bowling inexperienced drainage solution the use of a chief and laterals backfilled with washed drainage gravel. Laser grade a gravel over the whole crown inexperienced bowls surface. Install concrete channels round the edge of the playing surface. Laser grade rootzone across the floor. Surface installation with Bowling Green turf. Strip the existing floor using a GKB Combinator. Install cricket wicket primary drainage answer the use of a first-rate drain and laterals again packed with washed drainage gravel and drainage sand. Spread a gravel carpet to create a drainage layer. Spread and laser grade topsoil. Spread and laser grade heavy loam topsoil. Final ground practise by hand raking. Apply a ryegrass Cricket sports seed. This entry was posted in Home and Garden on January 9, 2019 by blue. This entry was posted in Uncategorised on January 5, 2019 by blue. Most girls while burdened visit salons to get either a hair remedy or a nail trimming. Some men get a rubdown or foot rub when tired from lengthy hours of work. In one of these way, gardens deserve a form of protection as properly and those have to be followed with actual hobby and affection. Each day whilst someone wakes up and sees their garden, they experience refreshed, fulfilled, and content. It is that feeling that gives one the possibility to begin his day right. And regardless of the long day and the busy afternoon, one looks forward to going domestic to look what plant life have bloomed. This form of joy is priceless. It is better than going to the salon. So it is just proper that the gardens get what they actually have to have – a complete nail clipping. This manner that a lawn must to be nicely sustained, wiped clean, and trimmed from time to time given that additionally they work hard at keeping their proprietors glad and this is their praise. A properly retained garden has a number of blessings. First, it grows higher. One can feel real pleasure as he watches how his flora grow. Second, it gives one the opportunity to create some thing new. One can change the design of the garden to healthy their taste via including new plants, changing pots, or trimming dead branches. Third, it provides fee to a property, definitely by means of bringing greater splendor to it. The more one keeps her garden, the more benefits he gets. A small lawn can probable be maintained easily however for larger ones, that may be a distinctive story. Bigger gardens pose a incredible quantity of labor and for a busy individual; it is so hard to hold up. This is where gardening services can help. Those who do these are typically a set of gardeners who’re skilled at doing the job. They are passionate, hardworking, and quality people. They can do entire gardening landscape layout and construct. Gardening services facilitates one accomplish responsibilities inside the lawn which might be difficult for just one character to carry out. Some offerings which might be also offered on line through the internet include maintenance which may be executed as a one off venture or in a form of a package deal. Another is lawn waste removal wherein the company consists of out waste collection or garden duties on a monthly basis. Third, is the laying of latest patios, decking, and paths. Fourth, there may be hedge trimming, grass cutting, and lawn care. Fifth, is weeding, digging, and mulching. Mulching is a system wherein composted bark is applied over the soil to preserve moisture and also to save you the growth of extra weeds. Finally, sixth is tree maintenance which incorporates pruning, elimination of stump, removal of dangerous timber, and dismantling of bushes for different purposes. This entry was posted in Home and Garden on January 2, 2019 by blue. What is Car Gap Insurance For? In the event that you have obtained another or utilized auto with an advance, you likely owe more than the book estimation of the auto for the initial a while you pay on your advance. In the event that you didn’t put down a huge initial installment or on the off chance that you moved over an advance from your old auto, you may owe a considerable amount more than your auto’s esteem. You are presumably eager to acknowledge this reality since you are truly simply influencing auto installments, to have an auto you like, and realize that you will get the auto paid off in time. However, the truth of the matter is, most autos lose 20% of their esteem the moment you drive them off of the auto part. In the event that you purchase a $20,000 auto, the real estimation of that auto may drop to $16,000 rapidly. You have recently endured the 20% shot. Notwithstanding, mischances happen. On the off chance that you have a mishap, or your auto is stolen, you might be approached to agree to the book esteem. That implies, despite everything you owe $4,000 more on an auto you can’t utilize! Auto Gap Insurance shuts the hole between an auto’s esteem and your credit. You typical auto protection will in any case pay off the auto’s esteem. The auto hole protection arrangement will compensate for any shortfall. Presently some complete auto approaches may pay the financed esteem, however most don’t. Make certain to take a gander at your strategy or request that your operator ensure. Where do you Buy Car Gap Insurance? When you purchase an auto, your merchant will offer you an auto hole protection strategy. He or she may even offer to roll the cost into your advance. In any case they will charge you a superior cost. A few people buy auto hole protection along these lines since it is basic, or in light of the fact that they don’t understand they even have an alternative! In any case, you do have a decision. You don’t have to pay $700 or $800 for auto hole protection from an auto dealership. You can purchase a similar arrangement on the web, specifically from the insurance agency. Online auto hole protection strategies sick cost not as much as half as much as auto hole protection from the merchant. You could pay $399 rather than $700 to $800! Your other decision is to locate a far reaching auto protection strategy that will cover your auto’s financed esteem. You can call around, however it is less demanding to utilize a web based citing framework. Search for a protection citing framework that is BBB affirmed and has an expressed security approach. This entry was posted in Insurance on December 29, 2018 by blue. The rains are right here once more and it is time to buy rain boots. Finding the right rain boot could be a challenge, specially if you have wide calf’s. More and extra boot makers are recognizing the reality that feet and calf’s do are available in different sizes and are making foot put on to fulfill the ones needs. Below are some suggestions to manual you while looking for a extensive calf rain boot. Getting the right size in the boot your purchase is very critical. More often than now not you would want to try unique sizes to find the ideal in shape. Getting a boot with a zip or that can stretch might be an choice when you have huge calfs. Always pick the proper size taking note of your foot after which the calf. When attempting footwear in a shop or buying online, continually attempt one size above and below what you normally put on to offer you an excellent sense of which one to go together with. Initially most rain boots are intact and will now not damage down, however maximum have a overall performance threshold and could begin letting water in. Pay attention to the fabric the shoe is fabricated from and ask questions . If you sweat lots beneath your feet or calf, there are pairs with anti microbial linings with a purpose to soak up the sweat and save you odor build up and discomfort. Even although the primary plan is to maintain your feet dry on wet days, you ought to be at ease in what you’re sporting. You ought to ensure that each the only vicinity and the calf location too are extensive and that you have enough room. You do now not need to cut off movement for your legs, nor do you need to cope with blisters and stress sores from tight becoming footwear. Make sure you get the proper size common. There might be a drop in temperature every time it rains, so it’s far vital that you buy a boot with a few lining interior to maintain your feet heat. If your boot does now not have any lining internal, put money into a thick socks to hold your ft heat and comfortable. Do no longer permit the climate forestall you from playing existence. The recommendations above will manual you to the right pair of boots. Put in your Dav rain boots and go for a stroll. You can still do grocery buying or visit the workplace without getting your toes wet. Most of all you can placed on your pair and take a stroll along your preferred trail and enjoy nature in particular after a down pour. This entry was posted in Home and Garden on December 26, 2018 by blue. This entry was posted in business on December 22, 2018 by blue. Phentramin is a great one balance weight loss plan tablet for a selected treatment. It’s much like a normally prescribed diet pill that controls first-rate fat on line. It is an effective pill which just like amphetamines. This amphetamine denotes a great health drug for absolutely everyone. 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Phentarmine-d is compromise of a bend of scientifically confirmed prescription, which increases the formulas weight reduction effectively; This Phentramine-d can be helpful for conjunction with right weight loss plan and workout, help improve vanity, enhance self belief ranges, and reduce health dangers connected to extra weight and obesity. There is a reason with the variations in Phentramin-d and Weight loss tablets. Generally Phentramin-d isn’t made up of a aggregate of extracts and herbs that every one too often cannot live as much as their claims. Instead, the clinical formula created by professionals within the weight loss subject ensures which you’ll shed pounds rapid and adequately. The secret of this Phentarmine –d pills, it’s far a aggregate of 1, 3, 7 Trimethylxanthine and 1, 3 Dimethylpentylamine hydrochloride, after all of them are blended, they enhance the power of the user while suppressing the urge for food and the burning fat. Phentramin-d solves all of your issues on-line, it is a maximum powerful service that gives that is a felony pill for you, what is the counter opportunity tablet in place of Phentermine and Adipex. It remains bringing you effective weight loss results. For some humans, losing weight is easy. They can drop a garb length or two with only a few weeks worth of work. The common individual, but, has to expend a bit extra power in order to lose weight, by using starting a food regimen and exercise program. There are some prescription options for those humans, and surgical alternatives, but many are locating that Phentramin-d is the high-quality non-prescription eating regimen tablet choice to shed pounds. The largest distinction among different weight loss plan drugs and Phentramin-d is that Phentramin-d virtually works. Phentermine is a prescription diet pill that you will be able to get from your physician in case you are having a difficult time dropping weight. The hassle, however, is that Phentermine virtually has a number of very worrying aspect effects that show elaborate for a few users. Trusted on-line drug offers you a best attempt in on line drug provider. This entry was posted in Uncategorised on December 19, 2018 by blue.

2019-04-19T01:23:27Z

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Bankruptcy can be complicated and it is normal to have questions. The following is a list of common questions about Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and some general answers. You will likely have specific questions based on your specific situations, so call George C. Selby, Esq. for a free consultation. 5. What is means testing? Means testing is a method of determining a person’s eligibility to maintain a chapter 7 case. Under means testing a person whose current monthly income from all sources multiplied by 12 exceeds the median annual income, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau, for the person’s state and family size, must show that he or she has a disposable monthly income of less than $124.58*. If disposable monthly income is greater than $207.92*, there is a presumption of abuse in filing a chapter 7 case. If monthly disposable income is between those two numbers, then you must determine whether the debtor could repay at least 25% of unsecured debt over the course of a 60-month period. If a debtor is deemed to be able to pay, their case will be dismissed or converted to chapter 13 unless special circumstances exist. 6. How is means testing carried out? Every person who files a chapter 7 case must file a Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income (Official Form 122A-1) and a Chapter 7 Means Test Calculation (Official Form 122A-2). These forms, when completed and filed, show the person’s current monthly income and the current monthly expenses that the person is allowed to claim. The person may also be questioned about his or her income and expenses at the meeting of creditors. From these sources a person’s current monthly disposable income is calculated. This figure is then used to determine the amount of the monthly payment that the person can afford to make to his or her unsecured creditors. If the person’s monthly disposable income is greater than $207.92*, the person will almost always be disqualified from maintaining a chapter 7 case and the case will be dismissed or, with the person’s consent, converted to chapter 13. 7. How is it decided whether a person is ineligible for chapter 7 under means testing? The Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income (Official Form 122A-1) and a Chapter 7 Means Test Calculation (Official Form 122A-2) filed by the person will initially show whether the person is able to make monthly payments to unsecured creditors in the amount required for ineligibility. If so, the clerk of the bankruptcy court will send a notice to all creditors that a presumption of abuse has arisen in the case. The United States trustee then has until 10 days after the meeting of creditors to file a statement as to whether a presumption of abuse exists in the case. Then the United States trustee or any creditor can move to dismiss the case. The bankruptcy judge will ultimately decide whether the case should be dismissed. 8. What is a presumption of abuse and how does it affect the case? 9. Who is eligible for a chapter 7 discharge? (1) A person who has been granted a discharge in a chapter 7 case that was filed within the last 8 years. (2) A person who has been granted a discharge in a chapter 13 case that was filed within the last 6 years, unless 70 percent or more of the debtor’s unsecured claims were paid off in the chapter 13 case. (3) A person who files and obtains court approval of a written waiver of discharge in the chapter 7 case. (4) A person who conceals, transfers, or destroys his or her property with the intent to defraud his or her creditors or the trustee in the chapter 7 case. (5) A person who conceals, destroys, or falsifies records of his or her financial condition or business transactions. (7) A person who fails to satisfactorily explain any loss or deficiency of his or her assets. (8) A person who refuses to answer questions or obey orders of the bankruptcy court, either in his or her bankruptcy case or in the bankruptcy case of a relative, business associate, or corporation with which he or she is associated. (9) A person who, after filing the case, fails to complete an instructional course on personal financial management. (10) A person who has been convicted of bankruptcy fraud or who owes a debt arising from a securities law violation. 10. What types of debts are not dischargeable in a chapter 7 case? (6) Debts for intentional or malicious injury to the person or property of another, if the creditor files a complaint in the bankruptcy case. 11. Who should not file a Chapter 7 case? 12. Is there anything that a person must do before a chapter 7 case can be filed? Yes. A person is not permitted to file a chapter 7 case unless he or she has, during the 180 day period prior to filing, received from an approved nonprofit budget and credit counseling agency an individual or group briefing that outlined the opportunities for available credit counseling and assisted the person in performing a budget analysis. This briefing may be conducted by telephone or on the internet, if desired, and must be paid for by the person. When the chapter 7 case is filed, a certificate from the agency describing the services provided to the person must be filed with the court. A copy of any debt repayment plan prepared for the person by the agency must also be filed with the court. In emergency situations, the required credit counseling may be conducted after the case is filed. 13. How much is the filing fee in a chapter 7 case and when must it be paid? The filing fee is $335.00 for either a single or a joint (husband and wife) case. The filing fee is payable when the case is filed. However, if the person filing can show that his or her income is less than 150 percent of the official poverty line and that he or she is unable to pay the filing fee, the court can waive payment of the filing fee. If the person filing is unable to pay the entire filing fee when the case is filed, it may be paid in up to four installments, with the final installment due within 120 days (use Official Form 103A). The period for payment may later be extended to 180 days by the court, if there is a valid reason for doing so. Unless payment is waived by the court, the entire filing fee must ultimately be paid or the case will be dismissed and no debts will be discharged. 14. Where should a chapter 7 case be filed? A chapter 7 case is filed in the office of the clerk of the bankruptcy court in the district where the debtor has resided or maintained a principal place of business for the greater portion of the last 180 days. The bankruptcy court is a federal court and is a unit of the United States district court. 15. May a husband and wife file jointly under chapter 7? Yes. A husband and wife may file a joint case under chapter 7. If a joint chapter 7 case is filed, only one set of bankruptcy forms is needed and only one filing fee is charged. However, both husband and wife must receive the required credit counseling before the case is filed and both must complete the required financial management course after the case is filed. 16. Under what circumstances should a joint chapter 7 case be filed? A husband and wife should file a joint chapter 7 case if both of them are liable for one or more significant dischargeable debts. If both spouses are liable for a substantial debt and only one spouse files under chapter 7, the creditor may later attempt to collect the debt from the nonfiling spouse, even if he or she has no income or assets. In community property states it may not be necessary for both spouses to file if all substantial dischargeable debts are community debts. The community property states are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin (and Puerto Rico) (with Alaska being an opt-in community property state). 17. When is the best time to file a chapter 7 case? (1) Don’t file the case until all anticipated debts have been incurred, because only debts that have been incurred when the case is filed are dischargeable and it will be another eight years before the person is again eligible for a chapter 7 discharge. For example, a person who has incurred substantial medical expenses should not file a chapter 7 case until the illness or injury has been either cured or covered by insurance, as it will do little good to discharge, say, $100,000 of medical debts now and then incur another $100,000 in medical debts after the case has been filed. (2) Don’t file the case until the person filing has received all nonexempt assets to which he or she may be entitled. If the person is entitled to receive an income tax refund or a similar nonexempt asset in the near future, the case should not be filed until after the refund or asset has been received and disposed of. Otherwise, the refund or asset will have to be turned over to the trustee. (3) Don’t file the case if the person filing expects to acquire nonexempt property through inheritance, life insurance or divorce in the next 180 days, because the property may have to be turned over to the trustee. (4) If an aggressive creditor has threatened to attach or garnishee a person’s assets or income, the case should be filed immediately to take advantage of the automatic stay that accompanies the filing of a chapter 7 case (see Question 18, below). If a creditor has threatened to attach or garnishee the person’s wages or if a foreclosure action has been filed against his or her home, it may be necessary to file the case immediately in order to protect the person’s interest in the property. 18. How does the filing of a chapter 7 case by a person affect collection and other legal proceedings that have been filed against that person in other courts? 19. How does filing a chapter 7 case affect a person’s credit rating? It will usually worsen it, if that is possible. However, some financial institutions openly solicit business from persons who have recently filed under chapter 7, apparently because it will be at least 8 years before they can file another chapter 7 case. If there are compelling reasons for filing a chapter 7 case that are not within the person’s control (such as an illness or an injury), some credit rating agencies may take that into account in rating the person’s credit after filing. 20. Are the names of persons who file chapter 7 cases published? When a chapter 7 case is filed, it becomes a public record and the names of the persons filing may be published by some credit-reporting agencies. However, newspapers do not usually report or publish the names of consumers who file chapter 7 cases. 21. Are employers notified of chapter 7 cases? 22. Does a person lose any legal or civil rights by filing a chapter 7 case? 23. May employers or governmental agencies discriminate against persons who file chapter 7 cases? 24. Will a person lose all of his or her property if he or she files a chapter 7 case? Usually not. Certain property is exempt and may not be taken by creditors unless it is encumbered by a valid mortgage or lien. A person is usually allowed to retain his or her unencumbered exempt property in a chapter 7 case. A person may also be allowed to retain certain encumbered exempt property (see Question 34, below). Encumbered property is property against which a creditor has a valid lien, mortgage or other security interest. 25. What is exempt property? Exempt property is property that is protected by law from the claims of creditors. However, if exempt property has been pledged to secure a debt or is otherwise encumbered by a valid lien or mortgage, the lien or mortgage holder may claim the exempt property by foreclosing upon or otherwise enforcing the creditor’s lien or mortgage. In bankruptcy cases property may be exempt under either state or federal law. Exempt property typically includes all or a portion of a person’s unpaid wages, home equity, household furniture, and personal effects. Your attorney can inform you as to the property that is exempt in your case. 26. When must a person appear in court in a chapter 7 case and what happens there? The first court appearance is for a hearing called the “meeting of creditors,” which is usually held about a month after the case is filed. The person filing the case must bring photo identification, his or her social security card, his or her most recent pay stub and all of his or her bank and investment account statements to this hearing. At this hearing the person is put under oath and questioned about his or her debts, assets, income and expenses by the hearing officer or trustee. In most chapter 7 consumer cases no creditors appear in court; but any creditor that does appear is usually allowed to question the person. For most persons this will be the only court appearance, but if the bankruptcy court decides not to grant the person a discharge or if the person wishes to reaffirm a debt, there may be another hearing about three months later which the person will have to attend. 27. What happens after the meeting of creditors? 28. What is a trustee in a chapter 7 case, and what does he or she do? 29. What are the responsibilities to the trustee of the person filing the case? 30. What happens to property that is turned over to the trustee? 31. What if a person has no nonexempt property for the trustee to collect? 32. How are secured creditors dealt with in a chapter 7 case? Secured creditors are creditors with valid mortgages or liens against property of the person filing. Property that is encumbered by a valid mortgage or lien is called secured property. A secured creditor is usually permitted to repossess or foreclose on its secured property, unless the value of the secured property greatly exceeds the amount owed to the creditor. The claim of a secured creditor is called a secured claim and secured claims are collected from or enforced against encumbered property. Secured claims are not paid by the trustee. A secured creditor must prove the validity of its mortgage or lien and must usually obtain a court order before repossessing or foreclosing on encumbered property. Encumbered property should not be turned over to a secured creditor until a court order to do so has been obtained, unless the property is encumbered only to finance its purchase. The debtor may be permitted to retain certain types of encumbered personal property (see Question 34, below). 33. How are unsecured creditors dealt with in a chapter 7 case? 34. What encumbered property may a person retain in a chapter 7 case? A person may retain (or redeem) certain encumbered personal and household property, such as household furniture, appliances and goods, wearing apparel, and tools of trade, without payment to the secured creditor, if the property is exempt and if the mortgage or lien against the property was not incurred to finance the purchase of the property. A person may also retain without payment to the secured creditor any encumbered property that is both exempt and subject only to a judgment lien that is not divorce-related. Finally, a person may retain certain encumbered exempt personal, family, or household property by paying to the secured creditor an amount equal to the replacement value of the property, regardless of how much is owed to the creditor. 35. How may a person minimize the amount of money or property that must be turned over to the trustee in a chapter 7 case? (5) accrued earnings and benefits, (6) tax refunds, and(7) sporting goods. It is usually advantageous to take steps to ensure that the value of each of these assets is as low as possible on the day and hour that the chapter 7 case is filed. By doing this the person will not be cheating or acting illegally; he or she will simply be using the law to his or her advantage, much the same as a person who takes advantage of the tax laws by selling property at the appropriate time. Cash. If possible, the person filing should have no cash on hand when the chapter 7 case is filed. Further, if he or she has received cash or the equivalent of cash in the form of a paycheck or the closing of a bank account shortly before the filing of the case, the funds should be disposed of for valid purposes and receipts should be obtained when disposing of the funds in order to prove to the trustee and the court that the funds were validly disposed of prior to the filing of the case. Money possessed or obtained shortly before the filing of a chapter 7 case may be spent on such items as food and groceries, the chapter 7 filing fee, the attorney’s fee in the chapter 7 case, and the payment to creditors whose claims the person intends to reaffirm and continue paying after the filing of the chapter 7 case. Payments should not be made as gifts or loans to friends or relatives, however, as the trustee may later recover these payments. Bank Accounts. The best practice is to close out all bank accounts before filing a chapter 7 case. If a bank account is not closed, the balance of the account should be as close to zero as the bank will allow and all outstanding checks must clear the account before the case is filed. If the person filing has written a check to someone for, say, $50 and if the check has not cleared the account when the case is filed, the $50 in the account to cover the outstanding check will be deemed an asset and will have to be paid to the trustee. Prepaid Rent. If a person’s rent is paid on the first day of the month and if the person’s chapter 7 case is filed on the tenth day of the month, the portion of the rent covering the last 20 days of the month, if not exempt, will be deemed an asset and will later have to be paid to the trustee. If possible, the person should make arrangements with the landlord to pay rent only through the date that the case is to be filed and to pay the balance of the rent from funds acquired after the case is filed. If this is not possible, the case should be filed near the end of the rent period. Landlord and Utility Deposits. Unless they are exempt, the person filing should attempt to obtain the refund of all landlord and utility deposits before filing a chapter 7 case. Otherwise, the deposits, or their cash equivalents, will have to be paid to the trustee, unless the deposits are exempt. Accrued Earnings and Benefits. In most states, and under the federal law, only a certain percentage (usually 75% or thirty-five times the federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is larger) of a person’s earnings are exempt. Therefore, the trustee may be allowed to take the nonexempt portion (usually 25%) of any accrued and unpaid wages, salary, commissions, vacation pay, sick leave pay, and other accrued and nonexempt employee benefits. Normally, then, the best time to file a chapter 7 case is the morning after payday. Even then, if the pay period does not end on payday, the person may have accrued earnings unless special arrangements are made with the employer. If annual leave or vacation pay is convertible to cash, it should be collected before the chapter 7 case is filed, as should any other nonexempt employee benefits that are convertible to cash. Tax Refunds. In most states, a tax refund is not exempt and becomes the property of the trustee if it has not been received by the person prior to the filing of a chapter 7 case. Therefore, if a tax refund is expected, a chapter 7 case should not be filed until after the refund has been received and validly disposed of. Even if the case is filed before the end of the tax year, if the person filing later receives a refund, the trustee may be entitled to the portion of the refund earned prior to the filing of the case. The best practice, then, is to either file the chapter 7 case early in the tax year (but after the refund from the previous year has been received) or make arrangements to ensure that there will be no tax refund for that year. 36. May a utility company refuse to provide service to a person if the company’s utility bill is discharged under chapter 7? If, within 20 days after a chapter 7 case is filed, the person filing furnishes a utility company with a deposit or other security to ensure the payment of future utility services, it is illegal for a utility company to refuse to provide utility service to the person after the case is filed, or to otherwise discriminate against the person, if its bill for past utility services is discharged in the person’s chapter 7 case. 37. What should a person do if he or she moves before the chapter 7 case is completed? 38. How is a person notified when his or her discharge has been granted? 39. What if a person wishes to repay a dischargeable debt? A person may repay as many dischargeable debts as desired after filing a chapter 7 case. By repaying one debt, a person does not become legally obligated to repay any other debts. The only dischargeable debt that a person is legally obligated to repay is one for which the person and the creditor have signed what is called a “reaffirmation agreement.” If the person was not represented by an attorney in negotiating the reaffirmation agreement with the creditor, the reaffirmation agreement must be approved by the court to be valid. If the person was represented by an attorney in negotiating the reaffirmation agreement, the attorney must file the agreement and other required documents with the court in order for the agreement to be valid. If a dischargeable debt is not covered by a reaffirmation agreement, the person filing is not legally obligated to repay the debt, even if the person has made a payment on the debt since filing the chapter 7 case, has agreed in writing to repay the debt, or has waived the discharge of the debt in a waiver that was not approved by the bankruptcy court. 40. How long does a chapter 7 case last? 41. What should a person do if a creditor later attempts to collect a debt that was discharged in his or her chapter 7 case? 42. How does a chapter 7 discharge affect the liability of cosigners and other parties who may be liable to a creditor on a discharged debt? 43. What is the role of the attorney for the person filing a chapter 7 case? (1) Analyze the amount and nature of the debts owed by the person filing and determine the best remedy for the person’s financial problems. (2) Advise the person filing of the relief available under chapter 7 and the other chapters of the Bankruptcy Code, and of the advisability of proceeding under each chapter. (3) Assist the person in obtaining the required pre-bankruptcy budget and credit counseling briefing. (4) Assemble the information and data necessary to prepare the chapter 7 forms for filing. (5) Prepare the petitions, schedules, statements and other chapter 7 forms for filing with the bankruptcy court. (6) Assist the person filing in arranging his or her assets so as to enable the person to retain as many of the assets as possible after the chapter 7 case. (7) Filing the chapter 7 petitions, schedules, statements and other forms with the bankruptcy court, and, if necessary, notifying certain creditors of the commencement of the case. (8) If necessary, assisting the person filing in reaffirming certain debts, redeeming personal property, setting aside mortgages or liens against exempt property, and otherwise carrying out the matters set forth in the statement of intention. (9) Attending the meeting of creditors with the person and appearing with the person at any other hearings that may be held in the case. (10) Assist the debtor in attending and completing the required instructional course on personal financial management. (11) If necessary, preparing and filing amended schedules, statements, and other documents with the bankruptcy court in order to protect the rights of the person. (12) If necessary, assisting the person in overcoming obstacles that may arise to the granting of a chapter 7 discharge. The fee paid, or agreed to be paid, to an attorney representing the person filing in a chapter 7 case must be disclosed to and approved by the bankruptcy court. The court will allow the attorney to charge and collect only a reasonable fee. Most attorneys collect all or most of their fee before the case is filed. *Remember: The law often changes and each case is different. The above is meant to give you general information and is not legal advice. You should contact a bankruptcy attorney to obtain answers regarding your specific situation. Still have questions? We are here to help! Call Selby Legal now at (845) 419-3383 for a free consultation.

2019-04-25T10:59:12Z

https://www.selbylegal.com/chapter-7-info

*Corresponding Author: Wadikar DD, Food Preservation and Sensory Science Division, Defense Food Research Laboratory, Siddartha Nagar, Mysore, Karnataka State-570011, India. Citation: Wadikar DD., et al . “Phyto sterols: an appraisal of present scenario”. Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 1.1 (2017). Phytosterols exist as naturally occurring plant sterols that are present in the non-saponifiable fraction of plant oils. Phytosterols (plant sterols and stanols) are well known for their low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C)–lowering effect. Phyto sterols specifically sitosterol, stigma sterol and campesterol are the major ones available among the foods. These are found in cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetables, nuts & oilseeds, unrefined vegetable oils in variable quantities in general. Specifically, the nuts and oilseeds have high amounts of phytosterols. The solvent extraction and supercritical fluid extraction can be used for lab-scale recovery of phytosterols from oilseeds apart from the industrial byproducts from oil refineries or paper industry. Different techniques such as thin layer chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography and column chromatography can be used for identification and purification/isolation of phyto sterols. The phytosterols have various functional properties such as hypo-cholesterolaemic effect, anti-oxidative effect, anticancer activity and Immuno-modulatory activity, however, the cholesterol lowering effect has been the attraction for research studies. The daily doses, considered optimal for the purpose of lowering blood cholesterol levels, are 2-3g of phyto stanols and/or phyto sterols. Foods such as bread-spreads, milk shakes etc. can be developed to ensure the consumption of required dose. Phytosterols and Phytostanols are a large group of compounds that are found exclusively in plants. They are structurally related to cholesterol but differ from cholesterol in the structure of the side chain. They contain a total of 27-30 carbon atoms. They consist of a steroid skeleton with a hydroxyl group attached to the C-3 atom of the A-ring and an aliphatic side chain attached to the C-17 atom of the D-ring. Sterols have a double bond, typically between C-5 and C-6 of the sterol moiety. They are derived from hydroxylated polycyclic isopentenoids having a 1, 2-cyclopentanophenthrene structure . Phytosterols exists in different forms and available in wide sources (Table 1). The oils and nuts are the major source of phytosterols including certain seeds (Table 2). In addition, the fruits such as banana, oranges, fig and passion fruit the phytosterol content range 16-44 mg/100g while that of vegetables such as lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli was 39-43 mg/100g The legumes such as kidney bean, broad bean, and pea the phytosterol range was 124-135 mg/100g while in the vegetables such as cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, onion and yam contains phytosterols in the range 10-18 mg/100g . Phytostanol and phytosterol esters are chemically stable, fat-type materials, having comparable chemical and physical properties to edible fats and oils. Phytosterols are insoluble in water, but are soluble in non-polar solvents, such as hexane, iso-octane and 2-propanol. The esters are also soluble in vegetable fats and oils. Heat stability of the phytosterol esters is comparable to or even better than that of the parent vegetable oil or oil blend from which the fatty acids were derived . A study by Soupas., et al. stated that during shelflife studies (long term storage), as pure material or in a product, phytosterol esters produce similar decomposition products to those of edible oils and fats as oxidation of the fatty acid moiety is the major cause of the quality deterioration and formation of off-flavors in oils and fats. The same study revealed that the phytosterol moieties are very stable at ambient temperatures and at higher temperatures some oxidation may occur. The isolated phytosterols in general will be a whitish solid and/or a pale yellow colour. These phytosterols are soluble in organic solvents but insoluble in water which reveals the hydrophobic nature of the sterols. The melting point is between -25.7 to 38.8°C. Dietary sterols recently have received increased attention because they are associated with public health. Dietary cholesterol raises the serum cholesterol level and therefore increases the risk of heart diseases. On the contrary, dietary plant sterols have been demonstrated to reduce serum cholesterol levels . Plant sterols also may inhibit colon cancer development [9,10] . For many years, the existence and dietary effects of these minor sterols were largely ignored and poorly understood. Sterol chemists and biochemists focused their efforts on cholesterol because elevated serum cholesterol levels were shown to be a prominent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Recent strategies for lowering serum cholesterol (and risk of CVD) utilize dietary restrictions to limit cholesterol intake and/ or require the use of drugs which inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis in humans. In the prospect of lowering cholesterol levels with the recent knowledge about the functional foods consumption of functional foods fortified with natural phytonutrients has become attractive to many than use of drugs or dietary restrictions. As phytosterols have many neutraceutical properties (Table 3), it is considered as functional food component. Phytosterols have several functional use such as hypo-cholesterolaemic action , anti-oxidative effect , can protect against several cancers such as colon, breast and prostate cancer , and positive effects on benign prostatic hyperplasia have been reported . Their actions as immune modulators and their anti-inflammatory properties have also been described . The major factors affecting phytosterol oxidation include temperature and heating time as well as the composition of the lipid matrix. Phytosterol esters were found to be more susceptible to oxidation at elevated temperatures than free phytosterols . Temperature withstanding capacity of phytosterols/phytosterol esters is comparable or even better than their parent vegetable oils from which they are derived. Studies have reported that phytosterols and their fatty acid esters are very stable compounds and undergo only limited degradation during oil processing. Only under harsh conditions at temperatures > 100°C and in the presence of oxygen, oxidation of the phytosterol moiety may occur, in the same way as that for cholesterol . As phytosterols contain only one double bond in the B-ring like the fatty acids but are much more stable than the mono-unsaturated fatty acids (e.g. oleic acid), because of steric hindrance by the ring structure. Therefore, even under severe conditions sterol oxidation products are formed slowly. Salta., et al. have reported that under conditions like when used for shallow frying (temperatures 160-200°C, 5-10 minutes of frying) the level of oxidation of sitosterol esters remains below 1.3%. Somewhat higher values of oxidation products were seen (2.5 and 5.1%) using free sterols instead of esters in the same levels are respectively. Soupas., et al . observed that, during a pan-frying, phytosterol oxides were formed at a very low level. Phytosterols like cholesterol undergo oxidation during storage. The presence of the tertiary carbon atoms in the structure of phytosterols makes them prone to this degradation and formation of variety of oxidized products may occur . Commercial spreadable fats such as margarines, milk and yoghurts formulated with phytosterols are available in the market, and only a very few researchers have dealt with the evaluation of oxidative stability of sterols and factors affecting the formation of oxidized sterol derivatives ; Grandgirard., et al. Johnsson and Dutta ; Moreau ; Moreau., et al. Soupas., et al . . A study by Rudzińska., et al . on phytosterol enriched margarines revealed that the total phytosterol level decreased from 79 mg/g to 63 mg/g during storage. It was found that during storage at higher temperature, oxidation took place 1.5 times faster than at the refrigeration temperature (4°C) (Dutta ; Smith . A study by Conchillo., et al . have detected phytosterol oxidation products in commercial vegetable spreads and low-fat spreads, both enriched in phytosterol esters. The phytosterol-enriched products exhibited four times higher amounts of phytosterol oxidation than the traditional spreads. However, a study by Garcia-Llatas., et al . on ready-to-eat infant formulas observed no significant differences in the total amounts of sterol oxidation products when stored at 25°C for 9 months. The textural characteristics of products fortified with phytosterols are significantly influenced by the nature of phytosterol incorporated. Studies have revealed that when phytosterols are added to products, the firmness of the products was reported to increase. Addition of phytosterol powders at 3 and 4% level in cheese spreads resulted in significant increase in firmness of the cheese spread . They have reported that the increased firmness of the cheese spread might be due to addition of free phytosterols in powder form which occupied the free space present in the cheese spread. Work of shear measures the resistance offered by the sample throughout the probe penetration. It is the amount of energy required to perform the shearing process. The same study revealed an increase in the work of shear from 112.3 to 138.0 N s as the levels of phytosterols addition were increased from 0 to 4% in cheese spread. Stickiness is described as a feeling that can be perceived by tongue and palate [26,27] . The degree to which the product comes loose from different parts of the mouth determines the intensity of stickiness. In the same study by Giri., et al . , as the levels of phytosterols addition was increased from 0 to 4%, a slight, but gradual reduction of stickiness was observed from 9 to 8.5 N; however, this reduction of stickiness was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The slight decrease of stickiness might be due to increase of water activity that represents the decrease of water binding capacity of the product. Phytosterols are insoluble in water or oil. The decrease water holding capacity could be attributed to disturbance of protein matrix due to insoluble phytosterols addition that led to weak gel formation . Work of adhesion is the work necessary to overcome the attractive force between the surface of the product and surface of the probe. The area under the negative peak in penetration was measured as work of adhesion. In the same study the phytosterols addition followed an inverse relationship with the work of adhesion of the product. As the levels of phytosterols addition was increased from 0 to 4%, a sharp, steady and significant (p < 0.05) decrease in work of adhesion from 77.0 to 40.2 N s was noticed in cheese spread. The decrease of work of adhesion in the product was reported as due to reduction of work needed to overcome the attractive force between the surface of the product and surface of the probe due to reduction of stickiness of the product and also might be due to weak gel formation due to insoluble phytosterols addition. Phytosterol extraction in large scale is done from the two main common source vegetable oil distillates and wood pulp/tall oil irrespective of their use in health, pharmaceutical and food applications. Table 4 describes the extraction procedures. Other recovery methods (Table 5) generally used for the Lab-scale separation of phytosterols in small scale process are- Saponification and distillation method; Solvent extraction and Supercritical fluid extraction. This extracted crude phytosterol concentrates needs to be purified for further targeted application. The purification of phytosterols can be achieved by different chromatographic methods. The isolated or crude phytosterol can be incorporated in various food products ranging from milk shakes to bread spreads. However, their usage for health benefits and the claims made by the commercials needs to be clear. In United States a variety of vegetable oil and tall oil based phytosterol ingredients are considered as GRAS and have been used in variety of food products. Their typical usage level ranges from 0.6 to 1.1 g/ serving . In Canada, phytosterols are permitted as novel food ingredients . Total phytosterol consumption is restricted to 3 g/day from specific food categories where amounts per serving are restricted to 1 g/serving. Specific food uses include unstandardized spreads, mayonnaise, margarine, calorie-reduced margarine, salad dressings and unstandardized salad dressings, yogurt and yogurt drinks, and vegetable and fruit juice drinks. In the EU, there are several regulations authorizing the addition of phytosterols to a variety of foods. The safety of phytosterol enriched foods was reviewed by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) who issued the following report titled “the long-term effects of the intake of elevated levels of phytosterols from multiple dietary sources, with particular attention to the effects on [3-carotene”. The SCF concluded that the consumption of 3g of phytosterols per day was safe . f. Specify the intake of plant sterols/stanols that are necessary to reduce the risk of CHD and the contribution one serving of the product can make to that amount. Phytosterols being an interesting area for researchers, dieticians as well as consumers; the information summarized can be useful for the all of them. The extraction, identification and the incorporation of the concentrated phytosterols in a shelf stable food product would be the right thing to ensure its RDA to consumers. The practical utility of the phytosterols and the regulations indicates that the phytosterols have got high potential for the researchers to fill the gaps through establishing the commercial as well as clinical feasibility of use of phytosterols. Table 1: Different forms of phytosterol. Table 2: Major sources of phytosterol [oils, Nut and Seeds]. Table 3: Neutraceutical property of Phytosterols. 2 Wood pulp/tall oil 1. Soapy lipid phase which is obtained in Kraft pulping process is subjected to solvent (methanol) extraction after which the phytosterols are purified by precipitation from the solvent. Table 4: Lab-scale recovery methods of Phytosterols. 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Rao AV and Koratkar R. “Anti-carcinogenic effects of saponin and phytosterols. In: F Shahidi, (ed) ", Antinutrients and Phytochemicals in Food, p. 313-324 Washington DC: ACS Symposium Series, American Chemical Society. 10. Awad AB., et al . “Beta-sitosterol inhibits growth of HT-29 human colon cancer cells by activating the sphingomyelin cycle”. Anticancer Research 18.1A (1998): 471-473. 11. Quiłlez J., et al. “Potential uses and benefits of phytosterols in diet: present situation and future directions”. Clinical Nutrition 22.4 (2003): 343-351. 12. Rafaela da Silva Marineli., et al. “Antioxidant effects of the combination of conjugated linoleic acid and phytosterol supplementa- tion in Sprague-Dawley rats”. Food Research International 49.1(2012): 487- 493. 14. Wilt TJ., et al. “Beta-sitosterol for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia: a systematic review”. British Journal of Urology International 83.9 (1999): 976-983. 15. 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Weenen H., et al. “Texture and mouthfeel of semi-solid foods: Commercial mayonnaises, dressings, custard desserts and warm sauces”. Journal of Texture Studies 34.2 (2003): 159-179. 29. FDA (Food and Drug Administration), 2011. 32. NDIN, 2006. Internet: Specifications of Dietary Supplement Product and Batch Analyses. Downloaded from http://www.fda.gov/ ohrms/dockets/dockets/95s0316/95s-0316-rpt000343-006-Appendix-B-vol268.pdf on 16/02/2015. 33. FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Internet: FDA Issues Proposed Rule on Phytosterol Health Claims. C&B page 1-3. Coving- ton & Burling Llp, 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004-2401 Downloaded from www.cov.com, on1/2/2015. 34. Laakso P. “Analysis of sterols from various food matrices”. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 107.6 (2005): 402-410. 35. Dutta PC and Appelqvist LA. “Saturated sterols (stanols) in unhydrogenated and hydrogenated edible vegetable oils and in cereal lipids”. 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Downloaded from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki /Phytosterol on 20.05.2015. 42. Kritchevsky D and Chen SC. “Phytosterols - health benefits and potential concerns: A review”. Nutrition Research 25.5 (2005): 413-428. 44. Cantwell H., et al. “The effect of conjugated linoleic acid on the antioxidant enzyme defense system in rat hepatocytes”. Lipids 34.8 (1999): 833-839. 45. Santos-Zago LF., et al . “Supplementation with commercial mixtures of conjugated linoleic acid in association with vitamin E and the process of lipid autoxidation in rats”. Lipids 42.9 (2007): 845-854. 46. Yamasaki Masao., et al.“Effect of dietary conjugated linoleic acid on lipid peroxidation and histological change in rat liver tissues”. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 48.12 (2000): 6367-6371. 47. Qin L., et al. “Naringenin reduces lung metastasis in a breast cancer resection model”. Protein Cell 2.6 (2011): 507-516. 48. 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Bouic PJD. “The role of phytosterols, phytosterolins in immune modulation: a review of the past 10 years”. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 4.6 (2001): 471-475. 55. Coss JL.,et al. “Process of purifying Phytosterols from woo or plant-derived sources and compositions resulting there from”. (2000) WO0064921. 56. Kamm W., et al. “Authenticity assessment of fats and oils”. Food Review International 17.3 (2001): 249-290. 57. Copeland D and Belcher MW. “Methods for refining vegetable oils and byproducts thereof”. US6172247. 58. Kamm W., et al. “Authenticity assessment of fats and oils”. Food Review International 17.3 (2001): 249-290. 60. Wong A., et al. “Method for the preparation of phytosterols from tall-oil pitch”. (1999). 61. Rouskova Milena.,et al. “Extraction of phytosterols from tall oil soap using selected organic solvents”. Chemical Papers 65.6 (2011): 805-812. 62. Sato S.,et al. “Process for obtaining fatty acid alkyl esters, rosin acids and sterols from crude tall oil”. WO2004074233 (2004). 64. Abidi SL., et al. “Effect of genetic modification on the distribution of minor constituents in Canola Oil”. Journal of American Oil Chemistry Society 76.4 (1999): 463-466. 65. Firestone D. (Ed.). Official Methods and Recommended Practices of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, 4 th Edi tion, AOCS, Champaign, IL, 1990, Method Ce 3-75. 66. Ibrahim N., et al. “Plant sterols in Soybean hulls- A research note”. Journal of Food Science 55.1 (1990): 271-272. 67. Nourooz-Zadeh J and Appleqvist L. “Isolation and quantitative determination of sterols and sterol oxides in plant based foods: Soybean oil and wheat flour”. Journal of American Oil Chemistry Society 69.3 (1992): 288-293. 68. Moreau RA., et al. “Extraction and quantitative analysis of oil from commercial corn fiber”. Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry 44.8 (1996): 2149-2154. 69. 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Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52.21 (2004): 6485-6491. Copyright: © 2016 Wadikar DD., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

2019-04-26T08:43:22Z

https://actascientific.com/ASNH/ASNH-01-0006.php

Fort Kwunko, Alaska can be a cold, harsh place to live for the hardiest of the natives. For the daughter of two caucasian missionaries, it was downright hostile. For a creature designed to live in the steamy South American jungles, however, it could be absolutely maddening. Victoria had always believed that whatever SCABS did to a person, it would ultimately be for the best, even if the transformation seemed tragic at the time. This belief sustained her optimism when she came down with the Martian Flu. When her body became coated with a thick, shaggy fur, she reckoned that she was being equipped to better deal with the harsh climate of rural Alaska. However, when her face extended to five times its original length, the truth became painfully apparent. Victoria had become a giant anteater, and as such, unable to survive in the cold. Having just about the lowest body temperature in the entire Mammalian order, Victoria could not even go for a walk outside, for fear of hypothermia. Thus, the anteater spent most of her time in her room, alone, bored, and miserable. Before much time had passed, Victoria's parents saw just how unhappy their daughter had become. Seeing only one solution, they advised her to settle and seek employment in the southern, more hospitable climes. So it was that she came to our fair city, doing whatever she could to make ends meet. It has always been accepted as true that a person who is willing to work hard could find a job in the food service industry. Sadly, the law has made this untrue for SCABs. The bureaucrats at the health department still consider SCABS a chronic disease, even though it is not possible to contract SCABS, or even the Martian Flu, from one already transformed. Thus, it has become illegal for restaurants to employ such individuals, with the exception of a handful of specialty establishments. Fortunately, there's Chang's. Chang's pizzeria has done its community a wonderful service by establishing a policy of hiring SCABS as delivery drivers. Technically, since they never touch the pizzas, they're not in food service. It's a rather tight loophole, to be sure, but for Victoria, it meant gainful employment. That was how I met her. One night, when I had gotten rather bored with fresh sushi, I ordered out for a pizza. "County road 3, mile marker 12." Victoria repeated to herself as she tooled along in her modified Volkswagen. Marker 12... Marker 12..." As she was searching, she pulled up to the edge of the lake. "There IS no mile marker 12!" she huffed. Then, looking off to the right, she spotted the old cabin. Taking the pizza box and soda in her claws, she got out and walked over to the cabin. Using her tongue, she klacked the knocker. Becoming frustrated, she went back to the car. She was about to get in and drive away when she heard an "Over here!" behind her. That, of course, would be me. She started and blinked in surprise as I waved at her from the window of my burrow. With a small shrug, she brought me my supper. "I hope you didn't have too much trouble finding the place." I said, somewhat apologetically. Victoria chuckled. "I usually like the country routes because the houses are easy to find." she said. "I've never had to deliver a pizza to a mound of dirt before. This time, I chuckled. "It's primitive, but it's home." The anteater looked in through the window. "Oh, hey! That does look nice and cozy in there." "Visitors always welcome." I said. "Is that an invitation?" asked Victoria with a laugh. "If you like, then that's exactly what it is." I extended my paw. "Oren Verden. My friends call me "Otter" for obvious reasons." "Victoria Preston. I'd love to visit and share your pizza, but I'm afraid I'm on the clock. Another time, perhaps?" "Certainly. Have a good night, Ms. Preston." When she drove off, I assumed I'd never see her again. That night, Victoria sat alone in her tiny little apartment. She stared at the wall for an hour before sheer boredom prompted her to turn on the webstation. She logged into a movie channel and downloaded a good two-hour romance. As an afterthought, she checked her E-mail. There was a letter from Bobby there. Seeing it cheered her up instantly. Bobby was one of the local Eskimo boys who had been her friend since she was in diapers. They had been dating when Victoria left, and even now, she still hoped that they would be together again. "Dear Victoria:" the letter began. "I have some really interesting news. Two days after you left for the lower 48 I came down with the Martian Flu. I thought that I was ready to become whatever animal SCABS would turn me into, but imagine my surprise when I changed into a shapely young lady! I am going by Barbara, now. I know you hoped that we might date again someday, but this new development does make things a little difficult. I do hope that I can still be your friend. Mom and Dad and Kenny say "Hi". Victoria felt her heart sink down into her tail as she stared at the screen. She had only known one love her whole life, and now he was gone. She didn't cry. She didn't complain. She just picked up her purse and went for a nice, long drive. I couldn't sleep that night. I chatted on the Internet for a while, but that didn't last long. Rover, (my computer,) tends to drain the juice from the solar batteries once the sun has gone down. When my faithful computer shut down, I decided to amuse myself by going for a moonlight swim. After a few dives and a midnight snack of minnow, I lay on my back and looked up at the stars. I almost didn't hear the quiet, repeating "pip-pip-pip-pip- pip" I howled in pain as a rock ricocheted off my eye. "Who's there?" demanded someone on shore. "Who's here? Who's out THERE throwing rocks at me?" "Mister Otter? Is that you?" Swimming up to shore, I noticed Victoria sitting there with a flat rock between her claws. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I was skipping stones and didn't see you out there!" "It's all right." I assured her, rubbing my black eye. "I've had worse." I waddled up onto the shore and sat down next to the anteater. "So what are you doing all the way up here at this time of night?" I asked. "Can't sleep." she replied. I knew there was more. She dipped her head and scratched her nose with a foot. "Things are bad right now." she said. "I'm alone in this big city, I've got a promising career in pizza delivery, and my boyfriend back home is now a girl and probably dating one of the other Eskimo boys." "I'm sorry to hear that. If it helps, I can sympathize." I managed a weak smile that I wasn't sure if she could see. "I lost everything recently. My home, my work, my computer... That's when I decided to come out here. I thought I would try living wild." "My girlfriend was upset that I didn't tell her. The fact is, I didn't tell anybody. I had planned to try and settle in before I sent the word out about my move. She took it personally." "It sure is... but you didn't come up here to listen to my regrets." "I don't mind." said Victoria as she put her claws on my shoulder. "Did you explain things to her?" "Yes, but we decided to stay broken up... for other reasons. Age difference... species difference... the fact that she used to be my councilor..." I skipped a rock of my own over the lake. Victoria clutched herself and shivered. "Cold?" I asked. "Yeah. You wouldn't think so with all this fur, but this body gets cold real easily. That's why I had to leave Alaska." "Don't move." I said, darting off and returning a moment later with an armload of firewood and a box of matches. It wasn't that long at all before both of us were warming ourselves before a nice, roaring bonfire. "Can I ask you something?" asked Victoria. "Do you hate your body? You know... being stuck as an otter?" I felt embarrassed at the answer I had to give. "I'm not stuck. I can become human if I concentrate really hard." "I can also take features from other mustelid species, but it's all involuntary." I wanted to slip under the water and stay there. You know how it feels when you see pictures of starving children on a web commercial when you've got a fridge full of food? That's how I felt. Idly, I poked at the fire with a stick. A piece of wood fell outward onto the back of my paw. Grimacing in pain, I ran and dunked my arm in the lake. "Are you all right? Let me look..." The skin was already furless and blistering. I know I must have looked a sight with one eye swelling shut and my paw clutched to my chest in pain. "Do you have a first aid kit?" "There's one in my car. We'd better get something on that." "And some ice. Why don't you get the first aid kit out of my glove box while I put the fire out?" "Because I don't know where you're parked." About a half hour's drive later, we were at a convenience store buying a bag of ice and a bottle of aloe. We sat down at an undersized table while she bandaged me up and made an icepack. We sat at the table for a bit, just talking. I didn't think it had been that long until I began to look out the window and see the sun coming up. "I know a great place that'll just be opening for breakfast. What do you say?" We walked into the restaurant and were greeted from the kitchen window by Ellen. I was surprised to see her here this morning. She usually worked afternoons. I was doubly surprised that I could actually see her through the window. "Ellen?" I said. "You're standing up?" She smiled and came through the kitchen door. She was indeed out of her wheelchair and on her feet, supporting the weight of her front half on two very long arm braces. "When did you get those?" I asked. "Daddy bought them for me a couple of days ago. Who's your friend, Oren?" "This is Victoria. Victoria, this is Ellen." "Nice to meet you." said Ellen, extending her hand, making the brace dangle awkwardly from her arm. Victoria shook it politely. "So whatcha feel like having this morning?" "I'll just have a couple of scrambled eggs." said Victoria. "Biscuits and gravy." I added. "But how come you're out here taking our orders?" "Eddie called in sick today. The rest of us are kind of switching jobs around to fill in." "I'll have those for you in a minute!" "So..." said Victoria once Ellen had gone back to the kitchen. "Do you come here a lot?" "Not here. I usually go over to the bar side. The Blind Pig Gin Mill." "I wouldn't have figured you for a drinker." "And you'd be right. I drink milk, mostly. You'd be surprised, though. The Blind Pig is nothing like a normal bar. It's clean, well lit... Come on... I'll show you what I mean." I took my anteater friend around the partition between the restaurant and the bar to show her what it looked like. It was pretty much empty, of course. Donnie was there, doing some ordering, and Scratch was sweeping the floor. Just then, a stranger burst through the door. "I'M CURED!" he shouted. 'I'M CURED! Donnie, look! Oren, Oren, I'm cured!" He grabbed my shoulders and smiled toothily. "Do I know you?" I asked. "Oh, of course. You don't recognize me. How can you? It's me, Kieth!" "That's right! And you won't believe this. There's a CURE for SCABS!" Kieth's head was totally in a spin as he babbled incoherently about how he had become human once again. We sat him down at the table and calmed him down enough to get the whole story. He was just wrapping up when someone else came in the door. It was Doug, better known to his friends as "Wiley". A fully morphed coyote, he was a recent addition to the Lupine Boys, and possibly Kieth's greatest friend. "Hi, Wiley." I responded. "Did you hear about Kieth?" "That's right!" said Kieth. "Me and Wiley here have been to see the wizard." ::His name is Tom Sapacroli, and he's not a wizard.:: said The Coyote. "By faith, Oren." Kieth replied. "That's all it took." "It would work on you if you'd just believe." said the wolf. "Five years I was stuck in a full morph and in five minutes he cured me!" I shook my head. "This sounds too good to be true." I said. Donnie nodded in agreement. "But what if it is?" asked Victoria. "I want to check it out." "It's probably a scam." said I. "I still remember that 'Unstuctane' deal a few years ago. My sister blew a fortune, but her husband is still a tiger." "But this works!" Kieth insisted. "Look at me! I'm human!" Victoria's eyes were starting to sparkle. I could tell she was hooked. "How do we find this guy?" I asked. "He's set up a great big tent just outside of Potsborough." "That's right on the other side of the lake." "I see." I said, not really seeing at all." "Donnie, you ought to go." said Kieth. "You can be human again... and you'd be able to talk!" I could see Donnie, the one who was normally dignified and above it all, shiver excitedly at the thought. "After bar close." he signed. "Great idea!" said Kieth. We'll meet back here at closing time and I'll take you to see him!" I was going along to see this for myself. I for one didn't need my SCABS cured, but if this turned out to be fake, which it probably was, someone would need to be there for damage control. There was quite an assembly by the time we got around to going. Theo and Annette, my next-door neighbors, had insisted on coming in hopes of finding a way out of being fish. Dozens more from the bar came, for whatever reason, to see this Tom Sapacroli fellow. There was a large crowd gathered, and we could hear Sapacroli's voice booming over the speaker system. "Do you believe?" asked the voice. "Do you believe that you can become human again and stop being an antelope? Well then my friend, be healed!" I stuck my head inside the tent in time to see a fully morphed antelope slowly become human. He was being gripped at the shoulders by a thin, timid looking man with dark eyes and a wispy beard wearing a jet black suit. People were constantly entering and exiting, so no one really noticed when the lot of us took our places in the crowd. "There's an inanimorph here." said Sapacroli. "I sense that there is an inanimorph... a stone man... who is reluctant to come up and be healed. Son, I urge you to come and let me help you to be set free." Obediently, a man who looked like a granite statue made his way slowly to the stage. "You've got to believe, my boy. Tell me, do you BELIEVE?" "Well then come out of that stone body! Come out and be free!" Slowly, the white stone began to transform into soft pink flesh. The statue-man took a deep breath, and suddenly, he was completely human. "I'm alive!" he proclaimed. "Good word, my heart is beating! Oh, thank you, Sir!" "It was your faith that healed you, my lad. Now then, who is next?" There was a chorus of "Me!"'s. "I sense that there is a fish... a trout... No, two trout." "Like that's so hard to see." I said. "You're in a fishbowl. It's obvious that you're stuck." Nevertheless, I carried the two of them up on stage. "What are your names?" he asked. "I'm Theo, and this is my wife, Annette." "And do you wish to be healed, Theo?" "Do you have the faith to become human once again?" "Then come out of that bowl, Theo." Sapacroli placed his hand on the fish, who began to grow into the shape of a burly brown man. An assistant quickly covered him with a plastic robe as Sapacroli reached down to put his hand on Annette. That was when I really started getting suspicious. If it was faith that was curing SCABS, why did he need to keep making physical contact? Sapacroli seemed to look dismayed. "Annette, I sense that there is doubt in your heart. I'm sorry Annette. I cannot help you if you do not believe." "But I want to believe!" "And so you shall, Annette. I want you to stay and watch what we do here the rest of the night, and tomorrow, I'm confident your faith will be made perfect." Sadly, Annette asked me to take her down. Victoria followed the Jacksons. When he was done with her, she had become a mildly plump, though astonishingly cute, human girl. Many, many people who had come from the Pig went up to be healed that night. Donnie went up, though as one might expect, he was one of those whose doubts were too great to permit healing. Gornul went forward. When he came back, he was a smiling human man. Curiously, his smell did not change a lot. Vincent the mink went up. He was wiggling his fingers and saying "a piano! Somebody get me a piano!" To his dismay, he was another one who was asked to return tomorrow. My thoughts turned momentarily to one who was most conspicuously absent: Phil. He was an intelligent hare. What would he think of all this? Would he rush up to shed his fur, or would he, like me, have too many doubts? Then came the moment that cinched it for me. Once all the transformations were done for the night, Sapacroli, tired and sweaty, turned to the crowd and said "Friends, it was indeed a privilege for me to be here with you all and to help you discover the hidden healing power you all have inside of you. It is my goal to help as many people as I can in this way, but I will need your help. My staff and I have devoted ourselves full-time to this work. Because of this, we depend on contributions both for our livelihood and our traveling expenses. There are several of my assistants scattered about the tent with small coffers. They are ready to take whatever generous contributions you may have to give to further this work. "It's a scheme." I said. "This whole thing is about getting people to part with their money!" Even as I said this, Victoria happily dropped a fifty dollar bill into one of the coffers. The very next morning, I went to talk to Phil. I told him everything that I had witnessed, and of my concerns. He listened carefully, and nodded his head slowly. "I've heard of scams like this before." he said. "Usually, it's just a polymorph trying to make a quick buck." "That's what I thought, too. What throws me off though, is that a polymorph's change lasts... what, twenty four hours? I called up Kieth this morning and he's still human and just as happy as fudge with it." "I'm going to ask my friend in the department to run a background check on this guy." said Phil. "Good idea." I said. "I'll see if there's anything on him on the web." "Also a good idea." He seemed to study my face for a moment. "And don't worry. I'm not going to go begging this guy to change me too." I breathed a sigh of relief mixed with a chuckle at myself for being so transparent. After visiting with Phil, I went to see Victoria. She was feeling jolly and light, dancing around her apartment wearing a brand new dress that must have cost a fortune. "Oren, it's so wonderful!" she was saying. "Now that I'm human, there are so many possibilities! I can go home if I want to. I can get a real job. I can do just about anything." "How many cups of coffee have you had this morning?" "Oren, you're so funny! I'm just so happy!" Victoria... Listen, I've got my doubts about this whole thing, and I don't want to see you hurt." "I appreciate your concern, Oren, but I don't think there's anything to worry about." Gads... If this Tom Sapacroli did turn out to be bunko, and if he hurt Victoria, I'd personally wring his neck. Over the next few days, it became almost impossible to find someone who had not gone to see this man. People all over the city, from two counties even, were going to either watch or be healed by this guy. Thus far, no transformees that I knew of had turned back, which leant some small amount of credence to the faith healer. Phil's and my searches, as well as those of the police, turned up nothing. No one had ever even HEARD of Tom Sapacroli. Of course, that was only using what electronic means were available. When those failed, I decided it was time for some old-fashioned sleuthing. After swimming across the lake to the outskirts of Potsborough, I tried to figure out how best to sneak around unseen. My body was one step ahead of me, though, as it began shrinking to the form of a least weasel. Now the size of a rat and the color of the dry grass, I could sneak about almost freely. I found the tent again with ease. It was deserted, naturally. Stopping to listen, I could detect voices coming from a nearby trailer. Cautiously, I ran over to listen. "...not dry yet. These people are willing to give a fortune." "I don't care!" said the familiar voice of Sapacroli. "This is our last night on the east coast, period. Two of the people have already changed back. More are going to follow, and we can only convince them that they've lost faith for so long." "Where do we go next, then?" "We disappear for a while. Things are getting too dangerous. Someone has been doing some investigation on us." "I don't think so, or we'd be in jail by now. I think, however, that they're beginning to suspect a connection with Frank Willet and John Buzcado." My heart stopped. I froze in place. The door of the trailer opened and out stepped Sapacroli. He stared straight at me with fearsome, penetrating green eyes. "Well well." he said. "I recognize you. You're the little otter who brought those fish to me last night, aren't you?" What? How could he possibly know who I was? I growled at him and tried to act like a weasel. "Don't play games with me, boy." he said as he reached down to grab me. I wasn't about to get caught, though. I bit him on the hand and ran like mad. That was a mistake. As he stood there cursing, he began to change. His teeth became monstrous, and his fingernails turned into enormous claws. Changing back into an otter, I got back into the lake as fast as I possibly could. Sapacroli stood on the shore, swearing indignantly for several minutes before he turned back and shouted "Lars, we're leaving NOW!" The second I got back to the burrow, I dialed the cell phone. "West Street Shelter. Phil Geusz speaking." "Phil, it's Oren. Listen, I think I've pieced together what's going on. Meet me at the Pig in thirty minutes." "He's a polymorph." I explained to the assembled patrons of the Blind Pig. "Extremely powerful. Quite possibly the most powerful in the world. What's more, he's got a platypus sense." "At least I think that's what it is. It's a highly developed electromagnetic sense so sharp that he can read a living body like a book. He uses this to determine who's a unimorph and who's got a psychosomatic morphlock or just has very limited morphing powers. If he can change you, he does. If he can't, he tells you to come back tomorrow." ::But I saw several people get healed on their second day.:: said Wiley. "Of course. He saves some for the next day to make it look convincing." "But then there should be a much larger number of people who can't be healed." Phil noted. "You're right. He balances the numbers by having selected helpers pose as unimorphs." "That still leaves one question." said Kieth. "A polymorph's changes aren't permanent." "And neither are his. After about a week, the transformations start to wear off. He then takes whatever donations he's raked in, runs off to a different town, and changes his name and his face. Thus far, ours is the third state he's hit, at least that we know of." "You mean we're all going to change back?" said Theo, sadly. I only nodded. "Two people have already. Maybe more." "No!" said Victoria. "I don't want to go back! I don't want to go back!" She began to curl into a ball and whimper as though she were in physical pain. I shook with anger at what I was seeing. Dropping from my chair, I stormed toward the door. "Oren, where are you going?" "I'm going to kill him. I'm gonna choke the life out of him with my bare paws! I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I turned around to see Matt, who was even now growing his whiskers once again. "You just told us that this guy is the most powerful polymorph ever seen. If you tried to take him on alone, he'd tear you apart. Leave it to the police." I sighed and nodded. He was right, of course, but that didn't change the rage I felt inside. I took Victoria home. Neither of us said anything the whole way. We both just thought a lot about what was happening. I thought so hard, in fact, that by the time we finally arrived at her home, I had changed most of the way into a human. As she took her keys out of her purse, she asked me "Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?" I thought it would be polite to decline, but before I spoke, I saw the look in her eyes. She did not want to be alone. "Sure. I'd love one." She was already starting to regress into an anteater by the time she reached the kitchen. Already, her nails were darkening. I scanned the apartment to take stock of her interests and come up with a topic of conversation which would distract her. "Hey," I said, eyeing her video disk collection. "You like action movies?" "I sure do." she replied. "But mostly, I'm just a Schwarzenegger fan." "Cool! Did you ever see 'Hercules in New York'?" "Yes! I love that one! I can't believe they actually dubbed his voice." "They're planning a sequel to that one now. 'Hercules in Vegas'." "You're kidding. Arnie is playing Hercules again at his age?" "Hey, he looks good. Did you see him in 'Turboman 3'?" Our movie-related banter was cut short as Victoria dropped the coffee pot. It hit the floor with a 'thunk' and cracked. The girl stood at the counter, staring sadly at her claws. I did all that I could. I came up behind her, put my arms around her and made comforting noises, telling her that everything would be all right. She let loose a few small sobs as her face stretched forward. "Come on." I whispered. "We'd better get your clothes off before they go on their own." I picked up the coffee pot and placed it back on the counter. It was still in one piece, but would never hold coffee again. I stayed with Victoria that night. We put on a romantic comedy and shared some tea as we snuggled on the couch. She fell asleep near the end of the movie, and I followed soon afterward. I awoke to the sensation of being poked in the side and hearing my name repeated. "Oren? Oren? Wake up, Oren! Look what happened!" I obediently opened my eyes. There stood Victoria, in full morphic form. Aside from the face, the tail, and the fur which covered everything, she looked human. She even had her human hair on her head. "I woke up and I looked like this. I can change, Oren! I guess Sapacroli's morphing me must have unstuck something. I can go from this form to full anteater." "That's great, Vic." Of course, it made sense. Since she was one of the lucky ones, she had to have an inherent shifting ability to some degree. She kissed me on the nose. "Thank you for staying with me. That was really sweet of you to do." I glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was already morning. "Glad to be of service." I said. A pause. "Are you going to be all right?" "Good, because I have some work I have to get done this morning." And I did. The first thing I did was to find a pay phone and dial up an old friend. "Oren? Oren is that you? I haven't heard from you in ages! How are you?" "Oh, I'm doing well enough. How are you doing, Karen?" "I can't complain. The PI business hasn't been too bad to me." There was a pause and the sound of rustling straw. "Not really, things have slowed down this past month." "Have you heard of a guy named 'Tom Sapacroli'?" I heard a snort. "Have I? I've had ten dozen calls this week asking me to find out if this guy is for real." "Well, he's not. I found out that he's actually a polymorph running a scam. One very POWERFUL polymorph." "But if that were true, wouldn't his changes reverse in twenty-four hours?" "Not necessarily. From what I've seen, his last for about a week." "Karen, this guy has hurt a lot of my friends this past week. I want to take him down." "I am. I think it's time to round up the old gang." After talking with Karen, I went to the bar to pick up my scooter. I walked in and saw an inordinate number of people there for this time of morning. I sat down on a stool between Jesse and Bryan. I hadn't figured on seeing either of them here this morning. It made sense to see the unimorphs whose dreams had just been dashed drinking and seeking comfort in the morning, but these two were full polymorphs. They hadn't lost anything. I realized of course that this was wrong. After all, I hadn't lost anything, either. If I was upset over the loss which my friends felt, why shouldn't these two be? I looked around at the assembled patrons of the pig and said "You know what? We need a party." "Well, yeah. Something to cheer these people up a little, you know?" I just got a blank stare. When I got back to my burrow, I turned on Rover to try to contact some old friends. "Good afternoon, Oren." said the computer. "How are you today?" "I'm peeved." I replied. How are you?" "I am fine. Would you like to play a game?" "No, Rover. I just want to open my E-mail." I sighed. Whoever designed those personality chips needed to be shot. When I checked the mail, I found a note from Karen. It seemed that the feds had just arrested one James Utner, A.K.A. Tom Sapacroli. Inwardly, I was upset. I wanted to be the one to get him. I was even looking forward to rounding up my old rough- and-tumble buddies to do it. Se la vie. I read on. The way she'd heard it, an undercover agent disguised as a pigeon had been watching as Sapacroli emerged from his trailer and chased a small animal away. He'd been so upset that he ordered the camp to move out, and as he did, he lost control and slipped into his normal form. Once the agent identified him, he was able to move in and arrest the guy. I smiled maliciously. I guess I had helped to bring him in, after all. Once I was sure that she was off work, I went to see Victoria. Our visit was happier this time, and we watched another movie together; "Batman Seven: The Return of Freeze". As we were watching the credits roll by, the doorbell rang. It was Gornul, and he had a big old smile plastered across his clay face. "I thought I might find you here." He said. "You have both been cordially invited to a private party at the Blind Pig Gin Mill. Bring Clothing." Indeed I did. When the three of us arrived, there was a banner in the front window proclaiming "First Annual Blind Pig Normbash". The place was full of people. Surprisingly, most of them were human. It became apparent why when I looked to my left and saw Jacob, Jesse and Bryan, with several other polymorphs, sitting around a table looking tired. "Hey, Oren!" called Jesse. I was amazed to see him human. He interpreted my quizzical gaze and said "It's true. I finally let my secret out." "I find that if I work with the other polys, it doesn't hurt as much and they don't get tired as quickly." "Well," I said as I climbed inside a brand new pair of shorts. "Guess it's time to get into the spirit." Running some math equations in my head, I changed into my old, human self. There were, of course, those who could not return to human form. For them, it was sort of a time to poke fun at the lot they had been dealt by fate. Phil ... serious, level-headed Phil, was parading around in a pin-striped suit and a stick-on mustache. Annette was wearing a lovely, if soaking wet evening gown as she swayed back and forth in her fishbowl while Theo held her fins. Ellen was back in her wheelchair, but she had her legs tucked up underneath her while a pair of mannequin legs peeked out from under a blanket. I had to admire the cleverness of it. Bryan and Jesse had taken a sad situation and turned it into a party. They also, unknowingly, started a tradition. During the party, Victoria took me aside to one of the quieter corners of the bar. "I wanted to thank you for everything you've done." she said. "You took a poor girl from Alaska and made her feel welcome in a strange city. You gave me comfort when I was sad. You're a friend to me, Oren." I blushed. It showed, with no fur to hide it. Victoria just smiled. "Come on." she said, taking my hand. "I've got twenty-three and a half hours left as a human and I want to make the most of them." Then she did the unexpected. She grabbed me and kissed me. "What was that for?" I asked breathlessly. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to once my face grew back." She and I danced the night away. The "Normbash" had been great fun, and probably would have gone on for days if people hadn't started changing back. It was interesting to see what some of my friends had originally looked like. I had a big smile on my face as I rode home on my scooter. That smile lasted until I reached the door of my burrow. Stuck into the side of my hillock on a tent peg was a piece of paper. It was an order to vacate.

2019-04-21T04:40:18Z

http://transform.to/~mwbard/tbp/orenvictoria.html

Vanessa made crafts and sold them to raise money for NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. She also collected scarves for the homeless and tied them around trees in downtown Minneapolis. Two students worked with local Starbucks managers to get their coffee shops to compost and have clearer recycling signs. Two students brought dogs from a local shelter, Indigo Rescue, to campus during midterms to help students relieve stress. They also collected money for the shelter and raised awareness about dog adoption. Should this be the future of philosophy? The answer depends on what we think ‘philosophy’ is. Valentine claims that the job of philosophers is to help their students acquire “wisdom,” by which he means “the intelligence to live well.”3 But many subjects other than philosophy help students live well (e.g., accounting). Not all who live well are good philosophers and not all who live poorly are poor philosophers; hence philosophy is not “the intelligence to live well.” Philosophy, as I understand it, is theoretical—roughly, the use of reason to investigate fundamental questions that cannot be settled empirically: Does God exist? What do we know? What is morally right?, and so on. Service-learning enthusiasts in philosophy don’t disclaim theoretical learning, nor do they typically call for activism to be injected into nearly every philosophy course. Still they use language that subtly disparages purely intellectual pursuits. They speak, for example, of the need to bring philosophy into ‘real life’ and ‘the real world’ as if it currently takes place elsewhere.4 Consider again the term ‘Engaged Philosophy.’ Presumably, what makes Engaged Philosophy engaged are the students’ service projects. If so, then the implication is that philosophy classes without service projects are disengaged, or at least less fully engaged than those that have them. Engagement with ideas seemingly doesn’t count as genuine engagement. It is notoriously true that into whatever you do not put your whole heart and soul, in that you will not have much success. Now the two masters, theory and practice, you cannot [both] serve. That perfect balance of attention which is required for observing the system of things is utterly lost if human desires intervene, and all the more so the higher and holier those desires may be. Does this apply to disciplines outside of the sciences? There’s room for doubt. When investor Bill Miller donated 75 million dollars to the Johns Hopkins University philosophy department—the largest ever donation to a single philosophy department—philosopher Michael Huemer criticized him for not donating the money to a more effective cause (assuming that his goal, in giving to charity, was to do as much good as possible). According to the data at GiveWell.org, that sum of money, donated to a highly efficient charity, could have saved the lives of 25,000 extremely poor people. Hiring nine new philosophers won’t in all likelihood yield any comparable benefit. Here’s the rub: Huemer’s reasoning extends to every dollar invested into the humanities or pure mathematics, each and every one of which would, by the same logic, be (morally) better spent elsewhere. Imagine that it were possible to press a button that would reallocate all of this money to a GiveWell charity. In addition, all of the resources private individuals spend investigating these fields would be similarly redirected. Should a utilitarian like Peter Singer press this button? Doubtless, this would produce a short-term utility spike. But in the long term, I doubt that the bargain would be a good one even on utilitarian terms. If the reallocation were constant—so we’d never reinvest money into these fields—then pressing the button would amount to a cultural cashing-out. Whichever society did this would be intellectually diminished and its members might be less willing and able to come to the aid of others on a continuing basis. With no moral philosophers like Peter Singer around to persuade them of their duty to donate, people might forget why they are going through such trouble. Ultimately, then, some resources ought to be devoted to “curiosity-driven inquiry” in these fields—though it’s hard to say precisely how much. If we grant that philosophers have a legitimate role investigating purely theoretical questions, then they have reason to keep utility-based justifications for what they do, and especially politics, an arm’s length from their research. Philosopher Bas van der Vossen has argued that philosophers, at least those interested in political questions, have a prima facie duty to abstain from political activity.8 Philosophers’ primary charge is finding the truth and members of professions have duties to avoid things that make them predictably worse at their jobs. Empirical evidence exists that political involvement introduces biases that make the truth more difficult to discern. Hence, it is at odds with political philosophers’ professional duties. The best response to van der Vossen, I think—and it is one he considers—is to say that if philosophers do have a duty of this kind, then it isn’t a duty that matters very much. After all, it will frequently be in competition with stronger duties, such as the duty not to stand idly by as injustice occurs. Philosophers shouldn’t eschew political engagement altogether. But the weaker claim that philosophers should generally avoid doing philosophy and political activism at the same time is reasonable. We should, out of epistemic modesty, avoid combining investigation with tasks likely to introduce bias—paradigmatically, political activism. The same goes for pedagogy. If we had good evidence that service-learning is the best way to transmit philosophical ideas and methods, then the benefits would outweigh the risks. Four philosophers associated with the Engaged Philosophy website have published a pilot study that purports to show that philosophy courses with ‘civic engagement’ components have salutary effects.9 Students in service-learning classes, interviewed at the beginning and end of the semester, report gains in a variety of skills relevant to good citizenship. Qualitative analyses of students’ written final reflections supported these results. I anticipate the objection that my demand for rigor is selective, since we also lack empirical evidence that traditional methods work.11 But we already have good reason to think that traditional methods have something going for them. Those of us who have doctorates in philosophy acquired our expertise through years of reading, writing, and listening to lectures (which service-learning enthusiasts deride as ‘sage on the stage’ teaching). If all of this were bankrupt, then our expertise, and the expertise of those with PhDs in other disciplines taught in the same way, would be hard to explain. Since it evidently isn’t bankrupt, the onus is on those who claim to have something better. Even if service-learning classes have all the advantages enthusiasts claim, such classes should remain novelties. Integrating service-learning throughout the philosophy curriculum, as Valentine suggests, would likely accelerate the instrumentalization of higher education. Philosophers already face pressure—from administrators, politicians, and laypeople—to justify their discipline in terms of its economic. They shouldn’t want to find themselves facing similar pressure from within their own ranks. The anti-theoretical tone of the service-learning movement, implicit even in the rhetoric of moderates, makes this worry reasonable. The slope here really is slippery. If we accept that even 20 percent of a student’s grades should be service-based—on, say, the grounds that philosophy belongs in the ‘real world’—then the open question will be “Why not more?” Most university classes can be repurposed as ‘service-learning’ courses; only philosophy concerns the fundamental questions at its core. Diverting attention away from theoretical concerns in an effort to make philosophy ‘relevant’ will instead make it redundant and irrelevant. Pressing philosophy into public service would be a disservice to philosophy. 1 The advocates of Engaged Philosophy bill it as an alternative to service-learning because it is student directed. However, if service-learning (sometimes spelled with a hyphen, sometimes without) is simply pedagogy that involves service projects, then Engaged Philosophy is a form of service-learning. That is how I will be understanding the term here. 2 Valentine, Eugene J. “Service-Learning as Vehicle for Teaching Philosophy” in Beyond the Tower: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Philosophy. Ed. David C. Lisman. (Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education, 2000), pp. 130. 4 For a typical example, see Peter Singer’s forward in Experiential Learning in Philosophy. Ed. J. Oxley and R. Ilea. (New York: Routledge UP, 2016), pp. xii-xiv. 5 Oxley, Julinna and Ramona Ilea, “Experiential Learning in Philosophy: Theory and Practice” in Experiential Learning in Philosophy, ed. by J. Oxley and R. Ilea. (New York: Routledge UP, 2016), p. 7. 6 Peirce, Charles Sanders. “Philosophy and the Conduct of Life” in The Essential Peirce Volume 2, ed. by The Peirce Edition Project (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1998), p. 34. 9 Hawthorne, Susan, Monica Janzen, Ramona Ilea, and Chad Wiener “Assessing Student-Initiated Civic Engagement Projects in Philosophy Classes” in Experiential Learning in Philosophy, ed. by J. Oxley and R. Ilea. (New York: Routledge UP, 2016). 10 Another study cited on the Engaged Philosophy website is Lies, James M, Tonia Bock, and Jay Brandenberger. “The Effects Of Off-Campus Service Learning On The Moral Reasoning Of College Students.” Journal Of Moral Education 41.2 (2012): 189-199. This reports that service-learning students increased their average scores on tests psychologists say track development in moral thinking (a control-group of randomly-selected students from the same university did not). Perhaps these findings reflect well on service-learning in general, but they aren’t, and don’t purport to be, evidence that civic engagement enhances philosophical instruction. Thinking about ethics like an adult, though desirable in an ethics student, doesn’t imply any knowledge of ethical theory. By analogy, service-related learning in a mathematics class might increase critical thinking generally without conferring knowledge of the specific mathematical concepts and procedures central to the class. 11 Philosopher Neven Sesardić has argued in an essay for Quillette that although philosophy departments claim to increase their student’s critical thinking abilities, all they know is that philosophy majors tend to have good test scores. So nothing rules out the possibility that philosophy simply attracts smart students. Economist Bryan Caplan has also, in his book The Case Against Education: Why the Education System is a Waste of Time and Money (Princeton University Press, 2018), produced a lot of very dispiriting evidence about education generally. “Those of us who have doctorates in philosophy acquired our expertise through years of reading, writing, and listening to lectures (which service-learning enthusiasts deride as ‘sage on the stage’ teaching). If all of this were bankrupt, then our expertise, and the expertise of those with PhDs in other disciplines taught in the same way, would be hard to explain. Since it evidently isn’t bankrupt, the onus is on those who claim to have something better”. This final sentence begs the question. And without the final sentence the argument is circular. The same claims could be made by any “discipline” (e.g. postmodernism). “If we accept that even 20 percent of a student’s grades should be service-based—on, say, the grounds that philosophy belongs in the ‘real world’—then the open question will be ‘Why not more?’ “. Any necessary discontinuity (cut-off pregnancy length for abortion, age to be licensed to drive) requires a somewhat arbitrary cut-off point. These are arguments from a doctorate of philosophy? There really is a problem of adjudicating value in such things as the humanities. Part of the problem is de-ratcheting the already ratcheted pseudo disciplines (like theology – and I don’t mean the historical, psychological, literary, etc aspects of theology, I mean the cultish self-serving departments and institutions built around belief). The ratcheting is partly done by training new acolytes in the new fad, who will then go on to populate the departments (because they’ve not learnt anything that will allow them to thrive in the real world) and create more acolytes. Part of philosophy is built on a fetishisation of historical philosophers and of coolly seductive pretentious sophistry. The author is nobly trying to defuse a seductive new trend and avoid the ratcheting of this aspect of philosophy. Good luck. Someone needs to tell the children that there’s a huge difference between a vocation and avocation. You’re right that the author’s first defence is circular, as it stands. But I think you’re wrong that philosophy has a value problem—or that it has any more of a value problem than other academic discipline animated by the open-ended pursuit of knowledge. I offer an example leading to a general conclusion. Medieval philosophers spent a lot of time on defeasible (= “defeat-able”) reasoning, that is, arguments where the conclusions are only likely and might turn out to be false. Legal reasoning was one of their primary concerns. Defeasible reasoning was obscured for a time by the rise of formal or symbolic logic (e.g., Frege, DeMorgan, et al.), but it made a comeback in the mid-twentieth century when it was formalized into to what’s nowadays called non-monotonic logic. “So what?” you ask. Well, it turns out that this kind of reasoning first analyzed by angel-counting medieval theologian-philosophers is just the sort of thing you need to make artificial intelligence work. Who knew? Put another way, justifying philosophy is hard because it’s hard to say what it is in the absence of concrete goal. It’s far easier to say what it’s not. Volunteering in a soup kitchen, for example, may well contribute to the public good, and I would even say that it would be valuable as a learning experience and that it’s an example of good citizenship. But learning civics by doing one’s civic duty has no more to do with doing philosophy than learning to use the potty. Thankyou, well said. Better than the author of the article above. I think the author is a tad defensive, but also correct in applying skepticism. However, I must admit, the general impulse, if not the specific implementation, sounds a bit like labs in science classes. Labs are intended to give students hands-on experience with science and scientific principles, to complement (not compete with) lectures, and to give students some skills in basic techniques. As in this case, labs can be fantastic learning experiences or awful wastes of time in which students just plow through cook-book experiments learning nothing, and everything in between. However, philosophy seems to lack the long tradition of such activities, so they’re starting from zero and having all the attendant “teething troubles”. Maybe I’m biased by coming from the sciences, where there’s usually a tight relationship between lab activites and lecture material (e.g. “We’re going to synthesize aldehydes, which you learned about this week”), these “service activities” don’t seem to have much clear relationship to the class, but rather a vague and nebulous one (perhaps even purely cosmetic). But that doesn’t mean the concept is flawed, just the implementation – I’ve seen some AWFUL scientific labs. I rather wonder if online debates / comment sections would be more useful? It doesn’t have the touchy-feely goodness of most of these activities, but seems more likely to connect to the course material in a way that reinforces it. I agree on the feeling of defensiveness seeping through this timely piece of writing. I found it quite interesting that in critiquing the idea of ‘Engaged Philosophy’ and ‘Service-Learning’ the author should reach out for tools developed by the scientific community rather than using philosophical methods. From my perspective, the vulnerability of the research in the pilot study is not the small sample size, but the failure to define exactly what is meant by a ‘good citizen’. After all, the ‘good citizen’ of Stalinist Russia is quite different to the ‘good citizen’ of Dayton Ohio or even of Nangalam Province in Afghanistan today. ‘Good’ is a relativity. Thus, the first requirement of philosophy is the accurate definition of the meaning we put in the terms we choose to use. The same can be said of the author’s approach to ‘injustice’ as being something that the ‘good’ philosopher should put aside their rational enquiry to resist. However, what is meant by ‘injustice’? Are we talking about the manifold minute injustices that occur on a daily basis in the lives of families, or the injustices of the pogrom? The other problem with injustice is of course that our entire existence is built up of big and small injustices inflicted and suffered as we are buffeted by life itself. We live in an inherently unjust and uncaring universe and we are specifically evolved to inflict and absorb injustice. Is this capacity to live as perpetrator and sufferer what makes us human? This is why the activist whispering about injustice in our ear is the modern equivalent of Satan whispering in Christ’s ear in the desert. The whispered messages are true, but they are truth used to pervert us from our commitments to the pursuit of understanding. For the activist, real understanding is the threat they fear most and the philosopher must remain on that narrow path of seeking real understanding and not succumb to the temptation to become ‘relevant’ and ‘useful’. The practical people who build our world and do our good for us cannot work without that understanding and they are too busy building to have the time for thinking. Yet, all of their endeavours are built upon a philosophical foundation supplied by thinkers. If the natural sciences have a lecture/lab combination, then the analogous combination in the humanities seems to be lecture/discussion. In each, the lecture part is someone telling you what has been done, and the second part is actually doing it. For natural sciences the “what has been done” is largely experiments, so doing it is of course doing experiments. (And observations, etc.) In philosophy, the “what has been done” is largely arguments. So doing it is making arguments as well. I’m sure the value theory parts of philosophy have rather direct applications in the world, but so does a lot of applied science. Yet, we do not see a push for natural science classes to become engineering classes. Applied science yes, but pure science not always Nichole, or never (deep sea biology). I wouldn’t know the usefulness of ontology, or phenomenology. Philosophers I like most (such as Heidegger) were rather unpractical and useless scholars. Though, their alumni (Hannah Arendt, Beauvoir) could turn that in a more applicable direction, of course. Begging the question and circularity are the same thing. Furthermore: the argument doesn’t beg the question. It alleges to establish that “service-learning” advocates have the burden of proof. The reasons for this conclusion are, roughly: *Philosophers (and similar academicians) have decent expertise; they have been trained in ordinary ways that don’t involve “service-learning; if such methods are “bankrupt,” then their expertise is difficult to explain. So ordinary methods apparently work fairly well.* So, etc. Not the strongest argument of all time, but ok. And more to the point: not circular. Perhaps it would be better to merely note that any radical proposal for change has a burden of proof. The proposal is awful, of course. It’s the latest part of a push to basically eliminate philosophy by turning it into something else–and something else that’s already being done to death elsewhere. Feminists want us to make philosophy more like women’s studies, the progressive left (including feminists) wants us to turn away from abstraction and toward social “justice” indoctrination…and the enthusiasm for “engagement” is, as Case notes, just another aspect of that push. The same as with culinary affairs and chef cooks, where fast food and Macs don’t suffice, import the continental talented in the field, quite an improvement, I guess. Einstein was also a famous immigrant, but whether that is also so with the hereditaries of the Frankfurter Schule and the Post modernists? That’s the question, of course, I think not, but once you decided, you have to proceed and pursue in some way or another. In Holland we say: -then you remain with the baked pears-. Yes, fair enough, begging the question is implicitly circular (but a particular kind of circularity). You seem to have then gone on to talk about a different argument about burden of proof being on those advocating for a change, but I was pointing out floors in the authors “proof” of value in the discipline as it stands. If he can’t provide proof, then I suggest he’s making an argument for ratcheting down the self-supporting cabal. But I bow to your obviously greater wisdom here, and support your fight to keep philosophy philosophy. But my perspective is that philosophy is already overblown. There may be an analogy here to a (currently) relatively benign religion being a vaccine against a different, (currently) less benign religion. I think, pragmatism is the very core of all US philosophy (Dewey, Rawls,James), that’s their only strength. In Europe (but also Asia), abstrahism and transcendentalism is more valued. A sad but not unsurprising development. Philosophy is the last bastion of reason in the humanities—the walls battered and a few breaches, but the city’s not overrun yet. The fact that such a ridiculous proposal has any legs at all isn’t good sign, though. The specious reasoning reminds me of Plato’s Euthydemus: Some degrees give credit for work placements; activism is a kind of work; therefore, philosophy should give credit for activism. I’m surprised no one suggested quantifying marks with numbers of windows smashed and “Nazis” punched. Activism or volunteering or community work is no more relevant to philosophy than it is to mathematics or chemistry, though it seems to have been stitched up with the same fourth-rate casuistry: Marx said doing philosophy involves changing the world; smashing windows changes the world; therefore, smashing windows is doing philosophy. Maybe there can be a Jordan Peterson version where changing your underwear is changing your world and, therefore, changing your underwear is doing philosophy. I don’t see why not. Interesting aside. I recently read a breakdown of GRE and LSAT scores by degree. Turns out philosophers finish at the top overall (physicists came second), and philosophers score highest on verbal and spatial. Only a few hard science and engineering degrees beat them on quantitative reasoning, though you’d be surprised how few. I recall that philosophers beat statisticians, for example, on quantitative reasoning, which is kind of funny. Being a philosopher myself, I’m not much good at anything other than tests. Embedding hyperlinks is beyond my ken. But i found it again at Daily Nous (http://dailynous.com/value-of-philosophy/charts-and-graphs/). Since I don’t take this all that seriously I didn’t check it again before writing. Turns out I misremembered some of the details, but my overall report was accurate. This is such a sad essay in so many ways it is difficult to know where to start but I suppose the first sentence is as good a place as any. Karl Marx was not a philosopher no matter how many times philosophy or political science professors claim that he was. The reasons are many but the main point would reflect the shallowness of Marx’s psychological analysis that fails to encompass the breadth of humanity’s diversity of soul. As such he is more properly thought of as a variety of sociologist with an emphasis on economics. A philosopher discovers and creates; a sociologist observes and measures. This is cursory, of course, but important because of the old adage that “the high is capable of understanding the low but the low cannot understand the high”. Since philosophers represent the highest form of humanity as the most complete version of a rational being – a definition tracing back to Aristotle – this is offered as a quick and dirty observation that Marx didn’t have a clue what he was talking about with the above claim. The other point I would like to make concerns the use of the word ‘philosopher’. I have seen academics who work in philosophy departments refer to themselves in this manner on several occasions in articles on this platform. It is probably just me but I find this self designation demeaning to the tradition. A philosopher is a giant amongst men. A person whose strength of mind is so great as to fully escape the prejudices, misunderstandings, myths and foibles of their time and place. They are the great minds whose seminal thought transforms humanity’s interpretation of their subject matter. They are an exception rarely seen in any single generation. The furthest point on the bell curve of rational beings. This does not describe the dusty and mundane teachings encouraged and rewarded in academic settings. Whenever I see somebody self-identify as a philosopher I have to admit my immediate reaction to their writings is less than charitable. Of course, def, a distinction is needed between the real philosophers, and the philosophy teachers and scholars. Of that first category, there are or have been about 10 in the New World (though, if you are very strict, maybe none), and some 100 in Europe and Mid East. Of that second category, there might now be 10.000 or over, globally. Perhaps the problem stems from the cultures desire to constantly specialize, narrowing down again and again. The “philosopher” you describe has never existed and will likely never exist. You’re fetishizing flawed individuals as perfect beings, not very rational it would seem. Of course the fact that you cling so tightly to reason is another flag giving us some idea about your own foundational biases. It doesn’t matter how flowery or eloquent you want to put things, all those you hold up are ignorant, but a particularly dangerous ignorance, one that allowed them to believe they were not, one that allows others to insist on their correctness. Previous PostWhat Is the Tribe of the Anti-Tribalists?

2019-04-25T12:17:02Z

https://quillette.com/2018/07/18/is-service-learning-a-disservice-to-philosophy/

Professors I. Baker, B. Cushman-Roisin, G. Cybenko, E. Garmire, T. U. Gerngross, R. J. Graves, J. J. Helble, W. Lotko, D. R. Lynch, L. R. Lynd, K. D. Paulsen, B. W. Pogue, L. R. Ray, E. Santos Jr., E. M. Schulson, S. Taylor; Professors Emeriti A. O. Converse, C. E. Hutchinson, F. E. Kennedy, H. J. Richter, B. U. O. Sonnerup, G. B. Wallis; Associate Professors H. J. Frost, E. W. Hansen, M. Q. Phan, C. R. Sullivan, B. S. Trembly; Assistant Professors M. E. Ackerman, M. E. Borsuk, S. G. Diamond, K. E. Griswold, J. Liu, K. Odame, R. Olfati-Saber; Senior Lecturers J. P. Collier, P. J. Hoopes, R. C. Lasky, C. G. Levey, S. P. McGrath, V. F. Petrenko, P. J. Robbie, J. M. Rosen, S. G. Shepherd; Lecturers V. H. Berk, D. C. Cullen, E. Fossum, K. Hoyt, M. S. Laser, V. V. May, S. O. Peterson, F. Shubitidze, D.W. Van Citters, L. Wissel. The undergraduate Engineering Sciences major leads to an A.B. degree. It pro-vides engineering students with a common core of Science and Engineering Sciences courses. Interest in the various branches of engineering is accommodated through electives and usually through additional study leading to a Bachelor of Engineering or higher degree. For those students considering careers in such diverse fields as medicine, management, or law, the Engineering Sciences major enables them to better understand our increasingly technological society. Students interested in a career in Engineering should plan on completing the Bachelor of Engineering or Master’s program. The Bachelor of Engineering degree program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 - telephone (410) 347-7700; it is equivalent in technical content to the Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering offered at many other universities but is broader in scope. It requires 10 courses in Natural Science, Mathematics, and Engineering beyond the requirements of the major in Engineering Sciences, and typically requires up to three terms in residence beyond the 12 terms required for the A.B. degree. Students who enter Dartmouth with advanced standing may be able to complete the B.E. at the same time as the A.B. (i.e., in four years). The graduate degrees are differentiated according to function. For those interested in design, professional practice, and engineering management, the M.E.M. degree is offered; for those interested primarily in research, the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Additionally a joint M.D./Ph.D. program is offered in conjunction with the Dartmouth Medical School and a joint M.E.M./M.B.A. program with the Tuck School of Business. The Thayer School Guide to Programs and Courses should be consulted for detailed information on all graduate programs (B.E. and above). Several engineering sciences courses have few or no prerequisites and may be taken by first-year students exploring a potential interest in the major, or by non-majors seeking to broaden their education with the study of technology. These courses include Engineering Sciences 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 21, 31, 37, and 51. Undergraduate courses up to Engineering Sciences 86 satisfy the Technology and Applied Sciences distributive requirements (TAS). Some also satisfy the distributive laboratory requirement (TLA). For those students interested in an introduction to technology and applied sciences one of the courses Engineering Sciences 1 through 13 is recommended. The sequential nature of the Engineering Sciences curriculum, and the possibilities for developing modified majors with other departments require that students plan their study programs well in advance. Assistance in planning programs may be obtained from an engineering faculty advisor. All first-year students interested in the sciences should take the placement test in mathematics. The prerequisite courses for the Engineering Sciences major are Mathematics 3, 8, 13, Physics 13, 14, plus Engineering Sciences 20 and Chemistry 5. Computer Science 5 can be substituted for Engineering Sciences 20. For students prepared for advanced placement in Calculus it is advisable to take the sequence, Mathematics 8 and 13, or Mathematics 11. Unless otherwise prohibited, prerequisites for the major may be taken under the Non-Recording Option. No more than two transfer courses may be used for credit in the major. 1. Engineering Sciences 21, 22, and 23 are required. 2. Two from Engineering Sciences 24, 25, 26, and 27. 3. Two from Engineering Sciences 31 or 32; 33 or 34; 35 or 36; or 37. Two additional courses are required. 4. One elective in Engineering Science. 5. One elective in Engineering Science, mathematics or a science course. A Culminating Experience in Engineering Sciences is required. This can be taken instead of one of the electives or as an additional course. The culminating experience may be: a project or a thesis, Engineering Sciences 86, 88 or 89 (formerly 190) (Engineering Sciences 89 (formerly 190) must be taken as part of the two-course design sequence Engineering Sciences 89/90 (formerly190/290); or an advanced engineering sciences course with a significant design or research project, normally taken in the senior year, chosen from an approved list. Consult the Engineering Sciences Department for the most recent list. Only Engineering Sciences courses numbered above 20 (excluding 80 and 87) may be counted as electives in the major. Students seeking to complete the A.B. and B.E. degrees concurrently should note that Engineering Sciences 89 (formerly 190) may also be counted toward requirements for the B.E. program. Satisfactory completion of the major requires a grade point average of 2.0 in the courses suitable for satisfying the major (other than those prerequisite to the major). The same criterion holds for both courses in a modified major and those in a minor. The courses in the third tier of the core Engineering Sciences (31-37) serve as introductions to different areas of engineering. These courses and other electives are offered to allow students to shape their programs to reflect interests in one of the usual branches of engineering or in accordance with their own special interests. In Mechanical Engineering, the normal third tier core courses and electives are Engineering Sciences 33, 34 and 76; in Electrical Engineering, Engineering Sciences 31, 32, 61 and 62; in Computer Engineering, Engineering Sciences 31, 62, 63 (see also modified major below); in Environmental Engineering, Engineering Sciences 37, 41, 42 and 43 (see also modified major below); in Materials Science, Engineering Sciences 33 and 73; in Chemical Engineering, Engineering Sciences 34, 35, 36 and 37 (see also modified major below); in Biomedical Engineering, Engineering Sciences 35 and 56. Students interested in Chemical Engineering are advised to elect Chemistry 6, 57, and 61 in addition to their engineering courses, and to consult Professor Lynd in formulating their program. The biomedical engineering major is offered to students interested in either medical school or graduate studies in biomedical engineering. Faculty from Thayer School and Dartmouth Medical School jointly advise the research projects. Prerequisites are Mathematics 3, 8, 13, Physics 13, 14, Chemistry 5-6 or 10, plus Engineering Sciences 20 and Biology 11. Computer Science 5 can be substituted for Engineering Sciences 20. The biomedical engineering major consists of five engineering science courses, Engineering Sciences 21 and 22, one additional core course chosen from Engineering Sciences 23, 24, 25, 26 or 27, one gateway course chosen from Engineering Sciences 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 or 36 and Engineering Sciences 56 or one additional course chosen from Engineering Sciences 23, 24, 25 or 26; four biology and chemistry courses, two from Biology 12, 13, 14 and Chemistry 51-52 or 57-58 and one biochemistry or engineering science elective* chosen from Biology 40 or Chemistry 41, or an engineering science course numbered 23 or above. A culminating experience is required. It may be an independent project or honors thesis, Engineering Sciences 86 or 88, or one of the following courses in biotechnology or biomedical engineering, Engineering Sciences 160, 161, 162, 165 or 167. * Effective with the Class of 2011, students wishing to pursue the BE degree are advised to choose an Engineering Sciences course as their elective. Prerequisites are Mathematics 3, 8 and 13, and Physics 13 (or Physics 3 and 4), and 14. The required courses are Engineering Sciences 20 (or Computer Science 5), 21, 22 and two Engineering Sciences undergraduate courses numbered above 20 (excluding 80 and 87). Students should note that some Engineering Sciences courses require prerequisites in addition to those noted. No engineering sciences course above 20 may be taken under the Non-Recording Option. Prerequisites are Mathematics 3 and 8, and Physics 13 or Physics 3 and 4. The required courses are four Engineering Sciences courses numbered above 20 (excluding 87), to include Engineering Science 21 or 22, or both. Students should note that many Engineering Sciences courses, including Engineering Sciences 22, require prerequisites in addition to Mathematics 8 and Physics 13. No engineering sciences course above 20 may be taken under the Non-Recording Option. The minor in Materials Science is sponsored by faculty in Chemistry, Physics and Engineering with an interest in interdisciplinary education and research in materials science. The Department of Engineering Sciences and the Department of Physics and Astronomy offer a major in Engineering Physics. This major features a 5/5 split in courses, unlike a modified major which requires six courses from one field and four from the other. The Engineering Physics major is a ten-course program consisting of three Engineering Sciences core courses (Engineering Sciences 22, 23, 24); three Physics core courses (Physics 19, 24, 43 [Students taking Physics 15 and 16 should substitute a third physics elective for Physics 19]); and four electives, two from each department. Two electives must be selected from the following list: Engineering Sciences 25, 33, 34; Physics 42, 68, 91; Physics 73 or Engineering Sciences 131; Physics 66 or Engineering Sciences 120; Physics 44 or Engineering Sciences 140. The other two electives* may be courses from the Engineering Sciences Department (numbered above 20, excluding Engineering Sciences 80 and 87) or courses from the Physics and Astronomy Department which fulfill the straight physics major. A culminating experience is required in the major which can be taken instead of one of the electives above. It must be one of the following: a project or a thesis, Engineering Sciences 86, 88 or 190 (Engineering Sciences 89 (formerly 190)** must be taken as part of the two-course design sequence Engineering Sciences 89/90 (formerly 190/290); or an advanced engineering sciences course with a significant design or research project, normally taken in the senior year, chosen from an approved list. Consult the Engineering Sciences Department for the most recent list) or Physics 68, 72, 73, 74, 76, 82, 87, including the senior honors thesis option. All major programs require an average GPA of 2.0 in all courses counted toward the major, including prerequisites. For more information contact Professor Hudson (Physics and Astronomy) or Professors Lotko or Levey (Engineering Sciences). ** Prior to enrollment in ENGS 89 (formerly 190), at least six engineering sciences courses must be completed; Engineering Sciences 21 plus five additional courses numbered 22 to 76. Diverse interests of students have, in the past, led to the construction of Engineering Sciences majors modified by courses in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer sciences, physics, art, economics, or environmental studies. The following specific modified majors have been established. 3. for the biology portion: Biology 13, plus three courses elected from Biology 34, 35, 37, 42, 43, 45, 46, 61, 65, or 71 or Chemistry 51 or 57. Students interested in the modified major with Biology should contact Professor Lynd. 2. for the Engineering Sciences portion: Engineering Sciences 22, 25 and 36 plus three courses elected from the following: Engineering Sciences 21, 23, 24, 26, 33, 34, 35, 37, 52, 91, 156, 158 (Engineering Sciences 91, 156 and 158 also satisfy the culminating experience requirement, see below.) Not more than two from 21, 35 and 37 may be counted toward the major. 3. for the Chemistry portion: Chemistry 51 or 57 and 75 plus two courses elected from Chemistry 41, 52 or 58, 63, 64, 67, 76. 4. the modified major must also include a culminating experience, which may be a project or a thesis, Engineering Sciences 86, 88 or 90 (formerly 190) (Engineering Sciences 89 (formerly 190) must be taken as part of the two-course design sequence Engineering Sciences 89/90 (formerly 190/290); or an advanced engineering sciences course with a significant design or research project, normally taken in the senior year, chosen from an approved list. Consult the Engineering Sciences Department for the most recent list. Students interested in the modified major with Chemistry should contact Professor Lynd. 1. as prerequisites: Mathematics 3, 8, and 13; Computer Science 5; Computer Science 8, 15 or 18 (Computer Science 15 and 18 are no longer offered, can be used as prerequisites by students who took them previously); Physics 13 and 14; and Chemistry 5. 2. for the modified major required courses include: Engineering Sciences 22, 27 31, Computer Science 23, plus Engineering Sciences 23 or 24. 3. for the modified major, breadth options include: a total of five courses from Groups A, B, and C with at least one course from each of the groups and three of the courses must be Computer Science courses; Group A includes Engineering Sciences 32, 62, 63, Computer Science 37; Group B includes Engineering Sciences 26, 68, 92 (Engineering Sciences 63 and 92 also satisfy the culminating experience requirement, see below), Computer Science 78; Group C includes Engineering Sciences 91, Computer Science 25, 52, 58. 4. the modified major must also include a culminating experience, which may be a project or a thesis, Engineering Sciences 86, 88 or 89 (formerly 190) (Engineering Sciences 89 (formerly 190) must be taken as part of the two-course design sequence Engineering Sciences 89/90 (formerly 190/290); or an advanced engineering sciences course with a significant design or research project, normally taken in the senior year, chosen from an approved list. Consult the Engineering Sciences Department for the most recent list. Students interested in the modified major with Computer Science should con-tact Professor Cybenko. 3. for the Earth Sciences portion: Four Earth Sciences courses, numbered above 10. Students interested in the modified major with Earth Sciences should contact Professor Schulson. 2. for the Engineering Sciences portion: Engineering Sciences 22, 25, 37 and three of the following: Engineering Sciences 27, 34, 35, 36, 41, 43, 44, 52, 171, 172, with at least two courses from among 41, 43, 44. 3. for the Environmental Sciences portion: four courses from the following list, with at least two courses from one department. Biological Sciences 21 or 51 (but not both), 22, 25, 53 (formerly 23); Chemistry 51, 63; Earth Sciences 16 (formerly 26), 65, 66, 71, 76; Environmental Studies 12, 20, 25, 55, 79. Additional requirements: Chemistry 51 is permitted only as a prerequisite to Chemistry 63. Students interested in the modified major with Environmental Sciences should contact Professor Cushman-Roisin. 3. for the Economics portion: two courses among Economics 20, 21, 22, and a two-course sequence in Money and Finance (Economics 26 and 36), Industrial Organization (Economics 25 and 45), or (Economics 25 and 35), or International Trade (Economics 29 and 39). 1. as prerequisites: Mathematics 3, 8 and 13; Physics 13 and 14; Engineering Sciences 20 or Computer Science 5; Chemistry 5; a course in statistical data analysis, such as Economics 10, Sociology 10, or Mathematics 10. 2. for the Engineering Sciences portion: Engineering Sciences 21 and 22, plus one course selected from Engineering Sciences 23-27, one course selected from Engineering Sciences 31-37, one course selected from Engineering Sciences 41, 43, 44, 51, 52, 56 and one Engineering Sciences course numbered above 20. 3. for the Public Policy portion: Public Policy 5, plus at least one Public Policy methods course, such as: Public Policy 40-48 or Economics 20, and at least one course from a policy track. These are typically mid-level courses in Public Policy or related departments, and cannot include Engineering Sciences courses. Possible tracks include: Environment and Public Policy; Health and Public Policy; Natural resources and Public Policy; and Science/technology and Public Policy. The Rockefeller Center maintains a list of suggested offerings in these areas. Students interested in the modified major with Public Policy should contact Professor Helble. 3. for the studio art portion: Studio Art 15 and 16, plus two upper level studio art courses. Students interested in the modified major with Studio Art should contact Professor Robbie. Normally, other modified major programs will contain at least three of the following Engineering Sciences core courses: 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 or 37 (plus two Engineering Sciences electives.) The modified major must also include a culminating experience; this can be taken instead of one of the electives or as an additional course. The culminating experience may be: a project or a thesis, Engineering Sciences 86, 88 or 89 (formerly 190) (Engineering Sciences 89 (formerly 190) must be taken as part of the two-course design sequence Engineering Sciences 89/90 (formerly 190/290); or an advanced engineering sciences course with a significant design or research project, normally taken in the senior year, chosen from an approved list. Consult the Engineering Sciences Department for the most recent list. A coherent program of study with a substantial engineering content but not including all or any of the above courses may be approved (by the Department Chair) as a modified major based in another department, or as a special major. All modified Engineering Sciences majors must be approved by the Chair of the Engineering Sciences Department. During their junior or senior year, students may apply for admission to the Hon-ors Program in Engineering Sciences. The application must be filed no earlier than the second week of the fall term in the junior year and no later than the second week of the winter term in the senior year. Con-tact the Chair of the Engineering Sciences Department for details. Admission to the Honors Program may be granted to those students who have attained an overall grade point average of 3.0, and a grade point average of 3.33 in the major. The main requirement of the Honors Program is the completion of an honors project. The project, a creative activity suitable to the major subject, is not restricted to experimental work but can equally take the form of a theoretical investigation. Much of the development of the honors project will normally take place within the framework of Engineering Sciences 88, the Honors Thesis. (Engineering Sciences 88 also fulfills the requirement for a culminating experience in the major.) Upon completion of the project, the student will submit a written thesis and give an oral presentation. Those students who satisfactorily complete the Honors Program with a ‘B+’ average or better and have a grade point average of 3.3 or higher in the major at the time of graduation, will earn Honors recognition in the major. High Honors will be granted to those students who, in addition, have taken two engineering science courses beyond those required for the major (excluding courses under 20), have attained a grade point average of 3.50 in all engineering courses, and have completed outstanding independent work. A vote of the Department is also required prior to awarding High Honors. Students may begin their project the previous term by enrolling in Engineering Science 87, Undergraduate Investigations. An interim evaluation of honors students will be made after one term and continuation will be recommended for those students whose work demonstrates the capacity for satisfactory (B+) work. Students who satisfactorily complete the Honors Program will have entered on their permanent record Honors in Engineering Sciences, or High Honors in Engineering Sciences. Many students majoring in engineering sciences enter Dartmouth College with course credits, proficiencies, or both, in a number of subjects resulting from exceptional preparation in high school. As a result, these students have increased elective freedom in choosing courses to satisfy their A.B. requirements. The 100- and 200-level Engineering and Engineering Sciences courses described in this bulletin can be used to satisfy the A.B. degree requirements. Election of 100- and 200-level Engineering and Engineering Sciences courses in excess of the undergraduate requirements for the major and for admission to any of Thayer’s post-A.B. programs will permit a student to be admitted to the Thayer School with advanced standing. Depending upon the number of elective opportunities, significant reduction in the time required to complete Thayer School’s graduate degree programs is possible. The Faculty of the Thayer School believes that the education of all graduate students should include reasonable breadth in the areas of applied mathematics and engineering. 1. The requirement is nine approved graduate-level courses, five of which must be engineering courses. For students whose prior preparation is an accredited B.S. or B.E. in Engineering, or equivalent, the requirement is six graduate-level courses beyond those required for the B.S. c. Minimum of three courses in engineering depth. 3. A thesis approved by the student’s graduate committee and the faculty, demonstrating the ability to do research and contribute to the field. 4. An oral defense of the thesis. A faculty advisor will be appointed for each candidate to aid in developing his or her program. The individual course of study must be submitted to, and be approved by, the Thayer School Graduate Committee, during the student’s first term of residency. The thesis must be approved by a thesis committee. The thesis committee generally consists of three faculty members from the student’s department/program of study (including the thesis advisor). One of the three may be from outside the department/program, but this is not a requirement. Copyright to theses will be held by the Trustees of Dartmouth College. For students recommended for the award of the M.S. degree, the faculty may also recommend the award of the B.E. degree if a substantial portion of the student’s undergraduate program was taken at Dartmouth or in one of its official exchange programs and, if in meeting M.S. requirements, the ABET criteria for the award of the B.E. are also satisfied. Students wishing to take advantage of this opportunity should plan their M.S. programs appropriately. At least one term prior to the scheduled M.S. thesis defense, the B.E./M.S. candidate submits a Bachelor of Engineering program plan approved by both their advisor and the Director of the Bachelor of Engineering program to the Registrar. The M.S./M.D. program is offered by the Thayer School of Engineering and Dartmouth Medical School and is designed for individuals intending to pursue clinical practice but with an interest in developing research skills in a related engineering area. It is also well suited for individuals interested in developing better understanding of imaging and other technologies they will employ as practicing physicians. The program provides M.D. students with a funded research experience in engineering that is expected to lead to research publication as well as provide practical engineering design and analysis experience. Individuals holding an undergraduate degree in engineering and meeting the entrance requirements of each school are eligible to apply. Application must be made to each school separately. Candidates are M.D. students who apply to the Thayer School for admission in their first, second or third year of medical school. Studies for the Thayer M.S. will be carried out in the fourth and part of the fifth year. For specific program requirements, please consult the Thayer Guide to Programs and Courses or the Thayer website at: http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/. b. annual participation in the Research-in-Progress Workshop, for which each Candidate in residence presents his or her individual research progress. 5. Professional competence in resource development for a research project or technology startup enterprise, as demonstrated by completion of a competitive research proposal or business plan for a technology startup company. The proposal or business plan may be developed either independently or as part of the Competitive Proposal Workshop. d. public oral presentation and defense of the dissertation. Thayer School offers a Ph.D. Program in Innovation, which supplements the student’s engineering research with specific coursework and practice in applying entrepreneurial skills to move research discoveries to market. Students in the Program in Innovation meet all requirements for admission to candidacy and full admission to the Ph.D. program, including passing an oral qualifying examination and defending a Ph.D. thesis proposal. Specific requirements for the candidates in the Program in Innovation can be found in the Thayer School Guide to Programs and Courses. Thayer School of Engineering and the Dartmouth Medical School offer an M.D./Ph.D. program in biomedical engineering. Students must apply to the Medical School, indicating their interest in the joint program. The requirements for the Ph.D. portion of the program are modified to permit a more efficient completion of the dual degree program. A student may begin by first pursuing two years of study in basic science at the Medical School. Enrollment in Thayer School for two years follows, during which the student would take courses, qualify for Ph.D. candidacy, pass the oral examination, and initiate dissertation research. Alternately, some students prefer to satisfy basic Ph.D. requirements before starting medical school. The research would then be continued in concert with years 3 and 4 of the M.D. program (the clinical years), especially during year 4 where dissertation research would be counted as elective courses toward the M.D. Both degrees are awarded simultaneously after typically 6 to 6 1/2 years of study. 1. Residence at Thayer School for a minimum of five terms after the Bachelor’s degree, at least one of which occur after successful completion of the Oral Examination. Residence requires three terms of participation in the weekly Thayer Seminar on Applied Science and Technology. 2. Technical proficiency in principles and methods of engineering, applied science, and applied mathematics underlying the anticipated thesis research, as evidenced by performance on an oral qualifying examination. The examination covers at least three fundamental areas selected by the Candidate in consultation with his or her special advisory committee and approved by the graduate program committee. 4. Specialization with mastery at an advanced level of the body of knowledge pertaining to the Candidate’s chosen area of research, as demonstrated by the successful oral defense of a thesis proposal, and by completion of a program of study approved by the M.D./Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering Committee. The extent and content of this program are designed to meet the individual interests and needs of the Candidate. b. a dissertation of professional quality certified by the Candidate’s thesis committee. The Thesis Committee consists of a minimum of three full-time faculty members from the student’s department/program of study (including the thesis advisor) and one with an appointment outside the department/program, preferably outside of Dartmouth. A Ph.D. in computer science is offered by the graduate program in Computer Science, including some Thayer School faculty. See section entitled Computer Science for details. Effective with the Class of 2011, students wishing to pursue the BE degree are advised to choose an Engineering Sciences course as their elective. Effective with the Class of 2011, students wishing to pursue the BE degree are advised to choose an Engineering Sciences course as their elective, and to choose Engineering Sciences 165 for their culminating experience. Prior to enrollment in ENGS 89 (formerly 190), at least six engineering sciences courses must be completed; Engineering Sciences 21 plus five additional courses numbered 22 to 76. ENGS 91, ENGS 92, ENGS 93 (formerly 103), ENGS 100, ENGS 104, ENGS 105, ENGS 106, ENGS 200, ENGS 202, ENGS 205. The oral examination, procedures for demonstrating technical breadth, thesis proposal, and work-shop to facilitate development of a competitive research proposal or business plan are described in more detail in the Thayer School Guide to Programs and Courses. The oral examination, procedures for demonstrating technical breadth, and thesis proposal are described in more detail in the Thayer School Guide to Programs and Courses.

2019-04-21T00:38:09Z

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~regarchive/catalog/desc2010/engs-req.html

Rebel Wilson has been known for making people laugh, and it appears that she wants to do much more of this for her fans in 2019. She is getting off to a good start with a movie called “Isn’t it Romantic.” It is already getting a lot of us from moviegoers that are looking for a nice date night movie for Valentine’s Day. That is the release date, and the trailers appear at the show Rebel Wilson as a reluctant romantic that does not have an ounce of interest in this rom-com genre that has swept America audiences and beyond. She is totally against the Prince Charming movie magic, but this does not stop her from getting trapped inside of a romantic comedy world. Natalie is the character that Rebel Wilson plays, and it shows that she is debunking the myth of the romantic comedy while getting caught up in various scenes that may seem very familiar to people that love these types of movies. One cannot help but laugh at Rebel Wilson and her character’s interesting take on what appears to be almost a cookie-cutter romantic movie formula. She has a great supporting cast inside in the romantic comedy world that includes a Prince charming Liam Hemsworth along with hopeless romantic friends and a gay best friend. People that know romantic comedies well will laugh at the fact that so much of what happens inside of the film is true to form for the romantic comedy movies. It is enlightening for someone like Rebel Wilson to put an interesting spin on what a romantic comedy looks like when you take time to analyze the scenes and pay attention to all of the cookie cutter that continue to perpetuate a certain type of couple for a wide audience. Rebel Wilson will make you laugh, but she also will make you think when you look at the fact that there is a standard type of woman that is picked for these roles even though the role tends to cater to a viewing audience that is very diverse. That is something that this movie points out as it makes you laugh through all of these different scenes. Rebel Wilson has been making people laugh for a long time, and it certainly appears that she wants to continue on this track. She has been in several movies and gained quite a bit of a fame, but people that are just seeing her for the first time will enjoy themselves. Many of the fans that she gains with Isn’t it Romantic will undoubtedly go back and check her other films that catapulted her to success. After three decades working for large banks such as Barclays, Harry Harrison is blazing his own trail as the Founder and President of Anthemis Group. Starting his own digital financial services investment and advisory firm wasn’t easy as Mr. Harrison also had to find time to be a husband and father of two children. Recently, Mr. Harrison sat down with Ideamench to talk about a range of subjects, ranging from idea generation to collaboration, business trends and personal growth. Early on in the interview, Harry Harrison asked about the genesis of his company. Mr. Harrison talked about his education at Cambridge University and his subsequent three decade career working for large banks such as Barclays. Mr. Harrison mentioned that it is curiosity that is his main driving force. And curiosity has driven Mr. Harrison to see if he could create his own digital financial services investment and advisory firm. When asked about his typical day, Mr. Harrison answered that he really doesn’t have a set schedule. As an entrepreneur and financial services business founder, Mr. Harrison finds new challenges on a daily basis. Instead of having a fixed schedule, Mr. Harrison tries to find a balance between running his firm and being a husband and father. This type of work/life balance was a challenge when Mr. Harrison worked at Barclays. Now, that is running his own firm, Mr. Harrison is able to be more flexible with his time without compromising productivity. When asked about how he brought his ideas to life, Mr. Harrison mentioned that it was a combination of diversity of thinking, humility in goal setting and intense collaboration that helps him execute ideas close to his vision. Using these combination of approaches, Mr. Harrison is able to motivate and guide his team to help bring big ideas to life. Finally, Mr. Harrison was asked about what software or web service he likes to use to remain productive. The Anthemis Group Founder and President mentioned that Waze has been an invaluable addition to his life. The navigation app uses crowdsourcing information to help Mr. Harrison navigate through busy traffic and save valuable time to get to his job, make an appointment or get home to his family. While traditional bookstores around the world are currently facing challenges as a result of declining sales and traffic, bookstores in China are experiencing a revival, which is credited to one of the biggest e-commerce platform in the country, JD.com. The platform has its own online book venture, but they are also providing help to 49 bookstores as far as logistics, book procurement, as well as technology. Providing solutions to book stores around China is part of JD.com’s strategy entitled “Retail as a Service”, under which they provide various services and necessary technology to companies from different industries. The founder of Tangning Bookstore, Ningxin Lu talked about the partnership between JD.com and Tangning, stating that without the help of their technology as well as supply chain expertise, Tangning business would not have competitive advantage as far as the traditional mode is concerned. One significant partnership that resulted from the RaaS strategy has been between JD.com and Tangning Books. The two companies partnered in May of 2017, and they sourced all the books using JD’s inventory, and using the e-commerce platform’s in-house logistics ended up saving costs and also cutting on delivery delays. As a result of the partnership, Tangning experienced an increase in sales of 30% from May to the end of the year, and its profits also increased by 17% over that period. Tangning Books was also able to reduce turnover from one year to 220 days, and having access to JD.com’s data analysis capabilities, Tangning now has insight about buying behaviors, and they are able to choose book assortments that are tailored to the company’s customer base, which in turn leads to more sales. While offline book stores have to deal with the fact that they can not stock every book that their customers might as for due to the limited space they have available, Tangning Books can now let customers scan QR codes for every book that they can not find in store, and they can get it delivered within 24h from the inventory of JD.com instead. This allows both companies to work together in order to create an endless aisle when it comes to the choices they offer their customers. The businessman started CAOA in 1979. Currently, the firm operates in various parts in Brazil and the management is always seeking to expand it to other parts of the world. According to statistics for the automotive industry, CAOA is the largest manufacturer and distributor of vehicles in Latin America. Despite being a professional physician, Carlos Alberto de Oliveira Andrade decided to invest in the automotive industry. He works as the chairman of the organization’s board of directors. Before venturing into the sector, Dr. Carlos was one of the most renowned health professionals in Brazil. Earlier in his life, he visited a car dealership and paid some money as a pre-payment for a Ford Landau. Unfortunately, the business was closed due to bankruptcy before his car was delivered and he had to negotiate to get ownership of the dealership as compensation for the money he had paid. The deal was accepted and that became the start of a motor company, CAOA where the name was derived from the initials of his name. Carlos Alberto de Oliveira Andrade became part of the management team at the new firm. Years later, the company was ranked first among the other Ford dealerships in the country. After the legalization of imported cars in Brazil, CAOA ventured into the business. It started importing Renault vehicles and managed to sell the highest number of imported brands in the country. However, the partnership with the Renault brand manufacturers did not last for many years. Under the leadership of Carlos Alberto de Oliveira Andrade, CAOA has continued to expand its portfolios and that has had a positive impact on its sales revenue. In 1998, CAOA partnered with Subaru and became the exclusive importer of the brand in the country. Another firm was doing the import business of the brand before the partnership between the two automotive companies. By the end of one year, the sales revenue of the Subaru brand tripled. One of the moves that gave CAOA international recognition is the partnership with the Hyundai brand. Before the partnership between CAOA and Hyundai was signed, two automotive firms had already failed. There are many people who used to believe in the precious metals, particularly gold and silver. Due to several years of poor price action from the metals, many have lost hope and have tried their luck in other investments. Matt Badiali is one of the few investors who still sees value in both gold and silver. He feels both metals are undervalued and are going to be priced higher, rewarding patient investors. About Matt Badiali, he made his living as a geologist for over twenty years. Part of his geology education consisted of learning about the important factors that drove the supply and demand fundamentals of commodities. According to Matt both gold and silver may endure some more short-term pain, but in the long run, the fundamentals will ultimately play out, and investors who were patient enough to hold will be rewarded well. The US dollar has appreciated very well this year, but this is usually not good for commodities. The dollar continuing to strengthen has been part of the reason that gold and silver have not done well. There are also numerous geological issues around the business world that are keeping investors worried. As long as the US dollar is perceived as a safe asset to hold, investors will continue to buy and hold dollars, which will continue to add to US dollar strength. Matt Badiali says that cryptocurrencies captured a lot of investment money that would have traditionally entered the precious metal’s market, which also was bad for gold and silver. Matt Badiali feels that eventually, US dollar strength will not weigh so heavily on gold and silver. One trend he sees continuing over the coming years is that the US will keep adding to its enormous debt. This has always been very positive for gold and silver. Matt is forecasting inflation to pick up in a few years. Gold and silver will do extremely well in an inflationary environment. Mr. Badiali sees explosive gains in the precious metals industry and feels that it will be the underlying mining companies that deliver unbelievable returns. Mining shares will typically outperform the underlying commodity and allow investors to leverage a precious metals position. Chris Burch known as the founder and also the CEO of his private investment company that is based out in New York called Burch Creative Capital. Chris has nearly 40 years experience as an investor and also as a entrepreneur. He has played a major role of growth for over 50 business companies, see it here at (Medium.com). Burch’s Idea is to help other entrepreneurs with using his knowledge and resources and basically that’s the concept in reasoning for his company Burch Creative Capital. Many services that Burch’s company represent is lifestyle, consumer products, retail, apparels, and other variety of things. Burch’s Private company expanded and gained attention from hotel resorts such as the Nihi Sumba Island. Chris Burch invested in the island along with his business partner James McBride. Nihi hotels is voted #1 the best Hotel In the globe in 2016 and 2017 according to Travel Leisure Magazine, click https://www.inc.com/magazine/201106/chris-burchs-latest-cool-company.html. Burch also involved himself into the growth of several technology and luxury brands. To name a few of the brands he’s tied into are Voss Water, Tory Burch, Jawbone and plenty more. Chris Burch’s business minded success started back when he was an undergraduate at Ithaca College in 1976. He invested in Eagle Eye’s apparel with his brother Bob investing $2,000 dollars. The business expanded then they sold it over to a company called as Swire Group For $60 Million. Read more awesome stories on architecturaldigest.com. What relationship exists between OSI Group and McDonalds? OSI Group is well known for being one of the largest food suppliers in the world. The company has 65 facilities within 17 countries, and it has more than 20,000 employees. The company rose from a humble background to a major corporate business in the world market. Since the company was established, it has continuously grown to be a leader when it comes to products of value-added proteins such as sausages, pizza, and hamburger. OSI Group McDonalds is a relationship that exists between OSI Group & McDonalds. The owners of McDonalds signed an exclusive agreement with OSI Group to be the main supplier of fresh ground beef. As McDonalds was growing to other regions, OSI Group also expanded to those regions in order to meet the demands of the company. This made OSI Group expand from being a regional supplier to a global corporation. The major focus of McDonalds is to provide their customers with consistent product. The primary product of McDonalds is hamburgers, and so the pressure was on OSI Group to produce consumer-driven, affordable, and consistent products that could easily be transported to various franchises of McDonalds. The technological breakthrough experienced in 1960s made it easier for OSI Group to supply consistent and more affordable products. This improved the OSI Group McDonalds relationship. The flash freezing process brought about by technological breakthrough ensures that food is quickly frozen through the use of nitrogen. This established new opportunities for OSI Group in relation cost reduction and product expansion within the food industry. In 1973, OSI Group, built its subsidiary company in West Chicago with a primary aim of making it the sole supplier of OSI Group McDonalds product line. The subsidiary company is equipped with advanced machinery for preparing freezing hamburger patties. The relationship between the OSI Group McDonalds relationship has attracted many customers and it has also increased production of hamburgers. The relationship has also enabled OSI Group to expand its services into the international market. It is currently the most vital provider of food in the world market. Matt Badiali featured in a video which he introduced the public to “Freedom Checks.” In the video, he explained how people can benefit regardless of their age, their income or even the amount of savings they have in the bank. He expressed that freedom checks are likely to be the next cash grab the business world has ever witnessed.For a company to take part in this program, it must be generating 90 percent of its revenues from operating in the natural resource industry carrying out activities such the production, processing or distribution of oil or natural gas.Companies that fit this criterion should then engage in distributing the revenues collected to the investors through freedom checks. The investment is open for everyone and there is no restriction of the minimum amount to invest.This great investment opportunity is referred to as the Master Limited Partnership (MLP). It is publically traded limited partnership consisting of 568 companies in the natural resources industry that are in compliance with the statute 26-F, that offers the condition for issuance of freedom checks, The companies enjoy tax free investment. An MLP company’s income is exempted from taxation until all its investors are paid their capital earnings. Some of the companies in the partnership engage in activities of searching for new wells.In 1987, the Congress enacted Statute 26-F that allows companies to present their shareholders with in intervals that they see fit. More so, they have the mandate of operating as tax-free entities, which translates to more benefits for the stakeholders. The 90% of the revenues it collects is shared among the investors according to their level of initial investment. Matt Badiali is expecting that now since the general public is aware of this kind of investment, the MLPs might start making monthly or even quarterly payment through the checks.With the current decline of oil importation in the USA, American oil companies have increased their production levels to meet the rising demand. These factors are expected to increase the level of profits earned by the MLPs translating to fatter according to freedom checks for the shareholders. The process of purchasing the shares in an MLP is simple and so is the process of receiving the freedom check.

2019-04-20T18:14:31Z

http://thewarpandweft.com/page/2/

Accueil A LA UNE Un problème réel de la Guinée qu’il faut résoudre….. Tout porte à croire que notre pays utilise les bases de données statistiques des institutions internationales pour planifier notre programme de développement. Quoique leur système de quantification comporte souvent une marge d’erreur très large, nous en faisons quand même la référence. D’ailleurs, celles-ci commanditent des études de prélèvement par secteur en fonction des besoins de leur programme. Et les données ont un caractère nettement spécifique donc limité strictement au besoin. C’est à comprendre que tous nos plans de développement se basent sur le superficiel et l’échantillonnage. Nous avons un retard, pour ne pas dire un manque, statistique énorme qui représente un handicap pour toute planification en matière de développement. Que cela soit pour le fichier d’état civil, le recensement général de la population et de l’habitat, les données de la fonction publique, les élèves et étudiants, le chômage, la santé, l’armée, les étrangers vivant en Guinée etc, rien de précis et fiable n’existe. Dans ce cas, comment peut-on résoudre un problème mal évaluer ? Comment peut-on anticiper sur les besoins et risques ? Comment faire des prévisions avec des données biaisées ou sur la base de l’inexistant ? Pourquoi il n’y a aucun lien entre nos universités et les centres administratifs de décision ? Cet état de fait est l’équivalent du médecin qui ne réussit pas son diagnostic mais s’évertue de rassurer le patient qu’il peut le soigner. Allez visiter la direction nationale des statistiques pour comprendre l’une des sources du mal guinéen. Sans compter que nous ne disposons ni d’institut de recherche statistique encore moins d’un centre spécialisé dans le domaine. Voyez comment nos étudiants en situation de recherche éprouvent des difficultés pour trouver des données fiables afin d’argumenter leurs travaux. Et le drame est qu’on n’en fait pas une priorité pour comprendre que nous ne prenons pas nos problèmes par le bon bout. C’est pourquoi, nos dirigeants n’expliquent rien avec des chiffres à l’appui. Ils sont souvent embarrassés entre réciter les chiffres venus d’ailleurs donc mal assimilés (on ne leur laisse souvent pas le choix) ou ignorer et se défendre avec de la littérature même lorsqu’il s’agit de parler d’économie. Je suggère à nos députés de faire de ce problème fondamental une priorité dans les débats au sein de l’hémicycle. Exemple: Quelle est la part de la recherche/documentation dans nos dépenses budgétaires ? Et si on allait enfin à l’essentiel ! Article précédentLe scrutin en Sierra Leone vu sous un autre angle. Article suivantL’engagement militant de la jeunesse : Quelle valeur ajoutée pour notre démocratie ? 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2019-04-18T19:14:50Z

http://guineedynamik.com/un-probleme-reel-de-la-guinee-quil-faut-resoudre/

The title is somewhat tongue in cheek because I really don’t see myself as being a radical, but in order to keep the interest of those on the far left who may see me that way, I chose to acknowledge what is very possibly going to be their claim. The purpose of this piece is to explain how I, David Groen got from Liberal Clinton Democrat who voted for Obama twice, to writing articles and letters that seem to align me far more with the Republican right. By the time you finish reading, whether you a Conservative or a Liberal I suspect I will surprise you, and very possibly disappoint you. If it sounds like I am confused let me be clear. I am more certain of where I stand on most issues than I have been my entire life. I have not changed my views on some of the most polarizing issues of the day. As soon as I state my stances on abortion and gay marriage I am certain to get some ire from a large portion of the Conservatives reading this. When I state my views on Israel and Foreign Affairs I am certain to get the same from many of the Liberals. If this article seems like it is designed to make everyone angry at me, rest assured it is not. I’m merely someone comfortable expressing his political views and since I try not to be a hypocrite, I see no reason to hide my politics. In the end it is up to the reader to decide if he or she cares about my views, not me. Most of the issues I intend to glance over quickly, while those dealing with Israel and Foreign Affairs in particular I will go into more detail. Here are some of the main issues that tend to define today’s Liberal and Conservative, not necessarily in the order stated. My order is based on how much I intend to say about the subject in this particular piece. 4-Foreign Affairs 5-Israel; (specifically for Jews, but often for non-Jews as well). 1-Abortion: I am pro-choice. I believe a woman has the right to decide what to do with her own body. 2-Gay Marriage: I really don’t care who people sleep with and since I believe one of the reasons America is a great country is the separation of Church and State, and since the only reason to ban this is a religious one, I believe it’s not the government’s business. If a religious institution chooses not to marry gay people they have every right to make that choice. 3-Gun Control: I used to be so anti-gun that I would say that Americans had lost the right to bare arms based on our overall behavior with guns. I believe strict and enforced regulations are important, but in today’s worldwide political climate I see how the need exists for individuals to carry a gun, and since that may even mean me, it would be hypocritical of me to hold the same views I once held. Before I go on I will take a moment to explain my voting history back to the first Clinton presidency. Actually the first part is easy. For right or for wrong back then I didn’t feel the need to analyze it too deeply. I voted for who I liked the most. I can say I voted Democrat across the board, and that would be true in local elections, but I also voted for Ronald Reagan(at least I think I did. I may have missed an election). I liked Bill Clinton. The Monica Lewinsky issue aside, I still do. When Al Gore was running I found myself truly getting excited about politics. I thought he was going to be a tremendous president. Whether or not I was right or wrong we will never know because Florida and hanging chads happened and George W. Bush became president instead. With the devastation I felt when Gore did not become president and my 3 straight presidential elections voting Democrat, no one would ever have thought I would ever vote for W. That however, is exactly what happened in the next election. Since I greatly approved of his reaction and handling of 9/11, I voted for him when he ran for a second term. Besides, I wasn’t particularly impressed with John Kerry anyway. At least that is something that hasn’t changed. When Barack Obama first hit the scene I was not a supporter. But not so much because I had a problem with him, but because I was big time for Hilary. When he defeated her in the primaries I was uncertain of my vote. I liked John McCain’s toughness and patriotism but I put a lot of stock in who a candidate chooses for Vice President. So when McCain picked Sara Palin it became a much easier decision for me. I voted for Obama. When Obama came up for reelection I once again looked at the opponent. I didn’t like Mitt Romney at all. I didn’t believe a word he said. Not because I believed he was necessarily so much less honest than everyone else, but because it always seemed that whatever he said was only designed to win the election. I never felt like he was true to anything. I also held out hope and wanted to believe that Obama did actually like Israel and that the things that looked bad were just part of his strategy to bring peace in the Middle East. His actions still may be designed with that purpose in mind, but since it looks more and more like he is selling Israel out in whatever this process of his is, I’m subsequently not too happy about that vote. I can’t tell this history without admitting that in retrospect I made some mistakes, but everyone’s truth is what it is, and this is mine. Who knows? Maybe this piece will make some people admit votes they otherwise would have kept private. With that said I go back to my list. 4-Foreign Affairs: On no issue have I “radicalized” more. We all know the phrase history repeats itself. I believe that history is not as likely to repeat itself as it is to mimic itself. The difference may seem subtle but it is extremely significant and very important. As a son of Holocaust survivors, the history of the Jews in Europe has always been doubly personal. Both as a Jew and as the son of Dutch Jews. The Nazis rose to power under the unsuspecting noses of a hopeful Europe and somewhat detached America. By the time it was too late, Hitler had put together a juggernaut of evil and terror that ran over the continent and caused a war that saw the death of tens of millions of people, including 6 millions Jews killed in genocidal manner. The enemy was devastatingly powerful and ruthless. The tactics of the Nazis were as evil as anything the world has ever seen. They were organized, cohesive and powerful. But the allies had one advantage in attacking them. They were based in one country. Yes there was a 5th column, the “ordinary people” placed in other countries to do a form of reconnaissance, but for the most part Nazi Germany was based out of Germany. Although today’s evil uses some tactics very similar to the Nazis, and similarly their 2 main enemies are Americans and Jews, Muslim extremists are spread out in so many parts of the world, able to attack in so many different locations at any time, that the rising threat may have similarities to 1930s Europe, but nothing is a better example of history mimicking itself instead of repeating itself as the threats we face today. That being said, the similarities are significant enough that I have formed the belief that negotiation and trust are just not a reasonable option. It hurts me to say that this is a fight I believe can only be won by force, but what do we see to tell us otherwise? If we are only looking for history to repeat itself, we can make the argument that this is nothing like 1930s Europe and the rise of Nazism. But the language is similar, the lack of morality which justifies killing is similar, and the growth is even faster. I don’t want to see innocent people get hurt, but innocent people needed to get hurt in Germany to stop the Nazis, and had that not happened millions of more innocent people would ultimately have gotten slaughtered. To me and to all civilized people that is something that should be unacceptable. 5-Israel: I have made a very clear statement that I have no intention of wavering from. My next vote for president will be for whichever candidate I believe is most pro-Israel and toughest in foreign affairs. I have been very vocal in my support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The other day I decided to listen to a J Street video regarding the need for a two-state Solution. I think J Street is divisive and disingenuous, but in many ways I don’t believe a desire for a two-state solution is a bad thing necessarily. Much of the statements in the video carried a lot of merit. The status quo will not be good for Israel. It does create an even more dangerous future. The prices that have been paid by so many are very high, and yes, it is a lot easier to speak this way from the United States than it is from Israel. All that being said, it is not that I am opposed to a two-state solution per se, it is that under the current conditions a two-state solution is not a road to peace, it is a road to another Final Solution, not that different from the one attempted, and carried out to a large extent in devastating fashion by the Nazis against the Jews. To make peace you either need more than one willing party or for one party to be significantly stronger. Those who criticize Israel the loudest do so because Israel, at the moment at least is stuck with the second choice. Being a more powerful nation Israel is still able to win their wars. With the lack of a willing peace partner Israel has 2 choices. Keep the enemy down or die. Forgive us “radicals” if we find the 2nd choice unacceptable. No reasonable caring person is blind to the price Israel has to pay. I can say with utmost confidence that the overwhelming majority of Israelis and Jews worldwide would gladly accept a two-state solution if it was with a party that truly wanted peace with the Jewish people. If I felt Jewish lives would be saved I would support it. But I believe, as do many like me, that more Jewish lives would be lost as a result of a two-state solution under the current conditions. And it’s just plain anti-Israel cynicism to believe it falls solely on Israel to change these conditions. I can not and will not be moderate if I feel that a moderate viewpoint puts my people in danger. People who truly know Israelis and truly know the Jewish people as a whole, know that we are a people who desire to live in peace. My lack of moderation is not based on some irrational hatred of Arabs and Muslims, my lack of moderation is based on those in power who talk about wanting to annihilate Israel and murder Jews while declaring a desire for peace for political or public relations expediency. It’s baffling to me that anyone would believe the intentions of those calling for the murder of innocents were good at all, and to be quite honest it baffles me that the view opposing Israel somehow became one more often affiliated with a liberal status. Maybe these people need to listen a little more to Alan Dershowitz. So there you have my evolution to “radical”. Make no mistake though. This is one radical that hopes and prays that one day people will wake up and no longer allow their leaders to be preachers of death and destruction. When that happens I suspect I will no longer be seen as a radical, for I will be excited and supportive of what would then be a genuine peace process. I am a firm believer of free speech. Although I think there are some grey areas when dealing with messages of blatant hate or incitement, I never call for the removal of anyone’s form of expression, regardless of how distasteful it may be to me personally. That being said, I believe my responses should be given the same respect and consideration. Since your newspaper made the choice to publish drivel which I believe helps contribute to the destruction of our civilization, I trust you will give my words equal consideration. I can’t help but wonder the thinking behind publishing this sort of garbage. Is it considered to be funny? It certainly isn’t accurate or appropriate. Last week ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing in a mosque that killed scores of worshipper. I wonder how that was dealt with by your newspaper. You see that was an actual specific targeting of worshippers. It was mass murder for the purpose of destabilization. Yet somehow I suspect your paper draws some type of moral equivalency between Israel’s actions during the war in Gaza and the actions of a terrorist organization like ISIS. I suspect this because in publishing this cartoon you have chosen to give a degree of credibility to Hamas, a terrorist organization far more similar to ISIS than you may care to admit. I do not know you Mr. Kern, so I do not know your personal feelings, but I am addressing you because as the editor you are responsible for what appears in your newspaper. This cartoon justifies the actions of Hamas, a group cut from the same cloth as ISIS, and with members that would kill you as fast as they would kill me. Hamas used these locations as human shields in attacking Israeli population centers. Israel’s purpose of bombing Gaza was to stop the attacks on her very own civilians. You may not want to accept this as fact because then you can’t publish a dumb cartoon attacking Netanyahu, but these are the facts nonetheless, and no skewed political agenda will change that. I write this letter out of concern for our well-being. There is a great division growing within our people. We have always been somewhat at odds with each other when it comes to religious observance, something that is still an issue, but of greater significance today is the schism in political viewpoints and the general direction in which our people will not only move forward, but survive. I call myself a citizen of the world. I see all people as being equal. That being said, I have a tremendous pride and love for what I am and where I come from. I love the Jewish people with all my heart and soul and want to see us thrive in a safe and prosperous world. This feeling, one shared by so many others, is what drives my political viewpoints. I am quite certain that there are countless more of my fellow Jews whose love of their people also drive their political opinion, be it identical or very different from mine. I am very passionate about my views. I believe, as I am sure so many of you do as well, that there is a tremendous amount at stake at this moment in time. And like so many of you, I believe my views are the correct ones. If I did not, I would not hold them. If I did not, I would not passionately speak them. To me, as I am sure it is to many of you, this is not about me being heard or having intellectual discourse. To me this is about survival. We do not have to agree with the method, but we must always remember to agree with the goal. We must make a concerted effort not to fight among ourselves because as we know all to well, there are plenty of people out there who are more than happy to fight us, hurt us, and kill us. We must not fall victim to the devious methods and strategies of our enemies. We must support the one Jewish government in the world and show respect for it leaders whether they hold the views we do or not. No matter how much one might feel a strategy of an Israeli leader is counterproductive, it is far more counterproductive to work against him. Please remember one extremely important fact. Our enemies have always worked against Israel’s leaders, be they left-wing or right-wing, and to believe that has suddenly changed is a potentially devastating and incorrect assumption. I am not asking all of you to agree with Benjamin Netanyahu or even like him, but as long as he is the Prime Minister of Israel, I pray that you will support and respect him. I end with one last message. Next time you have reason to be angry at one of your fellow Jews over a difference of opinion, take a step back and realize that with our unity we get strong and with our division we get weak. If you are angry and wish to fight, fight those who wish to truly harm you. Debate your fellow Jew but do so with respect and kindness. Investigate and identify who your enemies are, and when you do you may come to the conclusion that your enemy is not your fellow Jew who disagrees with you. I for one certainly hope that you do come to that conclusion. The first 3 words of this letter already tells so much of the story. To be forced to start a letter “Dear Editorial Board” makes you wonder why no individual had the intestinal fortitude to use his or her name when going on the attack as they did against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu one day after his election victory. For those of you reading on this self-perceived holier than thou and smarter than the rest of us board, here is how criticism is given when you are not afraid to stand by your convictions. My name is David Groen. I am a proud American, a proud Jew, and proud Zionist. I am also an ardent supporter of Benjamin Netanyahu who found your editorial titled “An Israeli Election turns ugly” to be not only offensive, but skewed to suit your political agenda and a contradiction to the factors that make democracy great. Israel is not only a great democracy, it is the only real democracy in the Middle East. You speak of Benjamin Netanyahu as though he is some fascist dictator on the rise. This is a man who leads a nation constantly under attack from terrorist organizations and threats from rogue nations such as Iran calling for its annihilation. Yet somehow you have a problem with Netanyahu trying to defeat the Arab vote knowing full well that their agenda would be to go against his political strategy of how to keep Israel safe and secure. I’m not debating whether or not his strategy is right or wrong because this letter is not so much to debate his tactics, it is to debate yours. There is no evidence that voters were harassed, be they left-wing Jews or Arabs, and no reason to believe this was an election ripe with any significant corruption. What it was instead was an example of an ambitious politician using democracy to his advantage. It is almost comical to me that the NY Times, that great defender of freedom and civil rights would have a problem with democracy functioning on a prime level. No one forced anyone to vote for Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Arab population had a big vote in the election. Their representative party has seats in the Knesset. They have a say and a role in the Israeli political system. How many Arab nations have Jewish representation? None. Because in most Arab nations the Jews were run out of town. If “you” don’t like Benjamin Netanyahu that’s fine. Just don’t attack him for utilizing his country’s democratic structure. Which bring me back again to that question. Who is the “you” in all this? Who am I actually writing to? The entire Editorial Board is in agreement on this issue? How about signing all of your names to it so we know how many of you there are and know you are all in agreement. Not because I believe there should be anything heinous done to you, but because if you are to criticize someone who speaks to the people just because you are upset he got what he wanted, don’t you think you should at least let everyone know who you are when you criticize him? To hide behind the title “Editorial Board” is a level of hypocrisy that totally destroys any credibility you have left. Whoever “you” actually are. What Benjamin Netanyahu did this election was nothing different from what any other politician would do in any democracy. He did what he felt he had to do to win. Creating this perception that his words were racist attacks on the Arab population of Israel is either irresponsible on “your” part, or even worse, an attempt at manipulating the minds of your audience. But here is the difference between “you” and me. I accept your right to do this in a democratic society with free speech, and when I don’t like “your” methods, I sign my name to my criticism.

2019-04-25T21:47:44Z

https://hollandsheroes.com/2015/03/

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This Toolkit empowers people to do just that – whether their title is entrepreneur, manager, consultant, (Vice-)President, CxO etc… – they are the people who rule the future. They are the person who asks the right questions to make Music technology investments work better. Save time, empower your teams and effectively upgrade your processes with access to this practical Fourth Party System Toolkit and guide. Address common challenges with best-practice templates, step-by-step work plans and maturity diagnostics for any Fourth Party System related project. The latest quick edition of the Fourth Party System Self Assessment book in PDF containing 49 requirements to perform a quickscan, get an overview and share with stakeholders. Featuring 676 new and updated case-based questions, organized into seven core areas of process design, this Self-Assessment will help you identify areas in which Fourth Party System improvements can be made. For your Fourth Party System project, identify and describe the business environment. is there more than one layer to the business environment? How much are sponsors, customers, partners, stakeholders involved in Fourth Party System? In other words, what are the risks, if Fourth Party System does not deliver successfully? What are the disruptive Fourth Party System technologies that enable our organization to radically change our business processes? Cost Management Plan: Cost management – How will the cost of changes be estimated and controlled? Issue Log: How do you reply to this question; I am new here and managing this major program. How do you suggest I build my network? Closing Process Group: What is the overall risk of the Fourth Party System project to the organization? Requirements Management Plan: Who is responsible for quantifying the Fourth Party System project requirements? 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The latest quick edition of the SCC compliant Self Assessment book in PDF containing 49 requirements to perform a quickscan, get an overview and share with stakeholders. Featuring 714 new and updated case-based questions, organized into seven core areas of process design, this Self-Assessment will help you identify areas in which SCC compliant improvements can be made. Will SCC compliant deliverables need to be tested and, if so, by whom? Does SCC compliant systematically track and analyze outcomes for accountability and quality improvement? Who is the main stakeholder, with ultimate responsibility for driving SCC compliant forward? How to deal with SCC compliant Changes? Is the SCC compliant organization completing tasks effectively and efficiently? Project Portfolio management: Why is SCC compliant project portfolio management (PPM) important? Procurement Management Plan: Are milestone deliverables effectively tracked and compared to SCC compliant project plan? Quality Audit: How does the organization know that its relationships with the community at large are appropriately effective and constructive? Quality Metrics: What are the organizations expectations for its quality SCC compliant project? Requirements Documentation: If applicable; are there issues linked with the fact that this is an offshore SCC compliant project? Activity Duration Estimates: What are some crucial elements of a good SCC compliant project plan? Step-by-step and complete SCC compliant Project Management Forms and Templates including check box criteria and templates. With this Three Step process you will have all the tools you need for any SCC compliant project with this in-depth SCC compliant Toolkit. This Toolkit empowers people to do just that – whether their title is entrepreneur, manager, consultant, (Vice-)President, CxO etc… – they are the people who rule the future. They are the person who asks the right questions to make SCC compliant investments work better. Save time, empower your teams and effectively upgrade your processes with access to this practical Document classification Toolkit and guide. Address common challenges with best-practice templates, step-by-step work plans and maturity diagnostics for any Document classification related project. The latest quick edition of the Document classification Self Assessment book in PDF containing 49 requirements to perform a quickscan, get an overview and share with stakeholders. Featuring 928 new and updated case-based questions, organized into seven core areas of process design, this Self-Assessment will help you identify areas in which Document classification improvements can be made. What are the business goals Document classification is aiming to achieve? Do we all define Document classification in the same way? Are improvement team members fully trained on Document classification? What is Document classification’s impact on utilizing the best solution(s)? Stakeholder Management Plan: Are there processes in place to ensure internal consistency between the source code components? WBS Dictionary: Are all authorized tasks assigned to identified organizational elements? Project Management Plan: Do the proposed changes from the Document classification project include any significant risks to safety? WBS Dictionary: Are overhead cost budgets (or Document classification projections) established on a facility-wide basis at least annually for the life of the contract? Project Charter: Document classification project Background: What is the primary motivation for this Document classification project? Step-by-step and complete Document classification Project Management Forms and Templates including check box criteria and templates. With this Three Step process you will have all the tools you need for any Document classification project with this in-depth Document classification Toolkit. This Toolkit empowers people to do just that – whether their title is entrepreneur, manager, consultant, (Vice-)President, CxO etc… – they are the people who rule the future. They are the person who asks the right questions to make Document classification investments work better. Service set: Why are Service set skills important? Save time, empower your teams and effectively upgrade your processes with access to this practical Service set Toolkit and guide. Address common challenges with best-practice templates, step-by-step work plans and maturity diagnostics for any Service set related project. The latest quick edition of the Service set Self Assessment book in PDF containing 49 requirements to perform a quickscan, get an overview and share with stakeholders. Featuring new and updated case-based questions, organized into seven core areas of process design, this Self-Assessment will help you identify areas in which Service set improvements can be made. Is the Service set scope manageable? Why are Service set skills important? Who are the Service set improvement team members, including Management Leads and Coaches? How will you measure your Service set effectiveness? Probability and Impact Matrix: Are staff committed for the duration of the Service set project? Scope Management Plan: Is a PMO (Service set project Management Office) in place and provide oversight to the Service set project? Cost Estimating Worksheet: What additional Service set project(s) could be initiated as a result of this Service set project? Step-by-step and complete Service set Project Management Forms and Templates including check box criteria and templates. With this Three Step process you will have all the tools you need for any Service set project with this in-depth Service set Toolkit. This Toolkit empowers people to do just that – whether their title is entrepreneur, manager, consultant, (Vice-)President, CxO etc… – they are the people who rule the future. They are the person who asks the right questions to make Service set investments work better. Computer user satisfaction: Why is Computer user satisfaction important for you now? Save time, empower your teams and effectively upgrade your processes with access to this practical Computer user satisfaction Toolkit and guide. Address common challenges with best-practice templates, step-by-step work plans and maturity diagnostics for any Computer user satisfaction related project. The latest quick edition of the Computer user satisfaction Self Assessment book in PDF containing 49 requirements to perform a quickscan, get an overview and share with stakeholders. Featuring new and updated case-based questions, organized into seven core areas of process design, this Self-Assessment will help you identify areas in which Computer user satisfaction improvements can be made. How can skill-level changes improve Computer user satisfaction? How are the Computer user satisfaction’s objectives aligned to the group’s overall stakeholder strategy? Why is Computer user satisfaction important for you now? Who will be responsible for deciding whether Computer user satisfaction goes ahead or not after the initial investigations? Schedule Management Plan: Have all documents been archived in a Computer user satisfaction project repository for each release? Human Resource Management Plan: Has a Quality Assurance Plan been developed for the Computer user satisfaction project? Schedule Management Plan: Has a provision been made to reassess Computer user satisfaction project risks at various Computer user satisfaction project stages? Step-by-step and complete Computer user satisfaction Project Management Forms and Templates including check box criteria and templates. With this Three Step process you will have all the tools you need for any Computer user satisfaction project with this in-depth Computer user satisfaction Toolkit. This Toolkit empowers people to do just that – whether their title is entrepreneur, manager, consultant, (Vice-)President, CxO etc… – they are the people who rule the future. They are the person who asks the right questions to make Computer user satisfaction investments work better. Community health: What is a feasible sequencing of reform initiatives over time? Save time, empower your teams and effectively upgrade your processes with access to this practical Community health Toolkit and guide. Address common challenges with best-practice templates, step-by-step work plans and maturity diagnostics for any Community health related project. The latest quick edition of the Community health Self Assessment book in PDF containing 49 requirements to perform a quickscan, get an overview and share with stakeholders. Featuring new and updated case-based questions, organized into seven core areas of process design, this Self-Assessment will help you identify areas in which Community health improvements can be made. Do those selected for the Community health team have a good general understanding of what Community health is all about? What business benefits will Community health goals deliver if achieved? Does Community health analysis show the relationships among important Community health factors? Project Schedule: Why do you think schedule issues often cause the most conflicts on Community health projects? Activity Duration Estimates: Describe Community health project integration management in your own words. How does Community health project integration management relate to the Community health project life cycle, stakeholders, and the other Community health project management knowledge areas? Step-by-step and complete Community health Project Management Forms and Templates including check box criteria and templates. With this Three Step process you will have all the tools you need for any Community health project with this in-depth Community health Toolkit. This Toolkit empowers people to do just that – whether their title is entrepreneur, manager, consultant, (Vice-)President, CxO etc… – they are the people who rule the future. They are the person who asks the right questions to make Community health investments work better. Cheese (software): What should we measure to verify effectiveness gains? In a project to restructure Cheese (software) outcomes, which stakeholders would you involve? What is the Cheese (software) sustainability risk? To what extent does management recognize Cheese (software) as a tool to increase the results? Is Supporting Cheese (software) documentation required? Risk Register: Have other controls and solutions been implemented in other services which could be applied as an alternative to additional funding? Schedule Management Plan: Are the Cheese (software) project team members located locally to the users/stakeholders? Schedule Management Plan: Are enough systems & user personnel assigned to the Cheese (software) project? Initiating Process Group: What were things that you did very well and want to do the same again on the next Cheese (software) project? Resource Breakdown Structure: What is each stakeholders desired outcome for the Cheese (software) project?

2019-04-20T20:33:43Z

http://itsecuritysurvival.com/category/uncategorized/

I've heard talk about these two projects for a long time, and I'm lukewarm moreso to the second project which I'll explain both. But they are finally going to start construction this year. For those who don't know, I can't find a good map of the existing ramp but I can show an image which shows both the existing and the future configuration. Those who aren't aware of how this works, when you exit the Gardiner here, the exit is signed as York/Bay/Yonge. If you want York St North, you take the loop ramp and keep to the left, if you want Bay St, you take the loop ramp and keep to the right onto a slip ramp onto Harbour, and then make a left turn onto Bay. If you want Yonge, you don't take the loop ramp, but instead take a ramp that descends onto Harbour right before the Bay St intersection, this is only one lane and you can't turn either direction from this offramp, you must proceed straight, and therefore you make a left turn onto Yonge....so currently, only York St had a direct interchange with the Gardiner, this ramp is seen as somewhat of an eyesore by many. As you can see from the above diagram, the replacement ramp will be a simple ramp which descends onto Harbour around Lower Simcoe Street, and therefore if you want York, Bay, or Yonge in the future, you simply stay on Harbour until you meet those intersections. Harbour will be widened to accommodate this. My real only concern is the York/Harbour intersection, consider the before and after. Of course, an immediate added bonus is that currently, you couldn't turn left onto York from Harbour, now a dedicated left turn lane will allow vehicles to turn onto York. So this is a positive, as a driver, if I wanted York St from Lake Shore, I had to do a bunch of moves on other streets to reach York, like using Rees St and then Bremner. But if I decide to use Lake Shore now, I have direct access to York. What concerns me however is that arguably one left turn lane may not be enough, I always thought a fully protected dual left turn movement would be best for this intersection, pedestrians generally obey fully protected left turns with my experience, they don't barrel into the intersection just because they see a green which commonly happens during an advanced green with a green light and green left arrow. Other than that, this could probably make the area better, I will admit that I will miss taking that loop ramp down to York, for those who want one last ride, the ramp will be permanently closed on April 17....Lake Shore/Harbour will instead be accessed from the Spadina exit while the new ramp down is constructed. The general North-South street is Kipling Ave, Dundas Street generally travels diagonally from the south west to the south east, and Bloor St, is the main east-west street along the upper half of the map. While this better connects the three streets, the traffic pattern before made more sense in how most traffic travels. As you can see from the old map, Bloor St was the natural continuation of Dundas coming from the west, indeed this is how the interchange is designed, if you drive straight you'll go from Dundas St to Bloor St, and otherwise, Bloor St to Dundas St. Indeed, this route made up the old Highway 5 which has since been decommissioned. What I am basically trying to say, the natural flow is for Bloor if heading west to become Dundas, Bloor west of Kipling Avenue is a significantly different kind of corridor compared to the stretch east of Kipling. This means, I predict the future intersection of Bloor/Dundas/Dunbloor to have long backups to make a left to reach Dundas St, previously this was a simple through movement with no traffic lights at all, it's a shame that this kind of natural continuation couldn't have been tried to be preserved. Even the Bloor Subway line has Kipling Station more closer to Dundas, and it was assumed that if a future extension of the subway were to happen, that it would follow the alignment along Dundas. Remember, Dundas St has an exit with Hwy 427 and Bloor does not, Dundas is an arterial in Mississauga which continues into Halton Region and beyond. Bloor west of Kipling and into Mississauga really has the status at best of a minor arterial, I'm not sure if it can be classified as a collector or not. These are my thoughts on this, what is your opinions on this. It's complicated, Dundas is an important street east of here as well, although it kind of travels all over the place until it finally forms a straight line east of Lansdowne Avenue, indeed follow the path and Bloor & Dundas actually meet later at a straight intersection. I think many hate the overall "eyesoreness" of the interchange. This interchange isn't entirely free flowing, that loop ramp from NB Kipling to WB Bloor/Dundas has TWO stop signs in what should be yield signs (there isn't acceleration lanes here). But as I said, Bloor loses it's importance WEST of Kipling, Bloor & Kipling may see an improvement, but Dundas seriously loses, and Dundas is a very important arterial west of here into Mississauga. This comes as no surprises, considering all the barking you hear from so called experts regarding tearing down the Gardiner completely, but I digress. Sure, the interchange wasn't perfect before, but it allowed for a lot practical movements, like those on Dundas wanting to stay on Dundas.....the faultiness of the intersection involved getting to WB Bloor, meh something tells me all these empty spaces created will be filled with even more condos. The first one is very similar to the exit for Tillary Street off the westbound BQE in Brooklyn. You see this helix and you think of all the expensive real estate that is going to waste. It would be great if it can be used in the right way. The second one is also a monstrosity, but probably needed. I can't imagine what type of traffic you'd get with three busy arterials meeting at one point. You sort of need to have at least one of them grade separated. This is similar to Grand Ave in the NW suburbs of Phoenix. It used to be many busy six point intersections that are now mitigated thanks to the grade separations and ramps. Ugly but necessary. Cool thread MisterSG1, thanks for posting this. I probably wouldn't have known about these project otherwise. The first one happens to be the only exit I use on the Gardiner (for the few times a year I drive to downtown Toronto). At least the proposed changes seem reasonable enough to me, though I'll miss the unique setup they currently have (I always thought the loop ramp in downtown looked cool, but that's how you know I'm a roadgeek ). I can see your concerns with the six-points intersection. I've only driven through there once or twice, but I can only imagine how busy it must be. I'm also not sure why this project is really necessary. Do they plan on using some of the land in that intersection for development. Or maybe the idea is to make it more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists? Otherwise, it seems like a lot of work to arguably make the intersection worse (in terms of car traffic anyway). The six-points intersection (in it's current form) is actually really cool from a roadgeek perspective! It's crazy how many ramps and side streets are involved. Yeah, the removal of the interchange is part of a master plan for the area which in addition to better bike/ped accomodations also includes new parkland on the former site of the interchange and new development around it. The interchange is immediately adjacent to the Kipling subway station, which is the western terminus of the Bloor-Danforth line. Quite a few buses already converge on it so it's already a transit hub and therefore a prime location for transit oriented development. But, the interchange takes up a lot of space, and therefore it has to go if the vision of creating a small community around the subway station is to be realized. It's also worth noting that currently if you exit Kipling station at the east end, it puts you on the sidewalk of St Albans Rd which has the interchange on one side of it and wild growth on the other - not the sort of place that's exactly pleasant to be walking through on a regular basis, especially after dark. To get to the development to the northeast you need to follow this forlorn path and then cross Bloor at Resurrection Rd. With the interchange gone, you'll still need to cross Bloor, but will be able to do so at Dunbloor which will make some people's walk shorter. And everyone's will be more pleasant if there is a park and more development in the area. 1) Cross St Albans Rd without a crosswalk, walk across the grass to the sidewalk on Kipling, and then follow said sidewalk all the way through the interchange, having to walk right across several pseudo-freeway-style entry/exit points in the process. 2) exit at the west end of the station, walk up Aukland Rd and then back on Bloor, which is a lot less harrowing than option 1 but depending on where you're going a lot longer. With the interchange gone, walking up Kipling will be similar to walking up any other street, and safer because every lane of traffic you need to cross will have a red light at some point while you have a walk signal - unlike now where it's uncontrolled and you have to play Frogger. Now, the timing on all this is somewhat odd because the interchange is not (as best as I can tell) at the end of its useful life, but there is well thought out reasoning behind what is being done. The need to make a left turn from Bloor to Dundas does strike me as a point of concern as well, but they've done traffic studies and said studies seem to indicate it won't be an issue, so we'll see. I don't really like it. I prefer arterial roads to be perfectly continuous. I like that Bloor will now be continuous, but hate that Dundas will now be completely disjointed. If only the demo proposal was made a few years earlier before the condos on Dunbloor were built. Then the course of Dundas could have realigned to avoid Bloor and Kipling completely. Though I can see the traffic problems that will result with the primary arterial role-switching between Bloor and Dundas. When CN was a crown corporation, they built the obvious CN Tower, as you can see, much of that land south of the rail corridor was a giant railyard....indeed when the Gardiner Expressway was built, the overall environment resembled more of the environment when driving on Burlington St in Hamilton. I'm not exactly sure when everything changed, but as you can see, everything south of the rail corridor was pretty much industrial land. Regarding the Six Points, I think it's quite obvious that all that space that was freed up will be used to build....you guessed it, more condos. I will address more of the issues in my response to Duke87. Kipling has always been a transit hub, no doubt about that. But for most commuters, exiting at Kipling is not their final destination. The vast majority of people who get off the subway at Kipling will head upstairs to the bus terminal to reach other parts of the city. Notice that only the TTC uses this terminal, MiWay (formerly Mississauga Transit) operates out of Islington Station.....so they are going to have to cross this hell to reach Islington station. There is a plan to build a new terminal at Kipling for the Mississauga buses, but when this will happen, god only knows. If not taking buses, the next group of commuters either get picked up at the "Kiss & Ride" or they walk back to their vehicles and drive to where they are headed. THERE ARE VERY FEW COMMUTERS who leave the station here and walk. That east end exit is a rather recent addition to the station, it opened up in 2011. I assume it sprung up because of the addition of the condos on the southwest side of the interchange. First thing, THE INTERCHANGE IS NOT ON THE WEST SIDE OF the St Albans Entrance, Kipling Ave is elevated here because this is the bridge that crosses over the CP tracks (which also serve as the Milton GO line as well), so you will always exit beside those "ugly" bridge piers no matter what. The exit onto St Albans was again a recent addition, and to be honest, if you want the Dunbloor condos by walking, it's probably more practical in either sense to get off the subway at Islington and walk along Bloor, especially when you factor in the time it takes for the subway to reach Kipling from Islington in rush hours. If you want to go north, you can always simply take TTC 45 Kipling, shows up every 5 minutes for most of the day, and every 10 minutes at night. The problem you suggest with St Albans and reaching Kipling will still exist afterwards, remember the St. Albans exit didn't exist until 2011, this station operated for over 30 years without it, and the vast majority of commuters enter on the Aukland/Subway Crescent side. It's the thinking of modern day planners, CARS BAD, PEDS AND CYCLISTS GOOD. The neighborhoods themselves aren't entirely attractive, with just condos, this is essentially a bedroom community for those wanting to go downtown, what I've described as an urban suburbia. When you visit the CityPlace neighborhood, that's the buildings that immediately surround the SkyDome *cough* I mean Rogers Centre, and the buildings west of Spadina on Fort York Blvd. These buildings have mostly the same kind of stores on the bottom that you expect to see at your suburban power center (which I always hear a a common criticism of suburbia, how it's all the same) There is no real sense of a city here, it's just buildings, it feels cold and sterile, that's how I describe it. Similar kind of developments surround Square One in Mississauga, the Scarborough Town Centre in Scarborough, the only real example of something that actually has a good mix of residential and office space is North York Centre, which is roughly defined as the area between Hwy 401 and Finch Ave on Yonge Street. This was part of a grand plan since the 1980s by Mel Lastman (then mayor of North York) and it actually kind of feels like a "downtown" despite having a six lane Yonge Street. Although Bloor shares the same name, as I described earlier, Bloor west of Kipling ought to be called something else really, compare the streetscapes of Bloor & Dundas west of here and you'll see what I mean, Bloor is practically a residential collector. Indeed, Bloor doesn't even reach Hurontario in Mississauga, whilst Dundas is a major arterial throughout Mississauga and continues westward beyond Halton Region to become Hwy 5. As Bloor west of the six points is more of a residential area (compared to Dundas or Burnhamthorpe), it was actually fairly well shielded from motorists trying to use it as an alternate path....indeed, Bloor West is currently only directly reachable by SB Kipling, you CANNOT turn onto Bloor West from NB Kipling, you have to use Dundas and take Aukland to get up there, this sort of explains what I mean. Making Bloor continuous kills the longstanding relation between Dundas and Bloor through the Six Points and will arguably encourage more traffic to use Bloor than Dundas. Dundas is designed for the larger traffic volumes, there is no question about it whatsoever. the only real example of something that actually has a good mix of residential and office space is North York Centre, which is roughly defined as the area between Hwy 401 and Finch Ave on Yonge Street. This was part of a grand plan since the 1980s by Mel Lastman (then mayor of North York) and it actually kind of feels like a "downtown" despite having a six lane Yonge Street. I think it especially feels like a big city up there because of Yonge being six lanes. Even more so than it does downtown itself, where its narrow width makes the city look smaller than it really is. Very short answer, aside from the specific location when the work is occurring, it shouldn't mess things up too much more than they already are. If your itinerary in Toronto is mostly the downtown core on foot, then maybe parking further afield and taking VIA or GO Transit might be your preference. I don't think there will be a significant time savings (which is why I usually end up driving straight into downtown instead), but it certainly can be a lower-stress option if less familiar with the city. They are doing this to better accommodate pedestrians. But I don't think it is a good idea because most people in Toronto (except maybe in Downtown) drive cars, and doing this just makes traffic slower while there are very few pedestrians.

2019-04-23T02:36:56Z

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?amp;topic=19775.0

German Chancellor Angela Merkel went to St. Petersburg last week for meetings with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. The central question on the table was Germany’s position on NATO expansion, particularly with regard to Ukraine and Georgia. Merkel made it clear at a joint press conference that Germany would oppose NATO membership for both of these countries, and that it would even oppose placing the countries on the path to membership. Since NATO operates on the basis of consensus, any member nation can effectively block any candidate from NATO membership. The fact that Merkel and Germany have chosen this path is of great significance. Merkel acted in full knowledge of the U.S. view on the matter and is prepared to resist any American pressure that might follow. It should be remembered that Merkel might be the most pro-American politician in Germany, and perhaps its most pro-American chancellor in years. Moreover, as an East German, she has a deep unease about the Russians. Reality, however, overrode her personal inclinations. More than other countries, Germany does not want to alienate the United States. But it is in a position to face American pressure should any come. In one sense, Merkel’s reasons for her stance are simple. Germany is heavily dependent on Russian natural gas. If the supply were cut off, Germany’s situation would be desperate — or at least close enough that the distinction would be academic. Russia might decide it could not afford to cut off natural gas exports, but Merkel is dealing with a fundamental German interest, and risking that for Ukrainian or Georgian membership in NATO is not something she is prepared to do. She can’t bank on Russian caution in a matter such as this, particularly when the Russians seem to be in an incautious mood. Germany is, of course, looking to alternative sources of energy for the future, and in five years its dependence on Russia might not be nearly as significant. But five years is a long time to hold your breath, and Germany can’t do it. The German move is not just about natural gas, however. Germany views the U.S. obsession with NATO expansion as simply not in Germany’s interests. First, expanding NATO guarantees to Ukraine and Georgia is meaningless. NATO and the United States don’t have the military means to protect Ukraine or Georgia, and incorporating them into the alliance would not increase European security. From a military standpoint, NATO membership for the two former Soviet republics is an empty gesture, while from a political standpoint, Berlin sees it as designed to irritate the Russians for no clear purpose. Next, were NATO prepared to protect Ukraine and Georgia, all NATO countries including Germany would be forced to increase defense expenditures substantially. This is not something that Germany and the rest of NATO want to do. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Germany spent 1945-1992 being the potential prime battleground of the Cold War. It spent 1992-2008 not being the potential prime battleground. Germany prefers the latter, and it does not intend to be drawn into a new Cold War under any circumstances. This has profound implications for the future of both NATO and U.S.-German relations. Germany is thus in the midst of a strategic crisis in which it must make some fundamental decisions. To understand the decisions Germany has to make, we need to understand the country’s geopolitical problem and the decisions it has made in the past. Until 1871, Germany was fragmented into dozens of small states — kingdoms, duchies, principalities, etc. — comprising the remnants of the Holy Roman Empire. The German-speaking world was torn apart by internal tensions and the constant manipulation of foreign powers. The southeastern part of the German-speaking world, Austria, was the center of the multinational Hapsburg Empire. It was Roman Catholic and was continually intruding into the predominantly Catholic regions of the rest of Germany, particularly Bavaria. The French were constantly poaching in the Rhineland and manipulating the balance of power among the German states. Russia was always looming to the east, where it bordered the major Protestant German power, Prussia. (Poland at the time was divided among Prussia, Russia and Austria-Hungary.) Germany was perpetually the victim of great powers, a condition which Prussia spent the roughly half-century between Waterloo and German unification trying to correct. To unify Germany, Prussia had to do more than dominate the Germans. It had to fight two wars. The first was in 1866 with the Hapsburg Empire, which Prussia defeated in seven weeks, ending Hapsburg influence in Germany and ultimately reducing Austria-Hungary to Germany’s junior partner. The second war was in 1870-1871, when Prussia led a German coalition that defeated France. That defeat ended French influence in the Rhineland and gave Prussia the space in which to create a modern, unified Germany. Russia, which was pleased to see both Austria-Hungary and France defeated and viewed a united Germany as a buffer against another French invasion, did not try to block unification. German unification changed the dynamic of Europe. First, it created a large nation in the heart of Europe between France and Russia. United, Germany was economically dynamic, and its growth outstripped that of France and the United Kingdom. Moreover, it became a naval power, developing a substantial force that at some point could challenge British naval hegemony. It became a major exporting power, taking markets from Britain and France. And in looking around for room to maneuver, Germany began looking east toward Russia. In short, Germany was more than a nation — it was a geopolitical problem. Germany’s strategic problem was that if the French and Russians attacked Germany simultaneously, with Britain blockading its ports, Germany would lose and revert to its pre-1871 chaos. Given French, Russian and British interest in shattering Germany, Germany had to assume that such an attack would come. Therefore, since the Germans could not fight on two fronts simultaneously, they needed to fight a war pre-emptively, attacking France or Russia first, defeating it and then turning their full strength on the other — all before Britain’s naval blockade could begin to hurt. Germany’s only defense was a two-stage offense that was as complex as a ballet, and would be catastrophic if it failed. In World War I, executing the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans attacked France first while trying to simply block the Russians. The plan was to first occupy the channel coast and Paris before the United Kingdom could get into the game and before Russia could fully mobilize, and then to knock out Russia. The plan failed in 1914 at the First Battle of the Marnes, and rather than lightning victory, Germany got bogged down in a multifront war costing millions of lives and lasting years. Even so, Germany almost won the war of attrition, causing the United States to intervene and deprive Berlin of victory. In World War II, the Germans had learned their lesson, so instead of trying to pin down Russia, they entered into a treaty with the Soviets. This secured Germany’s rear by dividing Poland with the Soviet Union. The Soviets agreed to the treaty, expecting Adolf Hitler’s forces to attack France and bog down as Germany had in World War I. The Soviets would then roll West after the bloodletting had drained the rest of Europe. The Germans stunned the Russians by defeating France in six weeks and then turning on the Russians. The Russian front turned into an endless bloodletting, and once again the Americans helped deliver the final blow. The consequence of the war was the division of Germany into three parts — an independent Austria, a Western-occupied West Germany and a Soviet-occupied East Germany. West Germany again faced the Russian problem. Its eastern part was occupied, and West Germany could not possibly defend itself on its own. It found itself integrated into an American-dominated alliance system, NATO, which was designed to block the Soviets. West and East Germany would serve as the primary battleground of any Soviet attack, with Soviet armor facing U.S. armor, airpower and tactical nuclear weapons. For the Germans, the Cold War was probably more dangerous than either of the previous wars. Whatever the war’s outcome, Germany stood a pretty good chance of being annihilated if it took place. On the upside, the Cold War did settle Franco-German tensions, which were half of Germany’s strategic problem. Indeed, one of the by-products of the Cold War was the emergence of the European Community, which ultimately became the European Union. This saw German economic union and integration with France, which along with NATO’s military integration guaranteed economic growth and the end of any military threat to Germany from the west. For the first time in centuries, the Rhine was not at risk. Germany’s south was secure, and once the Soviet Union collapsed, there was no threat from the east, either. United and Secure at Last? For the first time in centuries, Germany was both united and militarily secure. But underneath it all, the Germans retained their primordial fear of being caught between France and Russia. Berlin understood that this was far from a mature reality; it was no more than a theoretical problem at the moment. But the Germans also understand how quickly things can change. On one level, the problem was nothing more than the economic emphasis of the European Union compared to the geopolitical focus of Russia. But on a deeper level, Germany was, as always, caught between the potentially competing demands of Russia and the West. Even if the problem were small now, there were no guarantees that it wouldn’t grow. This was the context in which Germany viewed the Russo-Georgian war in August. Berlin saw not only the United States moving toward a hostile relationship with Russia, but also the United Kingdom and France going down the same path. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who happened to hold the rotating EU presidency at the time, went to Moscow to negotiate a cease-fire on behalf of the European Union. When the Russians seemed unwilling to comply with the terms negotiated, France became highly critical of Russia and inclined to back some sort of sanctions at the EU summit on Georgia. With the United Kingdom being even more adamant, Germany saw a worst-case scenario looming on the distant horizon: It understood that the pleasant security of the post-Cold War world was at an end, and that it had to craft a new national strategy. From Germany’s point of view, the re-emergence of Russian influence in the former Soviet Union might be something that could have been blocked in the 1990s, but by 2008, it had become inevitable. The Germans saw that economic relations in the former Soviet Union — and not only energy issues — created a complementary relationship between Russia and its former empire. Between natural affinities and Russian power, a Russian sphere of influence, if not a formal structure, was inevitable. It was an emerging reality that could not be reversed. France has Poland and Germany between itself and Russia. Britain has that plus the English Channel, and the United States has all that plus the Atlantic Ocean. The farther away from Russia one is, the more comfortable one can be challenging Moscow. But Germany has only Poland as a buffer. For any nation serious about resisting Russian power, the first question is how to assure the security of the Baltic countries, a long-vulnerable salient running north from Poland. The answer would be to station NATO forces in the Baltics and in Poland, and Berlin understood that Germany would be both the logistical base for these forces as well as the likely source of troops. But Germany’s appetite for sending troops to Poland and the Baltics has been satiated. This was not a course Germany wanted to take. We suspect that Merkel knew something else; namely, that all the comfortable assumptions about what was possible and impossible — that the Russians wouldn’t dare attack the Baltics — are dubious in the extreme. Nothing in German history would convince any reasonable German that military action to achieve national ends is unthinkable. Nor are the Germans prepared to dismiss the re-emergence of Russian military power. The Germans had been economically and militarily shattered in 1932. By 1938, they were the major power in Europe. As long as their officer corps and technological knowledge base were intact, regeneration could move swiftly. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and its military power crumbled. But as was the case in Weimar Germany, the Russian officer corps remained relatively intact and the KGB, the heart of the Soviet state, remained intact if renamed. So did the technological base that made the Soviets a global power. As with Germany after both world wars, Russia was in chaos, but its fragments remained, awaiting reconstruction. The Germans were not about to dismiss Russia’s ability to regenerate — they know their own history too well to do that. If Germany were to join those who call for NATO expansion, the first step toward a confrontation with Russia would have been taken. The second step would be guaranteeing the security of the Baltics and Poland. America would make the speeches, and Germans would man the line. After spending most of the last century fighting or preparing to fight the Russians, the Germans looked around at the condition of their allies and opted out. The Germans see their economic commitment as being to the European Union. That binds them to the French, and this is not a bond they can or want to break. But the European Union carries no political or military force in relation to the Russians. Beyond economics, it is a debating society. NATO, as an institution built to resist the Russians, is in an advanced state of decay. To resurrect it, the Germans would have to pay a steep economic price. And if they paid that price, they would be carrying much of the strategic risk. Therefore, Merkel went to St. Petersburg and told the Russians that Germany does not favor NATO expansion. More than that, the Germans at least implicitly told the Russians that they have a free hand in the former Soviet Union as far as Germany is concerned — an assertion that cost Berlin nothing, since the Russians do enjoy a free hand there. But even more critically, Merkel signaled to the Russians and the West that Germany does not intend to be trapped between Western ambitions and Russian power this time. It does not want to recreate the situation of the two world wars or the Cold War, so Berlin will stay close to France economically and also will accommodate the Russians. The Germans will thus block NATO’s ambitions, something that represents a dramatic shift in the Western alliance. This shift in fact has been unfolding for quite a while, but it took the Russo-Georgian war to reveal the change. The United States has the option of placing a nuclear umbrella over the Baltics and Eastern Europe, which would guarantee a nuclear strike on Russia in the event of an attack in either place. While this was the guarantee made to Western Europe in the Cold War, it is unlikely that the United States is prepared for global thermonuclear war over Estonia’s fate. Such a U.S. guarantee to the Baltics and Eastern Europe simply would not represent a credible threat. The other U.S. option is a major insertion of American forces either by sea through Danish waters or via French and German ports and railways, assuming France or Germany would permit their facilities to be used for such a deployment. But this option is academic at the moment. The United States could not deploy more than symbolic forces even if it wanted to. For the moment, NATO is therefore an entity that issues proclamations, not a functioning military alliance, in spite of (or perhaps because of) deployments in Afghanistan. Everything in German history has led to this moment. The country is united and wants to be secure. It will not play the role it was forced into during the Cold War, nor will it play geopolitical poker as it did in the first and second world wars. And that means NATO is permanently and profoundly broken. The German question now turns into the Russian question: If Germany is out of the game, what is to be done about Russia?

2019-04-25T02:05:55Z

http://drivethrupolitics.blogspot.com/2008/10/german-question.html

I am on record as saying I doubted that humanity as a global population could be saved from certain destruction. I have also stated that the species, Homo sapiens is probably not salvageable in its current form. However, I have also suggested that the salvation of the genus, Homo is both feasible and desirable. Let me briefly recount. There is at this point, in my opinion, nothing that can be done to save the vast majority of humans alive today from a catastrophic demise. I am sorry. And below I will summarize my findings. The simple truth, as I see it, is that humanity has set itself on an irreversible course of destruction that is equivalent to the impact on the Ecos that the meteor or comet that crashed into the Yucatan peninsula had on the dinosaurian Ecos 65 million years ago. That is, by our activities we have brought about a geologically recognizable age called the Anthropocene in which we are the agents of the extinction of vast numbers of species, including, possibly, our own. Whenever such die-off events have happened in the past the Ecos shifted its characteristics and dynamics such that the extant species either went extinct or gave rise to new species of the same genus that were better adapted to the new Ecos. I fully expect the same kind of thing to happen in the future. In any case the populations of critters and plants were decimated or severely reduced in number and that is what I suspect will happen to our populations. Homo sapiens must, of necessity, go extinct simply because the future environment will be extraordinarily hostile to human life. The real question is whether the genus might give rise to a new species that is better fit for the new Ecos before the very last member of the tribe extinguishes. We are in the process of killing ourselves by engaging in an economic model based on ideas that just about everybody accepts as valid and good. What irony. The model that has been held responsible for producing abundant wealth for humankind is also responsible for destroying the life support systems upon which we depend. The problem is one of scale. When there were relatively few humans on the planet their economic activities were not as damaging. They could harvest slowly renewing resources like trees without threatening the forests. They could dump their sewage into rivers that would quickly dilute the toxins to low enough levels that they would not threaten other living things. It was a good model to establish a level of comfort in living that would not do more harm as long as the population numbers did not get out of hand. The problem is that those numbers did get out of hand. The improvements in living standards due to technological innovation made it seem feasible that more and more people could live on the land, but in truth, the extraction rates and pollution rates were accelerating beyond the capacity of the land to sustain us. So now, what was once the source of human success has become the cause of human demise. And very many people do not want to believe that because they have enjoyed benefits from BAU and want to continue to do so. See what I mean by irony? What I want to do here is summarize the systemic relations that I see as causal factors relevant to the near future dynamics of human existence. I present a series of arguments, somewhat in the form of mathematical or logical propositions that provide “proofs” of the veracity of the arguments, that provide a chain of reasoning leading to this conclusion. These are presented in a way that suggests what might actually be done to maximize the salvation of our kind. But I have no illusions at this point that any of the actions suggested here will be undertaken. As I have written repeatedly (and will be presenting more definitively in an upcoming book) my firm belief is that humanity is not sufficiently sapient (that is the average of sapience is not sufficient) to change its behavior and set of beliefs such that it would actually adopt any of these prescriptions. Yet in the spirit of undaunted hope it can't hurt to at least state the possibilities even if they are unlikely to be regarded. One never knows. I certainly would not claim to know. Maybe something like a miracle will happen! 1. The vast majority of people will have to stop having children. The population cannot grow when the wealth production rate goes to zero and must decline when the rate goes negative, as it must. The operative variable is a measure of wealth per capita. There exists some lower bound value of wealth per capita that can be defined as necessary for every human being to live at some level of comfort above subsistence (let's call that the “adequate” level). I base this level on the needs for food, shelter, clothing, companionship, and other factors that allow individuals to achieve a modest level of ‘self-actualization’, a condition I believe was part of the Paleolithic condition of humans when sapiens became a dominant species. Assuming a fair distribution such that each person possesses exactly their per capita share of wealth, then the number of people on the planet is limited to the amount of wealth that can be produced. Claim: Wealth is produced by physical work and requires energy flow (free energy) to accomplish. The amount of wealth produced is proportional to the amount of energy available to do useful work and the amount of raw resources available for extraction. The total wealth of the world is based on the accumulated wealth produced over the history of the work done less the drain on wealth due to consumption (active degradation of physical objects) and entropic decay (passive degradation) over the same time frame. Growth in wealth is defined as the positive increase in wealth or net wealth of production less degradation per unit of time. In order to maintain a steady state condition the amount of wealth growth must be exactly what is needed to accommodate the population growth over the same time frame. Wealth derives from work done on natural resources, converting them to usable objects, including food. Among the mix of natural resources used there are those that are finite in availability. Among those most are extracted with greater effort as the supply is depleted (extraction is always per the "best first" principle). Fossil fuels are special cases of energy resources. They are finite in quantity and obey the same diminishing return laws such that the net energy available for work declines as the resource is depleted. That is, it takes more energy per unit of energy extracted and the net energy return declines over time. Thus the growth of wealth is limited by the marginal cost of extracting resources and the marginal net energy available for extraction and conversion to human use. For example the extraction of iron ore and its conversion to steel is limited by both the depletion of ore and of fossil fuels (usually coal). There is an upper bound on the total wealth that can ever be produced but no bound on the degradation of wealth. Since the production of wealth will ultimately decline (growth will go to zero) due to the depletion limits a point will be reached when no new wealth can be produced and only degradation will take place. If the population continues to grow then it is clear that the wealth per capita must decline and do so precipitously when wealth production rates fall below degradation rates. The current evidence strongly supports the claim that wealth production is now in decline, yet population growth continues. The global economic situation today is a symptom of this decline. It is true that the decline is unevenly distributed throughout the world, giving rise to the illusion that, for example, isolated pockets such as the US economy, are on the mend from the longest and deepest global recession in history. Aside from the fact that most of this illusion is produced by erroneous economic models and government statistics that are biased, the US economy is temporarily seeming to be regaining strength (that is starting to grow!) but the ground truth for millions of households is quite different from the reports trumpeted by the media. ERGO: The wealth per capita is also in decline and that needed to sustain the adequate level of life support for every individual is already below its lower bound. This dynamic explains the vast numbers of poor people in the world. There simply isn't enough wealth to go around. Even if we were to redistribute the existing wealth of the world (a Robin Hood action) there would not be enough to support the adequate level of living (or we could redefine adequate to be closer to and approaching subsistence rather than providing some level of comfort and joy). If the population were to continue to grow as projected, say, by the UN demographers, leading to some nine billion individuals by the end of this century, and no energy miracle emerged to compensate for the reduction in fossil fuel availability, then the per capita wealth would likely fall below subsistence. Since distribution is unequal this translates into billions of people starving to death or dying of rampant diseases (not even considering natural disasters). 2. Neoliberal, free-market, profit-driven capitalism (NL-FM-PD-C) can no longer be the operating model of economic life. Claim: This model requires continual growth of wealth production over time. Even if it were to support the objective of providing a fair distribution of wealth (which it doesn't) it is physically impossible by proposition 1 to sustain this model. The attempt to try to maintain the model under current conditions of depleted resources will cause a cataclysmic collapse of global civilization. Moreover, however, it can be shown that each of the main components of the NL-FM-PD-C model is fundamentally flawed. It is possible that if only one or two were so flawed that the others might contribute to a new economic model that would work. But all of them are flawed and demonstration of this supports proposition 2. Neoliberal ideology. Humans are supposed to conquer nature and convert the "abundance" of the planet to their uses. Only human satisfaction counts on this planet and that should be maximized. However, not all humans are created equal. Only the worthy elite are entitled to aggregate larger proportions of wealth as long as the working masses have adequate wealth to sustain their lesser lives. Worthiness is based on attributes such as cleverness, ambition, and drive, which are ingredients in producing wealth. Those that are responsible for wealth production are entitled to a larger share of the rewards. These sentiments favor individualism and ignore contributions from groups or collectivism (the sentiment that the group is the unit of interest). Science, particularly evolutionary psychology and sociology now tell us this is not correct at all. Group selection played a major role in making humans what we are and group efforts and collective decisions are known to be superior to individual efforts and judgments. We humans evolved to be eusocial creatures who are able through interpersonal communications and visibility into one another's minds (our ability to model other's intentions known as ‘Theory of Mind’) is the very thing that make our species fit and produced our superior (biologically speaking) capacity to adapt. We do so in groups not as individuals. The objectives of neoliberalism based on these sentiments are just plain wrong. However, we should note that humans are not yet evolved to perfect eusociality. Each individual, remaining a biological agent, retains remnants of individualism when pressed and under stress. Capacities for selfishness and even narcissistic tendencies are still part of the human psyche. Amplified by the culture of greed that neoliberal objectives entail, it is possible for observers of human behavior (in economic matters) to wrongly conclude that these qualities are dominant. Indeed some have argued from a misreading of evolution theory that these qualities are what made us successful (e.g. Social Darwinism's reliance on competition and survival of the fittest). Since greed and selfishness play into the neoliberal agenda and became a self-fulfilling prophesy of success in wealth production the narrative of NL-FM-PD-C has become generally accepted and is all too believable for naive minds. Yet it is counter to what science shows us is true for human evolution and the success of human enterprise. It is a myth that is self-reinforcing because it suggests to those who believe it that they have the right (and by implication the prospects) to become rich by virtue of their cleverness and efforts. Free-market assumptions. Core to the idea of market-based economies is the dictum of laissez faire economic activities, or non-intervention by a higher authority (governments) in economic affairs. It is related to Adam Smith's ‘invisible hand’ metaphor in that individuals guided by self-interests will, nevertheless, cooperate in trade so that everyone is better off. Thus there is no need for governments to regulate those activities. The neoliberal extension holds that if governments do intervene it will distort market information and create biases that will interfere with maximizing wealth. It should be granted that in historical and contemporary cases where governments have interfered with market mechanisms they have a mixed record of success at best, and too often abject failures. The failures of the communist planned economies are cited by nearly everyone as examples of government ineptitude in meddling in economic activities. And the criticisms are valid up to a point. Those particular experiments in collectivism were based on ignorance and bad judgement. What you cannot conclude from their failures, however, is that markets are totally capable of self-regulation. It simply does not follow from the failures that the NL-FM-PD-C model is therefore the best (and as some claim the only) one for the economy. In fact I have already delved into the question of whether free markets are really that efficacious in solving all economic problems as is touted by neoclassical economics and neoliberal fundamentalists. Taking the systems perspective and analyzing market mechanisms I concluded in Could Free Markets Solve All Economic Problems that they really can't. There are too many flaws in the conception of free markets to cover here (please read the above post), but basically it comes down to a few basic principles. First exchange markets depend on veridical information in order to balance true costs with prices. Nothing like that exists in the neoliberal version of markets. Their version depends on competition and, therefore, proprietary knowledge that obfuscates true costs. Prices do not necessarily reflect costs (see my comments below re: profits) and therefore the equations of wealth are never balanced realistically. In neoclassical economics trading decisions are made by rational self-interested agents. Once again science has demonstrated that this assumption is simply not met in the real world. The models of markets foisted by neoclassical economists (and that includes the so-called liberal economists like Paul Krugman) are invalid even before other assumptions are included. Finally, and as I covered in my blog post linked to above, markets deteriorate with scales of distance and time. They degrade with complexity. Simple network models of market message flows through unreliable (human decision making) nodes clearly demonstrate that the supposed information needed for markets to “clear” declines non-linearly as the number of ‘hops’ through the network increase linearly. Information is supposedly conveyed through prices established by the decisions of buyers and sellers. When these agents are non-rational, non-privileged regarding true cost information, and are at great distances from nodes that are relevant to the value of the good being bought or sold, there is no way that the market can perform magic and get everything right. These theoretical considerations should be sufficient to put neoliberal, neoclassical thoughts about free markets to rest once and for all. Of course we now know that science will never trump religious beliefs among low sapient individuals, which is what these ideologies are. But what about the actual experience, the evidence from daily life? Shouldn't that count for something? Consider all of the various “bubbles” and scams that have been experienced in virtually every market framework. How could such things happen if markets were truly capable of solving economic problems? Think of Alan Greespan's infamous admission that what he believed about the market place turned out to be wrong. Even with these humble pie crumbs still on his lips, he still persists in asserting that the free market is the solution to all problems. Religious beliefs are very hard to nullify even with clear evidence of contrary reality. Possibly the single biggest fallacy perpetrated by all economic theories (neoclassical or heterodoxical) is that of “profit”. Not that profits don't actually exist, of course, but that profits need to be made continually over the long run. Profits, in natural systems, are the episodic accumulation of product in excess of production costs that occur because of unusually favorable conditions that do not represent the norm. For example when a wheat farmer has a bumper crop he can readily store the excess (over his use) against a time when crop production is sub-par. Profits can be used in this manner to smooth out the rough spots in the long run in what is otherwise a steady-state dynamic. Up until recently the primary drive for continual profit increases came from business expansion due to the growth of populations and increasing market sizes. More recently that growth has been replaced by the so-called globalization phenomenon that replaces expansion within a region with expansion to other continents; made possible by the use of transportation and fossil fuels. But the real source of profit has always been the increase in energy availability. Human cultural evolution included the discovery of various energy flow enhancing means, either new sources of more powerful fuels or new tool technologies that increased the efficiency of both energy extraction (e.g. the water wheel) and production (e.g. the belt-driven loom). With these advantages the production of profits seemed to be perpetual. We humans seemed to have transcended the laws of nature and could generally count of making more wealth than we used up or fell apart. Thus we came to believe that profits are always feasible and became a normal part of economic theory. Unfortunately this was a misconception about how nature works. It depended entirely on the growth of energy flow, most recently from fossil fuel sources, to sustain. And energy flows, up until now, were generally always increasing. We humans came to believe deeply that profit making was the normal mode of living and something to be pursued. After all, this is how one gets rich! But now those pesky laws of nature, in particular the first and second laws of thermodynamics, are demonstrating to us that in the very long run, it all balances out. Profit making is always temporary even if the time scale runs over many generations. We have plenty of historical evidence that is now being more correctly interpreted regarding the collapse of past societies. Namely civilizations, particularly empires, collapsed because they ran out of energy. They could no longer make profits but the momentum of continued expansion (and population growth) required that they did so. All such societies eventually turned to debt-based financing, that is borrowing against future profits when none were going to be made. Essentially they consumed their previously accumulated wealth and the people in the working classes in a desperate attempt to keep the society going. It was always a futile attempt. Capitalism started out innocently enough. Suppose an enterprising individual (say in the Bronze age) saw a way to possibly make a profit from some new endeavor. He (historically they were generally he's) had to gather together enough resource wealth (capital) to pay for the construction of whatever production facility was needed, and to initially pay the labor. There are any number of ways to get others who have saved some of their prior profits to invest (or loan) the resources needed with the promise that there will be a profit return. They will make more wealth from such a venture than they could have done with any other use of that wealth. In other words, in order to attract capital the entrepreneur had to promise superior profits. Sometimes this didn't work out and people lost their investments. But during the rise of increasing energy flow (which meant the energy input was really cheap and almost not worth considering) and opportunities to freely dump waste products into nature's lap, more often than not, they succeeded. But as our energy resources now begin to shrink and the pollution of our dumping is overwhelming us it should be clear that the idea of capitalism based on making superior profits was just plain ignorant. It was literally too good to be true. There is one more assumption that is often closely associated with the whole model and that is that technology will always come to our rescue. Fundamentally this seems true on the face of it. We have always managed to invent our way out of binds in the past, so naturally we assume that we shall be able to do so in the future. Nowhere is this more the case than with energy supply, and in particular, replacing dirty carbon-based fuels with “clean” alternative energy sources such as solar PV and wind power. The impetus to believe that these technologies are ramping up and are capable of providing sufficient power to society such that it might get along as before (as promulgated in the popular media) is generated by several factors. One is that, as I stated, throughout history we have witnessed inventions transforming our world so have come to expect that will continue to be the case. In particular we witnessed the incredible phenomenon of microelectronics revolutionizing the field of computing and communications, with costs plummeting down as the scales of components shrank (Moore's Law). There is a natural tendency to transfer the ideas of what we've seen in computing to the production of energy. That is, we imagine a technology that will allow us to generate abundant low-cost energy (high power) that will lead to a brighter future. Right now the focus is on solar and wind. Another factor driving our belief is that most of us simply cannot imagine the contrapositive. We cannot believe that all of this magic is going to come to an end. Many of us (actually most of us) are polyannish optimists and absolutely NEED to believe a solution will be found. But the ability to hold onto such beliefs stems from a basic lack of knowledge regarding, mostly, thermodynamics (the physics of energy) and a deeper understanding of the history of technology and invention. Space doesn't permit a full explanation of why these alternative energy sources are not likely to provide what we are looking for. They may provide a small fraction of power to buy us a bit of time. But eventually when the carbon-sources are no longer viable these technologies will have to be self-sustaining, that is they will have to provide all of the power to rebuild and repair themselves. Not all the data is in, but to date that likelihood is slim. Even if they could, they would still have to produce an excess of power that would be used by the economy for other work. The current belief that efficiencies (for example) will be improving to a point where one day these technologies will provide the power fail to notice the trends in technological innovations, particularly with respect to energy. Most of our past successes have been with increasing efficiencies because the starting points for our machines were so low. Over the past few decades many technologies have been experiencing decreasing rates of improvement. We are approaching the limits of efficiency increases and even where such increases are happening it is with the inclusion of materials that are rare or expensive to make. And that is because it takes significant energy to make or extract them. Profit desires drove us to increase efficiencies or productivity (the human equivalent) and now profit desire persists even when the possibility of increasing these is declining. Part of the economic system's shift to debt financing is because we still believe that efficiencies must increase and therefore we need to continue to invest in pursuing that agenda. But the reality is that they will not. There will be no great increase in the flow of high-power energy in the future due to technological innovation. There will be no magical increases in efficiencies that defy the laws of physics. Wishes do not make reality. Only nature does that. ERGO: Profit making will have to go, and with it the notion of free-market capitalism. This is especially the case for rentier profits and investment profits, i.e. making money on money. But all enterprise must convert to non-profit operations. Companies that make useful things or provide necessary services will need to be taken over by employee collectives. The revenues obtained should be just enough to cover costs, including, of course, employees' salaries. Management of such companies would be in the hands of employees and no manager would make a salary much greater than the average worker's. Such an economy is inconceivable to most people but in truth that is because they have never known any other way and the myth of profit-motivated self-interest has been the societal norm for so long it is hard for anyone to imagine that it could be different. But a non-profit based society is the evolutionary norm for Homo sapiens and under declining energy flows it will be absolutely essential. There is no profit possible other than under conditions of short-term energy surpluses. With those a thing of the past, only non-profit activities can be sustained. And then only if the activity produces something that contributes to productive lives. 3. Replace Globalized NL-FM-PD-C with Localized Collectivist Economies based on Sharing. Claim: There is a more viable alternative to the current model of socio-economics based on selfishness and self-interest-based decisions. The new model is actually the old model for humans. It is based on cooperation, empathy, and sharing resources and wealth. It is the kind of economy that existed for many millennia before the advent of agriculture. We might call it the “Tribal” model. The model depends on tribes that are fairly local and limited in spatial scope, and therefore manageable. That is they are localized and essentially self-sufficient within their locales. This will be a necessary model. Scale Considerations. Transportation will be limited in both rate and distance due to the declining availability of long-range fossil fuel vehicles. Machinery power will also be limited. Local production of power (most likely from hydroelectric or alternative energies if they can be shown to be self-sustaining) and limited storage capacities will necessarily limit transportation of goods. Therefore economies localized to regions, defined by the limits of transportation, will need to be crafted. The basics of life, food, shelter, water, etc. will be the main focus of the economy. Clothing, furniture, and other such personal belongings will need to be constructed from locally grown plants and trees. In most respects the only kind of lifestyle that can be supported in a low energy world will resemble small village/town assemblies of the late 1700's and into the 1800's. Manufacturing and service providing companies will have to be employee-owned and run collectives (as above). All markets will be local. With more people having greater insight into what it takes to build something or provide a service, the value/price setting will be based on costs, including personal labor, rather than merely a market-set one based on whatever that market will bear. Value Assessment Considerations. A new kind of accounting (or actually a very old kind) that measures value added based on energy used plus a factor for skill would be the basis for setting prices. Markets for goods and services in a localized economy would resemble the old farmer's markets and their scale would be manageable. In such a market buyers and sellers will have adequate knowledge and be able to agree prices more readily. Cooperativity Considerations. Human beings, when not stressed by over population (density stresses) are more open and empathetic than when they feel they must compete to make ends meet. Cooperation and agreements are much more viable under a localized economic system. However, that economy must be capable of meeting all of the needs of the members. This means settlements, villages, or other living arrangements will need to be situated in habitable locations. Food production must be possible and climate cannot be too severe. It is very likely that there will be very limited choices of locations in the near future. In keeping with the idea that population size will start to shrink, and rapidly, it may be possible to find enough of these locations to satisfy supporting a breeding population in a steady-state condition. That will take permaculture engineering to work out the requirements and design the systems. Ecos Damage Considerations. The NL-FM-PD-C model is destroying our Ecos. Coupled with the drive to consume, desire for convenience, and power/speed pursuits, we dump CO2 into the atmosphere and oceans causing global warming and ocean acidification that is disrupting the very basis of our ecosystems. The quest for profits drive all manner of chemical pollution and soil deterioration. This alone should condemn the model. Unfortunately there are stubborn minds who's livelihood depends on the extractive and polluting industries for their wealth and who, buying into the model's justification, that it produces wealth, refuse to believe the evidence. Those same minds have gained influence over the governance system so as to prevent any rational response to this situation. But the degree and rate of degradation of our Ecos is directly due to the expansion of the NL-FM-PD-C model over the globe. Moreover, the evidence that we have reached and possibly already exceeded the limits beyond which permanent damage is done has mounted. By some reckoning we have at best a few years to completely reverse our course or drive our planet into another regime, one completely hostile to our existence. Ergo: There is a better way to live than the global NL-FM-PD-C model. That better way restores the more ancient human traits that emerged when we became sapiens and allows us to live in a cooperative, small scale community. Living in small local communities does not necessarily mean we have to live like cave dwellers with only stone axes and animal skins. It does mean that we will abandon much of the current high-tech material wealth that many consider essential, like iPhonesTM. Our societies may be able to retain some forms of technology that are essential to supporting life, such as water-driven generators for limited electricity. But I suspect when the choice between TV and food is to be made most of us will choose correctly. Wise choices about what technology to maintain and what to give up will need to be made. 4. Reduce Consumption and Production of Non-Essential Goods and Services. Claim: The only way a new (old) socio-economic system can work is to walk away from the current NL-FM-PD-C one that depends on constant and increasing consumption. What is produced and used should contribute to sustaining the steady-state tribal economy. By all the arguments given above it should be clear that there is no physical way to sustain a NL-FM-PD-C system. And if you can't you can't. The alternative is to radically reduce our consumption (for those who are consuming) as well as stop growing our population. We will have to give up producing worthless goods or providing worthless services. My guess is that something like 80% of the population will need to be engaged in food growing, processing, and transportation since food is the number one stuff that will be needed. With a declining population there will be no need for new building construction. More work will be put to repairing existing housing or converting some formerly commercial properties into housing for workers. Bear in mind, however, we are talking not about some monolithic state or government. The only practical way that humans will live in the future is in those localized and limited scale tribes. My speculation is that resources will become so scarce and energy to extract any that might still exist so unavailable that no one group will be able to gain any particular advantage over others. They simply would not be able to manage in the old fashion of expanding empires, and it wouldn't matter how ruthless their leaders might be. No basic (seed) resources, no capacity to wage war and take over others who are, themselves, living in subsistence conditions. This leads to a further speculation that there will be a few of these tribes that are fortunate enough to be led by truly wise individuals. Those few may enjoy higher than average cooperativity internally and thus be more fit as a group to survive the changes that will be in store. Perhaps for the next several hundred thousand years these tribal humans will be tested by a whole new Ecos. They will live low tech, though not necessarily stone-age, lives. We have learned a lot of science and with the right combination of cleverness and wisdom should be able to live comfortably within nature's limits. As long as we pay careful attention to how the Ecos is changing. 5. Focus on Adaptation to Climate Variations. Claim: Dramatic, possibly catastrophic, climate change is now baked into the cake and will impact every region to one degree or another. Some areas, like the higher latitudes, will be affected more than others in terms of extreme conditions. But all will suffer climate shifts that lead to more severe storms and changes in rainfall patterns. Humans are going to need every bit of adaptive capability to live under these conditions. Above all else future humans will need to continually adapt to changing and possibly violent climates. Not unlike the impact of the glaciation periods followed by receding glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere, climate changes are going to significantly stress the biosphere. More so than the Ice Ages, the climate changes our progeny will experience will come more rapidly and be more extreme than our ancestors experienced. Surviving and thriving under these conditions will take every ounce of wisdom that tribes can muster. They are likely to have to be semi-nomadic as growing conditions in an area change. They will have to be super observant of plant characteristics that enable them to grow under otherwise stressful conditions and select those that can be relied upon for food for planting. Most paleoanthropologists now believe that climate changes due to the Ice Ages were responsible for driving the evolution of hominins in Africa, by changing the local conditions over thousands of years. What now appears to be a large speciation of a number of hominins, especially those events that led to the emergence of our genus, Homo was, to a large degree, driven by these climate impacts. It is conceivable that future climate changes will once again drive the evolution of the genus. No one can predict evolution's results. However, I think it is possible to observe the major transition patterns that have occurred in prior evolutionary trajectories and make reasonable suppositions about what might come about in the future. Those transitions demonstrate that biology has always found ways for cooperation to emerge and trump mere competition. Our very bodies, as multicellular organisms, are the result of such a transition. Group selection is now favored as an explanation for the evolution of human sociality and I also add to that the evolution of sapience (the two phenomenon are tightly linked, in my view). Tribes were evolving toward stronger eusociality (hyper-sociality) prior to the advent of agriculture and the requisite need for more top-down command and control style management systems with emphasis on logistical and tactical management (and less on strategic management which is the basis of sapient cooperativity). We traded off selection for greater wisdom capacity for food security. It was a reasonable trade off given the state of scientific ignorance we lived in. But it did dampen our potential increase in sapience over the last ten millennia or so. If it was climate adaptation that drove hominin evolution to the point of producing this emergent new psyche based on sapience, then it might be reasonable to expect that selection based on climate change could once again drive that in the direction of a new transition — human societies based on hyper-social individuals cooperating in an economic system that is not based on profit, competition, etc. Of course none of us will ever know what will play out. We will all be dead by the time the trends are more evident. My reason for considering these issues is that part of wisdom is using our knowledge, both tacit and explicit, to shape our world as best we can given the circumstances. That is what we have always done with our quest for more energy and our inventiveness. But what we did before we did in ignorance of the consequences. Now we see what those consequences of unfettered growth and profit-taking are. If a few surviving tribes are wise enough they might use that knowledge to reshape our social structures so as to avoid the mistakes we have made along the pathway to our current condition. It is still possible that the changes in climate will be so severe that no humans will survive and our species and genus, the whole Hominini experiment will fail. We will suffer extinction as a whole tribe. Indeed the likelihood of survival of any of the still extant hominin, the great apes, is negligible, so that the planet may end up with no very smart primates at all. But I hope that is not going to be the case. The solution to Fermi's Paradox may be very simple. The reason that no sentient beings are flitting about Earth in flying saucers is that all such beings reach a point in technological development where their wisdom is insufficient to squelch the advent of the NL-FM-PD-C economic paradigm! The latter takes hold of the minds (like memes) and dooms the species to extinction. They can then never get outside their own star systems to explore their galaxies. If we had to extrapolate from our own experience that certainly looks to be a likely scenario. A more likely scenario is that all such beings simply exploit their energy reserves before they achieve interstellar propulsion capabilities (assuming such is even possible). It might be because of the NL-FM-PD-C meme taking over or it could be that it simply takes almost all energy just to get to the technological point of getting off the planet and further technological advancement becomes too expensive. Regardless, I think it is extremely likely that our genus, if it manages to survive the next ten thousand years, will be a long time getting back to a technological level close to what we have today. We won't be exploring the galaxy any time soon. We will be taking a giant leap backwards, resetting our evolutionary progression. And it will be quite a while before a wiser, perhaps smarter, species derived from Homo sapiens will be looking into leaving Earth again. Actually the relevant measure is not body counts but biomass increase per unit time. The resource consumption rate is dependent on this factor which takes into account things like demographic distribution of ages. The term is being used here in its ideological sense. The new “liberals” believe in the supremacy of the free-market and capitalism as the very best economic model insofar as it produces enormous wealth. See the Wikipedia article for more details and read Naomi Kline's The Shock Doctrine. Interestingly luck is never mentioned in this narrative. Yet if you read the biographies of so-called self-made people (mostly white males) you cannot help but note the significance of being in the right place at the right time and meeting the right people had on so many stories. Granted being prepared to take advantage of luck was important, but the luck itself was far more significant than the neoliberal narrative lets on. The work of psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman (see: Heuristics and biases) and many experimental economists have decidedly demonstrated that humans, even corporate captains, are far from rational decision makers when it comes to economics. In Congressional testimony on October 23, 2008, Greenspan finally conceded error on regulation. The New York Times wrote, "a humbled Mr. Greenspan admitted that he had put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton mortgage lending. ... Mr. Greenspan refused to accept blame for the crisis but acknowledged that his belief in deregulation had been shaken." By steady-state I mean a system that is in the very long run receiving an average influx of energy that is used to produce exactly the amount of wealth that is needed to balance that degraded by consumption and entropy. This would have been the case for the earliest human tribes whether hunter-gatherers or early farmers. My favorite analyses of civilization collapses include Joseph Tainter's The Collapse of Complex Societies and Thomas Homer-Dixon's The Upside of Down. An unskilled worker will tend to use more energy for the same output delivered so the final price has to be adjusted accordingly. The energy being used for measurement purposes is net ‘free’, in the thermodynamic sense, which takes this into account. I recently became aware of another “flavor” of systems based agriculture called agro-ecology. Though I have only just started investigating this concept it appears to be mostly about food production whereas permaculture addresses more holistic community living. If you only read one book on any of the issues related to Ecos damage and its relation to the NL-FM-PD-C model I strongly recommend This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. She has done her homework. I disagree with some of her characterizations of alternative energy being ready to take over from fossil fuels; she has cited a few engineers who produced a grand scheme several years back, reported in Scientific American, that I have already critiqued and has been criticised by a number of other energy researchers. Nevertheless, her ability to connect the dots of finance, ideologies, politics, governance failures, and geophysical realities is in the best tradition of systems thinking. See: Maynard Smith, John & Szathmáry, Eörs (1995). The Major Transitions in Evolution, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Several other books on this topic have been written in the past few years. The field of group-based evolutionary selection is now fairly well established even if there remain some significant questions about the implications. My own preferred explanation is that they simply don't want to be detected. If they had at all monitored activity on Earth they would more or less likely not want to get involved with such primitive beings as ourselves.

2019-04-19T10:51:48Z

https://questioneverything.typepad.com/question_everything/2015/01/index.html

Here are some tips to manage your financial resources: (1) Divide your monthly payments on all your debts (auto loans, mortgage, credit cards) by your monthly gross income to calculate your debt-to-income ratio. Anything below 36 percent is considered acceptable; (2) the "excellent" range for your credit or FICO scores starts at 750, but a good score alone is not enough to determine if things are OK; (3) research has determined that an individual should have the equivalent of his or her salary saved for retirement by 35, three times that at 45, and five times at 55--these numbers can be used as benchmarks. For more information and tips, visit the (http://www.consumerfinance.gov/servicemembers/) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website and the (http://www.military.com/money) Military.com Money section. Zero-down-payment mortgages are a great option, but eligible borrowers can expect access to additional benefits if they are qualified, disabled veterans. And, they may qualify for (http://www.military.com/money/va-loans/ ... rvr0825.nl) fee waivers and valuable grants too. Any debt collector who harasses or threatens you is breaking the law. Debt collectors may not (1) call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.; (2) contact you at work if you have told them verbally or in writing that your employer does not allow you to get such calls in the workplace; (3) contact a third party about you for any reason other than getting your contact information; (4) harass or abuse you or anyone else they contact about you; or (5) lie about the amount you owe. They also may not (1) claim to be law enforcement officers; (2) claim that you will be arrested if you do not pay your debt; (3) threaten to seize, garnish, attach or sell your property or your wages -- unless they are permitted by law to do it and intend to do so; (4) give false credit information about you to anyone; or (5) use a fake company name. For more information, visit the (http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/01 ... collection) Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Debt Collection webpage and the FTC (http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/dealing-debt) Dealing With Debt webpage. For more personal finance tips, visit the (http://www.military.com/money) Military.com Money section. Effective Dec. 1, advanced academic degrees will no longer be considered for officers meeting line of the Air Force promotion boards below the grade of colonel. Officers will be expected to have an advanced academic degree for promotion to colonel. Boards will be instructed to consider those with "select" status as having completed PME. Also, every active-duty captain will have an opportunity to attend Squadron Officer School in-residence. The new policy modifications will be captured in the (http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/edr ... 6-2301.pdf) Air Force Guidance Memorandum to Air Force Instruction 36-2301, Developmental Education and (http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/produ ... 6-2301.pdf) AFI 36-2406 and Officer and Enlisted Evaluation Systems. The Force Shaping Board is complete and the results are scheduled for approval shortly. Senior raters are expected to receive the results by the end of August. Continued service in the Guard and Reserve opportunities remain available for Airmen to continue serving while filling critical total force needs in an Air Reserve component. Interested Airmen should first contact their local in-service recruiter for additional information. They may also visit the (http://afreserve.com) Air Force Reserve (AFR) website or call 800-257-1212 for the AFR or visit the (http://GOANG.com/careers) Air National Guard website. The CEO of the Army Air Force Exchange Service is seeking to allow 18.8 million honorably-discharged veterans to shop online through military exchange services, which also operate brick-and-mortar department stores and concessions on base, could boost store profits enough to pump more than $100 million back into base quality-of-life programs. The AAFES CEO recently made his "business case" to the Department of Defense's Executive Resale Board this month. (http://militaryadvantage.military.com/2 ... op-online/) Read the full Military Update article. Now is the time to use your VA Loan. You don't have to pay PMI or have a large down payment. Plus you can get financing up to $417,000. (https://secure.military.com/leads/VALoa ... rvr0825.nl) Use your VA Loan Benefit today. (http://www.military.com/money/va-loans?ESRC=mrvr0825.nl) Want more information about this great benefit? The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) recently marked the centennial year of its NWC's distance education program, having been established by order of the secretary of the Navy in 1914. During the 2013-2014 academic year, the NWC's College of Distance Education (CDE) enrolled 5,372 students and graduated 1,147. With the Navy continuing to implement force-shaping measures, more emphasis is being placed on distance education and the role that education plays in developing leaders in all ranks and rates. NWC's distance education programs encompass the Fleet Seminar Program, a web-enabled course, a CD-ROM course, and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. For more information, visit the (https://www.usnwc.edu/cde) Naval War College Distance Education webpage. Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody addressed the Airman Comprehensive Assessment, or ACA, how it influences enlisted performance reports, and how those reports will affect future promotions during his latest CHIEFchat. According to Cody, performance will be assessed by how well an Airman meets or exceeds established standards. Airmen not eligible for promotion will still receive a performance assessment annually, with a static close-out date for each rank. Cody said Airmen will start to see changes to the system over the next year and a half. Cody also gave his thoughts on what he thinks are important skills a new NCO should obtain. The CHIEFChat is available on the (http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/t ... ports.aspx) U.S. Air Force website. TRICARE and Military OneSource are co-hosting a webinar to educate TRICARE beneficiaries about back-to-school health services. The webinar will take place on Thursday, August 28, 2014 at 1:00PM EST. To sign up, visit the (https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/881316114) Go to Meeting website. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited due to system capacity. Participants must avoid sharing personal health information when asking a question. This webinar will take the guess work out of TRICARE's covered immunizations, physicals and well-child care benefits. To learn more about TRICARE benefits, visit the TRICARE website at (http://www.tricare.mil) www.tricare.mil. The key to getting the most out of your VA benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs is to get educated about the VA benefits you seek because that will, in most instances, make most VA employees love you. Why, you might ask? (http://wp.me/p24rMN-1EV) Find out -- Read the full article in the Military Advantage. Save on the out-of-pocket costs that TRICARE doesn't cover. (http://offers.military.com/i/tricare/in ... rvr0825.nl) Save now. The Air Force Enterprise Service Desk is going virtual, and Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland will be the first to see it as it rolls out across the Air Force, starting the end of August. The new Virtual Enterprise Service Desk (vESD) is a client-based application that allows the user to solve common issues and self-initiate trouble tickets for e-mail, desktop, laptop, mobile devices and will eventually include network, software, hardware and other user account capabilities. Two town hall meetings will be held at JBSA - Lackland in the next couple of weeks to provide a demonstration and information on the vESD. These sessions will also be available virtually via Defense Connect Online. As the roll out continues, these demonstrations will be conducted at each base where the vESD is being implemented. The U.S. Navy's fiscal year 2015 (FY-15) performance-based Senior Enlisted Continuation board (SECB) will convene Oct. 27. Active component (AC) and Full Time Support (FTS) E-7 to E-9 Sailors with at least 19 years of active service computed from their active duty service date as of Feb. 28, 2014 and three-years' time-in-rate (TIR) as of June 30, 2014; and selected Reserve (SELRES) and Voluntary Training Unit (VTU) E-7 to E-9 Sailors with at least 20 years qualifying service as of Feb. 28, 2014, and three-years TIR by June 30, 2014, will be considered by the board. The performance indicators are detailed on the Navy Personnel Command (NPC) Enlisted Continuation page at (http://www.npc.navy.mil/boards/enlistedcontinuation) www.npc.navy.mil/boards/enlistedcontinuation. Names of board-eligible Sailors will be posted Aug. 29 to the Navy (https://neasos.cnet.navy.mil) Enlisted Advancement System website, and individuals can view their board eligibility profile sheet on (HTTPS://wwwa.nko.navy.mil) Navy Knowledge Online. For more information, visit the NPC Enlisted Continuation page or call the NPC Customer Service Center at 1-866-U-ASK-NPC (1-866-827-5672). Beginning in September, TRICARE will cover certain laboratory developed tests under a demonstration project. TRICARE will cover approved laboratory developed tests retroactively if the coverage guidelines for the specific test are met. If a TRICARE beneficiary has paid for a laboratory developed test since Jan. 1, 2013, and it is now included in the demonstration, they may be eligible for reimbursement. Beneficiaries will have to file a claim with their regional contractor to receive payment. To find out which laboratory developed tests are covered, and which are eligible for retroactive reimbursement, visit the (http://www.tricare.mil/ldt) TRICARE covered services section to see the full list. Most tests must be preauthorized by the regional contractor and be offered by an authorized provider before they can be covered. TRICARE will continually update the list as new tests are reviewed and approved for coverage. Beginning Oct. 1, U.S. Navy tuition assistance will reimburse sailors only for the tuition cost of the course. TA funds will no longer pay for the following: additional fees for equipment, supplies, books/materials, exams, admissions, registration, fines and costs associated with distance learning. It is among several changes the Navy announced Thursday to its popular program.The changes are meant to align the Navy's TA program with the Defense Department's policy on voluntary education programs that was released last month, the Navy said in a release. For more details, see (http://www.military.com/education/2014/ ... nefit.html) this Military.com article. The U.S. Navy's Professional Apprenticeship Career Track (PACT) program provides unique career opportunities for some first-term Sailors through apprentice-level formal and on-the-job training within a 24-month period. The main purpose of PACT is to provide Sailors who are unsure about which Navy career fields interest them an opportunity to learn about different Navy jobs without having to make a decision at the time of enlistment. The PACT program has three apprentice tracks encompassing career fields within aviation (A-PACT), engineering (E-PACT) and surface (S-PACT). For more information, visit the Navy Personnel Command's PACT webpage at (http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/e ... iling.aspx) http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/e ... iling.aspx, and the Navy COOL website at (https://www.cool.navy.mil/enlisted/pact.htm) https://www.cool.navy.mil/enlisted/pact.htm. The Veterans Administration has announced its new GI Bill payment rates for active duty, Reserve and Guard members, effective October 1, 2014. For more details and the updated pay numbers, see the GI Bill (http://www.military.com/education/gi-bi ... rates.html) active duty and (http://www.military.com/education/gi-bi ... rates.html) Selected Reserve overviews on Military.com. Air Force commanders recently notified Airmen who met the service's enlisted retention boards. The board retained 5,700 Airmen in the ranks of senior airman through senior master sergeant. These numbers represent significant reductions from the matrices originally published. Senior NCOs not selected for retention will retire by Dec. 1. Senior airmen and NCOs not selected for retention will either separate by Jan. 31, 2015, or retire through temporary early retirement authority by Feb. 1, 2015. Updates to information on force management and other personnel programs will continue to be available on (https://mypers.af.mil/) myPers. Airmen can also click the force management graphic on the (https://www.my.af.mil) Air Force Portal which will take them to updated matrices and force management program details. Protection for less. Get $100k Coverage from only $7 a month. (http://www.military.com/insurance/?lpid ... rvr0825.nl) Could your family survive if something happened to you? The Marine Corps is conducting the fiscal year 2014 Selected Marine Corps Reserve (SMCR) Enlisted Retention Survey. This survey allows Reserve Marines the opportunity to communicate to senior leaders their views regarding their experience and possible future service in the Marine Corps Reserve. All SMCR Marines ranked lance corporal to sergeant are encouraged to complete the survey no later than Dec. 31, 2014. For more information, visit the (https://www.manpower.usmc.mil/application_noncac/) Manpower and Reserve Affairs website and search for the FY14 Drilling Reserve Retention Survey. Marines taking the survey on a computer without Common Access Card capability should select the non-CAC login when prompted to begin the survey. Air Force officers interested in continuing to serve as a judge advocate are able to apply to the Funded Legal Education Program (FLEP) and the Excess Leave Program (ELP). Officers selected for FLEP have the opportunity to attend law school at the Air Force's expense while officers chosen for ELP are responsible for law school expenses. FLEP applicants must have between two and six years active-duty service, and ELP applicants must have between two and 10 years active-duty service. To be considered for FLEP or ELP, applicants must have completed all application forms, applied to at least one ABA approved law school (acceptance is not required at the time of application for FLEP/ELP), and received their Law School Admissions Test results by Feb. 10 2015. In addition, applicants need to complete an interview with a staff judge advocate before March 1, 2015. Officers must also provide a letter of conditional release from their current career field. For more information, visit the (http://www.airforce.com/jag/entry_progr ... itary/flep) Air Force FELP page and the (http://www.airforce.com/jag/entry_progr ... litary/elp) ELP page. Bankers is offering veterans a career and not just a job. Successful Agents come from all backgrounds, are supported by nationally recognized training, and operate with a level of service unmatched in the insurance industry. (http://www.military.com/veteran-employe ... =mr0825.nl) Read more. For the past eight years the Air Force has created a comprehensive reading list of motivating and inspiring material. Airmen are being asked to help create the 2015 CSAF Professional Reading Program with submissions that center on the profession of arms and more specifically the Air Force core values: Integrity first, service before self and excellence. To view the current 2014 CSAF reading list, visit the (http://static.dma.mil/usaf/csafreadinglist/index.html) Air Force Chief of Staff Reading List 2014 website and follow the link for the CSAF Reading List Comments Form at (https://www.formrouter.net/forms@HAF/CS ... tions.html) https://www.formrouter.net/forms@HAF/CS ... tions.html to make your suggestions. The goal of Comprehensive Airman Fitness (CAF) is to build and sustain a thriving and resilient Air Force community that fosters mental, physical, social and spiritual fitness. The new (http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/produ ... 90-506.pdf) AFI 90-506 (published April 2) establishes flexibility for commanders and community support coordinators to facilitate resilience events and/or coordinate resiliency skills training in conjunction with or independent of commander-themed wingman days. CAF emphasizes the wingman concept of Airmen and families taking care of themselves and each other. The Air Force has also increased the ratio of master resilience trainers (MRTs) from one trainer per 1,000 Airmen to one trainer per squadron. Individuals wanting to self-nominate to be an MRT or resilience training assistant for their squadron or unit, can do so through their local leaders and their installation community support coordinator. For more information, visit the Air Force Portal and click on the CAF icon tab, (https://www.my.af.mil/gcss-af/USAF/ep/g ... 52DC91061A) on the main page. Elevator Speeches--Do You Really Need One? This week's career building tip comes from one of MOAA's Deputy Directors for Career Transition Services, and answers the question with an emphatic: Absolutely. You've heard it before. "Elevator speeches are a waste of time." Critics of them say to avoid them like the plague, that you want to appear natural and come across as a real person, not someone spouting an awkward little spiel. (http://www.moaa.org/MRElevatorSpeeches/) Read the rest of the article at Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) website. One of the key factors in military and civilian leadership is having a team that encourages truth in both directions. Your troops decide what you can handle. If you've got a short trigger, or a propensity to rush in and help, they'll go a bit slower to put all their cards on the table. Like parents protecting young children, they'll safeguard you and themselves. They'll anticipate your reactions and work around them. Your troops may even throw in a few things "they're worried about," to make you feel better. Don't blame them. Previous leaders have taught them well. Well-intended intensity sends troops to the nearest diaper genie to package their story. To get the real deal, and avoid these common traps, see (http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/ca ... rship.html) this Military.com article.

2019-04-21T08:53:29Z

http://2ndbn5thmarines.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1041&p=2447

Cape Cod's northernmost city, Provincetown, is about 50-60 nautical miles from Boston, which tied a 100-year-old record with seven days of highs below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. "They are a common species here but offshore", Atlantic White Shark Conservancy shared on Facebook. Wcisel says the shark deaths continue to garner global attention. The 24-year-old's prolific form garnered interest from top clubs in England after the Belgian global scored 25 goals in 37 league appearances last season. According to Hirst, Moshiri has subsequently said he is "planning to contact Lukaku to try to smooth over the upset created by his comments, claiming that he had not meant to offend the player". It was also partly frozen in January 2006. Water bodies, including nallahs besides drains were also frozen. Water in the Lake, particularly near the banks was frozen as people woke up this morning. The night temperature in Pahalgam - the famous health resort which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra - decreased over four degrees from a low of minus 4 degrees Celsius the previous night to settle at a low of minus 8.4 degrees Celsius. The game hit the 30 million player milestone in April 2017, while surpassing 38 million players with over 2 billion games played last month. It recently released for Nintendo Switch, which likely helped to boost the global player-base. They thanked the players and the community for the great news at the start of the new year. Our in-game Tournaments feature is still on track, though we had to delay the initial beta test until early next year. ET). Dailey was named a finalist for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2018. Dailey, Rutgers Class of 1982, has helped Auriemma and the Huskies to 11 national championships, six flawless seasons and 45 conference championships (23 regular season, 22 tournaments). Slevin's appointment is the latest in that overhaul, with Julie Harrington and Stephen Park appointed as chief executive and performance director respectively past year. But Froome has continued to race, and British Cycling chief executive Julie Harrington said: "In terms of the detail, Chris Froome isn't banned and he is available for selection". Celtic won the race for Morgan's signature for a fee of around £300,000 with the 21-year-old remaining at St. Mirren on loan until the end of the season as they chase promotion and the Championship title. Speaking in this week's Celtic View , Davies praised the young winger after sealing the transfer last week and admitted the club had been interested in the player for a long while. She says they're looking for a "natural remedy" to combat their ailments. So far, 29 states and Washington, D.C. have approved medical cannabis policies. Lawmakers have discussed cannabis legislation several times in recent years but proposals haven't gained momentum. The proposed legislation will be announced at 11:30 a.m. London-born Stirzaker was raised in Australia from the age of two and has played a crucial role for the Rebels since starting his career with the Super Rugby side in 2012. "So it is great to be able to bring Nick's quality across". And the new signing can not wait to get started, telling the club website: "I've settled in really well, St Albans is a cool place". Watford lie 10th after a series of underwhelming results over the past six weeks and, if they were to snap Ndong up for the reported price, would be taking him off Sunderland's hands for £6m less than the Black Cats paid for him 18 months ago. As will a week as part of a team that includes some pretty impressive Ryder Cup records in the likes of Henrik Stenson, 2016 star Thomas Pieters and the returning Paul Casey. "I really think it will really help to hopefully have a few more events like this and grow the game even more". He probably had a harder time talking to me than I did to him. The drought comes after the city, which usually gets a lot of rain during winter, experienced lower than desirable rainfall past year. Cape Town's water consumption has remained the same, despite an increase in tourists over the holidays. Oshoala was emotional with her speech as she told the audience in tears that she was happy to prove a point after many wrote her off for moving from Arsenal to Dalian FC of China. The Falcons are scheduled to play France on April 4 in Paris, but Oshoala maintains that "it is not enough". Oshoala , however, insisted for more games, she said: "It's not about the France game alone, but we need more games like this and we don't have to plead before we get games". Taking into account the sensitivities around the incident, the FA does not believe Livermore should be subject to any formal action. If the allegation is proven, the individual could be banned from the stadium for life. In the aftermath of the incident, West Brom confirmed that the England global reacted by entering the stands "to confront one spectator who chose to make a comment about the death of his infant son". California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) has declined 15.53% since January 11, 2017 and is downtrending. It has underperformed by 14.27% the S&P500. It also upped Vornado Rlty Tr (NYSE:VNO) stake by 8,900 shares and now owns 13,100 shares. 10,743 are owned by Ibm Retirement Fund. 295 are held by Pathstone Family Office. The Buckeyes move to 13-4 on the season following Sunday's win, but all four losses have come against strong opposition. "When we play teams with such dominant bigs like Nick and (Jaren) Jackson, we usually try to double them, make it as tough as possible, and get the ball out of their hands", Ohio State forward Jae'Sean Tate said. Will Neymar's celebration be the start of a trend? "Congratulations brother, the best of wishes". He had dedicated the goal to a friend of his, and shared a picture of him juggling a beer on his head. Unai Emery 's charges, who are hoping to win the trophy for the fifth year running, were handed a major boost when opposition goalkeeper Regis Gurtner was sent off in the 34th minute for a foul on Kylian Mbappe . Of course , McGregor said that this would be a great idea even though he was not convinced that Floyd would win the UFC title. 2018 I may go back to the back pages instead of the front pages again but I have a feeling these journalists now just want me in the obituary pages so we shall see. King will the fourth British driver to race in the IndyCar Series, alongside Max Chilton, Jack Harvey and Stefan Wilson. Jordan King will drive the No. After having visited the Verizon IndyCar series for the 2016 finale at Sonoma Raceway, King pursued an opportunity across the pond which culminated in today's news. Furthermore, Georgia allows the second-least passing yards per game in the FBS, something that will be crucial in order to stop Baker Mayfield . The team is as healthy and motivated as it has been all year and has been in this situation before. The Daily Mail reported on Thursday that Pardew is interested in signing West Ham United's Diafra Sakho , who is available for around £10 million. Ighalo is now playing in China with Changchun Yatai. It was very important for me. They are two players with status, and I hope they can reach their best form as soon as possible. "I have prepared well and I am anxious to play and do what I need to do, which is to help the team and score goals". Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has also fallen in love with Rahman's behaviour in the most testing times of his careers and feels he is a good and will have no problems putting him on the team. Schalke 04 sporting director Christian Heidel has suggested that Chelsea defender Baba Rahman is keen to return to the club on loan in January. Nevertheless that's two wins against the presumed best two teams in the Western Conference. Durant had spent his entire career with the team, and there seemed a strong chance he'd re-sign with the Thunder . A year ago boasted Westbrook's solo act. The center - who is averaging 12.8 points and 4.3 rebounds - will be on a minutes restriction. George said he only spoke with Shaw about "fishing" and did not mention the idea of playing for the franchise. The gauge had lost 263.45 points in the previous three sessions. Intra-day, it hovered between 10,503.60 and 10,429.55. That said, rising oil prices, the dollar's strength in worldwide markets on the back of strong economic data and caution ahead of corporate results from TCS and Infosys scheduled next week may trigger profit taking at higher levels as the session progresses. He will be eligible for free agency following the 2018 season. Toronto also agreed to deals with outfielder Ezequiel Carrera for $1.9 million and left-hander Aaron Loup for $1,812,500. The Blue Jays spent a good portion of the winter listening to trade offers for Donaldson as they face the decision of whether to send him away while getting value in return or possibly losing him with no compensation as a free agent. The undersized forward is now riding a seven-game point streak, a stretch which features five goals, six assists and three multipoint outings. LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Vegas Golden Knights signed scoring leader Jonathan Marchessault to a $30 million, six-year contract extension Wednesday, the clearest sign yet that the first-year, first-place organization is going for it. Jayson Tatum got his chance with the Celtics early on after the team had to endure a potentially season-ending injuries to star forward Gordan Hayward. Selected by with the third overall pick in last June's National Basketball Association draft, Tatum has scored 579 points through his first 41 games which ranks fifth all-time among Celtics rookies. Bell was one of the few players that was hit with the hated franchise tag heading into the 2017 National Football League season. For Bell, that meant a salary of $12.12 million for this season. "I know what I do and what I bring to the table. "I'm not going out here getting the ball 400 times if I'm not getting what I feel I'm valued at". Retirement seems extreme, but Bell's rationalization to ESPN was that if he sits out 2018, he'd probably be finished entirely. Just a few weeks after ending her show-stopping run at Las Vegas's Planet Hollywood resort, Britney Spears is reportedly already in talks to return to Vegas in 2019. Many of her fans praised the star's recent uploads. The 36-year-old mom just recently wrapped her Las Vegas residency show was not spotted alongside her possible future husband on the trip, and have not been seen on each others Instagram since January 1st. Danny Ainge tweeted out a photo of his injured star without his ankle brace on Tuesday. The photo fueled speculation that Hayward could be progressing faster than expected, but coach Brad Stevens said Wednesday that is not the case. "It's great that he's making good strides, but the timelines and those things don't change". Hayward suffered a fractured left ankle just five minutes into his Boston debut on opening night in Cleveland. Maria Sharapova carried the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup into the Australian Open draw ceremony, much to the disbelief of those watching. "The challenge we always have this week is the Sydney event and the Hobart event". This is set to be another wide-open tournament in the absence of Williams, and Sharapova said she still believes she can be world No. 1. "I certainly hope I can put myself in that position. Though, when Andersen is at the top of his game, as he has been for the most part this season, he can handle some shots. He also drew a penalty on Connor Brown in overtime that led to the victor. He was named as one of the 100 greatest players in National Hockey League history earlier this year. "I liked our game tonight, they were into it and I thought we deserved a better fate tonight", Habscheid said. The office does include several agencies, including the National Security Council, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of the President. "Would love to see more". "The data we're now working with was obtained and analyzed to better understand who spreads the abusive imagery, and to show that abusers should have no greater hopes of invisibility than their victims", Stangvik told The Daily Beast . Entering Tuesday, Rask ranked second with a.923 save percentage and sixth with a 2.13 goals against average among goalies who've played at least 25 games this season. Since losing to the Anaheim Ducks on November 15, the B's are 15-3-2 and Tuukka Rask is now 11-0-1 since his last regulation loss on Nov.26. - The B's are 8-3-0 in their last 11 games against the Islanders. The type of injury normally takes 4-6 weeks to heal, Moosajee added, nearly certainly ruling Steyn out of the rest of the series against India and putting a question mark over whether he can once again regain full fitness ahead of Australia's tour in March. The Louisiana legislator overseeing a task force on the TOPS tuition program is recommending a change in how students receive awards. The changes would not affect students now receiving TOPS awards. That award would cover full tuition, but no stipend. That award would cover the cost of tuition and include a $1,500 stipend. Morrish's plan doesn't change TOPS Tech, but it slims down TOPS Opportunity, which is available to those graduating high school with a 2.5 GPA and a 20 on the ACT. From Liverpool's perspective, this could be huge news if they decide to move in January for a replacement for the recently departed Philippe Coutinho . However, with the Ligue 1 champions losing Bernardo Silva, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Benjamin Mendy and Kylian Mbappe, the club fought tooth and nail to keep hold of their remaining star players. But he emerged in 2016 to become the team's leading tackler. He finished his junior season with 73 tackles and two interceptions. Harris missed all of the 2017 season after tearing his Achilles in July, and could have won an appeal to play another season. The Australian Open is much more than just the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. Second-seeded Federer and No. 14-seeded Djokovic have nearly traded places. Serena Williams isn't quite back on tour, but she says she wants more Grand Slam titles and may be an even better player after becoming a mother. The recurring character will debut in the show's premiere episode. Cena will also take on hosting duties for the upcoming Kids Choice Awards for the second time . This new voice-acting role is decidedly less friendly since his character Baron Draxum aims to convert all humankind into mutantkind ... unless the title Turtles put a stop to him. He'll likely be ticketed for a selection on Day 2 of the draft, though a rise up to the first round with a strong evaluating process shouldn't be counted out. According to Ross Dellenger of The Advocate, Guice holds LSU's career yards-per-carry record (6.5) and has the school's single-game rushing record after torching Texas A&M for 285 yards in 2016. He will go out on loan", the Frenchman stated. Mavropanos has been training with the first-team since his arrival and has impressed onlookers. On January 4 it was announced that he had joined Arsenal for an undisclosed fee. "The first signs he has shown in training are so encouraging that I chose to keep him until May", Wenger said after Arsenal draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, as quoted on Arsenal's official site . Spencer joined the staff as defensive line coach in 2008 and was elevated to defensive coordinator in 2013. He also added the title of defensive coordinator in 2013. Spencer's 2015 Cowboy defense was among the most disruptive in America, ranking in the top 10 nationally in turnovers gained, defensive touchdowns and quarterback sacks and also ranking among the top 20 nationally in tackles for loss, passes intercepted and fumbles recovered. We all had a front row seat to the mess that was unfolding. Criss plays serial killer Andrew Cunanan , and the hotly anticipated show revolves around the murder of Gianni Versace . The Versace family have released a second statement criticising the new season of American Crime Story . "I haven't seen (the series) nor will I see it, because after all this time it still hurts to see Gianni represented untruthfully", Donatella told the paper. Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos received the most votes with 588k and is joined in the team by fellow Real team-mates Marcelo, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric. Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard are the only players from the Premier League to feature in the UEFA Team of the year as they make their maiden appearance. The 27-year-old doesn't want to be part of a rebuilding process like he was with the Chicago Cubs in the early stages of his career, according to The Athletic. Castro's contract has him slated to earn $10 million in 2018, $11 million in 2019 and includes a $16 million option or $1 million buyout for 2020. He was traded to the Yankees in the offseason before the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, and made it within one game of the Fall Classic with NY in 2017. If you're looking for even more confirmation, albeit also more tenuous, here's Hazard saying that he will "never" leave Chelsea , but given the nature of this exchange and of course Hazard's generally jokey nature, I would put much more stock in the Mirror's story than this mobile phone footage. Puncheon was only given a yellow card for the poorly executed challenge, and Guardiola beseeched the referees to take better care of the players of the Premiere League - especially since the competition can get very physical majority of the time.

2019-04-19T15:02:18Z

http://newburghgazette.com/sport/page/310/

Moore, who heads the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and has been relatively quiet since the election, declined to comment for this article. Page declined to discuss the plan for Monday’s meeting, but he indicated that he would not rule out the possibility that he could ask Moore to resign. He said he hopes Moore and his opposition will agree to pursue efforts toward reconciliation. This is both not surprising and stunning. It’s not surprising, because the old-guard conservatives in the SBC have had it out for Moore over his criticism of Donald Trump and Evangelical support for him. After the Trump victory, Moore’s job status has been up in the air. Judging from the Post story, it could all be coming to a head today in the meeting with Frank Page. What’s stunning about this is the blow Moore’s firing, if it comes to that, will be to Southern Baptist credibility and witness. I’ve made no secret of my admiration for Russell Moore, whom I also consider a personal friend (I have not talked to him since reading the Post story). He’s a theological and social conservative in a new mold, and whether or not I agree with him on specific policy positions, I believe he is a model for Christian conservative public engagement. If the Southern Baptist Convention removes him from the presidency of the ERLC, it will signal a dramatic win for the old-guard Religious Right within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. It will also spark the biggest war within the Southern Baptist Convention since the 1990s fight between conservatives and liberals. I had read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and its sequels as a child, and found something solid there. As the other Inklings knew, the Narnia series wasn’t great literature or a carefully constructed myth such as Middle Earth was. My experience was similar to that of science fiction writer Neil Gaiman: “The weird thing about the Narnia books for me was that mostly they seemed true,” as if they “were reports from a real place.” So when, in the middle of my spiritual crisis, I saw the name C. S. Lewis on the spine of a book called Mere Christianity, I was willing to give him a chance—and he saved my life. Mere Christianity is not the City of God or the Summa Theologica or the Institutes of the Christian Religion. It didn’t need to be. All I needed was for this drinking, smoking, probably dancing and card-playing man on another continent to tell me the truth, to point me to a broad, bustling Church that took serious questions seriously and could be traced all the way back to an empty hole in the ground in the Middle East. Most faiths that persist are tested and questioned and tempted along the way. But for me, the question was whether I was a beloved son or a cosmic orphan. It seems to me that my spiritual crisis is similar to a larger one that threatens to engulf religious conservatism in America. The religious right—whether we trace it to the school prayer skirmishes of the 1960s or the segregation academy controversies of the 1970s or the response to Roe v. Wade and the sexual revolution—was always a multifaceted coalition. After all, Jerry Falwell adopted Paul Weyrich’s language of a “moral majority” because the movement encompassed not just born-again Protestants but also many traditional Roman Catholics and Latter-day Saints and Orthodox Jews. But while the movement was in many ways informed by sources such as John Paul II’s theology of the body and Richard John Neuhaus’s The Naked Public Square, the entrepreneurial energy almost always came from Evangelical Protestantism. For that and other reasons, American Evangelicalism is enmeshed with the religious right psychologically, institutionally, and in terms of reputation in ways the Catholic bishops, the Mormon apostles, and Orthodox rabbis just aren’t. The fate of religious conservatism is important, though, and not merely for its own sake. Ross Douthat is quite right that America—left and right—needs a strong religious conservative movement. The religious right, at its best, modeled the kind of civic engagement and civil society that James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wanted for this country. At its best, the religious right reminded all of us that there are realities more important than political or economic success; that we are a nation under God, one that can be weighed in the balance and found wanting. At its best, the religious right kept the focus on a vulnerable minority that easily becomes invisible to those with power: unborn children. Douthat is correct that without some form of religious right, the space left behind can all too easily be filled by European-style ethno-nationalism or Nietzschean social Darwinism. The religious right must, in some form, be saved. But how and in what form? That question, of course, brings us to the 2016 presidential election. We know how that turned out. And we now see that that result could have serious consequences for Russell Moore. Read the entire lecture, and you will be able to understand the battle lines within the Southern Baptist Convention — if Moore is fired, that is. There are a lot of younger Southern Baptists who are not willing to return to the Republican Party at Prayer mode of public engagement. I hope the SBC leadership pulls back. This conflict, and its resolution, will have a serious impact beyond the SBC. It will determine the future of Christian conservatism in America. Posted in Christianity, Culture war, All Things Trump. Tagged Christianity, conservatism, Russell Moore, Southern Baptist Convention. Atlantic & Scientology: What Did They Do Wrong? Even if you voted for Trump, for whatever your reasons, playing the doxxing game is as bad whether you’re SJW or SBC. I don’t appreciate being blacklisted, and I’m not going to support doing it to anyone because he had trouble with voting for the President and outlined the reasons why, especially to a person with the theological integrity of a Russell Moore. Not wrong, but nuts, so dismiss them. Remember this when people (e.g. RHE) dismiss you as a bigot or whatever, and don’t bother engaging with your ideas. If you want to pretend that to be a Southern Baptist, you first have to be a rock-ribbed Republican, and a flag-waving, gun displaying Son of the Confederacy with faith in Christ optional or even out of the question, then you might think so. But that’s nuts. To Mr Wells and others: I’m sure that Southern Baptists are glad to be shown the way to repentance for their true sins (as defined by the Bible). But being told that you’re a bad person because you want control of the borders (‘cuz after all, Jesus was an immigrant) is silly, that’s liberal Christian stuff. That is one powerful lecture. Will Stephens, thank you so much for pointing out the Janet Mefferd article. She makes a great case for why Russel Moore is what we need. Whoever she is, she’s a great example of all the worst aspects of the religious right. Moore is theologically conservative and if you take the Bible seriously you won’t fit into the American right/left spectrum. It is silly to think that this is about Moore not liking Trump or about Trump’s “cult of personality.” Moore’s position on immigration made him very disliked by most evangelicals long before Trump was considered as a presidential candidate. I know you are aware of this, because several of us have been bringing it up since at least 2013. The fact of the matter is, the schism between Moore and many rank-and-file Baptists was already underway before Trump came onto the scene, and to the extent that people were offended by his revulsion to Trump, it was because they saw Trump as being on their side on this existential issue, and Moore as being on the other side. That is, they had reason to dismiss Moore’s views beyond his mere disapproval of their candidate. Except that Moore also spoke out against Trump on issues regarding immigration and Islam, and Moore has already staked out a position that it is borderline heretical to have restrictionist views on immigration, and he offers no sympathy to, or desire to understand, those who disagree. That is going to color people’s perception of any criticism he gives Trump. Fosdick denied essential teachings of the Christian faith such as the virgin birth. Moore has done nothing of the sort. Equating Moore’s political views on immigration to the rank heresy of Fosdick is either a gross and unfair exaggeration or is a form of idolatry e.g. elevating views on immigration to the same level as key Christian doctrines. While this comparison with Fosdick is probably the worst example, most of the criticism of Moore on this thread illustrates why even if the SBC old guard manages to fire him, as one person has said, they will win the battle, but not the war. The fact of the matter is that most young pastors coming out of SBC seminaries today, as well as most active young lay people, see men such as Al Mohler, Russell Moore and David Platt as role models. This means they are a lot more interested in the SBC proclaiming the Gospel than being the Republican party at prayer. The people out to fire Moore have little appeal to doctrinally conservative young people in the SBC. The may well manage to fire Moore, but doing so will hardly help turn their current situation around. Wrong. Moore was pointed in his condemnation of Trump’s stances on immigration primarily, along with foreign affairs. Moore is being retained. He’s a good man who unwisely engaged in personal criticism on social media and elsewhere of denominational pastors. Hopefully he will learn from this and be a bit more respectful of his fellow Baptists going forward. Judicious criticism isn’t as much fun to read as scorched earth rhetoric, but it tends to convince more people and make less enemies. If they fire him, I lose all respect for the Baptist Church. Russell Moore is a mountebank and an appeaser. If Southern Baptists have any self-respect left, they will stop paying this narcissist to trash the very people who pay his salary in the pages of the New York Times. I am a deacon in a tiny, irrelevant, SBC church. In a congregational meeting last July/August (or so), I had to help walk people back from the edge of going independent. It had nothing to do with black/white racism (not enough local diversity to even be a topic of discussion), nothing to do with Trump (not mentioned, even though 90% likely voted for him). It was about open borders, and the use of tithes that might help Muslims defend themselves in 1st amendment cases. They want their tithes going to Christian orgs or mission fields. They want to support their own religion, directly. They don’t like their own leader calling them racist (they’re not), and they don’t like…his politics. His ‘gospel centered’ approach is very political. The 1st amendment is about American politics. It isn’t found in the gospel. Open borders is about American politics. That policy preference isn’t outlined in the gospel. And those things are key elements of his platform. His supporters do themselves a disservice by refusing to listen to these legitimate complaints. This is a first-hand account, and it is not atypical (just read this comment board). The unwillingness to listen is not that different from what happened in the GOP primary with guys like Jeb and Rubio. And by failing to listen to legitimate complaints (as they did), Moore and his followers will find themselves shown the door (as they were). Which is a shame, because he’s not all bad. Now, he may not be willing to alter his politics, which is fine. But he should just admit that his politics are just as important to him as the politics of the old guard was to them. And, he should admit his politics are just as tenuously derived from the gospel itself, as were their own. He is human, just as they were. He only harms himself by claiming otherwise. Seems to me that Moore is just a political as those he condemns*, its just that he is, as someone says above a good-thinker (oh, I get the phrase was ‘right thinking’). ‘Mere Christianity’ says nothing about immigration (the HF fled to Egypt, but then went home!). It says nothing about gun control (in fact, Jesus orders his guys to get weapons). It doesn’t even say anything about religious tolerance — ritual tolerance perhaps (the Kosher vs. non-Kosher factions), but not religious tolerance. So Moore may think his is on the side of the angels. But he is just as political as they are. *Aren’t Xians supposed to avoid judging others? Well, immigration is a mere secular issue. The most painful of the persecution that Christians will have to endure will not come from non-Christians but from their fellow Christians. I won’t compare Moore to someone who is a heretic (or tolerates heresy) like Fosdick, nor would I call him a “total progressive.” I also do not know whether he actually is “liberal on everything else” and do not think he ought to be let go on that basis. My problem with Russell Moore is that he is using his position to advocate for a position that I think is wrong and destructive. If he emphasized “this is my personal opinion and I am not representing the SBC on this” that would be one thing, but he seems to be presenting his position on immigration as if it is the Southern Baptist position. I don’t want him excommunicated. At the same time, I do not want Russell Moore in a position where he is seen as a public representative of the SBC. Rod Dreher is a personal friend of Russell Moore. As such, he is incapable of approaching this issue impartially. The backlash against Moore long pre-dates Trump’s presidential campaign. Moore incorrectly insists that Christians *must* support the establishment’s policy (invade-the-world/invite-the-world). Moore’s position is unscriptural heresy. Rod, you cold not be more incorrct. Baby faced rusty’s job is to REPRESENT Southen Baptists to the world. Every time I see him on TV or read his quoted in newspapers he is giving the left wing media attacking points against us. Its like the Urban League hiring David Duke to represent them to the media. What organization has a spokesperson that attacks its members? Why should we put money in the collection plate on Sunday to pay for his salary to trash us in the media? You are wrong and Russell Moore has to go. YESTERDAY! This is a very valid comment/criticism, thank you. But this is another reason I oppose RM. As someone else here commented, he practically worked for the Rubio campaign. You remember Rubio, right? The ultimate neocon warmonger. Leaving aside the immigration issue aside, if one accepts Rod’s view that religious liberty is dying seriously, to argue that “1st amendment is about American politics” is myopic, at best. If true believers are a tiny minority, or destined to become one, then defending even tinier minorities when they still they have have the power to do so seems like a strategically necessary move. And one could even argue that if the rank and file can’t see the logic in that stance- than it’s the leadership’s job to do the right strategic thing. Let’s phrase is simply: if religious liberty struggles are the most important thing on the political arena of orthodox Christians, how can they engage in them while supporting restrictions on mosque construction, and not be laughed out the room? I like Dr. Moore and I hope he keeps his job. In terms of his critics, I think there are two camps. There’s the camp that wants to support Donald Trump no matter what and firm lash the Southern Baptist Convention to the mast of the Republican Party, in order to protect religious liberty and the unborn. I think they’re ridiculous, because it reduces your moral credibility to excuse Trump’s personal failings, but more importantly because you want to put yourself in a position where a politician has to earn your vote. We all know the type of D.C. Republicans who snicker at religious conservatives but don’t have to bat an eye to earn their vote. You don’t want to give those people the whip hand. The other camp are the people who don’t like Moore’s positions on immigration, race relations, an ecumenical understanding of religious liberty, etc. I think there’s some legitimate criticism there. It’s not that Moore is wrong for tackling those issues, it’s that I think some of his answers have been just as simplistic as those on the left. He does have a point, but my question is, what would Dr. Moore’s reaction be if I got up as a SBC pastor and said Yes, we know that African-Americans are disproportionately subjected to police overreach, and that must change. But we also know that the rate of family breakdown in the African-American community not only has left many black children without fathers, but has also increased crime and thus increased exposure black individuals face to the bad things some police officers do. That must also change.? That’s a legitimate issue which we know feeds the racial disparity. But I know what the response would be from the Michael Eric Dysons of the world would be: You’re racist! You’re blaming the victim! Would that be Moore’s response? Because if it is, you’re not treating this with the seriousness and nuance that the issue deserves, and you’re not putting all the issues on the table. But my gut feeling is that these are issues Moore doesn’t want to bring up, because they may be “lacking in empathy” and that wouldn’t be “the Christian thing to do.” Part of that gut feeling is based on the fact that I haven’t heard Moore himself talk much about this when he brings up the issue of race. My sense is that in Moore’s attempt to bring these issues into the fold, there may be some unease within the SBC in a way that people may not be able to articulate, but they’re at unease because with these issues comes some liberal assumptions that they recoil at. And if Moore is going to bring these issues into the fold, he has to do it in a way that encourages honest discourse, not PC discourse that doesn’t really address anything. “appeaser”, one of the most ridiculous go-to slurs out there. I’d say he is standing up to the majority view in his denomination on issues where he feels they are being unbiblical. Whether he is right or wrong, what he is doing is principled. I guess it would be more macho to conform with conservative inc. Also, it is true that Moore is guilty of conflating support for Trump with endorsing Trump’s behavior. Good example of that: http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/10/10/the-lead-trumps-comments-russell-moore.cnn. I take the point that as an evangelical leader, putting your name to Trump and calling him a “baby Christian” is ridiculous. But if a Christian leader went out there and said, “Look, Donald Trump is a cad and not at all a Christian, but either Hillary or Donald will be President, and the Supreme Court is at stake,” I doubt Moore would have thought much of that. In fact, that was Eric Metaxas’ argument, and he was attacked for it, including by you Rod. And I’m not defending Trump by the way. In the end, I couldn’t vote for him. But there was a rational defense for a devout Christian voting for Trump, but Moore seemed to discount that as borderline un-Christian, and I think resentment over that posture is legitimate. This reveals basic lack of familiarity with scripture and the inability to read in context. Perhaps it’s inevitable that those with a prior uninformed agenda will search scripture for single verse that can be wrested from the whole, in order to cite proof texts for their own human bugaboos. This is the essence of how the devil is said to recite scripture in his own favor against God. Twisting the meaning of others’ words has a long pedigree that reaches back to the original rebellion. What is true, is that where your treasure lies, is where your heart is also. If your heart is set upon the world’s treasures, then the means that will be needed to defend it will sometimes be the world’s ways of violence, also often used to obtain that wealth. It seems that before Jesus went to the garden, that the disciples discovered a sword among their effects. It’s not known who actually owned it, but there was one of them who wasn’t there. That was the disciple who found thirty pieces of silver more attractive than a heart set upon the Lord. Jesus tells them, “Enough,” hardly calling them to arms. But it seems that for Peter, an object lesson as to how the Kingdom is to spread is in order. Later when Jesus is to be taken, without waiting for consent, on his own Peter slices the ear of a centurion. Our Lord’s response? An order to Peter to put up his sword – the one he had assumed ownership of. And then the power of persuasion by miracle – healing the soldier, returning only good for evil. What lesson do you think Peter was to take from this – and what lesson did the soldier himself take from it? Jesus explains later to Pilate the nature of his Kingdom, and that it is not established by force of arms, for if it were, he would have ordered it. It is the revolutionary Barrabas that the crowd demands freed, instead of Jesus, to Pilate’s chagrin. No, Jesus did not order his guys to stock up on the weapons of violence. It’s clear that if earthly treasure is your priority, though, then you will necessarily defend that using the same means associated with accumulating it. Is that where our treasure lies? As an outsider, I find Isadore the Farmer’s position a valid argument for a member of a church, or a local congregation to make, about the institutions of the church itself. I am a big fan of the body of First Amendment jurisprudence called “church autonomy in matters of faith and doctrine.” It doesn’t matter whether I agree with Isadore, or his fellow congregants, its their church, not mine. The unfortunate thing, for churches such as Isadore’s, is that SOME of the arguments being made against Moore ARE racist or pro-Trump. I take his word that his own are not. No doubt some of Moore’s defenders are refusing to listen to these legitimate complaints. But what’s necessary to find some semblance of the truth is to sort out that some illegitimate arguments don’t make all pro or con arguments equally illegitimate. That said, I note that while a church might wish to keep its tithes and offerings in mission work for its own faith, a church might also find some merit in defending the First Amendment, on principle. It may benefit that church, even if the current cases in the courts have members of other faiths as plaintiffs. Muslims and Jews in Germany suddenly found they had much in common when secular German politicians proposed that if female genital mutilation was banned, then perforce male circumcision should be banned also. (Both faiths circumcise males. Neither mandates mutilation of females — although most, not all, the practitioners of the latter tend to be in areas that are now Muslim). So he should shut up and not speak about the glaring hypocrisy that undermines the integrity of the Church. Riiiiight. How about this? Tolerate that he has a different opinion and move on with your lives. If people have other complaints, which I see from comments above that there are, then that is a different issue. That a church leader can’t do other than pander to some members’ politics and isn’t allowed to disturb anyone’s comfort, is the day that denomination heads towards perdition. That has happened in churches that allowed themselves to be captured by either the politics of the left or the right, instead of speaking truth to power. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the important part of Alan’s description is disdains the common folk, not the social status or salary per se. His status and salary are relevant largely because they suggest that can insulate himself from the problems that the common folk worry about. Preaching that love should cause us to be okay with bringing in hundreds of third-world immigrants means a little bit less from someone who can afford to live in a high-price community. As someone else here commented, he practically worked for the Rubio campaign. I think that is an important point; it’s not that people oppose Moore because they want the SBC to be the Republican Party at prayer and he does not, it’s that they see him as fine with the SBC being the Republican Party at prayer as long as it is the party of Bush and Rubio. Except that he isn’t a church leader in the pastoral sense. His position is an explicitly political one, so how he stands on political issues is quite relevant. If he were an expositional preacher, an apologetics scholar, or a missions co-ordinator, this would not be relevant. But he is there to deal with political issues facing the church, so his political positions matter. Moreover, as others have pointed out, he is not particularly understanding toward the concerns of people who disagree with him. He simply dismisses them and their concerns, rather than addressing them and then saying why he thinks that they are wrong. Great…so you agree he is deeply engaged in tactics and strategy that are political, by their very nature. Now, please talk Moore into admitting this about himself, and the grounds for a productive discussion might start to form. This is my point: anyone who follows his tactics is able to recognize that his actions (his role) have a significant political component. This is just as true of his predecessors as it is of him. All that has changed are the policy preferences and the strategies / tactics he is advocating. Yet, those that disagree with him are presumed to be less ‘gospel centered’ and quite possibly racists. This is a very uncharitable approach for him to take towards his own members. He shouldn’t be surprised at the backlash that has resulted. I’m not asking him to change his politics (though like Glaivester, and any normal human, I would prefer someone in the position aligned with my own). I am asking him to cease being condescending and admit that this is the nature of the situation. By failing to do so, he is harming the faith of people that have been devout, ‘gospel centered’ SBC members for decades. If, over the next 12 months, Moore continues to refuse to be honest about the political nature of his position and tactics / strategies, I believe member churches will have been more than patient enough to justify a powerful response. If instead, he begins to interact in a more frank, honest way with the people he was hired to represent, I believe he is very capable of doing good in his role*. There are good things about him. *The one caveat is that he needs to get out of bed with George Soros and open borders orgs – at an absolute minimum stop using SBC funds / marketing power for this political endeavor. This is indeed debatable. But the point is that it has very little to do with the gospel itself, and a LOT to do with politics, specifically American politics. Moore needs to be frank about this. He is not. His predecessor, themselves with an imperfect set of policy preferences, were at least usually honest that they were indeed engaging in politics, in full support of x,y,z. Also, there are always plenty of 1st amendment causes that could be funded without also having to fund other religions. Regardless, even if it would be considered prudent / wise to do such a thing for political reasons (I think the argument in favor of it does perhaps grow stronger as the group considering such funding becomes an ever smaller minority), it is impossible to do so while framing oneself as simply ‘gospel centered’, much more focused on Jesus than those that came before. That is laughable, and people are growing increasingly angry at Moore for refusing to admit this very simple (and obvious) point. The longer he goes without admitting it, the more likely people will begin to suspect his obstinance is something closer to deception. And that is very, very unhealthy within any kind of organization. Pragmatic, balanced differences of opinion on border control is all well and good, but the *attitudes* toward “strangers” so many conservatives have displayed (as Moore aludes in his essay), whether they are blacks from the ghetto, refugees from the Mid East, or “someone else’s babies” is contrary to the love of Christ (which I belive does make one a bad person). There are ways to protect a nation/community without being so damn angry and self-obsessed all the time. Well it would certainly be an odd form of racism against blacks, considering just about every left-leaning black figure of note (and otherwise), from Al Sharpton, to President Obama, to even M.E. Dyson himself have acknowledged this basic phenomenon (with varying degrees of nuance), for decades, sometimes in stronger language than you have. I imagine Moore would make the point that Christians ought to be the solutions to both problems and not a prop for the tribal honor politics of one group or the other. If that makes SBC leaders “uncomfortable” maybe they need a safe space? I have no problem with a man who changes over time. Russ certainly has changed since we were in Seminary together back in the 90s. That’s fine. But what I’m taken by is his tendency to suggest he was always skeptical about that whole Religious Right movement, or Culture War Christianity, or that he always had a soft spot for Catholicism. While I didn’t run in Russ’s circles, I can assure people that these things were not what he was known for. In fact, just the opposite. In that day he was very much about pushing adherence to Calvinist theology and calling out Catholicism for the heretical tradition it is. He did soften toward that by the early 00s, mostly in the name of ecumenism for the greater cause of fighting the Culture Wars. But by 2008, he was abandoning, and even belittling, those same Christians who were obsessing about the silliness of the Culture Wars. So the problem isn’t that he changes. People change. But his recollection of where he stood years ago and what we saw in his stances years ago don’t match. And his tendency to dismiss those he identified with as he changes, joining the latest movement in denigrating those with whom he once associated, appears to be the problem. “Moore responded by arguing that religious liberty applies to those following all beliefs. “What it means to be a Baptist is to support soul freedom for everybody,” Moore answered — while people in the audience applauded. The Christian leader under fire then addressed the crowd to make his point. So he is making one argument from baptist tradition, and another, stronger one, from political and legal expidiency. Nowhere does he call his opponents non-Biblical or anything. Now we are getting closer to a healthy debate over profound differences. Isidore is right that Moore is engaged in politics. In the same sense, the Danbury Baptist Church that wrote to Thomas Jefferson was engaged in politics — because they saw the political aspirations of the Episcopalian and Congregational churches as an imminent threat to their own free exercise of religion. One reason the First Amendment reads as it does was to shut the door on the aspirations of the former Anglicans and the Puritan descendants to become the officially established Church of the United States. So there are times and ways when churches might intervene in political debate for the purpose of assuring that the state (in which all of us citizens, including church members, theoretically have a voice) does not shape its jurisdiction in a manner that infringes on the church. What are known as “dissenting sects” in Great Britain, including Baptists, have even more worries about politics, since a court can weigh and construe what IS the true doctrine of any sect, in resolving legal controversies. (That is prohibited in the United States). Questions of Establishment and Nonestablishment are inherently political. They involve, at least in the negative, issues of what the politics of the state may be. When it comes to immigration, that’s a different kettle of fish. I think it could plausibly be said that Moore detects some fundamentally anti-Christian sentiments within the various strands of opinion on immigration policy. I think it could also be plausibly argued that he exceeds mere criticism of these specific strands. When I was fourteen, the Presbyterian Church to which my parents belonged (we were living for a year near Chicago) held a public forum on the proposed Open Housing Law. There were some men, members of the church, hanging out in the parking lot but not participating. I asked my mother as we left what they were doing. She explained that excluding some people from equal access to housing based on race is not a Christian thing to do, so the men hadn’t come into the meeting to say what they were thinking. One can oppose an Open Housing Law and still be a Christian. But many of the reasons people opposed the law were definitely not. The line about “disdains the common folk” is a bit of a stretch. There are some powerful elites behind the things Moore criticizes. I haven’t read that he has spoken disdainfully of any manner of “common folk.” I do recall that Moore has cheerfully said in the teeth of liberal elite attitudes ‘We believe much stranger things than that. We believe a dead man is going to come back to life riding a horse through the sky.’ That wasn’t parody. He believes it. There is a long history in this country of conservative elites wrapping their wolf selves in the sheep’s clothing of Jeffersonian democracy, starting with the presidential campaign of William Henry Harrison. Log cabin my foot, he was the son and grandson of Virginia aristocrats. It would be amusing as well as enlightening to watch Russell Moore debate Peter Brimelow on the subject of open borders. http://www.vdare.com/articles/brimelow-on-canada-us-we-may-see-boundaries-redrawn-across-north-america?content=to%20a%20racist. With all due respect, I think it is you that have mangled the scripture with that long convoluted exegesis. That’s pretty direct. Now it is true that a few verses latter your god-man says that two swords are enough…you maybe he says ‘that’s enough’ to the disciples who are back talking him. But Jesus wanted at least some of his posse armed. Re: We believe a dead man is going to come back to life riding a horse through the sky.’ That wasn’t parody. He believes it. I hope not, because that;s not the story. Christ is already Risen– he is not going to come back to life at some future date, but is already alive, transcendently so. I also do not recall any horse being associated with his return, unless we are talking about those four unpleasant Horsemen who precede it. m_young, Fran did not mangle anything, but has pointed out the error of proof-texting (which, yes, is a temptation for all Christians, including liberal ones). “Buy swords” cannot be read in isolation– one must also square it with “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword”. I fail to see where Moore is “disdaining” anyone. He is criticizing what he perceives to be an error, perhaps even a sin, in their ways. This is what preachers do– and should do. If he were criticizing common folk partying in two-stepping honky-tonk bars on Friday night would you say he was “disdaining” them? A preacher who always agrees with whatever his flock does is quite the example of what Rod calls “MTD”. M. Young, once again, you quote scripture out of context. That is called eisegesis, essentially, looking for what you already want affirmed. I, too, would prefer God, guns and guts, because it’s in my own nature to do so. I want to keep my Smith & Wesson Model 67 and my Winchester 30.30, which acquisitions dated early in my Learning Christ’s way. I can identify with Peter, who trusts his own gut instincts first. I suggest doing with scripture, the following approach. Pray for God to teach you what is right, not to simply have your gut check confirmed, asking to be led into all truth through the Holy Spirit. Have a teachable spirit yourself, so that you are not inadvertently right, but for all the wrong reasons. Then as Rod is often wont to advise, Read the Whole Thing. That means at least as a start, beginning before the chapter in question where your “proof text” occurs, and past the end of that chapter. Be aware of context – how the meaning is consistent. There is no doubt that Jesus leaves it up to us whether to follow His example, or not. If your treasure is in money, then you’re going to need to be armed if you mean to defend it in a time of turmoil. For that purpose, it’s good advice. But it’s clear that what is good practical advice for those who have those priorities, is not to be the same for those who would take up Jesus’ cross. You must take into consideration, as well, the entire context of the New Testament, particularly Matthew 5, 6 and 7. As Americans, we are always anxious to have posses, and make sure they are well armed. Look around the world, and at home, and tell me how well that worldliness has worked out for building God’s Kingdom, or even for basic Christian liberty. On the contrary, it is leading to destruction, as it always does – living by the sword, leads to dying by it, too. To directly answer your question, becuase I stand opposed to the elites in our society who have gotten filthy rich at the expense of the rest of us. If they had the decency to just say “thank you” it might go down easier. But when they openly disdain us, especially under the guise of being moral, religious leaders, it’s especially grievous. And when said folks operate as trojan horses, yah, I’m done. If you count that as a character flaw for me, so be it. I hope not, because that;s not the story. Christ is already Risen– he is not going to come back to life at some future date, but is already alive, transcendently so. I agree, but many of my fellow Protestants find all manner of lurid images in the Revelation to St. John. I imagine that’s where Moore got it from. Anyway, he said it, I didn’t. It is possible he was being facetious, with the general intent being, we believe some things that make no sense at all based on material science, but only if something transcendent is at work. Or maybe be meant it literally — he is SBC after all. And my point was, Moore in not a liberal agnostic wrapping himself in a Southern Baptist mantle. He believes what the SBC proclaims to be its theology and catechism. Fair point. I know of a congregational church (not UCC — I think its part of a loose coalition trying to restore orthodox congregational worship) that had trouble building a church in a conservative leaning suburb, because the city fathers wanted a more lucrative, tax-producing use for remaining open land. The church prevailed by use of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The real problem today is their are so many fakes , heretics (false teacher) prosperity flakes, So called Christian dominion crazies, socialist infiltration to purposely destruct churches, crooks & the like now, real Christians are becoming more wary every year.In fact i figure most biblical Christians will be back in house churches. Denominational churches have turned out to be retirement insurance benefit homes for clerics. Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Congregational, Catholic, Episcopalian, Anglican, with a raft of others, have all lost their salt or even meaning. Most are just inter changeable Deists now with some cultural quirks.You see this pattern even in the New testament warnings about all of this. Yup every vice you see today in the so called emergent church is found there with warnings. Evangelical means nothing these days, just a term for nominal Christians or ecumenists to use. The fact some don’t even believe in a basic doctrine like the resurrection is your clue here. For Bible Christianity home Church is the future as it was for 400 years before churches where built when joined to the Roman empire. Most denominations don’t outlive their beginnings after 3 generations ( The calvary chapel movement is a modern example, its falling apart with internal struggles), its why there are so many, its how Christianity in its basic form has always spread since the first century. As the old loses it fervor with any belief in its doctrines for fads or false teachings, the new begins with persecution usually by the older denominations, or at the behest of the State church, secular & always atheist polities that drives the seeds of its original basic teachings into the winds to start again in more fertile regions, or resisted to death by those who stay.

2019-04-24T21:47:27Z

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/russell-moores-job-on-the-line/

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Epson printer setup is simple, and people do not face any problems while setting them up. However, once you have purchased a printer, you can come across a fault that several users have noticed. It is known as driver conflicts, and if you want to gain an understanding of the fault, you can call on Epson printer customer service phone number directly, or you can avail the Epson printer setup guide. This occurs when drivers have to share a system with another hardware or application which is attempting to execute the similar operation and the similar language in the same location. The representative available at Epson customer service phone number can give all the details of the fault if contacted. When such fault occurs, Windows has to choose between two applications, and in some cases, both of the applications fail. If you see same occurrences on your system, call the Epson customer service phone number at once. In a programming language, there is no fail-safe for the reassignment of system or ports space build in the drivers. Another effective way to tackle the issue is to contact the Epson technical support phone number wherein a technical representative will be available for resolving all the issues. What one can do is to start a new and clean install for the second time, which implies erasing the risky drivers and also reinstalling them. If you do not know how to install drivers, call the Epson customer service phone number. On the off chance that this is not helpful, go to the official Epson site and select the suitable model number of your printer. Check whether they have a refreshed driver for its hardware. If you do not know how to check the model number, contact the Epson customer service phone number. If there is an update available, at that point, you must download it since application clashes are regularly caused due to the old and obsolete drivers. Epson printer setup guide can also help the customers to gain an enhanced understanding of the topic. As new updates get released for Windows and new hardware or software is brought into the market, one needs to get the new drivers that can deal with the new changes and function around these conflicts. If the process is too technical for you or you are not able to find the updates, call the Epson customer service phone number immediately. These are the same steps that a representative at the Epson customer service phone number will follow at first when the issue is communicated to him. Epson has taken the world by storm with their highly innovative range of devices along with imaging equipment. It started as a manufacturer of spare parts for watches in the 1940s. It forayed into the printer industry in the 1960s. This section is about the Epson technical support phone number that aims to resolve all the technical issues in the devices. Today, big-sized organizations and end users across the world trust the company and its printers for daily tasks. In addition to printers, Epson also manufacturers ICs, LCD components, home theatre televisions and related electronic equipment. If a user faces any technical issue, he/she can make use of Epson technical support phone number to talk to an official representative. If you do not get a satisfactory solution, you can communicate the issue to the customer care representative at Epson customer service phone number. Alternatively, you can also call the toll-free mentioned on the website to communicate with a self-governing third-party Epson technical support phone number. You can do the Epson XP 200 Wifi Setup if your access point or wireless router supports Wi-Fi Protected Setup. You can ensure this by checking that the router displays this WPS logo. If you are not able to find the logo, call the Epson customer support number. One important thing to note is that the WPS may not function with the Mac routers like Airport Extreme. You need to ensure that your router is compatible with WPS. If you need more information on Epson XP 200 Wifi setup, just place a call on Epson customer support number. For connecting your printer to the router or Epson XP 200 Wifi setup, all you need to do is follow the below-mentioned steps. In case, the steps get too technical for you, remember Epson customer support number is always available to solve your problems. You need to press WPS button on the router and then for 3 seconds press the Wi-Fi push button on the printer. Call the Epson customer support number if you do not know where either of the buttons is or any help regarding Epson XP 200 Wifi setup. On completion of one minute, the light of the Wi-Fi connection on the printer will go on. If the light does not go on or you have any query about Epson XP 200 Wifi setup, just place a call on the Epson customer support number, or you can also make use of the Epson printer setup. As shown above, connecting to the wireless network while Epson XP 200 Wifi setup is quite straightforward. Just as the Epson XP 200 Wifi setup or any other Epson printer setup, you can change the ink cartridges easily. If you want to know about changing the ink cartridge, you can directly call on the Epson customer support number. In addition, you can also resolve any queries related to the Epson printer setup. You need to ensure that you have the replacement cartridges with you before starting. You need to install the new cartridges at once when the old ones have been removed. To know more, call on the Epson customer support number. Note: Keep the old cartridges inside the printer until you are sure to replace them. This will prevent the drying out of printhead nozzles. Epson printer setup guide offers all the information on the components of the printer. You are advised to keep the ink cartridges packages closed until the ink is ready to be installed. Contact Epson customer support number if you are stuck anywhere. The cartridges are kept vacuum packed for maintaining reliability. Follow the below-mentioned steps, or you can just contact the Epson customer support number. You need to turn on the product. You need to lift-up the scanner unit. Check the Epson printer setup guide to know where the scanner unit is. Press stop button. If the cartridge is expended or low, just call on the Epson printer tech support phone number. Tap the stop button for checking the additional expended or low cartridges. When all of the cartridges are identified, then the print head goes to the replacement position. Contact Epson printer tech support phone number directly for help. Press the tab on the cartridge to lift the cartridge for removing it. Note: You need to dispose-off the cartridges carefully and do not try to refill it. To gain more understanding of this, contact Epson support number. If you come in contact with the ink, wash it with soap and water thoroughly. If ink gets into the eye, wash them with water. Contact Epson support number to know more about the health issues. Prior to opening the cartridge package, shake it four to five times. Note: Don’t shake the cartridges when the packages have been opened as due to this ink may leak. Contact Epson printer support phone number to know more. Take away the cartridge from the package. If you do not know how to do this, contact the Epson printer support phone number. Caution: Don’t touch the small window or green chip on the cartridge. Install the cartridge at once on removing the old cartridge. If you do not do this, the printhead can dry-out. Contact Epson printer customer service phone number to get the issue resolved. Take away the yellow tape present on the sides of the cartridge. Note: You are advised to not remove any of the other seals or labels, or the ink may leak. To know more, get the Epson printer help. Insert the cartridge in the holder while pushing it down so that it clicks into the place. If this gets too technical for you, get the Epson printer help. The next step is to lower the top scanner unit. If you do not know what a scanner unit is, contact the Epson printers support. Press stop button. Get the Epson printers support to know more about the complete process. If an expended or low cartridge is removed, the user will not be able to reinstall to make use of the cartridge. If you are stuck anywhere in the process, contact the Epson customer service phone number. Epson offers highly effective and instant technical support through the Epson technical support phone number for all the devices. Epson employs only the best minds functioning in the industry who work 24*7 for delivering prompt services to its customers. The services are offered in different forms like Epson customer service phone number so that there is no gap in the customer services, namely, in person, through the web, and over the phone. Over the phone, technical support can be easily obtained through the Epson technical support phone number. This service is preferred by the majority of the customers as anything other than official support is not considered reliable. However, you can also contact the toll-free number given on the website to reach a third-party service provider who can also resolve our issues. This is an effective option to get solutions for the problems, other than the Epson technical support phone number. However, keep in mind, we only guide you to connect to the independent service providers, and neither of us is affiliated with the official Epson tech support number. Replacement of the printer is usually a good alternative if the issues continue to create problems for you. However, one must evaluate the efforts and time that would be required to be spent in the process. The most effective alternative to the official support services other than the Epson technical support phone number is an independent service provider. You are recommended to check their credibility before using their services. Such service providers have considerable experience with the printers. They will be able to troubleshoot the issues effectively, however, if you have any doubts, just contact the Epson technical support phone number. There are several reasons as to why customers prefer the independent service providers to official support. Usually, such service providers offer a cheaper service in comparison to the support offered by the Epson tech support number. The service providers function independently of the official support and thus, they may charge a fee for the assistance. But this fees will be very low as compared to the tech expert at the Epson tech support number. These services can also save the user from the troubles of having a stranger visit for looking at the issue. Therefore, it lets the user maintain his privacy too. But if you have any doubts about its credibility, just call the Epson tech support number. Through Epson connect services, you can easily print from the smartphones, tablets and more. Epson connect services is a cloud scan and print service for the company’s printers. It permits the customers to print from any tablet, computer or smartphone from any place across the world. With the help of the Epson connect services, one can send the scanned files in the form of the email to the destination that has been previously registered from the control panel of the printer. Depending on the kind of model, the features of the Epson connect services may differ. You can check the regional Epson site for checking if Epson connect services are available for the printer. For using the Scan to Cloud services, one has to register the connections to Destination List that is on the User Page. In case, there are multiple registered printers; you need to choose the printer that has to be configured through the printer list. Epson connect services demands the user to get registered. Choose Destination List for the menu on the left side for scanning to the cloud. After this, tap on Add. If you get stuck anywhere, ask about Epson connect services from the official support. Choose the destination to which you desire to transfer the scanned material. On the selection of destination, all you need to do is to follow the on-screen instructions. If you are not able to create the destination list, contact the support services to know more about the Epson Connect Services. You are also recommended to check the past record of the source you select to avail support from beforehand. Someone who has previously used the service can give you an idea about their effectiveness. To know more about the technical assistance of the company, call the Epson tech support number. In case of on-call technicians, you can easily see the online reviews by the former customers that can be a big help. Whatever the technical issue, both independent service provider and Epson tech support number are highly capable of offering suitable assistance to the customers. The main benefit of using the independent service providers is that the customers can easily compare prices of more than one provider before zeroing in on a single service provider, you can also ask for the charges of the official support through the Epson tech support number. In this way, you can decide if getting assistance from the third-party service providers is more economical than getting support from the Epson tech support number. Epson has been on the market long enough to become the leading brand in the multi-function device market across the world. This makes it important for the company to have robust technical support. For this purpose, it has made available Epson tech support number and ensures it offers effective customer service.

2019-04-24T02:32:22Z

https://www.callsupportnumber.com/epson-support/

Background Postoperative respiratory problems, especially apnea, is a common postoperative complication in ex-preterm neonates undergoing infraumbilical operations. So, most of these neonates require close postoperative monitoring for at least 12 h to avoid this hazard. Postoperative apnea is related more to the use of respiratory depressant drugs used during general anesthesia. Aim The aim was to evaluate safety and effectiveness of spinal anesthesia in ex-preterm infants undergoing infraumbilical operations and evaluate its role in elimination of routine postoperative hospital stay for apnea monitoring. Settings and design A prospective single-blinded randomized study was conducted. Materials and methods From March 2015 to March 2016, 105 ex-preterm neonates (gestational age <37 weeks), with postconceptual age at surgery less than 60 weeks, undergoing elective infraumbilical operations were studied prospectively. Patients were divided randomly into three groups (35 patients each). Group I received spinal anesthesia without sedation (only sugared pacifier), group II received spinal anesthesia with sedation in the form of ketamine/midazolam, and group III received general anesthesia with caudal analgesia. Postoperative apnea, bradycardia, and oxygen saturation were observed and compared for 12 h after operation. The primary outcome measures were postoperative apnea, postoperative bradycardia, and SpO2. The secondary outcome measures were postoperative complications (e.g. hypotension) and the need for postoperative respiratory support. Results No patients in group I developed any attacks of postoperative apnea, postoperative bradycardia, or hypoxia. On the contrary, 11 patients in group II and 16 patients in group III developed attacks of postoperative apnea and hypoxia and required postoperative respiratory support. Conclusion Spinal anesthesia without sedation is safe and effective for infraumbilical operations in ex-preterm neonates with short hospitalization. Apnea of prematurity is a very common neonatal hazard, accounting for 25% of preterm and ex-preterm infants following recovery from general anesthesia. The distributions of postoperative apnea are either central (70%), obstructive (10%), or mixed (20%) . High-risk infants for postoperative apnea are those who are born prematurely (<37 weeks), infants with multiple congenital anomalies, infants with a previous history of postoperative apnea and bradycardia, and those with chronic lung disease. Apneic spell is defined as a pause in breathing of more than 20 s or one of less than 20 s associated with bradycardia and/or cyanosis . The incidence of apnea is related to the gestational as well as postconceptual age (PCA). An infant born at a lower gestational age is more likely to have apnea than one with same PCA but born later. This risk reduces with increase in duration of PCA up to 60 weeks PCA . Apnea in premature infants is exacerbated by hypoxia, sepsis, intracranial hemorrhage, metabolic abnormalities, hypo/hyperthermia, upper airway obstruction, heart failure, anemia (hematocrit <30%), vasovagal reflexes, and drugs (including prostaglandins and anesthetic agents) . Decreased ventilatory control and decreased response to hypoxia and hypercarbia may be increased by anesthetic agents. The highest incidence of significant apnea and bradycardia is in the first 4–6 h postoperatively, but it was reported to be up to 12 h after surgery. High-risk infants for development of postoperative apnea may benefit from a regional anesthetic as opposed to a general anesthetic . Therefore, these infants require postoperative monitoring in high dependency unit for at least 12 h and should not be anesthetized as outpatients even if regional anesthesia has been administered. In fact, some authors suggest that wherever possible, anesthesia should be delayed until the ex-premature infant is older than 52 weeks PCA . Our study was carried out in the Pediatric Surgery Department of Ain Shams University educational hospital in the period from March 2015 to March 2016. After approval of local ethical committee, 105 pediatric patients of both sexes, American Society of Anesthesiology I and II physical status, were included in our study. The age group included formerly preterm neonates with postconceptual age less than 60 weeks, undergoing elective infraumbilical surgery. Detailed informed patient consents were taken from parents. Preanesthetic evaluation was done to all pediatric patients included in the study. Patients were excluded if they have known allergy to local anesthetics, coagulopathy, pre-existing cardiac, metabolic or neuromuscular diseases, uncontrolled convulsions, local infection at puncture site, or parent refusal. Patients were randomly allocated by sealed envelopes using computer-generated table into three groups (35 patients each). In all groups, no premedications were given. Intravenous cannula was inserted and secured. No fluid preloading was given. Group I (35 patients) included patients who received spinal anesthesia without sedation (only sugared pacifier was used). Group II (35 patients) included patients who received spinal anesthesia with sedation in the form of intravenous ketamine (1 mg/kg) plus intravenous midazolam 50 µg/kg. Sedation in group II was given after performing the subarachnoid block. Under aseptic condition, spinal anesthesia was performed through midline approach while the patient is in the sitting position and supported by an assistant. After local skin infiltration with 1% lidocaine, lumbar puncture was done in L4/L5 interspace using 25-G 25-mm pencil-point spinal needle. Hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% (0.5 mg/kg) was injected in the subarachnoid space after getting free flow of cerebrospinal fluid. Drug injection was done using 1-ml syringe, which was prepared and the correct dose was calculated before dural puncture. After injection, the infant was placed in the supine position. Successful spinal block was proved by sudden and complete loss of leg movement with normal tone in both arms indicating that sensory level was below C8. In groups I and II, oxygen was given through nasal cannula at a rate of 3 l/min. Neonates with failed spinal anesthesia were anesthetized with general endotracheal anesthesia and excluded from the study. Group III (35 patients) included patients who received general anesthesia with 2 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) sevoflurane in 100% oxygen and muscle relaxation with atracurium (induction dose 0.5 mg/kg and maintenance dose 0.1 mg/kg). After insertion of a correctly sized endotracheal tube, caudal analgesia was done using 0.25% bupivacaine 0.5 ml/kg. Neuromuscular block was antagonized at the end of surgery with atropine and neostigmine under guidance of neuromuscular monitoring. Routine intraoperative monitoring was applied to all patients [i.e. ECG, pulse oximetry, noninvasive blood pressure (BP), and temperature monitoring]. Warming blankets were used to minimize heat loss in all infants. Intraoperative sedation level in groups I and II was assessed, every 5 min till end of surgery, using sedation/agitation scale (SAS) ([Table 1]) . During the operation, the infant in group I was comforted by the anesthesiologist to prevent excessive upper limb movement, with the help of a sugared pacifier. On completion of operations, and after fulfilling criteria of recovery from general anesthesia in group III, all patients were transferred to intermediate care unit, warming blankets was used, and nasal oxygen was applied at a rate of 3 l/min. Continuous monitoring were done for 12 h postoperatively. Monitoring was done by bedside monitor which measures SpO2. Respiratory rate and heart rate (HR) were measured through ECG leads connected to patients’ chest. The monitor alarm was adjusted to sound when respiration ceases for more than 20 s (i.e. apnea) or if the HR decreases less than 100 beats/min (i.e. bradycardia) for more than 20 s or SpO2 decreases to less than 90%. Noninvasive BP was monitored, and evidence of hypotension (i.e. >20% decrease in systolic BP from baseline) was treated with 10 ml/kg intravenous crystalloid. These data (i.e. HR, respiratory rate, SpO2, and mean BP) were recorded every hour up to 12 h postoperatively. The number and timing of apnea, bradycardia, and hypotensive attacks were recorded and compared in the three groups. The observer who monitored the patients was blind to the type of anesthetic technique and group allocation. Infants developing attacks of apnea or bradycardia in the postoperative period were managed with tactile stimulation; if there was no response, bag and O2 mask ventilation together with airway positioning and suctioning were done. Persistent bradycardia despite previous measures was treated with intravenous atropine 0.01 mg/kg. Infants who developed apnea attack were kept on O2 therapy in the intermediate care unit for further 12 h. The primary outcome measures were postoperative apnea, postoperative bradycardia, and postoperative SpO2. The secondary outcome measures were postoperative complications (e.g. hypotension), the need for postoperative respiratory support, and SAS score. A sample size of 98 achieves 80% power to detect a 15% difference in incidence between the three groups with an effect size (W) of 0.3500. χ2-Test with a significance level (α) of 0.05 was used. A total of 35 patients per group were included to replace any dropouts. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17 for Windows (SPSS; SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA). Analysis of variance was used to compare the three groups for quantitative parametric data with post-hoc Tukey’s test performed if there was a significant difference among the groups. χ2-Test was used for comparison of qualitative data. Continuous parametric data were presented as mean±SD, categorical data were presented as number and percentage of patients, and nonparametric data were compared using Mann–Whitney test and were expressed as median (interquartile range). P values of less than 0.05 were considered significant. A total of 105 patients were enrolled in our study. There was no statistically significant difference among the three groups regarding demographic data, duration of anesthesia, and duration of surgery (P>0.05) ([Table 2]). [Table 3] shows a comparison among the three groups regarding postoperative apnea, postoperative bradycardia, oxygen saturation, respiratory support, and hypotension. Regarding apneic spells, we noticed that no patients in group I had experienced postoperative apneic spills. On the contrary, 11 (31.4%) patients in group II and 16 (45.7%) patients in group III had experienced postoperative apnea (P<0.001). Postoperative apnea time was 3.49±1.56 and 3.97±1.68 h in group II and III, respectively. In group II, eight patients developed one attack of apnea, two patients developed two attacks, and one patient developed three attacks. In group III, 10 patients developed one attack of apnea, four patients developed two attacks, and two patients developed three attacks ([Table 4]). The same finding was noticed for postoperative bradycardia; no patients in group I had experienced postoperative bradycardia. On the contrary, 11 (31.4%) patients in group II and 16 (45.7%) patients in group III had experienced postoperative bradycardia (P<0.001). Mean intraoperative and postoperative oxygen saturation was always high in group I as compared with the other two groups. No patients in group I needed respiratory support. On the contrary, 11 patients in group II and 16 patients in group III needed respiratory support. Respiratory support ranged from tactile stimulation to bag and mask ventilation. None of these apneic episodes required intubation and ventilation. Two patients in group I, two patients in group II, and three patients in group III experienced hypotension, and the difference was nonsignificant (P>0.05) ([Table 3]). No significant difference was observed among the three group regarding mean intraoperative and postoperative temperature (P=0.52). Intraoperative sedation levels were compared between group I and group II according to SAS. Patients in group II were at deeper sedation level than patients in group I throughout the operation. At 5 min after spinal anesthesia, SAS was 5 (4–5) in group I compared with 1 (1–1) in group II. At 30 min after spinal anesthesia, SAS was 4 (3–4) in group I compared with 2 (2–3) in group II (P<0.001) ([Table 5]). Neonatal spinal anesthesia, especially in ex-premature neonates, is gaining popularity and become a common practice in some pediatric surgery departments. The advantages are the avoidance of respiratory depressant drugs used during general anesthesia and eliminating the need for postoperative respiratory support. In our study, we examined the effect of spinal anesthesia alone without any sedation on the incidence of postoperative apnea. Only sugared pacifier was used to sedate the infants. We detected that no patients in this group experienced any attacks of postoperative apnea or bradycardia, and no one needed any postoperative respiratory support. On the contrary, patients who received spinal anesthesia with intravenous sedation (midazolam plus ketamine) and those who received general anesthesia experienced attacks of postoperative apnea and bradycardia (11 patients in group II and 16 patients in group III). Multiple previous studies have demonstrated that preterm infants have a higher incidence of respiratory problems than full-term infants. The risk of apnea in preterm infants undergoing inguinal herniorrhaphy increased to 37% following general anesthesia compared with 89% rate for spinal anesthesia with ketamine sedation and 0% apnea rate with spinal anesthesia alone . Many factors are implicated in the development of apneic spell in ex-preterm neonates. These factors include diaphragmatic fatigue, diminished central respiratory drive, hypothermia, anemia, airway obstruction, residual effect of inhaled anesthetic, and muscle relaxant ,. A study done by Wellborn et al. compared spinal and general anesthesia in former premature infants. The study showed that spinal anesthesia without ketamine sedation was not accompanied with postoperative apnea, whereas neonates receiving general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia with intramuscular ketamine sedation (1–2 mg/kg before placement of the spinal anesthetic) developed 31 and 89% postoperative apnea, respectively . In infants, metabolic rate of midazolam is lower than in adults. Midazolam elimination is approximately 4–6 h in neonates and up to 22 h in premature infants. Half-life of midazolam is 3.3-fold longer and clearance is 3.7-fold smaller than in adults . A study done by Frumiento et al. in 2000 concluded that awake spinal anesthesia, without sedation, reduced the incidence of postoperative apnea and need for respiratory support. It has been documented in the literature that subarachnoid anesthesia itself has a sedating effect. A study done by Hermanns et al. evaluated sedation during spinal anesthesia in infants. One of the possible mechanisms for sedation is decreased afferent conduction to the reticulothalamocortical pathways and hence reduced excitability and arousal to the brain . In a small randomized trial, Williams et al. compared spinal anesthesia and general anesthesia with sevoflurane on postoperative recovery after inguinal herniotomy in ex-premature infants. They concluded that apnea and bradycardia occurred three times more frequent in the sevoflurane group . A limitation to our study was that we did not include the preoperative hematocrit level as a risk factor for development of postoperative apnea. Anemia (i.e. hematocrit <30%) seemed as an important risk factor predisposing to postoperative apnea. Another limiting factor was the short duration of spinal anesthesia in neonates and thus not suitable for long-duration operations. Subarachnoid block without sedation (only sugared pacifier) is an excellent choice for ex-preterm neonates with PCA less than 60 weeks undergoing infraumbilical operations allowing calm patients without significant agitation. Kurth CD, LeBard SE. Association of postoperative apnoea, airway obstruction, and hypoxemia in former premature infants. Anaesthesiology 1991; 75:22–26. Bayley G. Special considerations in the premature and ex-premature infant. Anesth Int Care 2010; 12:91–94. Henderson-Smart DJ. The effect of gestational age on the incidence and duration of recurrent apnoea in new-born babies. Aust Paediatr J 1981; 17:273–276. Pillekamp F, Hermann C, Keller T, von Gontard A, Kribs A, Roth B. Factors influencing apnoea and bradycardia of prematurity − implications for neurodevelopment. Neonatology 2007; 91:155–161. Cote CJ, Zaslavsky A, Downes JJ, Kurth CD, Welborn LG, Warner LO et al. Postoperative apnoea in former preterm infants after inguinal herniorrhaphy. A combined analysis. Anaesthesiology 1995; 82:809–822. Steer PA, Henderson-Smart DJ. Caffeine versus theophylline for apnoea in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2010; 1:CD000273. Welborn LG, Rice LJ, Hannallah RS, Broadman LM, Ruttimann UE, Fink R. Postoperative apnea in former preterm infants: prospective comparison of spinal and general anaesthesia. Anaesthesiology 1990; 72:838–842. Silins V, Julien F, Brasher C, Nivoche Y, Mantz J, Dahmani S. Predictive factors of PACU stay after herniorraphy in infant: a classification and regression tree analysis. Paediatr Anaesth 2012; 22:230–238. Sale SM, Read JA, Stoddart PA, Wolf AR. Prospective comparison of sevoflurane and desflurane in formerly premature infants undergoing inguinal herniotomy. Br J Anaesth 2006; 96:774–778. Welborn LG, Rice LJ, Hannallah RS, Brodman LM, Ruttimann UE, Fink R. Postoperative apnoea in former premature infants: prospective comparison of spinal and general anaesthesia. Anaesthesiology 1990; 72:838–842. Young TE, Neofax MB. A manual of drugs used in neonatal care. 23rd ed. Montvale, NJ, USA: Thomson Reuters; 2010. Frumiento C, Abajian JC, Vane DW. Spinal anaesthesia for preterm infants undergoing inguinal hernia repair. Arch Surg 2000; 135:445–451. Hermanns H, Stevens MF, Werdehausen R, Braun S, Lipfert P, Jetzek-Zader M. Sedation during spinal anaesthesia in infants. Br J Anaesth 2006; 97:380–384. Williams JM, Stoddart PA, Williams SA, Wolf AR. Post-operative recovery after inguinal herniotomy in ex-premature infants: comparison between sevoflurane and spinal anaesthetic. Br J Anaesth 2001; 86:366–371.

2019-04-18T23:21:35Z

http://asja.eg.net/article.asp?issn=1687-7934;year=2017;volume=10;issue=1;spage=237;epage=241;aulast=Hussein;type=3

In recent years, many states have adopted rules and regulations for distance education programs and courses offered by out-of-state institutions. TN eCampus provides access to high-quality, student-centered distance education through a partnership of Tennessee universities, community colleges and colleges of applied technology. Through this partnership, TN eCampus supports the efforts of our partner institutions to comply with the rules and regulations of each state. The National Council-State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (NC-SARA) is an agreement among member states that “established comparable national standards for interstate offering of postsecondary distance education courses and programs.” Refer to the link at: http://nc-sara.org/state-actions/state-actions-regarding-sara to verify State Actions Regarding SARA. SARA pertains to educational programs and courses only and does not have any effect on state professional licensing requirements. Note: Effective June 2015, the state of Tennessee was approved by the Southern Regional Education (SREB) to join the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). Programs delivered through TN eCampus that require clinicals, internships, field experiences, etc. and lead to professional licensure must also abide by state and board regulations in the state where the student resides. Students who wish to complete any experience in a state other than Tennessee, may need to take additional steps to comply with the requirements of that state before starting a program through the TN eCampus consortium. We strongly advise ALL current and prospective students to become familiar with their state’s regulations and professional licensing requirements by seeking information, and/or approval with their state boards where they reside or have plans to reside as a practitioner. Students may be allowed to participate in clinical experiences if their professional licensing boards (Nursing, Teaching and Psychology) do not regulate out-of-state programs. However, additional requirements may apply to students who will become practitioners in their state upon program completion. Links to state agencies and professional licensure boards can be found under Authorization Disclosures by State. States that have joined SARA are shown on the map below and appear in dark blue. News and updates regarding SARA can be found here. Note: applies to the MSN and Post Master's Certificate programs and courses offered through TN eCampus only. *Information is subject to change. Questions about requirements should be addressed to the relevant state board of nursing for guidance. Students are allowed to complete clinical course work towards their nurse practitioner certificate in Alaska. The student must apply for a preceptorship permit under regulation 12 AAC 44.460. The permit requires documentation of a preceptorship arrangement signed by the student and the preceptor and/or organization providing the clinical site. Transcripts must be submitted indicating completion of basic courses in preparation for clinical practice. to fulfill the requirements for reinstatement of a lapsed advanced nurse practitioner authorization under 12 AAC 44.475. (1) “accredited” means approved by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the Accrediting Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), or another national nursing accrediting organization at the time the applicant attended the program. The Arizona State Board of Nursing (Board) has jurisdiction over nursing programs that either lead to licensure as a registered/practical nurse or lead to certification in advanced practice nursing. The Board does not have jurisdiction over RN to BSN programs, generic master’s programs not leading to advanced practice certification and generic doctoral programs not leading to advanced practice certification. The Board also has jurisdiction over refresher programs. Generally pre-licensure programs must be approved by the Arizona Board to offer clinical sessions in Arizona; advanced practice programs must be approved by the nursing regulatory body in the state of origin and students and faculty participating in clinical training in Arizona must be licensed or privileged to practice registered nursing in Arizona. On September 22, 2011 the Board adopted a motion to allow nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist students to engage in clinical education in Arizona under ARS 32-1631 if the program they are attending is approved for the purpose of certification or licensure of program graduates in the jurisdiction of the program and the student meets all other requirements. According to Arizona statutes, advanced practice (RNP, CNS, CNM and CRNA) students may participate in clinical learning in Arizona as long as they have a valid Arizona RN license or multi-state privilege and their program is approved by the nursing regulatory body in the state of origin. Faculty teaching from remote locations to students in AZ must also have a multi-state or AZ license unless exempt as specified below. On September 22, 2011, the Board voted to allow nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist students to engage in clinical education in Arizona under ARS 32-1631 if the program they are attending is approved for the purpose of certification or licensure of program graduates in the jurisdiction of the program and the student meets all other requirements. Please note that teaching is considered the practice of nursing in Arizona and any faculty member teaching nursing courses to students in Arizona, whether online or on-ground, must hold an Arizona license or multi-state compact license unless exempt under A.R.S. § 32-1631 (8). The Arkansas Board of Nursing has the statutory authority to require licensure for faculty teaching online didactic programs to Arkansas nurses. At this time, the Arkansas Board of Nursing is not enforcing licensure for faculty teaching the didactic portion of an online program, but it is subject to change. The Arkansas Board of Nursing does approve online programs, but institutions need to either be a SARA school or certified by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. California is not a SARA approved state. The State Board of Nursing in Colorado does not have jurisdiction over post licensure nursing education programs. The State of Colorado does have a Workers Compensation requirement for students engaged in clinical practicum experiences. The educational institution is expected to work the coverage out with the clinical institution. The Office of Higher Education does not approve/regulate clinical placements, externships or internships. The Georgia Board of Nursing does not approve post licensure programs. Post licensure programs must be accredited by a national nursing accrediting body. All students in Georgia enrolled in a post licensure program must be duly licensed by the Georgia Board of Nursing. Additionally, any faculty or preceptors teaching or working in Georgia must be duly licensed by the Georgia Board of Nursing. Additional approvals for some licensed occupations’ field experiences may be necessary. The State of Illinois Department of Professional Regulation does not regulate or give approval for these types of programs. See Illinois Center for Nursing website for more information on post-licensure programs. The Indiana State Board of Nursing has no jurisdiction over post licensure nursing education programs. If the distance learning student intends to engage in a clinical experience in Indiana, the student must have a free and unencumbered Indiana nursing license. In addition, all faculty or preceptors engaged in a learning activity, who are physically present in the state of Indiana, must meet the same requirements. The Board of Nursing reviews the curriculum of each program to determine if it requires a minimum of 3 semester credit hours each of Advanced Pharmacology, Advanced Health Assessment, and Advanced Pathophysiology; a minimum of 500 clinical hours, and accreditation by a national nurse credentialing commission. For clinical experiences in Kansas, the mentor/preceptor should be given an orientation program and enter into an agreement to participate as a mentor. They should also be licensed as a Kansas advanced practice nurse in the role that your student is studying. The regulation regarding this is located online at ksbn.org, link to the Nurse Practice Act, at KAR 60-17-104. Faculty do not need to be Kansas licensed if they are teaching online programs that Kansas students are taking. If the faculty who are involved in evaluation and advisement of NP students are advising them as to their conduct and performance of school requirements, that is fine. However, they would not be able to advise about practicing as a nurse in Kansas, unless they were licensed in Kansas. The status of students while in Kansas clinical settings would be that of (Kansas) licensed RNs, acting as students of Advanced Practice Nursing, under the umbrella of KSA 65-1124. They would be responsible to their mentor/preceptor for supervision and delegation as well as that of the Kansas nurse who was actually caring for the patient. Clinical supervision of students or preceptors would require a Kansas license. There is no Kansas requirement for the school faculty to visit the student during a clinical, however if they did they would be in the status of visitor as would any lay person. The nurse student and preceptor would, of course, need the permission and cooperation of the particular facility they are in for the student and preceptor to conduct the training. The facility should meet the requirement of clinical resources in KAR 60-17-106, available online at ksbn.org, click on the Nurse Practice Act. Nursing faculty who oversee students in the clinical setting/serve as preceptors in Kentucky for an online MSN/DNP APRN program, must possess an unencumbered active Kentucky RN license. Nurse faculty who teach didactic information via distance or online and who do not physically practice within the state must hold an unencumbered active nursing license to practice as a registered nurse in the nurse faculty's primary state of residence. Clinical faculty members who do not reside in a compact state will need to possess unencumbered active RN & APRN Kentucky license(s). If the clinical faculty member resides in a compact state, the APRN clinical faculty member would require a KY APRN license to oversee students in Kentucky without seeking a separate Kentucky registered nurse license. Faculty members who are not participating in clinical activities are not required to possess a Kentucky nursing license, provided that the faculty member holds an unencumbered active nursing license in his/her home state/primary state of residence. See Using Kentucky Clinical Sites for additional information. The Kentucky Board of Nursing currently does not have any jurisdiction over out-of-state programs. As a result, a university is not required to submit any information to the Board (e.g., student rosters, faculty lists, field experience locations). Approval of programs is required for any clinical experiences in the state that lead to licensure as an RN or an APRN (initial and additional roles/populations). According to the rules and regulations, programs wishing to establish a program in Louisiana must show evidence of correspondence with approved Louisiana based programs secured for a 100 mile radius from the campus and programs desiring to offer clinical experiences must show evidence of correspondence with Louisiana Schools. Programs seeking to establish an undergraduate or graduate program must seek approval from the same level programs within 100 miles of the intended campus location. Out-of-state undergraduate and/or graduate programs desiring to be approved for distance education are required to contact ALL Louisiana based programs on the approval list. LSBN will provide you with a form for distribution to those Schools of Nursing that may be impacted by your program. Please gather those responses and submit with your proposal to the Louisiana State Board of Nursing. To obtain a copy of the form, please contact us and we will email you a copy. Once the proposal has been reviewed by the Director of Edu/Lic, it will be presented to the Board at one of its scheduled meeting. MOST IMPORTANTLY, you must have faculty that are licensed in the state of LOUISIANA. Before you submit your proposal, make sure that your faculty have Louisiana RN licensure or have been ENDORSED in LOUISIANA. You may access the information concerning endorsement on our website as well. Also, make sure that the faculty’s area of clinical specialization is equivalent to the concentration/specialty area that is offered by your institution. For each area of concentration, you will need a faculty member who is licensed in Louisiana with that area of specialization. Maine only approves pre-licensure programs for RNs and LPNs. Massachusetts is not a SARA approved state. The Michigan Board of Nursing does not regulate any advanced practice, post-RN licensure educational programs. In Minnesota, all postsecondary education programs (including online programs) must be registered with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. This is not a Board of Nursing requirement, but is related to other state statutes. The process for licensure by endorsement for a professional nursing license is straightforward; Forms and information about the licensure process can be found here. In May 2014, the legislature passed a new statute that included licensure for advanced practice registered nursing. Clinical faculty of record teaching Minnesota students in an advanced practice nursing program must obtain this license as well as a license to practice as a registered nurse in Minnesota. APRN licensure materials are available here. Per the Office of Higher Education, SARA state members and SARA institutions, can conduct distance education to serve Minnesota students. Effective January 1, 2015, no advanced practice nurse shall practice as an advanced practice registered nurse unless the advanced practice nurse is licensed by the board under this section. An applicant for a license to practice as an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) shall apply to the board in a format prescribed by the board and pay a fee in an amount determined under section 148.243. Must not have committed any acts or omissions which are grounds for disciplinary action in another jurisdiction or, if these acts have been committed and would be grounds for disciplinary action as set forth in section 148.261, the board has found, after investigation, that sufficient restitution has been made. Students attending an out-of-state university can be licensed in Mississippi as long as they are able to sit for their national certification boards. The Missouri State Board of Nursing does not have jurisdiction over graduate nursing programs. The student must have an RN license in Missouri or a multi-state license from another compact state. To be eligible for recognition as an APRN in Missouri, the APRN must complete a graduate degree from an accredited college or university with a concentration in an advanced practice nursing clinical specialty area, which includes advanced nursing theory and clinical nursing practice. From and after January 1, 2009, the program shall provide a minimum of five hundred (500) faculty supervised clinical hours. Any faculty working with the student, whether in Missouri or not, must be licensed in Missouri. Further clarification about faculty: Practice is where the patient/student is. Faculty, whether clinical or didactic, must be licensed in MO or hold a multi-state license from another compact state. If the faculty is reviewing/providing education that is specific to the care being provided to patients in Missouri, the faculty would need to be recognized as an APRN in Missouri. Compact State Requirements: Tennessee and Missouri are both Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) states. When moving from one compact state to another, a nurse can practice on the former residency license for up to 30 or 90 days (states are individually implementing the 90-day rule-- from NCSBN). Nurses are required to apply for licensure by endorsement. It is recommended that nurses apply 1-2 months in advance of practicing in a new state. The practicing nurse (faculty) would have to pay any applicable fees and complete a declaration of primary state of residency in Missouri (NCSBN, n.d.). The faculty will then be issued a new multi-state license and the former is inactivated (NCSBN, n.d.). The fee to apply for an APRN license in Missouri is $150. (State of Missouri advanced practice registered nurse application instructions, 2015). In order to offer online education in Nevada, your institution must possess a CPE license. You can check with your institution to see if you have one. As long as your nurses have a Nevada RN license and their preceptor has the proper licenses, the NSBN does not regulate post-licensure programs. We do not oversee graduate programs. You should, however, notify the board office if students are doing clinicals in the state. New Mexico Board of Nursing has jurisdiction on nursing practice and pre-licensure (RN and LPN) education programs, but does not have jurisdiction of post-licensure education programs. The New Mexico Department of Higher Education has jurisdiction for the licensing of all college and graduate programs that operate in New Mexico. If your school has a presence in New Mexico, the school must be licensed in New Mexico which by regulation, is defined as offering courses, programs or degrees on site or from a geographical site in New Mexico or maintaining an administrative, corporate or other address in the state.” [5.100.2.7.L] NMAC 1978 63-3-.9-I. Contact the New Mexico Department of Higher Education, if you are unclear about your school’s licensure status or have additional questions. If there is a clinical component to the program you plan to meet in North Carolina, the program needs to have approval. Students: See the following information on the North Carolina Board of Nursing website: What is NP Registration? and What is Initial Approval to Practice? If you meet these requirements, you are eligible to apply for NP registration and approval to practice as a NP in North Carolina. Institutions: Out-of-state programs are approved by the Board of Nursing in the state in which they reside. Please see 21 NCAC 36.0223 regarding the education program rules. Clinical Experiences: If there is a clinical component to the program that you plan to meet in North Carolina, the program must have approval from the University of North Carolina General Administration. Contact ncsaa@northcarolina.edu for more information on approved programs. This is a mandate from the United States Department of Education and is not associated with the North Carolina Board of Nursing. Programs that the North Carolina Board of Nursing does not have jurisdiction over include RN-BSN programs, masters and doctoral programs. Clinical site rotations beyond the pre-licensure level are within the purview of the academic institution. The North Dakota Board of Nursing (NDBON) does NOT have jurisdiction over programs that are post-licensure (ex. RNBSN). In the case of an APRN seeking a post-masters certificate, this would be considered post-licensure, and as such the NDBON has no jurisdiction over that program either. The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education requires that all degree-granting post-secondary institutions offering on-site or distance education to North Dakota students must seek authorization or exemption. Nursing programs fall under exemption, although there is still a fee associated with exemption. North Dakota is an approved SARA state. If a state has chosen to participate in the National Council SARA (State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements) there is no need to provide proof of State Board of Higher Education exemption. The Ohio Board of Nursing does not regulate post-licensure nursing education programs. A nurse practitioner student would be practicing under the "exemption from licensure" found in Ohio Revised Code 4723.32(F) (assuming the NP student meets all of the requirements stated there). With respect to Education programs, the Board enforces law and rules regulating pre-licensure education programs but does not regulate post-licensure programs such as MSN programs. If you have further questions after reviewing this response to: Education and Practice Unit, at: practice@nursing.ohio.gov - 4723.32 Exemptions. The student acts under the supervision of a registered nurse serving for the program as a faculty member or teaching assistant. The student acts under the supervision of a registered nurse serving for the program as a faculty member, teaching assistant, or preceptor. The Nurse Practice Act and the administrative rules adopted thereunder are available for review on the Board's website: www.nursing.ohio.gov in the "law and rule" section. The advanced practice registered nursing education program meets the requirements established by the Oklahoma Board of Nursing for education preparation of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses. Current requirements for educational preparation of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses include graduation from an advanced practice role and specialty recognized by the Oklahoma Board of Nursing. The list of APRN national certifications approved by the Board of Nursing may be accessed at http://nursing.ok.gov/prac-natlcert.pdf . Clinical preceptors will serve as a role model and educator to the student. Clinical preceptors may be used to enhance faculty-directed clinical learning experiences, but not to replace them. "Qualified preceptor" means an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse with a current unrestricted license who has a scope of practice which includes prescribing and has met the requirements for prescriptive authority; or a licensed practitioner of medicine or osteopathy with unrestricted prescriptive authority. The State Board of Nursing regulates pre-licensure and certified registered nurse practitioner programs located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Although the Board does not regulate nursing education programs located outside the Commonwealth or approve clinical preceptorships for students enrolled in these programs, the Board directs your attention to the attached information regarding faculty, students and clinical preceptors. Links to the RN Law and the Board’s regulations are available on the Board’s website at http://www.dos.pa.gov/nurse by clicking on “Board Laws and Regulations.” Questions regarding the application, interpretation or impact of these provisions, as well as any ancillary laws or regulations, should be directed to your entity’s legal counsel. Refer to the Nurse Practice Act Chapter 33 Section 40-33-30(A, B) Licensing Requirement for information. Resource information and a list of Nurse Licensure Compact states can be found at http://www.ncsbn.org/. Nurse Licensure Compact laws can be found in Article 15 of the SC Nurse Practice Act and in Regulations-Chapter 91 Article 1. Both of these documents can be found under Laws/Policies on the website. For further questions on APRN education, regulation, or licensure requirements, contact: Linda.young@state.sd.us or view the Frequently Asked Questions document. The Texas Board of Nursing does not have jurisdiction over graduate nursing programs or students. Students enrolled in out-of-state graduate nursing programs and carrying out clinical learning experiences in Texas would need to have a current, unencumbered license in Texas. Their preceptors also should possess a current Texas license. If any faculty from the program visit the state to supervise clinicals or evaluate students, they would also need to be licensed in Texas. Utah requires approval of all nursing education programs in which students complete a clinical component in Utah, regardless of student’s licensure status in Utah, and NOT exclusive to students with direct patient care. Has faculty who are employed by the nursing education program, who meet the requirements established by the accrediting body and by the Tennessee Board of Nursing to be a faculty member, who is licensed in Utah or a compact state if supervising face-to-face clinical or practica experiences, and are affiliated with an IHE. Submits an annual report to the Utah Board of Nursing by August 1 of each year including number of students placed in Utah facilities, an attestation that all face-to-face clinical faculty and preceptors used by the program are licensed in Utah or a compact state, and verification that the program is in good standing with its accrediting body. Virginia State Council of Higher Education (links to external website). View Virginia's Distance Education Policy here. To be eligible for licensure in Virginia as an advanced practice nurse, the person would need to have graduated from an approved masters program in whatever state they are in and pass the certification exam for their specialty area." The following TN eCampus partner institutions are approved within the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) to offer distance education programs and courses to students who reside in states that have joined SARA. Please note professional licensure board approval for programs leading to state licensing are NOT covered under SARA.

2019-04-23T16:45:12Z

https://tnecampus.org/state-authorization

advocates a meaningful opportunity to present our side of the issue. The campaign was led by the shared parenting organizations Fathers & Families and the American Coalition for Fathers & Children, and by newspaper columnist Glenn Sacks. "Two fathers' rights campaigners were arrested on Friday after scaling Westminster Abbey with a crucified dummy Jesus Christ, police said. Parental Alienation Awareness Day on April 25 raises awareness about Parental Alienation Syndrome, the psychological abuse children suffer when a parent attempts to turn his or her children against the parent after divorce or separation. "Whether one sympathizes with Dubay or not, his lawsuit illustrates the way the family law system addresses the needs and desires of women, while turning a cold shoulder to those of men. This system represents the most egregious violation of gender equity in our society today. "The plight of unwed fathers exemplifies the point. Dubay is vilified by both the pro-choice feminist left and the pro-life right as an irresponsible cad, deadbeat and whiner. Yet the millions of unmarried men who do try to be fathers to their children find that while they are frequently lectured to 'take responsibility,' they're often not permitted any meaningful role in their children's lives. These stand-up guys usually get to spend only a few days a month with their kids, if they're lucky. Once mom finds a new man, they're often pushed out entirely in favor of the child's 'new dad.' And fathers who look to the family law system for help quickly find that said system has no interest in their case beyond keeping the child support checks coming." I've written about anti-father bias of the family law system on numerous occasions. Some examples include: California NOW's Family Court Report 2002: Faulty Research, False Conclusions (Los Angeles Daily Journal, San Francisco Daily Journal, 7/11/02); my co-authored Have Anti-Father Family Court Policies Led to a Men's Marriage Strike? (Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/5/02); my co-authored California Supreme Court Takes Step Backward on Children's Rights (Daily Breeze [Los Angeles], 2/9/06); my co-authored PBS's Breaking the Silence: Family Law in the Funhouse Mirror (Albany Times Union, 10/20/05, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 10/24/05; and my co-authored Laws Must Protect the Rights of Military Dads (Army Times, Marine Corps Times, 3/28/05). Civil Rights Leaders or Reactionary Patriarchs?(6/5/05); First Wives vs. Second Wives (11/21/04); Not the Era of the Deadbeat Dad but the Era of the Hero Father (6/19/05); Support California Shared Parenting Bill AB 1307 (4/24/05); Michigan's Top Cop Tells Kids: Denounce Your Daddy (10/3/04); and Fathers Targeted by Cox Speak Out (10/17/04). As with the tree house of childhood, parents as well as children need a place of refuge and support to "see above" and to navigate what has been termed "high conflict" divorce. Tree House Solutions, LLC is a growing and evolving resource that is designed to meet both the emotional and the informational needs of parents who are going through divorce, as well as those who are divorced but still experience challenges in shared parenting with their former spouses. www.treehousesolutions.org. In response to over 7,000 calls and letters to the New York Assembly Committee on Children & Families in support of A330, the New York Shared Parenting Bill, the New York State Chapter of the National Organization for Women and Stop Family Violence have launched a counterattack. To see NOW's Call to Action, click here. To read the Stop Family Violence Call to Action, click here. In both cases, it's the usual feminist hysterics about savage males and innocent, saintly, victimized females. As during our Campaign Against PBS's Father-Bashing Breaking the Silence, NOW is not able to match our numbers. However, their counterattack is still problematic. This is because the Assembly committee members began blocking emails from our supporters after last week's wave, and we stopped faxing the committee members two weeks ago at their request. I don't blame them--staffers told our activists that the deluge prevented them from being able to get any work done. However, the result is that at this point the committee members are pretty much just hearing from feminist opponents of A330, even though we have far more supporters. As a remedy, I suggest you call the committee members yourselves and send them faxes and emails independently. These aren't blocked and will get through. To call, fax, and email the committee members, click here. A330, the New York Shared Parenting Bill, is sponsored by the Coalition of Fathers and Families New York, the New York affiliate of the American Coalition for Fathers & Children. To learn more about the bill, see my co-authored column Shared Parenting Bill Would Help New York's Children of Divorce (Albany Times Union, 3/28/06) and NOW president Marcia Pappas' Joint custody bill not in child's interest. Again, to contact the committee members, click here. The Albany Times Union has long been seen by shared parenting advocates as a pro-feminist/anti-male obstacle. However, as I've pointed out, both during the PBS campaign and the A330 campaign the Times Union has made a legitimate and admirable effort to be fair and to give both sides a hearing. Nonetheless I was more than a little surprised to find this morning that the Albany Times Union is now endorsing Shared Parenting and A330. In the editorial Custody challenges: It's time New York embraced the concept of shared parenting the paper's editorial board writes that A330's presumption for shared parenting is "the right presumption--and an overdue one." The editorial has its weaknesses, but it represents a significant step forward for our movement in New York, a key battleground state. I've written many times about feminists' desire to give divorcing mothers a veto over fathers' fatherhood and over children's right to a relationship with their fathers. In Stop Family Violence's Call to Action here they write "fathers' rights proponents will also tell you that what's best for children of divorce is that courts protect the loving bonds with the two most important people in children's lives--the child's mother and father. That's true, but only if the parents get along and choose joint custody." In other words, the bonds matter, unless mom's mad at dad, in which case they can be quickly tossed aside. "To learn more about the bill, see the Albany Times Union's debate on it--Supporting the child by order of the court (in favor) and Joint custody bill not in child's interest (opposed)." In fact, some members of the Coalition of Fathers and Families New York have copied and distributed both our column and Pappas' column to members of the New York Assembly. I have a couple of responses to the criticism over this. One is to echo something very wise which Ned Holstein of Fathers and Families emphasized during our Campaign Against PBS's Father-Bashing Breaking the Silence --"have faith in the truth." In other words, don't be afraid to let the other side be heard--have faith that the truth in what you're saying will be understood. I frankly have a hard time believing that many people, reading our column and Pappas' column together, would side with Pappas. Moreover, my critics misunderstand what constitutes political power. I discussed this issue on His Side with Glenn Sacks in response to criticisms of my cordial demeanor with Martha Burk, Gloria Allred, Michael Kimmel, Amanda Marcotte and other opposition guests on the show. To listen to my response, click here. If you're looking for a paternity test, Paternity Fraud crusader Carnell Smith's 4TRUTH IDENTITY offers guaranteed, 100% accurate identification services in virtually every US state and in several countries. Call (404) 289-3321or click here. Stephen Baskerville, president of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children, skewers family court "privacy" in his new piece Banned Near Boston: More chicanery from the underworld of family law. The article deals with the case of Kevin Thompson, a Massachusetts father who "received an order prohibiting distribution of his book, Exposing the Corruption in the Massachusetts Family Courts. The court also impounded the records of Thompson's custody case, reinforcing the secrecy in which family courts like to operate." "The standard justification for secret courts is the one Judge Manzi now extends to censorship: 'privacy interests of the parties' minor child.' Thompson's son has already been forcibly separated from his father, and his life is now under the total control of state officials. What 'privacy' does this child have left? Baskerville also notes that the "true reason for the secrecy and censorship is not to protect privacy but to invade it with impunity." This doesn't have much to do with the usual issues I discuss but it struck me as being worthy of mention. As many of you know, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, headed by Reverend Fred Phelps, protests at the funerals of dead American soldiers, saying the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq are God's vengeance for protecting a country (the U.S.) that tolerates homosexuality. They carry signs that read, for example, "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for IED's" in reference to the improvised explosive devices used by terrorists in Iraq. When I first heard of it, I thought that Phelps and crew were only protesting at the funerals of gay soldiers who had been mortally wounded. This would have been appalling enough, but what I hadn't realized was that they were protesting at the funerals of all soldiers. I was contacted by a woman named Nancy Totman, a military and legislative advocate for the Blue Star Moms of California. Her group and others are working in favor of a bill which would ban demonstrations or protests within 300 feet of funerals. California Assemblyman Rick Keene (3rd district) has introduced AB 2707 in California (sponsored by the Blue Star Moms) which addresses the disruption of the funerals of soldiers who have died while serving. If you're interested in supporting this legislation, write a letter of support to Assemblymember Rick Keene at assemblymember.Keene@assembly.ca.gov. ""[My father] is very selfless," Nick said. '[He] refused to quit because the job put food on the table... He gave his life in there so I could go to the movies.'" The idea that these lunatics had free reign to disrupt the funerals of men like Helms is an outrage. "Every now and then, Western history belches out some group of men who protest their miserably high status in life, claiming that society is treating them unfairly. "I'm almost embarrassed for them. It's as if Halliburton, having been granted contracts in the billions of dollars to do work in Iraq and New Orleans, would feel slighted if it lost the job to work on the asbestos problem in my neighbor's guesthouse. "'Men die about eight years earlier than women.'" "Though no supporting facts are given, it sounds about right to me. To maintain good health, doctors recommend a low-fat diet and exercise. Consuming cheese doodles and beer and lolling on the couch does not make for longevity. Darn the luck, if only men liked housework. By getting off that sofa and washing a floor, scrubbing a toilet, raising a kid, they, too, might live longer. "'In almost every category of disease, men suffer more often than women.'" "Again, no scientific data is offered. If males do indeed have special powers in math and science--as Mansfield's pal and ex-boss, deposed Harvard President Lawrence Summers, has been known to claim--might we have some evidence to support such an assertion? Facts, fellas, facts. "The NCM--or, as I call it, the "National Center for Milquetoasts"--has recently filed a lawsuit in a U.S. district court in Michigan on behalf of Matt Dubay, a 25-year-old computer programmer who disputes having to pay child support for his 7-month-old daughter. Officially trademarked as 'Roe v. Wade for Men,' the group argues that since the mother claimed to be both infertile and on birth control, the resulting pregnancy was not Dubay's fault and he should not be held monetarily accountable. "Note to men: If the woman you're dating says she's both infertile and taking birth control, perhaps wearing a condom is a good idea until you can determine whether she's Ms. Right or Ms. Taken. "As to family issues, yes, sometimes a woman may unjustly take a man for a ride. However, there are legitimate avenues for men to pursue--state registries, nonprofit educational groups, state representatives, family law attorneys--if they feel they are being deprived of their parental rights. But just how 'manly' is it to want to be free and clear of all paternal obligations?" "The disturbing health and mortality disparities between American whites and blacks are well known, but most people do not realize that the health and mortality disparities between women and men are just as great. For example, the gap in life expectancy between whites and blacks is six years, while the gender gap is 5.7 years. Adjusted for age, men are 1.6 times as likely as women to die from one of the top 10 causes of death, and blacks are 1.5 times as likely to die from them as whites. "Despite this, it is women's health, not men's, which continues to receive government attention and funding. For example, the National Institutes of Health--the federal focal point for medical research in the U.S.--spends nearly four times as much on female-specific health research as on male-specific research. And though the average man is as likely to die from prostate cancer as the average woman is from breast cancer, the Department of Health and Human Services' National Cancer Institute spends three and a half times as much money on breast cancer research as on prostate cancer research. "In fact, prostate cancer makes up 37% of all cancer cases but receives only 5% of federal research funding." "When both work outside the home and inside the home are properly considered, it is clear that men do at least as much as women. A 2002 University of Michigan Institute for Social Research survey found that women do 11 more hours of housework a week than men but men work 14 hours a week more than women. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, men's total time at leisure, sleeping, doing personal care activities, or socializing is a statistically meaningless 1% higher than women's. The Families and Work Institute in New York City found that fathers now provide three-fourths as much child care as mothers do--50% more than 30 years ago. "Yet even these studies understate men's contributions because they only count the hours devoted to a task without measuring the physical strain and/or danger associated with the task. A man doing eight hours of dangerous construction work in the 100-degree heat is credited with no more 'work' than a woman who works in an air-conditioned office or who does childcare or housework in the comfort and safety of her own home [and without a supervisor breathing down her neck]." "One and a half million American women legally walk away from motherhood every year by adoption, abortion or abandonment, yet somehow nobody labels them 'deadbeats' or 'deserters.' In over 40 states a mother can return the baby to the hospital within a few weeks of birth--completely opting out of motherhood with less hassle than it takes to return a DVD to Best Buy. Yet if the mother decides she wants to keep the child, she can demand 18 [or in some states 21 or 23] years of child support from the father, and he has no choice in the matter." Perhaps the most ludicrous part of the article is Gadette's analogy between men's privilege over women and Halliburton's advantage over a small time asbestos remover. When I first began writing columns on men's and fathers issues, I wrote the below. It still seems accurate today. "Some men are privileged and some women are privileged. Most are not. When we say 'privileged' we are only looking up, at the leaders of our society, who are mostly male. "If we look down, at the bottom of our society, we'll see that most of the people down there are male, too: the homeless, the imprisoned, the suicide victims, those who die young, the school dropouts, etc. While many of American women's issues and concerns are certainly still unresolved, women's issues have received enormous publicity and attention. It's men's issues that have received little publicity, and that's why I write about them." This doesn't even account for the most hideous disparity between men and women--their treatment in family court. However one feels about the immigration issue, I think we can all acknowledge that most immigrants come here for understandable reasons and make many sacrifices. My friend Al Rantel is a staunch supporter of restrictions on illegal immigration, but often tells his KABC listeners that if he lived in Mexico or Central America and had the chance to come to the United States, he would do so in a heartbeat. It was nice to see this cartoon reflect the special sacrifices that many immigrant men make to provide for their families. It reminded me of the sacrifices made by so many of the Latino immigrant men I've known either through teaching English and Citizenship classes in South-Central Los Angeles or doing construction work. Doing the work the hueros wouldn't do." [Note: a "huero" is a white American]. "These women all on the prowl, if you hold the head steady I'm a milk the cow/Forget about the game, I'm a spit the truth, I won't stop till I get 'em in they birthday suits/So gimmie the rhythm and it'll be off with their clothes, then bend over to the front and touch your toes/I left the Jag and I took the Rolls, if they ain't cutting then I put em on foot patrol."

2019-04-23T18:39:12Z

http://fathersunite.org/Newsletters/Glenn_Sacks_4-16-06.html

In this memorandum, we: (1) highlight the profound impact President Obama’s leadership has had in “reaffirming and strengthening America’s role as the world’s engine of scientific discovery and technological innovation,” as he set out to do at the start of his Administration; (2) offer an overview of frontiers that the American S&T enterprise will advance in the coming decades; and (3) call for actions needed in the years ahead to include all Americans in driving continued innovation and progress across those frontiers. OSTP continues to be optimistic about America's ongoing leadership in science and technology because of two exceptional characteristics of Americans. Americans continue to lead the world in our curiosity and desire to understand the world around us, which helps us innovate and improve the world around us. And, Americans are exceptionally diverse and can bring a wide range of experiences and backgrounds to solving the hardest problems. Our country’s diversity continues to be the greatest source of its strength. President Obama has repeatedly shown his commitment to inclusion, noting that, “research has shown that diverse groups are more effective at problem solving than homogeneous groups. Policies that promote diversity and inclusion will enhance our ability to draw from the broadest possible pool of talent, solve our toughest challenges, maximize employee engagement and innovation, and lead by example by setting a high standard for providing access to opportunity to all segments of our society.” Taking on the S&T frontiers that we describe in this memorandum requires including all Americans in leading innovation across industry, academia, and government. On January 20, 2009, President Obama issued a simple and powerful pledge: to restore science to its rightful place. Coming into office, the President was committed to reinvigorating the American scientific enterprise through a strong commitment to basic and applied research, innovation, and education; to ensuring integrity in science policy; and most importantly, to making decisions on the basis of evidence, rather than ideology. In a speech at the National Academy of Sciences in April 2009, the President called for expanded investments in research and development (R&D) and a renewed focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. He noted that science, technology, and innovation are essential to sustaining economic growth, enabling Americans to lead longer and healthier lives, limiting the harm from climate change, and providing U.S. armed forces and homeland defenders with the tools they need to succeed in every contingency. Increased science, technology, and innovation talent in the Executive Branch by creating and empowering new technology leadership positions at the White House and in Federal agencies; reinvigorating the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST); and recruiting, retaining, and empowering people with information, digital, collaboration, communication, data, and related technical backgrounds to improve government services and inject modern technology expertise into public policymaking. Strengthened scientific integrity by issuing and implementing a policy to ensure the public is able to “trust the science and scientific process informing public-policy decisions,” by recruiting and retaining the highest-caliber scientists, by ensuring policy decisions are based on sound science, and by putting in place strong whistleblower protections. Enacted a historic increase in research and development—with $18.3 billion in R&D funding, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of February 2009 was part of the largest annual increase in R&D funding in America’s history—and maintained R&D funding as a priority despite tight fiscal constraints. Prioritized and encouraged broad participation in STEM education and the technology sector, with the Nation now on track to meet the President’s goal to train 100,000 additional excellent STEM teachers by 2021, with 100,000 engineers graduating yearly from American colleges and universities for the first time ever, with organizations around the country responding to the President’s call to provide all U.S. students with access to rigorous computer-science education, and with over 1,500 employers hiring from new short-course training programs such as coding boot camps. Supported American manufacturing innovation through a national network of Manufacturing USA Institutes supported by over $600 million in Federal investment and matched by more than $1.3 billion in non-Federal investment, with more institutes on the way, and increased opportunities for Americans to make, design, create, and invent using new hardware and software tools and skills. Expanded entrepreneurship across the Nation, with venture-capital firms committing to advance entrepreneurship opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities, with nearly 80 companies committing to take action to broaden participation and make the technology workforce at each of their companies representative of the American people as soon as possible, with investors pledging to create more inclusiveness in their funding practices, with nearly 200,000 datasets now available to the public on Data.gov, and with more than 4 million full-text scientific journal articles now free and accessible to researchers, entrepreneurs, and the public. Launched major new science initiatives to advance health care through precision medicine, understanding the brain, accelerating progress in treating and preventing cancer, and combating antibiotic resistance. Took unprecedented action to address climate change through the successful December 2015 Paris Agreement; a comprehensive Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution, enhance resilience, and lead internationally; and the development of tools, services, and partnerships to make science and information about on climate change actionable for decision-makers across the Nation. Expanded broadband access, adding or improving more than 114,000 miles of broadband infrastructure and making high-speed connections available to more than 25,000 community institutions and fast 4G/LTE mobile broadband available to more than 98 percent of Americans. Fostered a burgeoning private space sector and increased capabilities for our journey to Mars, with the extension of the lifetime of the International Space Station’s (ISS) until at least 2024 through the Administration’s leadership, with American companies and NASA collaborating to deliver cargo to ISS, and with those companies on track to start ferrying astronauts to ISS within the next 2 years. In October 2016, at the White House Frontiers Conference, President Obama encouraged Americans to imagine our Nation and the world in 50 years and beyond, and to explore America’s potential to reach the frontiers that will make the world healthier, more prosperous, more equitable, and more secure. Developing precision medicine. The next great revolution in medicine will emerge from an ability to use genomic, lifestyle, behavioral, environmental, imaging, and clinical data to understand health and disease, and to use those insights to develop tailored prevention approaches and medical treatments. To revolutionize how we improve health and treat disease, President Obama launched the Precision Medicine Initiative with these goals: (a) build a large research program that includes participants who volunteer their biomedical samples and health data, leveraging the diversity of the United States; (b) increase access to data so that researchers can better conduct science to enable groundbreaking new discoveries; (c) create a nimble framework for ensuring the accuracy of genomic-sequencing tests to support public safety; and (d) optimize the deployment of these technologies and research discoveries to medical practitioners. Investing in neuroscience and neurotechnology. Advances in neuroscience and neurotechnology offer promise for developing a comprehensive understanding of the brain in action and uncovering the mysteries that hold the key to future scientific breakthroughs in areas such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, depression, and traumatic brain injury. Since April 2013, President Obama’s BRAIN Initiative®—Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies—has catalyzed more than $1.5 billion in public and private funds for novel neurotechnologies aimed at revolutionizing understanding of the human brain. BRAIN Initiative researchers and public-private collaborating organizations are pursuing an ambitious 10-year research agenda. Combating antibiotic resistance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that drug-resistant bacteria cause 2 million illnesses and about 23,000 deaths each year in the United States alone. The Obama Administration issued a national strategy and a national action plan—both responsive to the recommendations of a PCAST report—for domestic and international efforts to prevent, detect, and control illness and death related to infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. OSTP and the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria have noted the opportunity for the next Administration to pilot innovative economic models to encourage investment in antibiotic-drug development, to strengthen antibiotic-resistance surveillance in agricultural settings, and to develop a “one health” approach to combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria, encompassing human, animal, and environmental components. Advancing biotechnology and global health security. Advances in biotechnology have dramatically improved capabilities such as DNA sequencing, gene editing, gene synthesis, and high-throughput manipulation of biomolecules. These advances have reduced the cost and time required to develop biotechnology products and perform novel research. The Obama Administration released the National Bioeconomy Blueprint, led an effort to modernize the regulatory system for biotechnology products, and led biosafety and biosecurity improvements. The next Administration and the scientific community should consider continuing to track the ethical, legal, economic, security, safety, and social implications of biotechnology developments and participate in international discussions around appropriate oversight of biotechnology research and products. In addition, the United States has committed to assist at least 31 countries to achieve common, measurable targets of the Global Health Security Agenda for prevention, detection, and response to infectious disease outbreaks. Opportunities abound for the next Administration to advance S&T against infectious disease threats—especially for mosquito-vector control and through social and behavioral science and biotechnology—and to predict infectious-disease outbreaks through rapid data-sharing and “one health” approaches. Building smart communities and the Internet of Things. “Smart Cities” are communities leveraging the “Internet of Things” (IoT) and information-technology tools, including data analytics and urban sensors, to improve the lives of all of their citizens. Federal research investments—with a continued focus needed on cybersecurity—and multisector technology partnerships can help local communities tackle key challenges such as reducing traffic congestion, fighting crime, fostering economic growth, managing the effects of a changing climate, and improving the delivery of city services. The White House Smart Cities Initiative has invested nearly $350 million from multiple Federal agencies in research and technology deployment in communities, with over 70 participating communities. The Opportunity Project has catalyzed the creation of over 40 new digital tools that use Federal and local data to increase access to opportunity in communities around the country by solving challenges such as helping families find affordable housing near jobs and transportation, matching unemployed Americans with jobs that meet their skills, and enabling local leaders to use data to better target investments. Using innovation and data to improve policing and the criminal justice system. As part of President Obama’s commitment to ensuring that the power of data and technology are used to address the biggest challenges this country faces, the Police Data and Data Driven Justice Initiatives cultivate local advances in the use of data and technology in policing and the criminal-justice system. The Police Data Initiative supports local police department efforts in leveraging data to increase transparency and accountability and build trust with their communities. The Data-Driven Justice Initiative assists city, county, and State governments in using data-driven strategies to divert low-level offenders with mental illness out of the criminal justice system and to change approaches to pre-trial incarceration so that low-risk offenders no longer stay in jail simply because they cannot afford bond. These complementary initiatives each now support more than 100 jurisdictions—communities, counties, and states—and collectively reach over 95 million Americans. Harnessing the ingenuity of citizen solvers and citizen scientists. The Obama Administration has harnessed American ingenuity, driven local innovation, and engaged citizen solvers in communities across the Nation by increasing the use of open-innovation approaches including crowdsourcing, citizen science, and incentive prizes. Following guidance and legislation in 2010, over 700 incentive prize competitions have been featured on Challenge.gov from over 100 Federal agencies, with steady growth every year. Federal agencies and non-governmental organizations have used citizen science, crowdsourcing, and other innovative approaches to mobilize millions of people—including youth—to accomplish scientific work and improve their communities, from improving predictive models for coastal change and vulnerability to extreme storms, to tagging millions of archival records for the National Archives. Since 2014, OSTP has taken an active role in encouraging the increased use of these approaches to address scientific questions, issuing guidance to agency heads in 2015, and working with General Services Administration to launch CitizenScience.gov in early 2016. The next Administration should consider continuing to increase Federal Government efficiency and effectiveness through these open-innovation approaches. Connecting Americans through broadband deployment and spectrum for wireless Internet access. Recognizing the importance of broadband connectivity for American innovation, collaboration, economic growth, and well-being, the Administration—through initiatives including ConnectED, ConnectHOME, ConnectAll, the Global Connect Initiative, and increased USDA funding of broadband access for tribal communities—has expanded affordable high-speed broadband access, improved adoption, increased speeds, lowered costs, and narrowed the digital divide in the United States. The Administration has advanced international connectivity to bridge the global digital divide and promoted U.S. Internet governance priorities. And, the Administration has taken steps to ensure that there is sufficient spectrum, governed by sound policies to support fast, affordable, and reliable wireless Internet access and other longstanding and emerging technologies, including being on track to meet the President’s goal of making available an additional 500MHz of spectrum for exclusive private and shared commercial use by 2020. Going forward, the next Administration should consider continued attention to these goals and to increasing the network-engineering expertise in the Federal Government to accelerate national and international deployment of Internet access and to maximize the benefits of our connected world. Understanding the potential of AI, machine learning, and big data. The Administration published a public report on AI, Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence, accompanied by a National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan. These documents detail how the Federal Government can take future steps to: use AI to advance social good and improve the operation of government; adapt regulations in a way that encourages innovation while protecting the public; ensure that applications of AI, including those that are not regulated, are fair, safe, and governable; develop the most skilled and diverse AI workforce, including addressing the current limited diversity in the technical-leadership ranks; and address the use of AI in weapons. This work built on earlier Obama Administration work on big data, including three Administration “Big Data” reports covering privacy, values, and fairness in algorithmic systems, ethics, and civil rights, and also PCAST and National Information Technology R&D Program (NITRD) reports on big data. Developing robotics and intelligent systems. Robotics and intelligent systems are technologies that seek to advance physical computational agents that complement, augment, enhance, or emulate human physical capabilities or human intelligence, and have the capacity to improve lives and advance the Nation’s economy. OSTP has focused on: R&D investments, including through the National Robotics Initiative; capacity-building in the Federal Government; and providing technical input to the development of smart regulations governing the public and commercial use of such technologies. The Administration has also worked to improve regulatory frameworks for some applications, including the Federal Aviation Administration’s integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System and the Department of Transportation’s work on developing a Federal Automated Vehicles policy. Future work is needed to formulate a Federal strategy for UAS privacy authority and responsibilities. Investing in strategic computing. The National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI) was created in July 2015, at President Obama’s request, to ensure continued U.S. leadership in high-performance computing (HPC) and to maximize the benefits of HPC for the economy, scientific discovery, and national security. The initiative calls for the creation of a coordinated research, development, and deployment strategy that draws on the strengths of Federal departments and agencies to accelerate progress on a range of critical applications—from predicting severe weather, to modeling the safety of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, to developing new drugs that are tailored to the needs of individual patients. Federal agencies have identified five strategic objectives: (a) accelerate the successful deployment and application of capable exascale computing; (b) ensure that new technologies support advances in data analytics as well as simulation and modeling; (c) explore and accelerate new paths for future computing architectures beyond the limits of today’s silicon-based semiconductors; (d) promote a vibrant HPC ecosystem, including the workforce needed to design and use HPC; and (e) establish enduring cross-sector collaboration. Supporting advanced manufacturing and a Nation of Makers. To spur innovation in manufacturing, the Administration has created a growing network of advanced-manufacturing R&D hubs, known as Manufacturing USA. In addition, the Administration has increased support for advanced-manufacturing R&D by 40 percent since FY 2011, and has encouraged multi-agency collaboration in areas such as continuous manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, engineering biology for biomanufacturing, and biomanufacturing for regenerative medicine. Delivering on this vision will require: (a) spurring innovation through next-generation technologies; (b) making the United States more cost-competitive for production; (c) strengthening skills, communities, and supply chains to attract investment; and (d) leveling the playing field for international trade, opening access to foreign markets, and promoting investment in the United States. In addition, people’s ability to design, create, and invent is being amplified by hardware and software tools such as computer-aided design software, laser cutters, accessible design tools, and 3D printers. The President’s Nation of Makers Initiative is engaging innovators, private-sector leaders, and educators to increase the number of Americans that have the opportunity to participate in making, with a particular emphasis on K-12 education, workforce development, and manufacturing entrepreneurship. Advancing climate science, information, tools, and services. Understanding and addressing the current and future impacts of global climate change requires sustained investments in climate science and services. It is essential that governments, businesses, researchers, and individual citizens have access to science-based information, tools, and services that can inform decision making. The Obama Administration launched the Climate Data Initiative, Climate Resilience Toolkit, and Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness to improve access to the Federal Government’s climate data and tools. Thanks to this effort, more than 600 datasets and 200 tools have been made available. The Administration also released the Third National Climate Assessment, the most comprehensive assessment of climate impacts to date, through a user-friendly online interface, and created a sustained assessment process. In addition, the U.S. Government joined with private-sector partners to launch the Resilience Dialogues and Climate Services for Resilient Development, to connect climate information to on-the-ground decision making. Enhanced observations—particularly in areas such as the polar regions and much of the world’s oceans that are inadequately monitored today—will be required to advance a more comprehensive understanding of global change. Growing a clean-energy economy. The Obama Administration has made the largest investments in cleaner and more efficient energy systems in the Nation’s history, starting with over $90 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. As a result, the United States has seen dramatic increases in the proportions of energy and electricity coming from low- and no-carbon energy sources. Under President Obama’s leadership, the United States has steadily expanded the reach and magnitude of its bilateral and multilateral cooperation with other countries in clean and efficient energy. The “Mission Innovation” initiative, launched by President Obama and other world leaders at the December 2015 climate conference in Paris, brings together 22 countries and the European Union that have pledged to double their governments’ investments in clean-energy R&D over a period of 5 years. To complement this effort, the “Breakthrough Energy Coalition” of leading investors has pledged to support the commercialization of the discoveries that result from increased R&D funding. These initiatives will require continued attention and encouragement—including doubling U.S. clean energy R&D by 2021—from the U.S. Government. Addressing climate change and national security. The Obama Administration—through the February 2015 U.S. National Security Strategy and a September 2016 report from the National Intelligence Council—has recognized that global climate change is posing growing challenges to U.S. national security. Sea-level rise threatens operations and infrastructure at important naval bases, including this country’s largest (in Norfolk, VA); extreme heat impairs the efficiency of troops and certain military equipment; military forces may be increasingly diverted to humanitarian missions following climate-related extreme events; chronic stresses from climate-change-accentuated phenomena such as droughts and crop failures can lead to civil unrest; and, eventually, flows of refugees from regions rendered less hospitable or even uninhabitable by climate change may produce political instability in areas critical to U.S. interests. President Obama directed Federal agencies in a September 2016 Presidential Memorandum to ensure that climate change is fully considered in national security doctrine, policies, and plans. Increasing ocean resilience. The health and productivity of the world’s oceans are imperiled by a number of threats, including climate-change related warming and acidification, overfishing and destructive fishing practices, dead zones, and marine debris and pollution. The Obama Administration has pioneered ocean stewardship through the development of the first ever U.S. National Ocean Policy, as well as through the creation and expansion of Marine Protected Areas and National Monuments, which provide refuges of reduced stress for species. This science-based management and smart conservation will help to enhance ocean resilience to climate change. Supporting our Journey to Mars and a robust U.S. commercial-space market. In April 2010, President Obama challenged the country to send American astronauts on a Journey to Mars in the 2030s. Continued development of advanced space technologies—including better life-support systems and efficient solar-powered electric propulsion systems—will be crucial to achieving President Obama's vision for space exploration. NASA already has started collaborating with industry to build the space modules or “habitats” in which U.S. astronauts will live and travel to Mars and other deep-space destinations. And in the coming years, the work NASA will do—in collaboration with private and international partners—to develop these deep-space habitats will help reduce the barriers to private companies that envision building their own space stations in Earth orbit or beyond. NASA will soon provide companies the opportunity to add their own modules and other capabilities to the International Space Station. As NASA shifts the focus of its human exploration program to deep space, America’s businesses will take a larger role in supporting space activities in Earth orbit. Driving advancements in space science. OSTP works with NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Energy (DOE) to ensure that Federally funded space-science activities comprise a robust portfolio of space-based missions, ground-based facilities, and research funding for astronomy, planetary science, and heliophysics. The Kepler Space Observatory, which was launched in March 2009, has discovered more than 2,330 extrasolar planets and more than 2,400 additional planet candidates to-date. Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory, has been exploring Gale Crater on Mars since it landed in 2011, discovering evidence of an ancient streambed, organic carbon in powdered rock samples, and methane in the Martian atmosphere. Construction of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)—funded by the United States through NSF with other international partners—was completed in 2011 with full science observations beginning in 2013. In July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto obtaining the first up-close images of the dwarf planet, and a year later, Juno arrived at Jupiter to begin collecting scientific data to understand the planet’s structure and formation. Looking ahead, progress on the James Webb Space Telescope—designed to be the premier space-based observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide—is on track and on budget to meet a 2018 launch date. NSF and DOE, in collaboration with other partners, are supporting the development of the ground-based Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which expects to see first light in 2019. Enhancing prediction of and preparedness for space hazards. OSTP and Federal agencies are identifying actions to extend and enhance prediction and preparedness for potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs) and define an approach for establishing reference NEO Earth-impact missions that can help the United States and its international partners detect, track, and respond to the threat of collision by a NEO. OSTP also worked with NASA to develop NASA’s Asteroid Grand Challenge, an effort focused on finding all asteroid threats to human populations and knowing what to do about them. NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission will, among other benefits, be used to demonstrate a promising asteroid-deflection technique called a gravity tractor. Also, in an effort to better plan for space weather hazards, OSTP led the development of the October 2015 National Space Weather Strategy and National Action Plan, and subsequently, President Obama signed an Executive Order in October 2016 to minimize the harm that space-weather events can cause across our Nation, save lives, and enhance national security. The called-for actions include identifying mitigation technologies, creating nationwide response and recovery plans and procedures, and improving prediction of space-weather events and their effects. Harnessing the small satellite revolution. A critical area for space-technology development is advancing the capability of small satellites (“smallsats”) and constellations of smallsats to support important commercial, civilian, and national-security applications. Potential applications include capturing continuously updated imagery of the entire planet and providing high-speed Internet connectivity to remote rural communities. Traditional large satellites typically cost hundreds of millions of dollars per satellite and often take years to build and launch. Smallsats sometimes can be delivered at a fraction of the cost and time of legacy satellite systems. Scientists and engineers can quickly test smallsat systems on orbit, allowing them to shorten the innovation cycle to devise new, better systems. The next Administration should consider working with OSTP, NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce, and other Federal agencies to foster innovation in the development and use of smallsats. Below we offer 10 actions that are needed if the United States is to succeed in broadening participation in and delivering on the potential of science, technology, and innovation to drive prosperity for all Americans and to address challenges across science and technology frontiers in the coming decades. Federal Government funding for R&D is essential to address societal needs in areas in which the private sector does not have sufficient economic incentive to make the required investments. Key among these is basic research—the fundamental, curiosity-driven inquiry that is a hallmark of the American research enterprise and a powerful driver of new technology and innovation in the medium and long terms. Of all the challenges involved in protecting and expanding Federal R&D budgets in the face of overall fiscal constraints, the challenge of supporting basic research (and the infrastructure that enables it) deserves particular attention in the years to come. The Federal Government must bear proportionally the largest burden for basic research because high risk and high uncertainty about timing and magnitude of returns limit the private sector’s incentive to contribute. Simply supporting research is not sufficient, however; Federal agencies should ensure that research results are made available to other scientists, the public, and innovators who can translate them into the businesses and products that will improve our lives. A core component of President Obama’s innovation agenda has been an effort to attract individuals who can help build a more effective, efficient, and innovative government. This included recruiting high-caliber leaders for traditional S&T leadership positions in the Executive Office of the President and across Federal departments and agencies, and creating a new set of modern science, technology, and innovation positions—e.g., the U.S. Chief Technology Officer (CTO), U.S. Chief Information Officer (CIO), and Chief Data Scientist, as well as the White House Office of Digital Strategy, the Director of White House IT, and department and agency CTOs, CIOs, and Chief Data Officers. These technical leaders are bringing new best practices working in deep collaboration with others in government to leverage all tools of government to address our hardest challenges. This work includes the President’s efforts to expand technical-talent integration for tech transformation that significantly improves the service delivery of IT services through the U.S. Digital Service, GSA’s Tech Transformation Service, and the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which the Office of the U.S. CTO played a key role in creating. Strategies to make public service more attractive include time-limited “tours of duty”; short “sprint team” engagements to bring new perspective on entrenched problems; a focus on making hiring processes as efficient as possible; and proactive outreach to the technology and scientific communities. It also means empowering that top technical talent to change the way the Federal Government delivers services and makes policy. For example, within the EOP, the Tech Policy Task Force (TPTF) draws membership from tech components and other policy councils to ensure tech expertise can advise other policy councils and drive its own policy. TPTF has been used to initiate and create tech-related policy, such as the Federal Source Code Policy and the White House’s Artificial Intelligence Initiative and Report; to advise on or co-lead agency efforts, such as international connectivity with the State Department; and to answer questions raised by other policy councils, such as considerations regarding encryption policy and cybersecurity. To maintain this progress in the future, the next Administration should consider including groups such as TPTF in the processes of core policymaking bodies, such as the National Security Council, and continuing to increase the scientific, technical, and innovation understanding at senior levels of agency policymaking. President Obama has called for companies, research universities, foundations, and philanthropists to join him in identifying and pursuing grand challenges as a key component of his innovation strategy. Grand challenges are ambitious yet achievable goals that harness S&T and that have the potential to capture the public’s imagination. OSTP has encouraged Federal agencies to pursue grand challenges, including the BRAIN Initiative, NASA’s Asteroid Grand Challenge, an Administration effort to eliminate the waiting list for organ transplantation, and a nanotechnology-inspired Grand Challenge in brain-inspired computing. Other agencies that have been particularly active include the Department of Energy (with grand challenges on solar energy and electric vehicles), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID, with numerous grand challenges related to global development, such as Saving Lives at Birth), and DARPA (with grand challenges related to cybersecurity, robotics, and self-driving cars). President Obama’s call to action on Grand Challenges has also encouraged universities to embrace ambitious goals and to make commitments to expand opportunities for undergraduate engineers and create other opportunities for students to learn about and pursue grand challenges. Increasing access to and participation in STEM fields is critical to developing the human capital needed to fuel American innovation; tackling economic inequality and the gender pay gap by allowing more Americans to succeed in high-wage STEM fields; and supporting informed citizenship. The Obama Administration made an unprecedented commitment to improving access to and quality of STEM education for all students and to meeting the need for one million additional STEM graduates in the workforce by 2022 by: (1) setting ambitious goals and rallying public and private action through an “all-hands-on-deck” approach that has led to more than $1 billion in philanthropic support for the President’s Educate to Innovate campaign; (2) elevating the profile of STEM education through efforts including the launch of the annual White House Science Fair; and (3) improving the impact of Federal STEM education programs by executing on the first-ever Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan. The Administration’s STEM for All goals are supported by President Obama’s proposed FY 2017 budget and call for increased efforts to improve STEM teaching; support active learning; expand access to rigorous STEM courses; address bias where it exists; and expand opportunities for underrepresented students in STEM. In response to a pressing need to fill high-paying tech jobs, President Obama launched the Computer Science for All initiative to give all U.S. students access to computer-science education, which requires increased Federal funding and, building on actions taken by 14 states, additional collaboration to prepare teachers and expand access to high-quality instructional materials. Science, technology, and innovation can be leveraged to improve educational outcomes through new models of grant-making; open licensing of educational resources developed through Federal funding; investments in infrastructure and educational-technology R&D to support next-generation learning; redesign the high school experience to make it more engaging; and multi-sector collaborations to increase the adoption of learning technologies. While significant advances have been made to expand access to technology for education and close the digital divide, there are opportunities for continued improvement in cognitive science, AI, learning analytics, and learning games. America’s role as a global leader in science and innovation is fortified by tapping into one of America’s foundational strengths—the unparalleled diversity of the American people and the diversity of ideas that they generate. Obama Administration reports, such as on big data and on artificial intelligence, have noted that government policies can help America harness the potential of emerging technologies by designing, deploying, and regulating those technologies in ways that preserve American values, avoid and mitigate bias and discriminatory outcomes, and promote fairness and opportunity. In addition, research shows that diversity on teams leads to better outcomes. Systemic barriers, such as implicit and explicit bias, present challenges to efforts to draw upon a diverse community in building a STEM workforce for the 21st century. In November 2016, OSTP and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released a report, Reducing the Impact of Bias in the STEM Workforce: Strengthening Excellence and Innovation, which recommended that: (1) each Federal agency exercise leadership at all levels to reduce the impact of bias where it exists in their internal operations; (2) each Federal agency incorporate bias-mitigation strategies into its proposal-review process and offer technical assistance to grantee institutions to implement bias-mitigation strategies; and (3) OSTP, OPM, and the Department of Justice, as appropriate, exercise leadership to reduce the impact of bias where it exists in the Federal STEM workforce and Federally-funded institutions of higher education. Also in November 2016, OSTP released an Action Grid as a resource for those striving to create diverse, equitable, and inclusive S&T teams and workforces. This set of potential actions—including leadership engagement, retention and advancement, hiring, and ecosystem support—can provide ideas and a jumping-off point for organizations around the country to increase workforce diversity. In addition, research demonstrates that popular entertainment media can influence the public’s perceptions of STEM fields and careers. By highlighting the importance of depiction of STEM, as has been led through OSTP’s Image of STEM effort, the Federal Government can support inclusion of diverse and compelling STEM images, stories, and positive messages—including improvement of historic accuracy—in mainstream entertainment media to encourage greater diversity in the future STEM workforce. America’s entrepreneurial economy is the envy of the world. Young companies account for almost 30 percent of new jobs, and as we have fought back from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, startups have helped our private sector create 15.5 million jobs since early 2010—the longest streak of private-sector job creation on record. To ensure that every American entrepreneur has a straight shot at success, we need all hands on deck. Since the launch of the White House Startup America initiative in 2011, President Obama has issued a consistent public call to action to companies, nonprofits, universities, investors, and others to accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship and broaden participation. Breaking down barriers for all entrepreneurs is not the task of just one Administration. Studies suggest that the share of venture-funded startups with women founders has nearly doubled in 5 years—but it is still only 18 percent. Continuing to reverse America’s 40-year decline in startup activity will require building on President Obama’s record of addressing income inequality, promoting competitive markets, reducing unduly restrictive occupational licensing, and scaling up rapid skills training. The next Administration should consider additional steps to ensure early-stage entrepreneurs from all backgrounds have access to startup capital, and to expand access to entrepreneurial networks and resources across all communities, so we field the entire American team of potential entrepreneurs. The Obama Administration has leveraged open data and data science to inform and support Federal agencies and programs, including engaging data-innovation stakeholders to support agency missions. President Obama ordered the default state of Federal Government information resources to be open and machine readable, followed by an Open Data Policy issued by OMB. In February 2015, the President established the role of the Chief Data Scientist under the U.S. CTO within OSTP to: maximize social and economic return from Federal Government data; create Federal data policies that enable shared services, data engagement, and forward-leaning data practices; and recruit and retain the best minds in data science for public service. Federal agencies should be empowered with the people, processes, and practices necessary to build their data capacity. As of October 2016, nearly 40 Federal agencies have added Chief Data Officers (CDOs) and Chief Data Scientists to ensure data-driven decisions are made in support of mission priorities. OSTP established a Data Cabinet to serve as the principal community of practice for Federal data professionals to share case studies and best practices for scaling data-talent capacity through recruitment, training, and hiring and to ensure data is responsibly gathered, processed, leveraged, and made discoverable, accessible, and reusable in a timely fashion. The Federal Government invests approximately $140 billion per year in R&D, which results in hundreds of thousands of peer-reviewed scholarly publications and growing volumes of digital research data every year. In February 2013, the Director of OSTP issued a memorandum directing all Federal departments and agencies with R&D expenditures of more than $100 million per year to develop plans for increasing access to the scholarly publications and digital data resulting from Federally funded research. More than 20 Federal agencies responsible for more than 99 percent of Federal R&D have completed and are implementing their public-access plans. Going forward, agencies should identify additional steps to make scientific knowledge freely and readily available to accelerate innovation and drive advances in health, energy, environmental protection, agriculture, national security, and other areas of national and international importance. Agencies are also working to improve the management and accessibility of scientific collections that support research and agency missions. These efforts complement the Obama Administration’s Lab-to-Market initiative, which aims to accelerate and improve the transfer of new technologies from the laboratory to the commercial marketplace. As outlined President Obama’s Strategy for American Innovation, agency S&T innovation capacity is a strategic priority because with the right combination of talent, innovative thinking, and technological tools, government can deliver better results. Federal agencies have pioneered new approaches—and applied approaches piloted by other sectors—that can deliver better results at lower cost for the American people. Widespread adoption of these approaches can significantly improve government effectiveness. OSTP and Federal agencies are developing an Innovation Toolkit to facilitate the broader adoption and awareness of a core set of innovative approaches, including: (1) “pay for performance” incentive prizes; (2) citizen science and crowdsourcing; (3) applying behavioral science insights to improve Federal programs and policies; (4) Grand Challenges; (5) flexible approaches to procurement that allow the government to interact with startups and commercial firms; (6) human-centered design; (7) “market shaping” approaches such as milestone payments and Advance Market Commitments; (8) flexible hiring authorities such as those that allow for “tours of duty” by experts; and (9) “scout and scale” approaches that find and share existing solutions. To increase Federal capacity for innovation, the Administration has supported the development of Innovation Labs at Federal agencies that provide resources and support for employees and members of the public to develop, test, and scale new approaches to meeting agency goals, resulting in significant improvements to the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal Government. Agency innovation capacity also is facilitated by upgrading digital collaboration tools, allowing for real-time shared documents, instant messaging, video conferencing, access to social media and wiki-based sites for team projects, data and content management, and open innovation, which empower communities of practice to work at rapid pace. Incorporating people with diverse skill sets into those communities of practice has led to innovative practices being shared and adopted faster. Teams across the Federal Government have been making progress to promote transparency, empower citizens, and transform how the Federal Government engages with the American people. These initiatives have led to cost savings, fueled American businesses, improved civic services, informed policy, catalyzed research and scientific discoveries, driven transparency and accountability, expanded and broadened collaboration, and increased public participation in the democratic dialogue. In addition, the United States co-founded and remains a leader in the Open Government Partnership (OGP), composed of 70 countries working with hundreds of civil-society organizations and civic-tech leaders collaborating internationally and pushing each other to increase public integrity, enhance public access to information, improve management of public resources, reduce costs, and give the public a more active voice in government processes. Each member of the OGP creates bi-annual Open Government National Action Plans (NAPs). More than 20 agencies also are leading continued implementation of the 48 commitments in the third U.S. NAP, including efforts to modernize Freedom of Information Act processes, improve transparency of privacy programs, streamline declassification, and increase public participation in policymaking. Work remains to implement agency-level 2016 Open Government Plans. OSTP works to strengthen international science, technology, and innovation cooperation among the United States and international partners through bilateral and multilateral engagements, and to support the President’s foreign-policy agenda through international science, technology, and innovation activities. OSTP, in coordination with the State Department, represents the United States in bilateral and multilateral meetings with foreign nations, and works closely with government science agencies, independent research and scientific institutions, and non-governmental organizations to promote international S&T initiatives and strengthen global science cooperation. The OSTP Director co-chairs for the United States all six of the ongoing bilateral, ministerial-level Joint Commissions on Science and Technology Cooperation that exist under S&T cooperation agreements with Brazil, China, India, Japan, Korea, and Russia. In his 2009 Cairo speech, President Obama announced S&T related initiatives for Muslim-majority countries, including his intention to appoint science envoys, U.S. scientists who travel abroad as science ambassadors and inform the White House, U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. scientific community about the insights and opportunities for scientific engagement they find abroad. To date, there have been 5 cohorts of 3-5 Envoys each who have traveled to over 25 countries. The State Department has committed to supporting the Envoy program through 2017. We have been honored to serve President Obama—our Science, Technology, and Innovation President. He has relentlessly focused on building American talent and capacity in S&T; making the long-term investments that will continue to power American innovation; and setting ambitious goals that inspire and harness the ingenuity and creativity of diverse whole of the American people. We thank the science and technology communities inside and outside government for their continued innovation and collaboration. We are especially appreciative of their shared passion for broadening participation, especially among our youth, to field the whole American team in pursuing the frontiers that will increase prosperity, opportunity, justice, health, and security for all. Driving further progress across the aforementioned frontiers will require focus by the next Administration and the next Congress on: sustained investment in research, development, and innovation; the importance of diverse, cross-sector, and multi-disciplinary collaboration for solving difficult challenges; education innovation to develop skills for Americans at all levels; job creation and workforce-skills development across these sectors; and equity, to ensure all Americans help create these innovations and have access to and benefit from advances in these frontiers. The Office of Science and Technology Policy was established in 1976 by Public Law 94-282. From remarks by President Obama on November 23, 2009 at the launch of his "Educate to Innovate" campaign for excellence in science, technology, engineering, and math education. In 2015, there were more than 600,000 high-paying tech jobs across the United States that were unfilled, and by 2018, 51 percent of all STEM jobs are projected to be in computer-science-related fields.

2019-04-25T08:24:23Z

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/cabinet/exit-memos/office-science-and-technology-policy

John Balling, Vice President for Integrated Technology Services, joined Willamette University in September 1999. He is responsible for technology planning, network services, academic computing and instructional design, user services, administrative computing, media services, and telecommunications. Prior to coming to Willamette, John served in a similar position for 10 years at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Other information technology positions he has held include terms as head of academic computing at Bowdoin College and as director of the information resource center at the Smithsonian Institution where he implemented the Institution’s first user services program. John has also served as a research psychologist for the Smithsonian Institution and the Harvard Institute for International Development. In his first real job, he was a member of the faculty in psychology at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. John earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Northwestern University and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in psychology from the University of Massachusetts. It was in graduate school that he became involved with computing when he constructed his own equipment and developed software for capturing and analyzing human infants’ physiological responses to auditory stimuli. With respect to information technology, John has led the planning and implementation of the computing infrastructure at several of the Smithsonian’s sites, assisted with the development of medical information systems in several Latin American countries, and has planned and implemented major infrastructure upgrades at both Dickinson and Willamette. John joined the NWACC Council in June 2001 as the member representative from Willamette. Bridget Barnes, MBA, MSEM, is Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. Bridget has worked in OHSU's Information Technology Department since 1999 and has had a key role in implementing and managing their business, student, research, and clinical information systems during that time. Bridget's team of technical professionals is responsible for supporting all missions of OHSU (academic, clinical, research and outreach functions), as well as the multiple business entities that support OHSU. She has published and presented to professional organizations on application implementation and selection strategies. Bridget has served on national and regional information system Boards including the Oracle Higher Education User Group (HEUG), the NorthWest Oracle User Group (NWOUG), the NorthWest Academic Computing Consortium (NWACC), Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the Oregon Health Network and Oregon's Health Information Technology Oversight Committee. Jackie Barretta serves as the Interim CIO at Portland Community College, where she has consulted since 2014. Previously, she was the Interim CIO at College of Marin and the CIO of Con-way Inc. She has over 30 years of senior and executive leadership, primarily in Higher Education and Fortune 500 companies. Jackie is a prolific author on boosting innovation in organizations. She has had articles published in Fast Company, InformationWeek and CIO magazine, and a book, Primal Teams, published by the American Management Association. Jackie has served on advisory boards of some of the largest IT service providers, including Hewlett Packard and Teradata. Jackie holds an MA in Organizational Communication from Marylhurst University and a BS in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Lois Brooks, Oregon State University's Vice Provost for Information Services, leads IT for the University. She provides vision, leadership, and advocacy for the effective application of information technologies to the instructional, research and service missions of the university, and in partnership with executive and academic leadership, develops and executes IT strategy for Oregon State University. Brooks joined OSU in 2010 after working at Stanford University for many years, serving most recently as Director of Academic Computing. During her tenure at Stanford she co-founded the Sakai Foundation, serving on the Board of Directors and later as Executive Director. She has served on governance committees for EDUCAUSE and InCommon. Brooks holds an MBA from Columbia University, an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS from the University of San Francisco. Adam oversees the Information Technology department at Lewis & Clark College, and serves as the liaison between IT and the college administrative staff. Buchwald, a Whitman College graduate and former IT officer at Pacific University, has worked in several capacities at MassArt, including as director of information technology, acting associate vice president for technology and chief information officer, and deputy chief information officer. Prior to joining MassArt, Buchwald worked in IT positions at Simmons College and Roscommon Associates, both in Boston, as well as at Pacific, where he served from 1997 to 2000. Buchwald’s other professional activities include membership on the board of directors of the conservation group Greater Boston Trout Unlimited, which he has also served as IT consultant since 2006. In addition, he attended the 2010 summer leadership institute of EDUCAUSE, an organization that works to advance the higher education sector through intelligent use of technology. Brad Christ is the Chief Information Officer for Southern Oregon University. Information Technology at SOU provides telecommunications, media services, information services, networking services, and user services for two campuses in Ashland and Medford. Brad has worked extensively on higher education technology collaboration efforts both at SOU and at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Minnesota, these efforts included partnering with other private colleges to join Internet2 with sponsorship from the University of Minnesota and forming a buying consortium with other private colleges and a K-12 education technology collaborative. In Oregon, he is active in collaboration efforts with the other public universities, the NWACC Network and Information Security program, and the information technology operations for the new Oregon Public University Shared Services Enterprise. Brad has worked in higher education information technology for 18 years. Before coming to Southern Oregon, he oversaw departmental operations, telecommunications, networking, system administration, and information systems at Augsburg. He received his Master’s degree in Public Administration and Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Minnesota. Brad joined the NWACC Council in 2011. Marianne Colgrove is the Deputy Chief Information Officer and the Director of Web Support Services at Reed College. She oversees campus technology deployment, CIS financial management, college web systems, web application development, and digital media services. She frequently collaborates with the library on projects involving undergraduate teaching and learning and access to digital materials. Marianne joined Reed as the Associate Director of Computing & Information Services in 1989. Prior to her current position she managed Reed's 5-year Technology Plan to integrate computing into all aspects of the academic environment. Marianne has a B.A in Psychology from Reed College and a Masters of Library & Information Science at University of Washington. In addition to the NWACC board, Marianne has previously served as the Treasurer of the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges, as a member of the EDUCAUSE Connect program committee, and as chair of the EDUCAUSE Nominating Committee. Marianne joined the NWACC Member Council in 2002. Dan Ewart joined the University of Idaho as the Chief Information Officer and Executive Director of ITS in February 2012. In this role he leads a team of professionals serving the technology needs of the main Moscow campus, centers across the state and of students around the world. Prior to joining UI, Dan served as the Director of Information Services at the University of Wyoming and as Director of Information Technology at Dubai Aerospace Engineering University in Dubai, UAE. Before supporting higher education computing, Dan worked as a technology leader in the private sector for companies such as Interlink Group and Accenture. Dan earned his B.S. in MIS (1993) and his MPA (2010) from the University of Wyoming. He is highly engaged in community activities including non-profit board membership and youth sports. Jim Fleming was appointed Chief Information Officer at Pacific University in March 2011. Jim has 28 years of experience in higher education administration. Since his arrival at Pacific, University Information Services has led a successful transition to Moodle from its former LMS, implemented Ellucian CRM EMS Events and Calendar system, and OCHIN Epic Electronic Health Record system in university health clinics located in Forest Grove, Hillsboro and Portland. He is serving as Chair of the University HIPAA taskforce responsible for developing a common set of policies and procedures across all clinical environments. Prior to joining Pacific University, Jim served as the Director for Administrative Computing at George Fox University with responsibility for networking, telephony, systems, and institutional research. While at George Fox, he successfully led two ERP implementations, both of which were completed on time and within budget and scope. As the project manager, Jim focused on developing integration between systems to extend technology services and advance the mission of the university. Jim developed highly successful teams inside and outside of his department to select and promote the effective use of technology. In addition to IT administration, Jim held the position of Registrar for six years in which he contributed to an innovative enrollment services team and learned first-hand the significant impact of technology. Prior to this position, he had a variety of responsibilities as Associate Dean of Students, focused on developing student leaders and establishing a leadership minor at the university. He has also served at Trine University in Indiana and Oklahoma Weslyan University. Jim is a certified project manager (PMP) with a M.A. in Counseling from George Fox Seminary and a bachelors degree from Seattle Pacific University. He has served on several professional and non-profit boards. Tim serves as the Executive Director of Institutional Technology at George Fox University. His somewhat roundabout path towards IT started with undergraduate and graduate degrees in theology coupled with 10 years as an outdoor and experiential educator. Whether on a river, in the backcountry or in a classroom with a group of MBA students, he learned that many of the key decisions in life boil down to the two questions, "Where are we now?" and "Where do we need to be?" Tim landed in administration at George Fox in 2005 and has worked in both the Student Life Office and IT. He quickly found that business processes and education are subject to the same to questions he'd come back to as an educator - "What are we doing now?" and "What should we be doing?" This perspective means that Tim is excited about improving services, processes and learning for end-users across the university. Others have caught onto this excitement as well; along with co-worker Brian McLaughlin, Tim was the co-recipient of the 2012 NWACC Hugi Exemplary Practice Award for their work on the iGFU mobile portal. He has also put his background as an educator to use as an active presenter and contributor with the Higher Education Users Group. These varied experiences have given him a broad platform from which to lead IT at George Fox. He is constantly on the lookout for ways that technology can contribute to the educational mission of George Fox. In June of 2013, Chato Hazelbaker was appointed the Chief Communication Officer at Clark College, where he is responsible for public relations, marketing communication, and legislative affairs. In 2014 the Information Technology Services division came under his leadership and he became the Chief Information and Communication Officer. Most recently he served as the Director of Communications at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota. Before that, he served as the Director of Marketing at Montana State University-Billings and News Bureau Manager at Dickinson State University. Hazelbaker has also served as an adjunct faculty member at several institutions including Warner Pacific College and Bethel University, where he taught courses in Organizational Leadership, including Leadership and Technology. Over his career, Hazelbaker has been heavily involved in the web and application development. At Eddie Bauer Inc., he was part of a team that developed the first online payroll forecasting tool used by over 500 retail stores and developed the first intranet used in the company. Hazelbaker earned his doctorate in Organizational Development in 2014 from the University of St. Thomas (MN). Kirk Kelly serves as the Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Portland State University (PSU). Before his current position at PSU, Kirk was the Associate Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer. Prior to joining PSU, Kirk served as Vice Chancellor (CIO) for Information Technology at Pima Community College after working as Networking Director at the institution. Prior to Pima, he spent 15 years at University of Idaho in various technology positions. Kirk earned a BS in Management Information Systems from Washington State University and a MS in Information Systems from University of Phoenix. He remains active in Educause and has served on regional and national committees during his career. Karl Kowalski was appointed Chief Information Technology Officer for the University of Alaska System in November 2011. He previously served as Executive Director of User Services for the Statewide Office of Information Technology since 2007. He came to the University with 20 years’ experience in public education and technology integration in Rural Alaskan schools. Karl is a graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, holding degrees in Education and Biology. He earned his Master’s degree in Educational Technology Leadership from George Washington University in 1999. As a certified teacher and principal, he served as Director of Technology and Information Services for the Northwest Arctic Borough School District for 15 years. Karl also served as adjunct professor for Chukchi College, designing and implementing technology courses for K-12 educators, and as consultant to the State of Alaska Department of Education, reviewing statewide technology plans. He teamed with state and local agencies and the Governor’s office to design and help pass the Alaska Waiver of the Federal E-Rate Program. He was appointed member of the Alaska Information Infrastructure Policy Task Force, State of Alaska UNITY project and is a founding member of the Alaska Distance Learning Partnership. Karl currently serves on the State of Alaska Broadband Taskforce. In his role as CITO, Karl is responsible for strategic planning, security and IT policy for the University of Alaska system, statewide network infrastructure and ERP, videoconferencing and campus integration for a 17 campus system. Outside of work, Karl and his wife, Sandy, enjoy spending time in the outdoors. They have four children and two grandchildren. Soccer, skiing, camping, gardening and enjoying all that Alaska has to offer keeps them more than busy. John Lawson is the Vice Provost for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Western Washington University. His responsibilities run the usual CIO gamut of network services, academic computing and instructional design, user services, administrative computing, media services, and telecommunications. Prior to joining WWU in August 2006, John served as Vice President for Information Technology and CIO at Tulane University. Preceding Tulane, John served as CIO at Pepperdine University. Earlier in his career, John held academic and administrative positions at the University of Oregon, Lewis-Clark State College, and Towson University. At Tulane, John managed the implementation and upgrade of ERP systems, completed an institutional wide wireless network, renewed collaborative labs and technology, and reorganized the academic and user support groups into one organization. John served as Tulane's representative and vice-chair of the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI) to bring high speed networking, high performance computing, and grid architecture to Louisiana's research institutions. He was CIO for Tulane during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He considers himself an expert at evacuating with higher education executives from hurricanes. In addition to holding the senior administrator position of CIO at three institutions, he also held faculty appointments in computer science at Lewis-Clark State College and Towson University. At the University of Oregon he held adjunct faculty and research appointments in education and computer science. John holds a doctorate from the University of Oregon (1985), where his research focused on the determinants of success in the introduction to computer science course utilizing a variety programming languages. He also holds a bachelor's (geography, 1982) and two master's (geography, 1983 and computer science, 1983) degrees from the University of Oregon. John is active in professional organizations, serving on a number of state, NWACC, and EDUCAUSE committees. He is married with three grown children and enjoys family time camping in northern Idaho each summer. John Lehman is emeritus professor in management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, guest professor at Tongji University College of Economics and Management (Shanghai, China) and Courtesy professor in the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Oregon. He was formerly Director of International Programs and professor of information systems and international business at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he was also an affiliate professor of far Eastern philosophy. His previous positions have included Executive Director for Information Technology for the University of Alaska Statewide System, Technical Director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Arctic Region Supercomputer Center, and acting Dean of the School of Management. He is also a steering committee member of the Pacific Neighborhood Consortium. John's academic background (all at the University of Michigan) includes a BA, MA, and ABD in Chinese studies, MBA in Accounting, and PhD in Information Systems. John served on the NWACC Board and Executive Committee from 1995 to 1998. In 1996 he was elected NWACC Secretary/Treasurer and continues to serve as an ex officio member of the Council. He chairs the Finance Committee and Investment Sub-Committee and has served on the Fee Task Force. Dr. Frank Moore joined the Pacific Lutheran University community on February 1, 2013 as the Associate Provost for Information and Technology Services. The Associate Provost for I&TS is the chief information officer for the university, leading I&TS in the provision and implementation of information and communication services, technologies, and related resources. The Associate Provost advises the provost and other executive leaders on these areas of responsibility while working with all campus constituencies to insure alignment of I&TS services with constituent needs. Frank Moore previously was at Longwood University in Farmville, Virgina where he served for 18 years in related capacities, most recently as Vice President for Information and Instructional Technology and Chief Information Officer. As Vice President and CIO, he moved the development of information technology at Longwood through several structural changes and oversaw an organization comprised of User Support Services, Communications and Technology Services, Applications and Engineering Services, Instructional Technology Services, and Information Technology Security Services. At PLU, I&TS is comprised of three operational areas – Enterprise Services (voice & data communications, central servers, administrative applications), Library Services, and User Services( Help Desk, learning technologies, digital media labs, classroom technology, multimedia support). Dr. Moore holds a Ph.D. in French from The Pennsylvania State University, a Master of French from Hofstra University, and a B.A. in French from the University of Vermont. He was an Associate Professor of French at Longwood University with a specialization in medieval French theater. At PLU, Dr. Moore is an administrator with faculty status, thereby providing him with both voice and vote in the Faculty Assembly. William Morse joined the University of Puget Sound as Chief Information Officer on February 1, 2010. During his nearly five years at Puget Sound, William has completely and comprehensively rebuilt the university’s infrastructure and service delivery operations. Some examples include replacing the legacy, home-grown ERP with a modern, vendor provided solution, re-architecting the entire server infrastructure to reduce costs and improve reliability, combining the service desk, multimedia and educational technology units to provide seamless support to the community, deploying a comprehensive virtual desktop infrastructure, replacing the aging switch-based phone system with a modern Voice over IP (VoIP) solution and reorganizing the entire department to best meet university needs among many other initiatives. Prior to Puget Sound, William was CIO for Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, GA. In his four years at Oglethorpe, William modernized and managed the university's technology infrastructure, resulting in improved service and considerable savings, introduced automated tools to improve desktop computer maintenance, replaced the switch-based telecom system with VoIP, and turned a challenging enterprise resource planning system implementation into a functional asset. He achieved ambitious goals with relatively few resources, while focusing on implementing the best systems to serve the needs of faculty, students, and staff. Prior to this, William was Chief Information Officer at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta for nearly ten years. Earlier roles included interim director of information services at Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory, and director of information technology services at the School of Law at Emory. William earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science and a Juris Doctorate degree in law with honors from Emory University. William is active in his profession and has written or contributed to numerous articles on information technology in higher education. At NWACC, he chaired the committee that created a new, ground-breaking program to develop the next generation of higher education IT leaders. While at Emory University, he helped create a groundbreaking bio-informatics program and taught the core of that program until he arrived at Puget Sound. William loves what he does within an environment whose mission is to train the next generation. As Chief Information Officer for University of Portland, Curt leads the information services division in support of an integrated, open, collaborative environment. This vision is pursued by creating a technological environment that supports the access, analysis, and management of information benefiting the University. Before joining the University of Portland in 2013, Curt served most recently as Oregon State University’s (OSU) Open Source Lab director. Prior to that he was OSU’s CIO as well as the Oregon University System CIO, and Oregon’s first state Chief Information Officer. Before coming to Oregon he was CIO for Washington State Department of Labor and Industries and Snohomish County PUD, supporting the theory that he has a CIO gene. Charles Porter has served as the CIO at Seattle University since October 2011. He is also a member of Seattle University’s Infrastructure Committee of the Board of Trustees, a member of the President’s Advisory Council, a member of the Campus Safety and Security Advisory Council, and a member of the Strategic Planning Council. He has previously taught Entrepreneurial Finance, New Venture Creation, and New Venture Consulting at Seattle University’s Albers Graduate School of Business and Economics and Gonzaga University in Florence. On behalf of Seattle University, he is active in EDUCAUSE, Northwest Academic Computing Consortium (NWACC) and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU). Chuck earned his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Gonzaga University and his MBA in Finance and Computer Simulation from the University of Michigan. He completed a 30-year career at Accenture and served as Accenture’s Managing Partner CIO and CTO of its outsourcing practice. He is active in the Pacific Northwest Angel Community serving as a board member or advisor to dozens of early stage technology companies. He serves on the screening committee and strategy committee of a local Angel Investor Group. He has held Board positions with various corporate and not-for-profit organizations. Chuck and Nancy, his wife of 40 years, have two children – an attorney and an executive in a computer gaming company. Recreationally, he is a pilot, a scuba diver, a photographer and a motorcyclist. And he and his wife enjoy international travel. As Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer for Eastern Washington University, Gary Pratt holds the following responsibilities: Lead university information technology support functions: computing, telecommunications, distance learning, technology-based faculty and staff training and development; academic technology; local and wide area networks; administrative applications; database and application development; technology hardware and software recommendation, purchase, installation, support, and troubleshooting; audio/visual support; technology-based course development and offerings; Lead institutional strategic planning; Lead campus special projects. Prior to joining EWU in 2007, Gary was the Associate Provost for Information Technology/CIO at Northern Kentucky University (1999-2006). In the course of his career, Gary has achieved the following accomplishments: developed, implemented, and led significant reorganization of IT support divisions; implemented ERP systems, digital telecommunications systems, high-bandwidth networks, and Web site redesigns; and led multiple statewide initiatives, including annual state-wide education technology conferences for 5 years (first ever in Kentucky), state-wide negotiation for Learning Management System for all public and private education (Kentucky), chaired state-wide E-learning group (Kentucky), and developed and chaired inaugural Washington Higher Education Technology Consortium. Gary holds a Bachelor of Science, Mathematical Engineering; Master of Arts, Computer Information Systems; and Doctorate, Management and Organizational Leadership. He is a Frye Leadership Institute Fellow. Gary joined the NWACC Member Council in 2007. Matt Riley is the Chief Information Officer for the University of Montana. Matt leads the central IT organization for the UM, providing IT-related services, communications services, instructional technology resources and research-related technology support. Working with university and state leaders, Matt provides vision, strategic direction and IT advocacy at the UM in Missoula, as well as throughout the UM network in Montana. Matt began at the UM in 2013 after six years at Stanford University. At Stanford, Matt led IT in the Dean’s Office for the School of Humanities and Sciences. Matt helped bring IT strategy and an innovative services approach to Stanford’s largest school. He also worked to bridge gaps between distributed IT units at Stanford and central organizations. Previous to Stanford, Matt spent 16 years at the University of Redlands in Southern California. At Redlands, Matt worked closely with the CIO to manage and lead all aspects of the IT operation for the institution. Major projects at Redlands included designing and leading the implementation of the campus network, technical responsibility for a major ERP conversion, leading a phone switch replacement from traditional to VoIP and efforts leading to the unification of administrative and academic computing. Matt has been active in Educause for more than 15 years, and has recently been involved with leadership programs at Stanford and MORAssociates. Matt holds MBA and BS in Business degrees, both from the University of Redlands. Marty Ringle is the Chief Information Officer at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Prior to coming to Reed in 1989, he chaired the computer science department at Vassar College. He holds a Ph.D. from SUNY Binghamton, co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and the T.J. Watson School of Engineering. Marty is a trustee of Marylhurst University (Portland) and has served on boards, advisory groups, or steering committees for EDUCAUSE, the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC), the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE), the Research and Education Network Information Sharing and Analysis Center (REN-ISAC), the Cornell Institute for Computer Policy and Law (ICPL), the Center for Higher Education Chief Information Officer Studies, Apple Inc., SCT Corporation, Addison-Wesley, Inc., the Fielding Graduate Institute, and many other organizations. During the past thirty-five years he has consulted on technology issues for more than one hundred and fifty colleges, universities, corporations, foundations, and government agencies. Marty was elected to the NWACC Board in 1990. He became Vice President of NWACC in 1994, Chair of the Board in 1996, and President in 1999. He serves ex officio on all NWACC committees. Dan is the Chief Information Officer at Whitman College. Prior to joining Whitman, Dan held positions as CTO at Lewis & Clark College, CTO for Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho, the Director of Information Technology for the Richard T. Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Ohio, and Manager of Academic Computing at Augsburg College in Minnesota. Dan holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Augsburg College and completed graduate work (ABD) towards a doctorate in Educational Policy and Administration in Higher Education from the University of Minnesota. Dan has made presentations at a variety of conferences including EDUCAUSE and the Society for College and University Planning. From 2001 to 2005, Dan served on the National Datatel Users Group Board of Directors. Dan has served in various capacities within EDUCAUSE, including the Administrative Award Committee, regional conference program committee and the SAC program committee. Dan has been active in NWACC since joining the council in 2001 and served as the Vice Chair of the Board from 2005 to 2006 and Chair of the Board from 2006 to 2008. Dave Tindall is the Assistant Vice President for Technology Services at Seattle Pacific University, a position he has held since 1981. He serves as the chief information officer with oversight of administrative computing, central computing services and networks, telecommunications, microcomputing, user services and classroom/multimedia support. During his tenure at SPU he has been an adjunct faculty member in Computer Science and Business and Economics; has overseen the creation of a robust campus network; upgraded the campus administrative software systems to SCT Banner for most administrative functions; created a centralized HelpDesk and User Services division; brought numerous services online via the web (registration, computer account management, classified ads, directory services, library databases, event calendaring, financial transactions and reporting, etc..); and implemented microcomputer hardware and software standards across employee desktops, academic labs and classrooms. Dave has a Bachelors degree in Business and Economics (SPU, 1975) and Master's degree in Information Systems (SPU, 1989). He has served on many regional and national committees and boards in the areas of information technology and business administration. Dave has been the NWACC member representative from Seattle Pacific University since 1991. He served as Vice Chair of the Board from 2008 to 2010 and will serve as Chair of the Board from 2010 to 2012. Kelli Trosvig served in various leadership posts at the University of Washington (UW). She spent eight years as the Director for Health Sciences Administration, and seven years with the School of Medicine. Past work includes opening a new research campus for UW Medicine in downtown Seattle and expanding the UW School of Medicine’s teaching programs across the state to Spokane. Kelli received both her B.A. in Economics and a Masters in Health Administration at the University of Washington. Kelli, in her role as Vice President and CIO, is responsible for strategic oversight, planning and direction of the University’s information technology infrastructure, as well as resources and services. Under Kelli’s leadership, UW-IT launched key strategic initiatives to meet the growing technology needs of UW students, faculty and staff, while positioning the University for the future. Kelli represents the UW regionally and nationally, serving as 2011-12 chair of the Washington Higher Education Technology Consortium, as a member of the Research University CIO Conclave, as well as on higher education advisory boards for Microsoft, Amazon, and AT&T. She is also on the steering committee of Gig.U, a national coalition of more than 30 research universities working to provide ultra-high-speed networking to local communities. Melissa Woo serves as the Vice Provost for Information Services and Chief Information Officer at the University of Oregon. She previously worked for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) providing general leadership and oversight for the central IT department responsible for campus enterprise and infrastructure services. Prior to UWM, she worked for the central IT organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, overseeing systems and operations. Melissa is a Frye Leadership Institute Fellow, currently serves on the EDUCAUSE 2012 Conference Program Committee, chairs the EDUCAUSE Advisory Group on Enterprise Information Systems and Services (AEGISS), and served on the EDUCAUSE Professional Development Advisory Committee, including a year as committee chair. She completed her PhD in Biophysics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her Bachelor's degree in Biophysics at the University of California, Berkeley. As the University of Hawai'i's Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer (VPIT/CIO), Garret Yoshimi is responsible for UH systemwide information technology systems and services. Garret provides executive leadership in collaboratively setting forth the overall vision, goals, strategies and plans for the effective and appropriate use of information technologies to advance the UH System. Garret joined UH in January 2015. Prior to serving as UH VPIT/CIO, he was vice president and chief operating officer for eWorld Enterprise Solutions. He has more than 35 years of experience in information technology in both the public and private sectors in Hawai'i. He has served as the first CIO for the Hawai'i Judiciary, senior technology executive for the East-West Center and CIO for DTRIC Insurance. Garret also previously served as telecommunications manager before being promoted to director of technology infrastructure for the University of Hawai'i. He actively represented the University of Hawai'i in state and national venues as a member of EDUCAUSE, Internet2 and the Association for College and University Technology Advancement, which awarded him the Bill D. Morris award for individual leadership. A native of Honolulu, Garret earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and a graduate certificate in telecommunications and information resource management from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Please direct comments and questions about this web site to the NWACC Webmaster.

2019-04-22T07:21:23Z

http://nwacc.org/about/bodbios.html

Congratulations to Kevin Ni who has been selected to attend the AIOC Informatics School of Excellence to be held at ANU during December. Kevin is one of only 26 students in Australia to qualify for the intensive training program. Four students will be chosen to represent Australia at the International Olympiad in Informatics held in Kazakhstan next July. Well done to John Pham and Danny Nguyen for their volunteer work at the recent Cruelty Free Festival. Their courtesy, enthusiasm, willingness to help and obliging manner endeared them to organisers and patrons alike. SBHS offers only two scholarships/bursaries – the Phillip Day Memorial Scholarship and the Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation Scholarship. All enrolled or enrolling students are eligible to apply for the Phillip Day Memorial Scholarship. It is a one-year credit on the school account for $1,500. The Selection Criteria covers talented boys in an academic area or a co-curricular endeavour. Good all-rounders qualify as do students with special needs – financial or otherwise. There are many boys in the school who would make good candidates for this award. I urge them to take the trouble to download and complete the application form. The Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation Inc Scholarship is a two-year award with a credit at the school account for $1,500 for each Year – 11 and 12. Only boys enrolled or enrolling in Year 11 are eligible to apply. The criteria for this scholarship are different. It has an emphasis on a prior record of service to others, to the school and/or the community. Boys with initiative, compassion and leadership skills are invited to apply. Look for the details on the website www.sydneyboyshigh.com/scholarships. Do not assume that you are not worthy or eligible. Applications close on November 28. Granting student leave during the school year is becoming more controversial as governments have a growing concern that far too many students are leaving school early just to take advantage of cheaper flights. A commercial reason for leave is considered invalid. Any family wishing to apply for student leave during term 4 must do so by Friday, November 14. School Policy on granting leave during the school term will be tightened for 2015. Too many students have not yet discussed their progress with me. Clearance Forms have been issued to all boys and they should be meeting their commitments. The boys are deciding on their courses for the HSC and it is imperative that I speak to them all before Tuesday, November 18. Please ask your son for his report and his plans for courses for 2015. Boys need to start focussing on the important months of HSC learning ahead! As from November 18, strong negative consequences will have to be applied to force boys to comply with school policy. The HSC exams concluded on November 4. Year 7, 8 and 9 examinations have finished. Year 8 examinations will be held next week. Year 8 boys have ESSA online science assessments next week. Year 10 yearly exams commence next Friday. All boys are expected to attend school until the last official day of term 4, Wednesday 17 December. Please be advised the SBHS P&C Annual General Meeting will be held next Monday 10th November at 6:30pm in the Staff Common Room. Considerable time has been spent in the Junior Library in the last few weeks by our hard working network manager and web manager and our Laptop IT technician installing 30 brand new computers and monitors. They have also just replaced our colour printer/photocopier. Our Libraries and our school are very privileged that IT infrastructure is very well maintained thanks to our parent donations to the Technology Fund and the Library Fund. More ergonomic staff computer desks have also come our way – thanks to James Rudd for re-connecting computers and our new GA and his assistant who moved all our furniture. The Junior Librarian has also spent considerable time obtaining quotes for new circulation counters which will make our Junior Library look more professional and run more effectively. (We have been making do with hand me down cupboards and rather scruffy sorting shelves) It is hoped that these will arrive early next year. Our Library Staff and our lovely 54 active Library Monitors work in this area for 2 hours every day. Our 6000 loans annually are processed in this area and all of our shelf maintenance and collection maintenance - stocktaking, disposals and subject added entry writing and checking is done out in the Library proper. This area is very well used and very busy and needs to be tightly organised. The Year 9 film festival was held in the Junior Library on Monday at lunchtime. Our big screen came in very handy for this purpose and thanks the Year 9 boys who transformed the Junior Library into a movie theatre for themselves. The movies were very interesting (and hilarious) modern adaptations of Macbeth – loved the blood and the gunshot special effects! The audience loved it. We have been inundated with wonderful helpers - thanks to an increase in popularity of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme - in our library and my staff has to think very flexibly, often very quickly to find them productive jobs. However, whenever we find ourselves hard pressed in this regard we also realise how valuable this assistance is to the effort this library makes to put out, clean, tidy and assist in processing a large volume of resources for the boys and to tag and advertise these resources. Processing 42 boxes of brand new books from the Babic Bequest as well as purchasing more age suitable resources for our readers puts out a lot of incredible resources but it is quite taxing. We could not do what we do without the assistance of our Library Monitors. Thank you for your patience with us boys and for your help. We had over 100 students who responded to our Senior Library Survey. This provides us with information that we can use to improve or make more relevant the services and resources of the Senior Library to our users. We were encouraged by this feedback with most (93%) using the library for studying with collaboration or working with friends also common at 75%, with 45% doing research and 33% reading for pleasure. Most respondents thought that books in the library are still relevant at 86% as we encourage boys to use a range of resource formats for research and reading for all purposes. Boys also commented on aspects of the library and how it could be improved. They want more new resources and more space in the library as it can be very crowded in here at times. We will be attempting to respond to their comments as much as we can in the next year. Recently the library has had its DVD collection upgraded with the purchase of DVDs which will complement the new Australian Curriculum across subjects such as English, History, Science and Social Science as well as film versions of literature etc. The Senior Library is currently preparing for our annual stocktake of resources. Once again we have added many (nearly 1000 items) to our collection this year! To ensure that they are accounted for and look at how they are being used our stock take serves several important functions. We also often find wrongly shelved items previously thought lost, assess the usefulness and relevance of older items, correct mistakes in the record and aim to assess and remedy any gaps in the collection. As our collection grows this task is increasingly bigger and more important to ensure that the resources available are the most relevant for current curriculum requirements leading up to the HSC examinations as well as resources which will provide wide reading choices for student interest. Finally, we are now in the process of receiving materials borrowed by our Year 12 students as they come back after completing their HSC to have their “clearance” forms signed. As they take leave of SBH I’m sure that they feel both excited at the future but at the same time a sense of loss at leaving this school especially the friends they have made during their time here. I’m sure that many of them will be back to visit and some to work coaching and tutoring students who will eventually follow them in the future. Good luck and our best wishes for them in the HSC and hopefully all will achieve their hoped for results. It has been a pleasure working with them during their time in the McDonald Senior Library. There will be a live recording session for all students in the USA Music Tour this Sunday 9th of November. Attendance is compulsory. Students are to wear WHITE SHIRTS & BLAZERS. Students have been advised to arrive 15 minutes prior to set up and rehearse. Large ensembles concert on Monday 10th November in the Great Hall from 6:30pm. USA Music Tour Bands (strings/stage & concert bands). Marching Band rehearsal will commence from Tuesday 11th of November, 3.30pm. Hello all. This week against Grammar was our time to shine. The rivalry was brewing, the boys were ready… Our 1st grade came out on top with a 24-point difference. In the 15 As, a buzzer beater made by Nick Lambros would allow for a 29-28 win. Full of confidence and with a high morale Sydney High hosted King's a perennial power house in GPS tennis. And again under sweltering conditions we served up another great victory, remaining undefeated so far in the pre-season. Depth in our doubles was further demonstrated with wins in our second and third pairing. Carl and Eddy, although lapsing in the first set, returned to display their consistent doubles performance. Matthew and I struggled with unforced errors against a very capable opposition. Into the singles with a 3-2 advantage we were again able to capitalise with number 4, 5 and 6 singles, Stevie, Josh and I all winning comfortably. However Matthew, Eddy and Carl were unable to get the edge on their skilful opponents unfortunately losing 2-6 2-6, 6-3 3-6 4-6, 5-7 6-4 4-6 respectively. The end of the rubber saw High victorious 5-4 and eager for the Top 6 Tournament next Saturday. 2nd Grade headed to King's School on a hot Saturday wary of the strength of the opposition, but the team was quietly confident after the 6.5-2.5 win against Newington last week. The number one doubles pair raced to a 5-2 lead in the first set, only to drop the next 5 games. Similarly in the second set, the pair led 4-1 before numerous errors resulted in a 5-7 5-7 loss. The number two pair played aggressive tennis and were rewarded with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 win. The number three pair fought hard from a set down to win their second doubles match in two weeks, 5-7 7-5 10-5. In the singles, James stayed close with a solid opponent in both sets but could not get on top, going down 3-6 4-6. Richard battled through three sets to record a scrappy win, 4-6 6-3 6-2. Danny was in complete control against a good player, but a loss of concentration in the second set meant that he had to finish the job in three, 6-1 1-6 6-4. Branko fought hard in the opening set before cruising through the second, winning 6-4 6-1. Wanyu’s aggressive game proved too much for his opponent to handle, winning 6-3 7-5. Kinsey’s good recent form showed again as he destroyed his opponent 6-1 6-0. The team enjoyed a big win overall, 7-2, and much credit goes to the junior members of the team for playing so well over the last couple of weeks. The future looks bright for High tennis, but for now we are looking forward to a match against rivals Grammar. 2nd Grade travelled to Grammar on a humid and windy day confident of a good result after strong wins against Newington and King's in the past two weeks. The number one doubles pair came out strong and took the opening set, however unforced errors crept in as the match progressed and the pair lost 6-4 3-6 8-10. Fortunately, the number two and number three pairs were able to win their matches comfortably, 6-1 6-2 and 6-0 6-2 respectively, allowing the team to take a 2-1 lead into the singles matches. James built a commanding lead from the start but his consistent opponent clawed his way back into the match, which ended 6-2 2-6 2-2 due to a downpour. Richard was able to neutralise his opponent’s powerful serve and forehand, winning 6-1 6-2. Danny only played 3 games before his match was also abandoned due to the rain. Aaron played a great match against a skilful opponent, winning his first singles match in the 2nd Grade competition 7-5 6-4. Branko fought hard in a very evenly contested match, leading 4-6 6-4 2-1 when the rain stopped the match. Wanyu made light work of his opponent with an impressive serving display, recording a 6-1 6-4 win. With only two weeks until Round 1 of competition starts, High 2nd Grade is in a great position, but there is still much to work on in training in order to reach the ultimate goal of winning the premiership. After the final training session before our first round of the GPS competition what will now become an annual event will be the official presentation of the caps to the 1st and 2nd XI teams. The night involved our boys starting off with sausage rolls, thanks to House of Pies and then moving into the Pavilion where we had a special guest presenter for the occasion to speak about the meaning of the cap. To kick off our first year of doing this it was a great honour to have SBHS old boy and now a current Test opener batsman for England, Sam Robson. Sam spoke about his journey from playing 1st XI at SBHS to Australian U19s to Middlesex County Cricket and most recently representing England against Sri Lanka and scoring his debut Test century. The boys were pleasantly surprised when he pulled out his England Baggy Cap to show the boys. He explained to the boys that a lot of hard work and determination will get you where you want to go. Our first round of the GPS Season threw us a lot of heart break. Our 1st XI started off very strongly against our arch rivals, Grammar. Winning the toss and electing to bat we had an opening stand of 89 runs after 21 overs. Then a couple of unfortunate run outs, especially Shashank who was standing at the non-striker’s end and the ball was smashed back at him from Sudarshan only to hit his foot then ricochet back to the bowlers hand who only had to take the bails off. Sudarshan batted extremely well smashing the bowlers around the park with a much needed 64. The boys ended up setting a respectable total of 160. We started well having them 2-30. Then a large dark cloud with lightning in the background threatened to interrupt play. Our boys panicked and opted to try and rush through the overs. Unfortunately this was our downfall allowing Grammar to score easily. When the rain finally came after 26 overs Grammar were 25 runs in front according to the Duckworth Lewis Calculation. When we came back on Grammar only needed 40 runs to win which they managed to achieve. The 2nd XI on the other hand had a much more dramatic time with the rain interruption. Bowling well they had Grammar 7-90, but one of their top-order batters kept them in the game with a 69 helping the team post 139, which our boys felt very comfortable to chase. They got off to a good start being 2-59 with Vyaas (24), who has consistently scored well this season, and Yoshi (24) placing them 10 runs in front in the Duckworth Lewis calculations. Unfortunately with the rain approaching the boys lost a wicket and then were unsure whether to protect their wicket or score runs. They opted for the protection of wicket and this ultimately left them 1 run behind after the 26th over when the rain came down and washed out the remainder of the game. What was unfortunate was if we had used a different application on the laptop it would have adjudicated the match as a Tie, but the app we agreed on had us 1 run behind the par score. It was a great effort by the boys and they deserved a better result. Kabir and Raphin both bowled extremely well and have continued to be a threat in the 2nd XI. The 16As have had a good season thus far, but some poor fielding this week allowed Grammar to post an unbeatable total. Faysal bowled extremely well with a lot of bad luck with many dropped catches. To his credit he decided to take the matter into his own hands and scored a blazing 43. The 15As played their best match for the season with a nail biting loss to a very strong Grammar side losing by just 8 runs. They needed 20 runs off the remaining 80 balls but in the end were all out with 4 balls remaining.

2019-04-24T13:49:04Z

http://www.sydneyboyshigh.com/publications/high-notes/archive/vol15no35

Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell is known for its rigorous academics, innovative pedagogy, and commitment to social justice. Grinnell has the sixth highest endowment-to-student ratio of liberal arts colleges, enabling need blind admissions and substantial academic merit scholarships to boost socioeconomic diversity. Students receive funding for unpaid or underpaid summer internships and professional development (including international conferences and professional attire). Grinnell participates in a 3–2 engineering dual degree program with Columbia University, Washington University in St. Louis, and California Institute of Technology, a 2–1–1–1 engineering program with Dartmouth College and a Master of Public Health cooperative degree program with University of Iowa. Nearly half of enrolled Grinnellians self-identify as international students or students of color. Among Grinnell alumni are 14 Rhodes Scholars, 119 Fulbright Scholars (Since 2005), 79 Watson Fellows, 13 Goldwater Scholars, and one Nobel laureate. Its alumni include actor Gary Cooper, chemist Thomas Cech, Intel co-founder Robert Noyce, jazz musician Herbie Hancock, government administrator Harry Hopkins, and comedian Kumail Nanjiani. The 120-acre campus includes several listings on the National Register of Historic Places as well as a César Pelli designed ultra-modern student center, integrated academic complexes, and state-of-the-art athletics facilities. Grinnell College also manages significant real estate adjacent to the campus and in the historic downtown, a free-access golf course, and the 365-acre Conard Environmental Research Area. U.S. News & World Report ranked Grinnell 11th best overall and 2nd best for undergraduate teaching among liberal arts colleges. In 1843, eleven Congregational ministers, all of whom trained at Andover Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, set out to proselytize on the frontier. Each man pledged to gather a church and together the group or band would seek to establish a college. When the group arrived in Iowa later that year, each selected a different town in which to establish a congregation. In 1846, they collectively established Iowa College in Davenport. A few months later, Iowa joined the Union. The first 25 years of Grinnell's history saw a change in name and location. Iowa College moved farther west from Davenport, Iowa, to the town of Grinnell and unofficially adopted the name of its new home, which itself had been named for one of its founders: an abolitionist minister, Josiah Bushnell Grinnell, to whom journalist Horace Greeley supposedly wrote "Go West, young man, go West." However, Greeley vehemently denied ever saying this to Grinnell, or to anyone. The name of the corporation, "The Trustees of Iowa College," remained, but in 1909 the name "Grinnell College" was adopted by the trustees for the institution. Josiah Bushnell Grinnell: one of the four founders of Grinnell, Iowa and benefactor of Grinnell College. In 1882, Grinnell College was struck by a tornado — then called a cyclone, after which the college yearbook was named. The storm devastated the campus and destroyed both College buildings. Rebuilding began immediately, and the determination to expand wasn't limited to architecture: the curriculum was again extended to include departments in political science (the first in the United States) and modern languages. Concern with social issues, educational innovation, and individual expression continue to shape Grinnell. As an example, the school's "5th year travel-service program," preceded the establishment of the Peace Corps by many years. Other recent innovations include first-year tutorials, cooperative pre-professional programs, and programs in quantitative studies and the societal impacts of technology. Every year, the college awards the $100,000 Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize, which is split between the recipient and their organization. Grinnell College is located in the town of Grinnell, Iowa, about halfway between Des Moines and Iowa City. The main campus is bounded by 6th Avenue (which is also US Highway 6) on the south, 10th Avenue on the north, East Street on the east and Park Street on the west. The 120-acre (0.49 km2) campus contains sixty-three buildings ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to Bauhaus. Goodnow Hall and Mears Cottage (1889) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Immediately west of the college is the North Grinnell Historic District, which contains over 200 National Register of Historic Places contributing buildings. East Campus dormitories connected by Grinnell's distinctive loggia. The residential part of campus is divided into three sections: North Campus, East Campus, and South Campus. North and South Campus' dormitories are modeled explicitly after the residential colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. The four East Campus dormitories were designed by William Rawn Associates and feature a modern, LEED-certified design constructed from Iowa limestone. All three campuses feature dormitory buildings connected by loggia, an architectural signature of the college. The loggia on South Campus is the only entirely closed loggia, featuring walls on all sides, while the loggias on East and North campus are only partially closed. From the time that the first dorm opened in 1915 until the fall of 1968, the nine north campus dorms were used exclusively for male students, and the six south campus dorms reserved for female students. The dorm halls house significantly fewer students than halls at other colleges. Most academic buildings are located on the southwestern quarter of campus. The athletic facilities are mostly located on the northeastern quarter, and some facilities are located north of 10th Avenue. In addition to the main campus, the college owns much of the adjacent property. Many administrative offices are located in converted houses across Park Street near the older academic buildings, and several residences are used for college-owned off-campus student housing. The college maintains a 365-acre (1.48 km2) environmental research area called the Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA). The U.S. Green Building Council awarded CERA's Environmental Education Center a gold certification. The building is the first in Iowa to receive the designation. During the 2000s, the College completed the Charles Benson Bear '39 Recreation and Athletic Center, the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, the renovation of the Robert Noyce '49 Science Center and the Joe Rosenfield '25 Student Center. Internationally renowned architect César Pelli designed the athletics center, the Joe Rosenfield '25 Student Center, and the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts. The college has recently embarked on a significant period of new construction, which is expected to last until 2034. The first phase of this construction process includes a comprehensive landscaping update, a new Admissions and Financial Aid building, and the Humanities and Social Sciences Complex (HSSC). This first phase will cost $140 million and is projected for completion in mid-2020. Grinnell College is nationally recognized as a leading undergraduate institution. In July 2006, The New York Times included Grinnell in its profile of the 20 colleges and universities of "established or rising scholarship" which are fast becoming viable alternatives to Ivy League institutions, and is considered one of the 30 Hidden Ivies. The 2018 annual ranking of U.S. News & World Report rates it tied for the 19th best liberal arts college in the nation and 4th for "Best Undergraduate Teaching." The College has been consistently ranked in the top 25 liberal arts colleges in the nation since the publication began in 1983. Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranks Grinnell 9th in its 2016 ranking of "best value" liberal arts colleges in the United States. Grinnell was ranked 15th in the 2015 Washington Monthly rankings, which focus on key outputs such as research, dollar value of scientific grants won, the number of graduates going on to earn Ph.D. degrees, and certain types of public service. In Forbes magazine's 2018 rankings of academic institutions, "America's Top Colleges" (which uses a non-traditional ranking system based on RateMyProfessors.com evaluations, notable alumni, student debt, percentage of students graduating in four years, and the number of students or faculty receiving prestigious awards), Grinnell College was ranked 57th among all colleges and universities, 28th among liberal arts colleges, and 8th in the Midwest. Data from 2006 placed Grinnell at number eight among all U.S. undergraduate institutions in the proportion of graduates who go on to earn Ph.D. degrees and 15th for graduating female Ph.D. earners. Grinnell College graduates enjoy a high acceptance rate to law school; over 46% of all applications submitted by students have been accepted by law schools. Unigo.com's 2010 college rankings place Grinnell College in the "Top 10 Colleges Where the Pursuit of Knowledge Goes Outside the Classroom". Grinnell had 171 full-time faculty in Fall 2015, 98% of whom possess a doctorate or the terminal degree in their field. At the end of each semester, students fill out course surveys which play a large role in determining faculty tenure decisions and merit raises. Grinnell's open curriculum encourages students to take initiative and to assume responsibility for their own courses of study. The sole core, or general education, requirement is the completion of the First-Year Tutorial, a one-semester, four-credit special topics seminar that stresses methods of inquiry, critical analysis, and writing skills. All other classes are chosen, with the direct guidance of a faculty member in the student's major department, by the student. The academic program at Grinnell College emphasizes active learning and one-on-one interactions between faculty members and students. There are few large lecture classes. In sharp contrast to all public universities and many private universities in the United States, no classes, labs or other courses are taught by graduate students. Grinnell College expects all students to possess significant academic achievements. For example, the math department does not offer any basic-level classes such as college algebra, trigonometry, or pre-calculus, and remedial classes are not offered in any subject. However, several independent, non-credit programs assist students who need help in a specific subject. Among these programs are the Library Lab, Math Lab, Reading Lab, Science Learning Center, and the Writing Lab. While private tutors can be hired, participation in these programs is free for any enrolled student. Grinnell has twenty-six major departments and ten interdisciplinary concentrations. Popular majors include Psychology, Economics, Biology, History, English, and Political Science. The minimum requirements in a major area of study are typically limited to 32 credits in a single department, with some departments additionally requiring a small number of classes in related fields that are deemed critical for all students in that field. For example, the biology program requires 32 credits in the biology department plus two classes in chemistry and one in math. Many students exceed the minimum requirements. To graduate, students are normally expected to complete at least 32 credits in a major field and a total of 124 credits of academic work. To encourage students to explore courses outside of their primary interest area, no more than 48 credits in one department and no more than 92 credits in one division are counted towards this requirement. Grinnell's commitment to the importance of off-campus study reflects the school's emphasis on social and political awareness and the international nature of its campus. Approximately 60 percent of all Grinnell students participate in at least one of more than seventy off-campus programs, including the Grinnell-in-London program and study tours of China, France, Greece, and Russia. These study programs in Europe (including Russia), Africa, the Near East, and Asia, as well as nine programs in Central and South America, provide the opportunity for research in many disciplines, from archaeology to education to mathematics. In addition to off-campus programs, Grinnell offers internship programs in such areas as urban studies, art, and marine biology for students interested in field-based learning and experience in professional settings. Second- and third-year students may apply for summer internship grants and receive credit for the experience. Semester programs in the United States include those at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Newberry Library, National Theatre Institute, and Grinnell-in-Washington, D.C. Grinnell also has invested in several interdisciplinary programs: the Center for Prairie Studies, Center for the Humanities, Center for International Studies, Noun Program in Women's Studies, Peace Studies Program, Rosenfield Public Affairs Program, and the Donald L. Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership. U.S. News & World Report classifies Grinnell's selectivity as "most selective." For Fall 2015, Grinnell received 6,414 freshmen applications; 1,598 were admitted (24.9%). Of the 41% of enrolled freshmen who submitted class rank, 81% were in the top 10% of their high school classes and 96% were in the top quarter. The middle 50% range of SAT scores for the enrolled freshmen was 640–740 for critical reading and 660–770 for math, while the ACT Composite range was 30–33. Grinnell College's admission selectivity rating, according to The Princeton Review in 2008, is a 95 out of 99. This rating is determined by several institutionally reported factors, including: the class rank, average standardized test scores, and average high school GPA of entering freshmen; the percentage of students who hail from out-of-state; and the percentage of applicants accepted. The primary factor in evaluating applicants is the quality of the education they have received, as shown by their transcript. Additional factors include standardized test scores, student writing skills, recommendations, and extracurricular activities. Early decision rounds are offered to students in the fall; most students apply in January of their final year in high school. Admission decisions are released by April 1 of each year. All students begin classes in August. The students' expectation of needing financial assistance does not affect the admission process. Despite the growing trend of U.S. students taking five or more years to finish an undergraduate degree, Grinnell College is strongly oriented towards students being enrolled full-time in exactly eight consecutive semesters at the college, although exceptions are available for medical issues and other emergencies. To avoid being suspended from the college, students must make "normal progress towards graduation." This generally means that the student must pass at least 12 credits of classes in each individual semester, with grades C or higher, and have accumulated enough credits to make graduation possible at the end of four years, which requires an average of 15.5 credits each semester. A student who is not making normal progress towards graduation is placed on academic probation and may be dismissed from the college. Nationwide, only 20% of college students complete a four-year undergraduate degree within four years, and only 57% of college students graduate within six years. However, at Grinnell College, 84% of students graduate within four years. This is the highest graduation rate of any college in Iowa. Grinnell's combined tuition, room, board, and fees for the 2013–2014 academic year is $53,654. Tuition and fees are $43,656 and room and board are $9,998. Grinnell College is one of a few dozen US colleges that maintain need-blind admissions and meets the full demonstrated financial need of all U.S. residents who are admitted to the college. Grinnell offers a large amount of need-based and merit-based aid in comparison with peer institutions. About 90% of students receive some form of financial aid. In 2013–2014, 24% of students enrolled at Grinnell College were receiving federal Pell Grants, which are generally reserved for students from low-income families. The average financial aid package is over $26,000. With the first-year students enrolled in the 2006–2007 school year, Grinnell has ended its need-blind admissions policy for international applicants. Under the old policy, students from countries outside the U.S. were admitted without any consideration of their ability to afford four years of study at the college. However, financial aid offers to these students were limited to half the cost of tuition. International students frequently carried very high workloads in an effort to pay the bills, and their academic performance often suffered. Under the new "need-sensitive" or "need-aware" policy, international students whose demonstrated financial needs can be met are given a slight admissions edge over applicants who can't. The twin hopes are that the enrolled international students will be able to dedicate more energy to their schoolwork, and also that this will ultimately allow the college to provide higher tuition grants to international students. Additionally, several extremely competitive "special scholarships" were set up to meet the full demonstrated financial needs for students from the following countries or regions: Africa, Eastern and Central Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Asia, Nepal, the People's Republic of China, as well as for native speakers of Russian regardless of citizenship, available every other year. According to data for students enrolled approximately in 2008, the median family income for students was US$119,700 (74th percentile). This is somewhat lower than typical for other highly selective schools. Compared to other schools in the Midwestern Conference and to other highly selective schools, Grinnell College enrolled more students whose family income was in the lowest quintile (6.3% of enrolled students). The school's varsity sports teams are named the Pioneers. They participate in eighteen intercollegiate sports at the NCAA Division III level and in the Midwest Conference. In addition, Grinnell has several club sports teams that compete in non-varsity sports such as volleyball, sailing, water polo, ultimate and rugby union. Nearly one-third of recent Grinnell graduates participated in at least one of varsity sports while attending the college and the college has led the Midwest Conference in the total number of Academic All-Conference honorees in last six years. The men's water polo team, known as the Wild Turkeys, were runners-up in the 2007 College Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Collegiate National Club Championships hosted by Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. They also qualified for the tournament in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2014. The Men's Ultimate team, nicknamed the Grinnellephants, qualified in 2008 for its first Division III National Championship in Versailles, Ohio. The Women's Ultimate team, nicknamed The Sticky Tongue Frogs, tied for third place in the 2010 Division III National Championship in Appleton, Wisconsin. The success was repeated in 2011 when the men's team placed third in 2011 Division III National Championship in Buffalo. In February 2005, Grinnell became the first Division III school featured in a regular season basketball game by the ESPN network family in 30 years when it faced off against the Beloit Buccaneers on ESPN2. Grinnell lost 86–85. Grinnell College's basketball team attracted ESPN due to the team's run and gun style of playing basketball, known in Grinnell simply as "The System." Coach Dave Arseneault originated the Grinnell System that incorporates a continual full-court press, a fast-paced offense, an emphasis on offensive rebounding, a barrage of three-point shots and substitutions of five players at a time every 35 to 40 seconds. This allows a higher average playing time for more players than the "starters" and suits the Division III goals of scholar-athletes. "The System" has been criticized for not teaching the principles of defense. However, under "The System," Grinnell has won three conference championships over the past ten years and have regularly placed in the top half of the conference. Coach Arseneault's teams have set numerous NCAA scoring records and several individuals on the Grinnell team have led the nation in scoring or assists. On November 19, 2011 Grinnell player Griffin Lentsch set a new Division III individual scoring record in a game against Principia College. The 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m) guard scored 89 points, besting the old record of 77, also set by a Pioneers player—Jeff Clement—in 1998. Lentsch made 27 of his 55 shots, including 15 three-pointers as Grinnell won the high-scoring game 145 to 97. On November 20, 2012 Grinnell's Jack Taylor broke Lentsch's scoring record, as well as the records for NCAA and collegiate scoring, in a 179–104 victory over Faith Baptist Bible. Taylor scored 138 points on 108 shots, along with 3 rebounds, 6 turnovers and 3 steals. Taylor went 27–71 from behind the arc. Taylor scored 109 points in a November 2013 game against Crossroads College to become the first player in NCAA history to have two 100-point games. Students at Grinnell adhere to an honor system known as "self-governance" wherein they are expected to govern their own choices and behavior with minimal direct intervention by the college administration. By cultivating a community based on freedom of choice, self-governance aims to encourage students to become responsible, respectful, and accountable members of the campus, town, and global community. The organizational structure of the Student Government Association, wielding a yearly budget of over $450,000 and unusually strong administrative influence, covers almost all aspects of student activity and campus life. Founded in November 2000, the student-run Student Endowment Investing Group (SEIG), actively invests over $100,000 of Grinnell College's endowment in the stock market. The group's mission is to provide interested students with valuable experience for future careers in finance. Service organizations are popular. The Alternative Break ("AltBreak") program takes students to pursue service initiatives during school holidays, and as of 2005, Grinnell had more alumni per capita serving in the Peace Corps than any other college in the nation. The college also runs its own post-graduation service program known as Grinnell Corps in Grinnell, China, Namibia, New Orleans, and Thailand, and has previously operated programs in Greece, Lesotho, Macau, and Nepal. The Scarlet and Black is the campus newspaper and KDIC (88.5 FM) is the student-run radio station. The Scarlet and Black, or the S&B is the first college newspaper west of the Mississippi River and is currently in its 130th year of publication. The newspaper, typically 16 tabloid pages in length, is published in print most Fridays of the school year and online. Students primarily write the newspaper, although occasional letters from alumni or faculty are included. Funding comes from student fees and advertisers. The school also has a monthly satirical newspaper, "The B&S", which features made-up articles about current events both on and off campus. In April 2007, Grinnell college students founded the Social Entrepreneurs of Grinnell, a student operated microfinance lending institution. The group collects donations for the purpose of making small loans at zero interest to business owners and artisans around the world. It is affiliated with kiva.org. Grinnell also has an entirely student-run textbook lending library on campus. Aimed at the economically disadvantaged yet open to all, it allows students to check out books for the semester for free, defraying the high cost of college textbooks. The library has no funding, relying solely on books donated. Since its founding in 2005, the collection has grown to thousands of books due to the generosity of the campus community. The library has expanded to include caps and gowns, which are lent out to graduating seniors every spring. Grinnell hosts the Titular Head film festival. In 2016, Grinnell students founded the Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers, or UGSDW, to represent student workers in the College's dining hall. It was the first undergraduate student union at a private college in the United States. Since its founding, UGSDW has secured numerous wage increases and benefits for dining hall workers. In September 2017, UGSDW announced their intention to expand the union to all student workers and create "the most unionized campus in the country," which, if successful, would be another nationwide first. This effort received considerable resistance from College administration, which claims complete unionization "would negatively impact Grinnell’s mission and culture — shifting away from an individually advised, experiential, residential, liberal arts education in which work on campus plays a major educational role." UGSDW won their subsequent NLRB election by a margin of 5 to 1, but Grinnell College filed a request for review to the National Labor Relations Board. This move would likely have lead to an overturn of the Columbia decision, which affirms the right of student workers to organize across the United States. Acknowledging the possible ramifications of the College's actions, UGSDW withdrew their petition from NLRB consideration on December 14, 2018 but vowed to continue fighting for total expansion of representation on campus. Hallie Flanagan, 1911, pioneer of experimental theatre and director, the Federal Theatre Project of the Works Progress Administration; first woman to win a Guggenheim. Harry Hopkins, 1912, senior advisor to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, principal architect of New Deal, WPA administrator. Joseph Welch, 1914, head attorney for United States Army during Army-McCarthy Hearings. Gary Cooper, 1922, Academy Award-winning actor, best known for High Noon. Amy Clampitt, 1941, poet and critic. Robert Noyce, 1949, co-founder of Intel, co-inventor of integrated circuit (the other co-inventor, Jack Kilby, won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for the integrated circuit), National Medal of Science recipient. Herbie Hancock, 1960, Grammy Award-winning jazz musician and composer. 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Retrieved 2016-02-23. ^ "Grinnell College - Profile, Rankings". Archived from the original on 2017-02-27. ^ a b "Grinnell College - A private liberal arts college in Iowa". www.grinnell.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-02. ^ "Grinnell College - The Princeton Review College Rankings & Reviews". www.princetonreview.com. Retrieved 2018-05-02. ^ "CLS Grants & Funding | Grinnell College". www.grinnell.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-05. ^ "3–2 Engineering Program | Grinnell College". www.grinnell.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-05. ^ Engineering, Thayer School of. "Dual-Degree Program | Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth". engineering.dartmouth.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-05. ^ "Recent Recipients | Grinnell College". www.grinnell.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-19. ^ "Best Athletic Facilities | The Princeton Review". www.princetonreview.com. Retrieved 2018-05-02. ^ "Grinnell College Buys Downtown Properties, Plans Demolition of Vacant Building | Grinnell College". www.grinnell.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-02. ^ "Grinnell College Golf Course | Iowa Public Golf | Iowa Golf Course". Grinnell College Golf Course. Retrieved 2018-05-02. ^ Grinnell, Josiah (1891). Men and Events of Forty Years. Boston: D. Lothrop. p. 87. Retrieved 12 February 2009. ^ Wall, Joseph Frazier. Grinnell College in the Nineteenth Century: From Salvation to Service. (Ames: Iowa State University Press), 91–92. ^ Morgan, J. (1969). "The Development of Sociology and the Social Gospel in America". Sociological Analysis. Oxford University Press. 30 (1): 42–53. doi:10.2307/3709933. JSTOR 3709933. . see footnote 4. ^ Handy, Robert (1950). "George D. Herron and the Kingdom Movement". Church History. American Society of Church History. 19 (2): 97–115. doi:10.2307/3162192. JSTOR 3162192. ^ McHale, Cathryn (1935). "Education for Women: The significance of Present-Day College Education for Women and Curriculum Changes". Journal of Higher Education. ^ "Grinnell Prize | Grinnell College". www.grinnell.edu. 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Retrieved 30 April 2008. ^ "Phase I of campus construction costs $140 million, prompts short-term endowment splurge". www.thesandb.com. Retrieved 2018-05-08. ^ "Timeline – Pushing beyond what's been done". comm.sites.grinnell.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-08. ^ Archibold, R.C. "Off the Beaten Path", The New York Times, 30 July 2006. ^ Greene, Howard; Greene, Mathew (2009). The Hidden Ivies. HarperCollins. ^ "Best Colleges – National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. 2018. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. ^ "Kiplinger's Best College Values - 2016". Kiplinger's Personal Finance. December 2015. ^ "2015 Liberal Arts College Rankings". Washington Monthly. ^ Howard, Caroline (26 June 2018). "America's Top Colleges: The schools that matter most". Forbes. ^ Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium. "Weighted Baccalaureate Origins Study." 2006. ^ Unigo. 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Retrieved 2018-12-06. ^ "Best Colleges: Grinnell College". US News and World Report. 2018. ^ Fleig, Shelby (22 October 2018). "Grinnell named best college in Iowa, but not for its tuition. Where does your school rank?". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2018-12-06. ^ Grinnell College, Office of Admissions Archived 2009-08-31 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 December 2012. ^ Grinnell College, Office of Admission. Tuition & Fees Archived 2007-02-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 February 2007. ^ "Economic Diversity Among the Top 25 Ranked Schools: National Liberal Arts Colleges". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 22 February 2016. ^ College Board. "College Board Profile of Grinnell College". Retrieved 2 October 2007. ^ Leavens, Kennedy. "Need-sensitivity? Admissions may start looking at international students’ bank accounts" Archived 2008-10-21 at the Wayback Machine, The Scarlet & Black, February 28, 2003. ^ Grinnell College. "International Student Financial Aid Policy". ^ a b "Economic diversity and student outcomes at Grinnell". The New York Times. 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-02. ^ "Men's Club Schedules". CWPA. 2013. Archived from the original on 2012-10-28. Retrieved February 2, 2013. ^ "The Sticky Tongue Frogs Grinnell Womens Ultimate". Archived from the original on 2010-06-19. ^ Michael Aguilar (2011-05-24). "News 2011 D-III College Championships – Sunday Open Recap". Usaultimate.org. Retrieved 2016-02-23. ^ Amy Farnum. NCAA Sports. Grinnell Goes Big-Time. January 28, 2005. ^ D3Hoops.com Beloit 86, Grinnell 85 Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine. February 3, 2005. ^ Official 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book, NCAA.org Archived 2007-03-23 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 7 March 2007. ^ "Grinnell College star shatters Division III scoring record". Rivals.com via Yahoo Sports. 2011-11-22. Retrieved 2011-11-22. ^ "Grinnell's Taylor pours in NCAA-record 138 points". D3sports.com. 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2012-11-20. ^ "D3 Grinnell player scores 138 points in a game to smash NCAA record - College Basketball News - FOX Sports on MSN". FOX Sports. 2012-11-20. ^ Miller, Kerry (20 November 2013). "Grinnell Super Scorer Jack Taylor Opens Up About Stats, Style of Play". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 20 November 2013. ^ "Jack Taylor tops 100 points again". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 18, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2013. ^ "Self Governance – Student Affairs | Grinnell College". Grinnell.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2010-02-28. ^ "Pioneer Capital Investments". web.grinnell.edu. ^ Peace Corps. Peace Corps Announces the Colleges and Universities that Have Produced the Most Peace Corps Volunteers Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. January 24, 2005. ^ Grinnell College Center for Careers, Life, and Service. Grinnell Corps. 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http://en.turkcewiki.org/wiki/Grinnell_College

Additional Issuer Warrant Transaction Confirmation - Deutsche Bank AG and MF Global Holdings Ltd. February 11, 2011 or such other date as agreed between the parties, subject to Section 8(k) below. which case the Calculation Agent shall make adjustments to the Number of Warrants for the relevant Component for which such day shall be the Expiration Date, shall designate the Scheduled Trading Day determined in the manner described in the immediately preceding sentence as the Expiration Date for the remaining Warrants for such Component and may determine the VWAP Price for the Expiration Date that is a Disrupted Day only in part based on transactions in the Shares effected on such Disrupted Day taking into account the nature and duration of the relevant Market Disruption Event on such day. Any Scheduled Trading Day on which, as of the date hereof, the Exchange is scheduled to close prior to its normal close of trading shall be deemed not to be a Scheduled Trading Day; if a closure of the Exchange prior to its normal close of trading on any Scheduled Trading Day is scheduled following the date hereof then such Scheduled Trading Day shall be deemed to be a Disrupted Day in full. Section 6.6 of the Equity Definitions shall not apply to any Valuation Date occurring on an Expiration Date. "Final Disruption Date" means September 2, 2016. Shares to be Delivered for such Settlement Date to the account specified by Dealer and cash in lieu of any fractional Share valued at the VWAP Price on the Valuation Date corresponding to such Settlement Date. If, in the reasonable opinion of Issuer or Dealer, based on advice of counsel, for any reason, the Shares deliverable upon Net Share Settlement would not be immediately freely transferable by Dealer under Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), then Dealer may elect to either (x) accept delivery of such Shares notwithstanding any restriction on transfer or (y) have the provisions set forth in Section 8(b) below apply. applicable securities laws that exist as a result of the fact that Issuer is the issuer of the Shares. Calculation Agent Adjustment; provided that in respect of an Extraordinary Dividend, "Calculation Agent Adjustment" shall be as described in the provision below. For the avoidance of doubt, Calculation Agent Adjustment (including, without limitation, in respect of Extraordinary Dividends) shall continue to apply until the obligations of the parties (including any obligations of Issuer pursuant to Section 8(e) below) under the Transaction have been satisfied in full. Shares are shares of an entity or person not organized under the laws of the United States, any State thereof or the District of Columbia, the Calculation Agent may make adjustments to the Transaction, or request that Issuer make Dealer whole, for any additional costs resulting from the relevant Merger Event or Tender Offer with respect to incremental Tax costs reasonably incurred by Dealer or changes to the Hedge Positions maintained by Dealer. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Equity Definitions, if, as a result of an Extraordinary Event, any Transaction would be cancelled or terminated (whether in whole or in part) pursuant to Article 12 of the Equity Definitions, an Additional Termination Event (with such terminated Transaction(s) (or portions thereof) being the Affected Transaction(s) and Issuer being the sole Affected Party) shall be deemed to occur, and, in lieu of Sections 12.7, 12.8 and 12.9 of the Equity Definitions, Section 6 of the Agreement shall apply to such Affected Transaction(s). (viii) The representations and warranties of Issuer set forth in Section 3 of the Agreement and Section 1 of the Underwriting Agreement dated as of February 7, 2011, between Issuer and Goldman, Sachs & Co., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., as representatives of the several Underwriters listed in Schedule A thereto (the "Underwriting Agreement"), are true and correct as of the Trade Date and the Effective Date and are hereby deemed to be repeated to Dealer as if set forth herein. (x) During the Settlement Period and on any other Exercise Date, neither Issuer nor any "affiliate" or "affiliated purchaser" (each as defined in Rule 10b-18 of the Exchange Act ("Rule 10b-18")) shall directly or indirectly (including, without limitation, by means of any cash-settled or other derivative instrument) purchase, offer to purchase, place any bid or limit order that would effect a purchase of, or commence any tender offer relating to, any Shares (or an equivalent interest, including a unit of beneficial interest in a trust or limited partnership or a depository share) or any security convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for Shares, except through Dealer; provided that such restrictions will not apply to the following: (A) privately negotiated off-market purchases of Shares (or any security convertible into or exchangeable for Shares), (B) purchases of Shares pursuant to exercises of stock options granted to former or current employees, officers, directors, independent contractors or other affiliates of Issuer, including the withholding and/or purchase of Shares from holders of such options to satisfy payment of the option exercise price and/or to satisfy tax withholding requirements in connection with the exercise of such options; (C) purchases of Shares from holders of performance shares or units or restricted shares or units to satisfy tax withholding requirements in connection with vesting; (D) the conversion or exchange by holders of any convertible or exchangeable securities of the Issuer issued prior to the Trade Date pursuant to the terms of such securities; or (E) purchases of Shares effected by or for a plan by an agent independent of the Issuer that satisfy the requirements of Rule 10b-18(a)(13)(ii). (xi) Issuer agrees that it (A) will not during the Settlement Period make, or permit to be made, any public announcement (as defined in Rule 165(f) under the Securities Act) of any Merger Transaction or potential Merger Transaction unless such public announcement is made prior to the opening or after the close of the regular trading session on the Exchange for the Shares; (B) shall promptly (but in any event prior to the next opening of the regular trading session on the Exchange) notify Dealer following any such announcement that such announcement has been made; and (C) shall promptly (but in any event prior to the next opening of the regular trading session on the Exchange) provide Dealer with written notice specifying (i) Issuer's average daily Rule 10b-18 Purchases (as defined in Rule 10b-18) during the three full calendar months immediately preceding the announcement date that were not effected through Dealer or its affiliates and (ii) the number of Shares purchased pursuant to the proviso in Rule 10b-18(b)(4) under the Exchange Act for the three full calendar months preceding the announcement date. Such written notice shall be deemed to be a certification by Issuer to Dealer that such information is true and correct. In addition, Issuer shall promptly notify Dealer of the earlier to occur of the completion of such transaction and the completion of the vote by target shareholders. "Merger Transaction" means any merger, acquisition or similar transaction involving a recapitalization as contemplated by Rule 10b-18(a)(13)(iv) under the Exchange Act. (c) Each of Dealer and Issuer acknowledges that the offer and sale of the Transaction to Dealer is intended to be exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), by virtue of Section 4(2) thereof. Accordingly, Dealer represents and warrants to Issuer that (i) it has the financial ability to bear the economic risk of its investment in the Transaction and is able to bear a total loss of its investment and its investments in and liabilities in respect of the Transaction, which it understands are not readily marketable, are not disproportionate to its net worth, and it is able to bear any loss in connection with the Transaction, including the loss of its entire investment in the Transaction, (ii) it is an "accredited investor" as that term is defined in Regulation D as promulgated under the Securities Act, (iii) it is entering into the Transaction for its own account and without a view to the distribution or resale thereof, (iv) the assignment, transfer or other disposition of the Transaction has not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act and is restricted under this Confirmation, the Securities Act and state securities laws, and (v) its financial condition is such that it has no need for liquidity with respect to its investment in the Transaction and no need to dispose of any portion thereof to satisfy any existing or contemplated undertaking or indebtedness and is capable of assessing the merits of and understanding (on its own behalf or through independent professional advice), and understands and accepts, the terms, conditions and risks of the Transaction. Confirmation, limited to the U.S. federal and New York state law, subject to customary qualification and exceptions. Share Termination Alternative: Applicable and means that Issuer shall deliver to Dealer the Share Termination Delivery Property on the date on which the Payment Obligation would otherwise be due pursuant to Section 12.2, 12.3, 12.6, 12.7 or 12.9 of the Equity Definitions or Section 6(d)(ii) of the Agreement, as applicable (the "Share Termination Payment Date"), in satisfaction of the Payment Obligation. Share Termination Unit Price: The value of property contained in one Share Termination Delivery Unit on the date such Share Termination Delivery Units are to be delivered as Share Termination Delivery Property, as determined by the Calculation Agent in its discretion by commercially reasonable means and notified by the Calculation Agent to Issuer at the time of notification of the Payment Obligation. by holders, such holder shall be deemed to have elected to receive the maximum possible amount of cash. Other Applicable Provisions: If Share Termination Alternative is applicable, the provisions of Sections 9.1(c), 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.11 and 9.12 of the Equity Definitions will be applicable as if "Physical Settlement" applied to the Transaction, except that all references to "Shares" shall be read as references to "Share Termination Delivery Units"; provided that the Representation and Agreement contained in Section 9.11 of the Equity Definitions shall be modified by excluding any representations therein relating to restrictions, obligations, limitations or requirements under applicable securities laws with respect to securities comprising Share Termination Delivery Units solely as a result of the fact that Issuer is the issuer of any Share Termination Delivery Units (or any security forming a part thereof). If, in the reasonable opinion of Issuer or Dealer, based on advice of counsel, for any reason, any securities comprising the Share Termination Delivery Units deliverable pursuant to this Section 8(a) would not be immediately freely transferable by Dealer under Rule 144 under the Securities Act, then Dealer may elect to either (x) permit delivery of such securities notwithstanding any restriction on transfer or (y) have the provisions set forth in Section 8(b) below apply. Dealer or such affiliate substantially similar to underwriting agreements customary for underwritten offerings of equity securities of similar size, in form and substance commercially reasonably satisfactory to Dealer or such affiliate and Issuer, which Registration Agreement shall include, without limitation, provisions substantially similar to those contained in such underwriting agreements relating to the indemnification of, and contribution in connection with the liability of, Dealer and its affiliates and Issuer, shall provide for the payment by Issuer of all expenses in connection with such resale, including all registration costs and all reasonable fees and expenses of counsel for Dealer, and shall provide for the delivery of customary accountants' "comfort letters" to Dealer or such affiliate with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in or incorporated by reference into the Prospectus. affiliate designated by Dealer) of the Shares or Share Termination Delivery Units, as the case may be, or the exemption pursuant to Section 4(1) or Section 4(3) of the Securities Act for resales of the Shares or Share Termination Delivery Units, as the case may be, by Dealer (or any such affiliate of Dealer). (d) Beneficial Ownership. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Agreement or this Confirmation, in no event shall Dealer be entitled to receive, or shall be deemed to receive, any Shares if, immediately upon giving effect to such receipt of such Shares, (i) the "beneficial ownership" (within the meaning of Section 13 of the Exchange Act and the rules promulgated thereunder) of Shares by Dealer, any of its affiliates subject to aggregation with Dealer for purposes of the "beneficial ownership" test under Section 13 of the Exchange Act and all persons who may form a "group" (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) with Dealer with respect to "beneficial ownership" of any Shares (collectively, "Dealer Group") would be equal to or greater than 9.0% or more of the outstanding Shares on the date of determination or (ii) Dealer, Dealer Group or any person whose ownership position would be aggregated with that of Dealer or Dealer Group (Dealer, Dealer Group or any such person, a "Dealer Person") under Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law or other federal, state or local regulations or regulatory orders applicable to ownership of Shares ("Applicable Laws"), would own, beneficially own, constructively own, control, hold the power to vote or otherwise meet a relevant definition of ownership in excess of a number of Shares equal to (x) the number of Shares that would give rise to reporting (other than on Schedule 13D or 13G under the Exchange Act) or registration obligations or other requirements (including obtaining prior approval by a state or federal regulator) of a Dealer Person under Applicable Laws and with respect to which such requirements have not been met or the relevant approval has not been received or that would subject a Dealer Person to restrictions (including restrictions relating to business combinations and other designated transactions) under Applicable Laws minus (y) 1.0% of the number of Shares outstanding on the date of determination (any such condition described in clause (i) or (ii), an "Excess Ownership Position"). If any delivery owed to Dealer hereunder is not made, in whole or in part, as a result of this provision, Issuer's obligation to make such delivery shall not be extinguished and Issuer shall make such delivery as promptly as practicable after, but in no event later than one Exchange Business Day after, Dealer gives notice to Issuer that such delivery would not result in the existence of an Excess Ownership Position. it may be adjusted from time to time in accordance with the provisions hereof and in accordance with the rules of the New York Stock Exchange, including the "Adjustment" provisions above, the "NYSE Capped Number") (provided that Issuer shall promptly notify Dealer about any relevant change to such rules of which Issuer becomes aware). Issuer represents and warrants to Dealer (which representation and warranty shall be deemed to be repeated on each day that the Transaction is outstanding) that the Capped Number is equal to or less than the number of authorized but unissued Shares of the Issuer that are not reserved for future issuance in connection with transactions in the Shares (other than the Transaction) on the date of the determination of the Capped Number (such Shares, the "Available Shares"). In the event Issuer would have otherwise been required to deliver Shares but shall not have delivered the full number of Shares deliverable as a result of the Capped Number defined in clause (i) above (the resulting deficit, the "Deficit Shares"), Issuer shall be continually obligated to deliver Shares, from time to time until the full number of Deficit Shares have been delivered pursuant to this paragraph, when, and to the extent, that (A) Shares are repurchased, acquired or otherwise received by Issuer or any of its subsidiaries after the Trade Date (whether or not in exchange for cash, fair value or any other consideration), (B) authorized and unissued Shares reserved for issuance in respect of other transactions prior to such date which prior to the relevant date become no longer so reserved and (C) Issuer additionally authorizes any unissued Shares that are not reserved for other transactions (such events as set forth in clauses (A), (B) and (C) above, collectively, the "Share Issuance Events"). At any time that Issuer is obligated to deliver Deficit Shares, Issuer shall promptly notify Dealer of the occurrence of any of the Share Issuance Events (including the number of Shares subject to clause (A), (B) or (C) and the corresponding number of Shares to be delivered) and, as promptly as reasonably practicable, deliver such Shares thereafter if permitted to do so without violating the rules of the New York Stock Exchange. Issuer shall not, until Issuer's obligations under the Transaction have been satisfied in full, use any Shares that become available for potential delivery to Dealer as a result of any Share Issuance Event for the settlement or satisfaction of any transaction or obligation other than the Transaction or reserve any such Shares for future issuance for any purpose other than to satisfy Issuer's obligations to Dealer under the Transaction. In addition, Issuer agrees to use its reasonable best efforts to obtain Shareholder Approval prior to December 31, 2012 to eliminate the NYSE Capped Number with respect to this Transaction (such approval, the "Shareholder Approval"). For the avoidance of doubt, "reasonable best efforts" for the purposes of the preceding sentence means, for each of Issuer's regularly scheduled annual shareholder meetings occurring prior to December 31, 2012, putting forth such proposal on the official shareholder voting ballot, the board of directors of Issuer (the "Board of Directors") recommending shareholders vote in favor of such proposal, and the Board of Directors supporting such proposal in the event of any potential opposition. Until such time that the Issuer obtains the Shareholder Approval, if as of any Settlement Date for any Component with respect to this Transaction, as a result of the application of the NYSE Capped Number, Issuer does not deliver to Dealer a number of Shares equal to the Number of Shares to be Delivered with respect to such Settlement Date or a number of Share Termination Delivery Units due on any date determined in accordance with Section 8(a) of this Confirmation, the Calculation Agent shall make an adjustment to the Strike Price, the Warrant Entitlement or any other term relevant to any outstanding Component of this Transaction, to account for such number of Shares or Share Termination Delivery Units not so delivered to Dealer, in order to allow Dealer to be made whole for any failure by Issuer to deliver any Shares or Share Termination Delivery Units with respect to the Number of Shares to be delivered or the number of Share Termination Delivery Units required to be delivered pursuant to Section 8(a) of this Confirmation, as the case may be, for any Component under this Transaction; provided that the aggregate Number of Shares to be Delivered for all Settlement Dates will not be greater than the lower of (i) the Capped Number and (ii) the NYSE Capped Number. persons, without limitation of any kind, the tax treatment and tax structure of the Transaction and all materials of any kind (including opinions or other tax analyses) that are provided to Issuer relating to such tax treatment and tax structure. (m) Extension of Settlement. Dealer may divide any Component into additional Components and designate the Expiration Date and the Number of Warrants for each such Component if Dealer determines, in its reasonable discretion, that such further division is necessary or advisable to preserve Dealer's hedging or hedge unwind activity hereunder in light of existing liquidity conditions in the cash market or stock loan market or to enable Dealer to effect purchases of Shares in connection with its hedging activity hereunder in a manner that would, if Dealer were Issuer or an affiliated purchaser of Issuer, based on advice of counsel, be in compliance with applicable legal, regulatory and self-regulatory requirements or with related policies and procedures applicable to Dealer. (s) Designation by Dealer. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Confirmation to the contrary requiring or allowing Dealer to purchase, sell, receive or deliver any Shares or other securities, or make or receive any payment in cash, to or from Issuer, Dealer may designate any of its affiliates to purchase, sell, receive or deliver such Shares or other securities, or to make or receive such payment in cash, and otherwise to perform Dealer's obligations in respect of the Transaction and any such designee may assume such obligations; provided that such designation shall not result in any additional costs or liabilities for Issuer. For the avoidance of doubt, Dealer hereby acknowledges that notwithstanding any such designation hereunder, to the extent any of Dealer's obligations in respect of this Transaction are not completed by its designee, Dealer shall be obligated to continue to perform or to cause any other of its designees to perform in respect of such obligations. or against the other party or against its property, assets or estate and, in order to exercise or protect its rights, interests or remedies under the Agreement or this Confirmation, the party (1) joins, files a claim, or takes any other action, in any such suit, action or proceeding, or (2) otherwise commences any Proceeding in that other jurisdiction as the result of that other suit, action or proceeding having commenced in that other jurisdiction."

2019-04-19T01:34:46Z

https://contracts.onecle.com/mf-global/deutsche-warrant-2011-02-08.shtml

Company and LLP post-registration services: getting your limited liability partnership (LLP) up and running is easy with Coddan. Once you're set up and ready to start doing business, it's likely that you’re going to need some additional services and help along the way in order to optimise your company operations. We offer a number of different legal administration services designed to help facilitate profit generation and help your business to run as smoothly as possible. Below are some of the ways in which you can utilise Coddan to get the most out of your corporation or a partnership. SAIL inspection address: if you've recently established a limited company, there's a good chance that your registered address is also your home address. We can help you to set up a single alternative inspection address. Commonly known as a SAIL address, this is essentially an address registered to your private company which negates the need for any government or authority inspections of your business to be held at your personal premises. Many limited liability partnerships utilise a SAIL address for prestige reasons - for example, having an office in the capital of finance creates a good impression to potential clients. In the case if you need to start a new business, but will manage it by your own & have your own address and wish to set-up a private company with the Lloyds, RBS or Barclays business bank account, we can do it for you. The secure online form only takes 10 minutes to complete! In the case if you need to start a new business, but will manage it by your own & have your own address and wish to set-up a private company with the Lloyds, RBS or Barclays business bank account, plus with the legal required documents which you will receive by an e-mail and by the post, we can do it for you. The secure online form only takes 10 minutes to complete! In the case if you need to start a new business, but will manage it by your own & have your own address and wish to set-up a private company with the Lloyds, RBS or Barclays business bank account, plus the legal required documents, with impressive bound documents which you will receive by an e-mail and by the post, we can do it for you. The secure online form only takes 10 minutes to complete! In the case if you need to start a new business, but will manage it by your own & want to get the legal address in London and wish to set-up a private company with the Lloyds, RBS or Barclays business bank account, plus the legal required documents which you will receive by an e-mail and by the post, we can do it for you. The secure online form only takes 10 minutes to complete! Are you overseas resident, who are looking to incorporate a new company with the secretarial compliance service, post formation secretarial management and registered address in London? This incorporation option is for you! Are you overseas resident, who are looking to incorporate a new company with the secretarial compliance service, post formation secretarial management, registered address in London and a nominee director service for one year? This incorporation option is for you! Are you overseas resident, who are looking to incorporate a new company with the secretarial compliance service, post formation secretarial management, registered address in London and a nominee director service for one year plus the verification of all documents by an apostille and certification by the notary public or solicitor? This incorporation option is for you! With this option you do not need to be recorded as a person with significant control with Companies House. We will form a UK trust, provide two trustees, register a private company and prepare the annual return (confirmation statement). UK business bank account: as an LLP or a limited company trading in the UK, it is imperative that your company has a business bank account. We can assist you in opening accounts with some of the UK's largest banking institutions, including Barclays, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest. Having a business account with one of the world's most trusted banking institutions helps to install confidence among suppliers and customers alike. Payroll management: time is an important factor in any business. It's therefore important to streamline your business in order to have enough time to concentrate on growth, as opposed to getting caught up in administrative tasks. Coddan can help manage your payroll, leaving you to focus on running your business the way it should be. Company dissolution/reformation: if, for any reason, you are required to dissolve and reform your business entity, Coddan can facilitate a speedy return to business, with rapid turnarounds for company dissolution and reformations, as well as the appointing of new directors and partners. Bookkeeping and accounting: allow us to be your one-stop solution for bookkeeping, accounting and HMRC returns. By choosing a company with expertise in accounts, you're ensuring that your private company or an LLP is compliant with all relevant laws - this helps to avoid fines and penalties, allowing you to make the most of your profits. Companies and LLPs post-registration services: if you have just formed a company or LLP, you will almost certainly have a long to-do list of all the things you have to do next - such as setting up a payroll, filing tax returns, and registering for data protection. At Coddan, we can help you take care of all of this with our companies and LLPs post-registration services. Our experienced team can help with all the administration tasks that are required of a business, saving you time, money and hassle. We're experts in company formation and post-formation, so get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you. If you want to change the name of your limited company or limited liability partnership (LLP), Coddan Ltd can help you with the red tape. There can be all sorts of reasons to change your name. It may be that you have changed direction and your original name just does not fit, or you could even have made a spelling mistake on your initial registration. Whatever the case, changing your name is more complex than it might sound and it's important to get the details right. You can change the name of a limited company or LLP in two ways. You either require a special resolution from the shareholders and guarantors, or the directors can vote to change the name with a special resolution if the articles of association granted them this power. After this, you must inform Companies House and receive approval for the new name, as there is a chance your new title could be rejected if it is too close to another company's name or it contains sensitive words or phrases. With a special resolution, a 75% majority is required, but this must consider voting shares, rather than the number of shareholders, as one shareholder can hold a larger portion of the shares and may carry more weight. The resolution must then be filed with Companies House within 15 days. Companies House must then provide a Certificate of Incorporation on Change of Name. As soon as you have this official seal of approval, you can change your bank accounts and begin trading under your new name. The certificate must be kept along with your original registration details at your registered address and must be kept available for inspection. Coddan can take the hard work off your hands and ensure that your name change goes through smoothly and efficiently. Our name change service includes notifying Companies House at the earliest convenience, ensuring all the paperwork is in order and sending you the certificate by email. Coddan can make the process as quick and painless as possible, so you can simply focus on running your business. At Coddan, we offer a wide range of post registration and post company formation services to ensure that going forward, your company or limited liability partnership (LLP) continues to thrive in the way it was set up to do. One such service is taking care of any amendments to articles of association and LLP agreements. The articles of association are an important element of the company's constitution, setting out details of ownership and how the company is governed. Articles of association are required under the UK Companies Act 2006, although these are not set in stone; there may well be circumstances in the future where it is necessary to make an amendment to the company's articles. It can often seem a complex business to ensure all the correct procedures are followed and the relevant documentation is completed. This is where we at Coddan can be of assistance. Expert help when it's needed: it's important that the articles contain the kind of provisions that are right for the company, and this is especially true when there is more than one director or shareholder. Correctly crafted or amended articles will protect the interests and rights in the company of all concerned. Any amendments to the articles have to be in the best interest of the company and not only meet the desires of a few members. Not all members have to agree to the changes but any changes must respect the statutory rights of any minority shareholders. Special resolution: changes to articles through amendments to the wording of one or more clauses, removal of an existing clause, or adopting a new set of articles altogether has to be authorised by a special resolution. One of the simplest ways of doing this is through a written resolution. Once the special resolutions are signed, a certified copy has to be sent to Companies House, along with a copy of the amended articles. As part of our post formation service, our team at Coddan can guide you through the process every step of the way. To find out more about our services or discuss this issue in greater detail, please contact the Coddan team today. At Coddan, we aim to provide our clients with the complete range of post formation services. This can help you to quickly adapt to changing circumstances while minimising disruption to the day-to-day running of the business. If you want - or need - to change the way the company or LLP is set up in some way, any amendments to the articles need to be formally processed according to the UK Companies Act 2006. One such instance is when you want to create more than one class of share. Why create different share classes? One reason why you may want to create different share classes is to attract more investment, or you may want to push the dividend income in a specific direction. Two other reasons for doing so include staff to remain with the company, or to enhance (or remove) voting powers from an existing shareholder. The class of shares also vary and can be ordinary shares, deferred ordinary shares, redeemable shares, non-voting ordinary shares, preference shares, cumulative preference shares, and redeemable preference shares. All of these different classes of shares will have their own individual rights. Expert help where and when you need it: provided that due process is followed, and subject to any existing restrictions in the company's articles of association, you can basically create any of the above class of shares whenever you like. When you need to create more than one class of share, you can do so by adding to your existing class or by converting existing shares into one or more new class of shares. It's important to bear in mind that the articles of association set the shares out into their different classes, plus details of how they are divided and what rights are attached to each one. The process sounds more complex than it actually is, but due process has to be followed to avoid falling foul of the Companies Act. This is where our experienced post formation services team at Coddan can help. We can ensure that all the necessary paperwork is completed and formally registered, leaving you to get on with business. To discuss this in more detail or to find out how our post formation services can help your business, contact us today. Shares in a limited company can be traded, sold or transferred for any reason you see fit. The reasons are many and varied and can include the retirement or death of a shareholder, a shareholder simply wanting to sell their stake in a company, equity needing to be granted as part of a merger or shares being given to a family member. Whatever the case, Coddan can help as part of our extensive post-registration services. If you wish to legally transfer ownership of shares from the existing shareholder to a new one, you must complete a stock transfer form. If the shares are sold for more than £1,000, stamp duty rears its ugly head and 0.5% of the sale must be paid, while a copy of the transfer form must be supplied to HMRC. You do not have to notify Companies House right away as the changes of ownership can be taken into account in the next annual return and the public register will be updated accordingly. Company directors can approve the share transfer if the articles of association grant them that power. If they do not have these powers, transfers must be approved by the existing shareholders. Both the transferor and transferee must receive a copy of the transfer form and the new owner should receive a share certificate. Some companies have their own restrictions with regards to the transfer of shares and if the transfer of shares conflicts with these requirements, a special resolution is required before the transfer can take place. If you want to transfer shares, Coddan can help you keep on the right side of the regulators and ensure that each transfer goes through without a hitch. We can take care of all the red tape and provide certificates for you to keep at your registered or service address. If you don't have a service address, we can even take care of that, too. So contact Coddan Ltd today for a full consultation if you want us to help you with your transfer of shares. Do you want to apply to restore a business that has been struck off the register by Companies House? Coddan can help. Businesses can be struck off for a number of reasons, but the main one is if they no longer appeared to be trading. Former directors of members can apply to have a limited company or an LLP (limited liability partnership) restored to active duty, though. This process is known as administrative restoration. To be considered by Companies House, the limited company or LLP must have been active within six years before being struck off by the Registrar of Companies. It must also deliver all the necessary documents, fees and late penalties to bring the company up to date. The applicant must also deal with any property or rights that became 'bona vacantia', owner-less property that passes to the Crown, when the business was dissolved. The application must be made in writing, using form RT01 and LL RT01 for LLPs. If the application is approved, the business is essentially considered to have never been struck off. The Registrar will generally disregard any fees for when the business was inactive, but this is not set in stone and must be negotiated by the business owner or company formation agent. If another company has registered the same name while the business was inactive, you will need to choose a different name. The company can still be restored, but it will have to work under a new name as companies and LLPs simply cannot operate under the same name as another firm that is already registered. Administrative restoration services from Coddan: administrative restoration is a relatively simple process when it is done right, but for the best chance of success with the Registrar, it helps to have all the correct documentation and paperwork ready. We can help with your application and ensure that you are up and running as fast as possible. So get in touch for more information and a free consultation today. Dissolution of limited companies and limited liability partnerships is an inevitable part of life and if the time comes to dissolve your company, you need to make sure it is done properly, quickly and effectively. Coddan can help. When you're closing a company down, you will inevitably have a lot to deal with, so you can pass the dissolution over to us. We can ensure that the paperwork is taken care of so you can focus on moving forward. Of course, it can be tempting to simply leave the company dormant until Companies House strikes it off. This is not the cleanest course of action, though, as failure to provide annual accounts could leave the directors open to fines. It is far better to close the company properly with a voluntary company dissolution. This is not an alternative to formal insolvency proceedings, and dissolution is a specific process for a dormant company. To qualify for voluntary dissolution, the company must have traded under the same registered title name for a period of three months. So if your company has changed its name recently, you must wait until the three month period before applying for voluntary dissolution. It must also be a dormant company with no significant trading over the previous 13 week period. It must also not have engaged in normal trading activities for a three month period, although incidental items, rather than stock, may be liquidated. The company must also be free from any petition for a winding up order or for it to be struck off. Coddan can take care of the paperwork and make sure that there are no lasting problems from your company dissolution. As a company formation agent for more than 19 years, we are experts in every facet of company registration, management and even dissolution. We specialise in ensuring the paperwork is perfectly in order, whether you want an overseas company, a trust or to close down your LLP. So if you need help with a company dissolution, contact Coddan Ltd today. One of the post registration services we offer to business clients is making sure that details of any changes to the governance of the company is passed on to Companies House. Under the Companies Act 2006, any such changes have to be reported to Companies House within 14 days of the changes taking place. Most companies are aware of the need to report details of the appointment or termination of a company director, for instance, but many fail to file other specific changes. This is where our experienced team at Coddan can help. We can advise you about due process and take care of all the necessary paperwork, leaving you to focus on running a profitable business. What appointments do you need to report? You have 14 days to file details of the appointment or change of personal details of any new company directors, secretary, shareholders or limited liability partnership (LLP) members, with Companies House. Details that need to be filed include such things as a change in a director's name or service address (the address where he or she can be contacted by the public), a director's nationality, country of residence, and usual residential address. If your company changes company secretaries, their details also have to be filed with Companies House. If the director or secretary is also a shareholder in the company, or if there are new shareholders, the register of members at Companies House also has to be amended to reflect these changes. How long does all this take? The process itself is fairly straightforward and there are specific forms that need to be completed and filed within the statutory time limit to cover each scenario. All of these forms can be completed online but if you are at all unsure of what you need to do, don't want to spend time on the paperwork yourself, or simply want the reassurance that expert help provides, then we at Coddan will be delighted to help. Keeping your company records up to date is an important part of the proper governance of a company in the UK. To find out how we can help you manage this more efficiently, contact us today.

2019-04-22T14:09:18Z

https://www.coddan.co.uk/post-company-formation-services/

Were PKP Cargo responsible for the tank wagon? 16 people have been killed and some 50 were injured last night in the Italian coastal resort of Viareggio after a goods train consisting of 14 LPG tank wagons derailed. The local fire brigade said that the gas spilt from the wagons had reached neighbouring houses before it exploded. The ensuing fireball engulfed people, vehicles and buildings like something out of a horror film. Several victims survived the blasts but were killed when their houses collapsed on top of them. The train was travelling through Viareggio on its way from the port of La Spezia to Pisa. The driver of the train, who was only slightly injured, reported feeling a jolt some 200 metres after his engine had passed the Viareggio Station. Shortly afterwards, 5 wagons at the rear of the train derailed, some fell on their sides and the LPG started to leak out. There then appear to have been at least two major explosions. Accident investigators will be concentrating on the condition of the wagons and the track at the point where the accident occured. There seems to be some confusion as to who was responsible for operating and maintaining the wagon that jumped the rails. The Times reported yesterday that the derailed wagons were registered to PKP Cargo and Deutsche Bahn, while The Independent reported that the lead derailed wagon – which suffered a buckled or broken axle – was owned by the US company, GATX Corp. During trials carried out by the Centrum Naukowo-Techniczne Kolejnictwa, the Polish Railway Research and Technology Centre, a train consisting of two Siemens Eurosprinter ES64U4 locomotives – one at each end – and three Z1A coaches reached 235 km/h – a record for a locomotive hauled trains in Poland. The trials were carried out on the nights of 27/28 and 28/29 May at a time when no other trains were running on track 1 on the CMK line between between Psary and Gora Wlodowska. They were part of the homologation process necessary before the locomotive can be granted type approval by the Polish railway regulator, Urzad Transportu Kolejowego, the Office of Railway Transport. On the first night, the train reached 210 km/hour, on the second, 235 km/h (146 mph). The locos as delivered to Poland would seem to be speed governed as the driver reported that at top speed the power appeared to be cutting out. The Eurosprinters delivered to Austria are not so inhibited. The world’s fastest locomotive is now Eurosprinter 1216 050-5, a multi-system locomotive owned by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). It reached a record speed of 357 km/h (222 mph) on the new Ingolstadt – Nuremberg line. The top speed ever achieved by a train in Poland is 250.1 km/h (155mph) achieved by a Pendolino ETR 460 multiple unit in 1994. That record run took place near Biala Rawaska also on the CMK. Polish TV news reports the record. Edward Teague, aka Postman Patel, aka Lord Patel was one of Britain’s finest bloggers. At times a botanist, industrialist, writer and artist he was also a railway enthusiast and offered encouragement to BTWT during its early days. He was the great grandson of LB&SR Chief Mechanical Engineer, William Stroudley. The latter was the designer of Gladstone, the first railway engine ever put in a museum, which can still be seen today in York. Edward Teague had excellent sources and his UK TOP SECRET Postman Patel blog maintained a long tradition in British journalism of exposing corruption and misjustice. It carried many stories which others were afraid to publish or knew that they would never have seen the light of day in the mainstream media. Never a political activist in the traditional sense, he was a genuine libertarian with no time for the humbug and rhetoric of the left and right. The blog he ran as Postman Patel/Lord Patel became a port of call for anyone seeking to unravel what was really going on behind the headlines. His scientific training made him ask questions, and seek answers, where others feared to tread. Never daunted, though sometimes dismayed, by a changing world, he throve upon challenge, to which he brought a perspective which spanned two centuries and drew upon many contacts – whether he was discussing the De Menezes shooting, the fact that the US brought greater firepower upon Libya in 1986 than the English had done in the Falklands… . A slighty longer version of this article appears on Tunnel Vision. Model maker at work. Photo Muzeum Kolejnictwa. The Warsaw Railway Museum’s model workshop at Jelenia Gora is to close when its last orders are fulfilled. At its peak the workshop employed 30 people, making large scale models of historical rolling stock. A large scale model locomotive would usually take a model maker one year to construct. Janusz Sankowski, who filled the post of museum director for many years, cared little for full sized exhibits, and once famously told Fedecrail President, David Morgan, that the future for railway museums lay in displaying models of historic railway exhibits. Negotiations between PKP Estates Department – who want to clear the museum site for redevelopment – and the Office of the Governor of Mazowsze Province – who own the museum’s exhibits – are currently deadlocked. Until matters are resolved the museum’s priceless collection of historical railway exhibits continue to deteriorate in the open. Ferdynand Ruszczyc, the Museum’s current Director, would be interested in receiving offers from anyone interested in taking over the workshop as a going concern. Contact details for the museum’s management team are available here. It’s been so long since I travelled on an internal sleeping car service in Poland that I had almost forgotten that they existed! The first time I tried out one of these services was in the 60’s when I travelled in a so-called ‘hotel train’ from Szczecin to Warsaw. I remember little of the journey other than that the dirty train, full of cigarette smoke, kept stopping to let more important freight traffic pass us by. The next time was in the 70s, when I travelled by sleeping car from Warsaw to Zakopane. That service was luxurious in comparison to the ‘hotel train’ and – as to be expected – more expensive. Three passengers can sit or lie in comfort. When my friends decided to travel from Przeworsk to Poznan in a sleeping compartment on the Przemyslanin – which runs daily from Przemysyl to Swinouscie between 25 June and 26 September – I was a little aprehensive. I needn’t have worried – the sleeping compartment, the corridor and toilet were spotlessly clean and remained in that condition throughout the whole journey. With the centre bunk dropped down the tiny ‘bedroom’ became a very comfortable sitting compartment. For an extra 70 zloty on top of the second class fare you get your own bunk, plus a bottle of mineral water, plastic cup, face flannel and a tiny bar of soap – luxury indeed! By Poznan the train had acquired a post office coach. On the outward journey my friends handed out some beers. Five bottles seems to be the amount that a Pole requires to sleep soundly in a sleeping coach irrespective of the quality of the track. On the return journey half a bottle of Zubrowka worked just as well and had less long-term side effects. British travellers wishing to try the same medecine are recomended to halve the quantities. Apologies for the break in posting, the last few days involved quite a bit of travelling around Poland. I hope the material that I brought back is some compensation. Today’s pictures were taken yesterday and are from a trip on a special train on the Przeworsk Railway – an ex PKP narrow gauge in Lower Carpathia that runs through scenery very reminiscent of North Wales. Parts of the line have a decided resemblance to the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway! After several days heavy rain it is clear that culverts are due for clearing and new ditches need to be laid. Although the ride is smoother than on the Smigiel line, the permanent way needs work in a lot of places. If any platelayers out there are wondering what to do now that the WHR track laying has been completed, the General Manager of the Przeworsk Railway would welcome you with open arms. Remember the last competition. The picture of the retired goods wagons (taken from the other side) stumped everybody! The line climbs the side of a valley and features some stunning landscape views. There are many viaducts and Poland’s only narrow gauge railway tunnel. The fine station building at Dynow is still in good shape. There were orginally plans to extend the line to the South along the valley of the River San to Sanok. Sadly these came to naught. Had they come to fruition the line would have been more prosperous and Dynow would have been an important half-way station. The line’s raison d’etre was the sugar refinery at Przeworsk. Now with the refinery closed the railway runs a Sunday tourist service during the holiday season plus special trains on demand and a very occasional freight service. Smigiel – Stare Bojanowo train in December 2008. Photo pedro. SLB railcars near Alltag, Austria. Photo SLB. I couldn’t resist showing these two photographs together. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Wladyslaw Reymont wrote some good books and beat off rivals Thomas Mann, Maxim Gorky and Thomas Hardy to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1924. Railways were a an important part of his life. His first steady job was as a level crossing keeper at Koluszki. Injured in an accident on the Warsaw Vienna Railway he was awarded 40,000 roubles in compensation. The money allowed him to fulfil his passion for travelling round Europe by train. So it is rather fitting that this year’s Reymont Day celebrations included a steam-hauled vintage train from Lodz Fabryczna to Lipce Reymontowskie, close to the village of Krosnowa where Reymont lived for a time. The organisers of the event included PKP InterCity, PKP Linie Kolejowe (PKP’s infrastructure company) and the Chief Executive of Skierniewice District Council. The sponsors included Bombadier Transportation. Now if only someone could persuade PKP LK to be equally accommodating to steam specials in other parts of the country… . Polskie Koleje Panstwowe S.A. (the PKP holding company), PKP Intercity (PKP’s long distance services operator) and the local authority owned operating company, Przewozy Regionalne (Regional services), have signed an agreement regarding the operation of their ticket offices at 19 stations. Passengers will be able to continue buying PKP Intercity tickets from Przewozow Regionalnych ticket counters and vice versa. Six months after the handover of PR’s long-distance services to IC, this “breakthrough” merits a press release all of its own. Yet, in any customer-focussed railway, the details of the new ticketing arrangements would have been worked out before the split. It is a ‘no-brainer’ that the new arrangements should have included the ability for PR ticket holding passengers to painlessly trade up to IC services and for IC tickets to be accepted on the cheaper PR services. Dyspozytor found his credit card voucher and managed to get a refund for his unused PR-issued IC ticket after all! Warsaw cares, but PKP doesn’t give a fig! I had a series of meetings all round Warsaw and chose to travel by public transport. I took a Sybka Koleje Miejska train from Warszawa Zachodnia to Warszawa Ochota, a tram to Warszawa Gdanska, the Metro from Gdanska to Polytechika, a bus to Saska Kempa, a bus to Powisle, another bus to Polytechnica, the Metro to Centrum and finally a tram to Warszawa Centralna. My journeys – 8 journeys in all – would have cost me some 17 zloty (approx £4) using the appropriate tickets for the single hops. But thanks to the ticket accord in Warsaw, negotiated by the Mayor of Warsaw with the city’s public transport operators, a single 9 zloty (£2) City Transport Department (ZTM) all day ticket sufficed for all my wanderings. Top marks Warsaw for making public transport easier. In the evening I travelled to Lodz. Now its no doubt my fault that, as a Polish transport commentator, I had not picked up the news that PKP Przewozy Rejonalne (PR) – who had handed over all their long distance Pospieszny trains to PKP InterCity – have just introduced three of their new InterRegio (IR) long-distance trains between Warsaw and Lodz. It transpired that my chosen train – the 19.45 from Warszawa Centralna – was in fact one of the PR IR services. So, together with some 20 other passengers who had made the same mistake, I had to have my IC ticket endorsed and pay 28 zloty for a brand new ticket complete with 5 zloty surcharge for buying a ticket from the guard. Don’t worry, he said, show your unused tickets to the cashier at Lodz Fabryczna and your cash will be refunded. In Lodz the lady in front of me in the refund queue explained patiently that when she bought her ticket in Warsaw she specifically said that she was travelling by the 19.45 and couldn’t understand why she was being made to pay a penalty because she had been sold the wrong ticket. She was told that she should have told the cashier that she wanted an InterRegio ticket. She countered that you shouldn’t need a Ph.D. in railway transport economics to travel by train in Poland. In my case I was refused a refund because I had paid for my tickets by credit card and had not kept the credit card receipt. I will be taking this up with the authorities! PKP, if you want to survive in the cut throat world of passenger transport, you really must learn to look after your customers. Competition 3 – We have a WINNER! Competition 3 is now CLOSED. Shortly after midnight last night John Hyde – who already held three points – made a number of bold moves which brought him one more deciding point and victory in our third competition. Congratulations John! John’s first post related to ‘Tiebreaker B’. John suggested Przeworsk yard. However, while the Przeworsk line as a whole runs through hilly terrain (and has Poland’s only narrow gauge tunnel) the area around Przeworsk itself is flat and lacks the hills that are visible in the back of the picture. But there are no penalty points for a bad guess so John was still in with a chance. John’s next move 12 minutes later was to go back to ‘Tiebreaker A’ and tentatively ask, Is it Southall? Finally 8 minutes later still John had decided and made the winning post, In fact I’m convinced its Southall. I’m off to Warsaw early tomorrow morning so a detailed post mortem analysis of the Competition and the clues that were embedded in a few innocent looking articles will have to wait! Starachowice railway gets 2.8 m PLN. Starachowice Railway – The Southern section. Two and a half kilometres of missing tracks – stolen by scrap thieves – are to be relaid between Marcule and Lubienia on the Starachowice narrow gauge railway thanks to a 2.8 m EU-funded project. This section of line lies in Mazowia Province and the office of the provincial governor Adam Struzik has agreed to make the cash available from the Regional Operating Programme funds. The line is in the process of being taken over by the Starachowice District Council. 85,000 PLN towards the required ‘own funds’ component will be provided by the Council with another 341,000 PLN being coming from the budget of the provincial council. The District Council – the custodians of the line – have our congratulations for progressing with the restoration of the railway and not waiting for negotiations for their takeover of the railway land from PKP to be completed. When this section of line is completed a further 3.5 km of track will remain to be relaid on the next section – from Lubienia to Lipie which lies in Swietokrzyski Province. The Council are already negotiating for a slice of the Swietokrzyskie RPO funds and provincial governor, Adam Jarubas, is reported to be well-disposed to the project. The success of the Swietokrzyskie Railway project is due to the work of lot of people. The current operator – the line’s third – is the Upper Silesia Railway Society. Much credit is due to members of the Polish Narrow Gauge Railway Association (FPKW) who worked hard to persuaded the Starachowice District Council to take over the line, carried out much of the initial restoration work on the line and introduced tourist services on both ends of the railway. Starachowice District Council’s enthusiasm for the line has has increased considerably since those early days. Currently, Krzystof Niedopytalski – responsible for the Council’s Culture, Promotion and Developmnt Department – is very much in the driving seat of new developments. His long-term plan is to connect the line with the Wielki Piec steelworks museum at the other end of the town. For an interactive map of the line and the iron ore narrow gauge railways which preceded it click here, and then click again on the phrase, “kliknij aby przejść do mapy”. Warsaw-bound train waiting at Gora Kalwaria. Gora Kalwaria is a dormitory suburb some 30 km by road to the South of Warsaw. It lies on the Skierniewice – Lukow line and was also linked to Warsaw from 1900 until 1971 by a 1000 mm gauge railway. Although several thousand people commute daily from Gora Kalwaria to Warsaw, for the last 15 years the station has been without any passenger services. During the rush hour the car journey can take up to two hours. Koleje Mazowieckie (Mazowia Railways) suggested restoring train services between Gora Kalwaria and Warsaw and. Barbara Samborska, the Mayor of Gora Kalwaria, made 170,000 PLN available to resurface the platform at the station and provide shelters. The first train ran on June 2. Among those present at a short ceremony at Gora Kalwaria Station was Janusz Piechocinski, deputy chairman of the Sejm Infrastructure Committee. At present 4 trains a day link Warsaw and Gora Kalwaria with one of the trains continuing to Pilawa. Trains from Gora Kalwaria join the Radom – Warsaw line at the 4-way junction at Czachowek. Michael Dembinski has written several articles about the new service and describes a couple of journeys along route on his blog Wwa Jeziorki. As always the accompanying photos are terrific. He delights in Poland’s sylwan railway junctions. I’m mentioned Czachowek a few times; it is a railway junction some 10 miles/16km south of Jeziorki. It’s noted for having a couple of hundred inhabitants and four railway stations. Two were out of use, though with the new rail service, Czachowek Wschodni has been re-opened. Mike has even provided a helpful little diagram showing where the stations were. So I thought I should include a diagram of my own. In its prime Czachowek had 6 railway stations, not four! PKP’s Estates Company, PKP Nieruchomosci, are offering ‘Kriegslok’ Ty2-1226 for sale by tender. The locomotive, works number 12524 was built by Maschinenbau-Actien-Gesellschaft (BMAG), in Berlin.The locomotive was withdrawn from the active stock list in Febuary 1991 and served for several years as a stationary boiler at Tluszcz. It is in ‘ex-Barry’ condition. Tender documentation can be requested by e-mail from PKP Nieruchomosci at: wwa.mienie5@pkp Further information can be obtained from Bogdan Rozycki (Roo-jy-tzki) tel. 022-47-458-93 between 08.00 – 14.00 hrs. Offers have to be submitted by 09.30 hrs on 23 June 2009. There is an indicative price of 91.830,00 PLN. Tenders have to be accompanied by a 10% deposit. Still from time-lapse photography film shot by Network Rail at Bathgate during July 2008, when the Bathgate and Edinburgh line was closed for 16 days. During this time 200 staff, shifted 12,500 tonnes of ballast, laid 3,000 metres of track and fitted 12 points. The £300m Airdrie to Bathgate Rail Link Project is one of Network Rail’s flagship investments in Scotland. The project will reinstate the Bathgate and Coatbridge Railway between Airdrie and Bathgate, which was closed to passengers in 1956 and to freight in 1982. It will link the North Clyde Line of the Glasgow suburban railway network, which currently stops 2km beyond Airdrie at Drumgelloch, to the Edinburgh to Bathgate Line. The line will be double-tracked and electrified from Edinburgh to Glasgow and passengers will be able to travel from Edinburgh Waverley station to Glasgow Queen Street Low Level in 74 minutes. It will provide a fourth rail link between Glasgow and Edinburgh, complementing the existing 50 minute “shuttle” services which run via Falkirk. The project also involves a £7.3m diversion of National Cycle Route 75. After the Airdrie-Bathgate line was closed in 1982, 16 km of railway line became a public footpath and cycle track. This section was closed on 19th October 2008 to allow work to begin on the reinstatement of the line. It is planned that by the end of 2010 a new cycle path will run alongside the reopened railway line, connecting local communities to new stations along the route. Although the new railway is being built on the track of the old, a £ 3.8m contract was awarded to Norwest Holst Soil Engineering to carry out ground and site Investigations. Given the need to minimise risk and comply with modern environmental legislation – a not unreasonable decision. So it is with some incredulity that we read an article in the Daily Express that Network Rail contractor Carillion – who won a £80 million contract for works on the line – lost a £40,000 mechanical excavator in a peat bog near Armdale! It is reasonable to ask the question, how did Norwest Holst’s soil engineers manage to miss this little bog? Perhaps they were running late and decided to skip forward a bit? Or were Carillion just too busy to read Norwest Holst’s report? However, accidents do happen and, faced with a 20 ton excavator buried up to its roof, not many of us would know what to do. Carillion’s workmen have to be congratulated for coming up with an unusual solution. They covered the remains with branches! Unfortunately the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency does not see things the same way and has now launched an investigation over fears that pollutants inside the machine could seep out. Forest narrow gauge railway, but where? Nobody identified the location of the last tie breaker! I have spent half of today applying to become a Member of Network Rail and the other half sorting out a dusty suitcase of railway photographs. What a strange collection? Who else, I wonder, would keep photos of steam engines in the Gdansk shipyard mixed up with shots illegally griced at Willesden MPD? Or Southall Shed and Szczecin? Or Feltham Depot and a Forest Railway somewhere in Poland? Which brings me to today’s mystery photograph. One of the bonuses of being an advocate of railway revival is that sometime your co-workers give you copies of their photographs. But in the case of the photo above and its companions, I forgot to take a note of the location and I have lost touch with the photographer. Do you know where the above photo was taken? And can you prove it? It’s a tie-breaker so there is only point. Good luck! Gavin Whitelaw, who has his own website of amazing photographs, called Vintage Britain has kindly offered to fund a prize for the winner – a bottle of Zubrowka, Bison Grass Vodka. After three years of discussions, meetings and investigations, the takeover by local government of the Ostroleka-Lapy line looks set to go ahead. BTWT has been informed by a reliable source that Krzysztof Kozicki, the Starosta (Chief Executive) of Lomza District Council, is about to make a formal application to PKP for the transfer of the Ostrolka – Sniadow section of the line including the branch to Lomza, At the same time, Jozef Zajkowski, the Wojt (Chief Executive) of Sokoly Parish Council, is applying for the transfer of the Sniadow – Lapy section. Kozicki is interested in re-establishing a commuter serviceto Warsaw. Zajkowski wants to safeguard his freight services and to exploit the line’s tourist potential. If all goes well the result will be a standard gauge line, ‘preserved’ Polish style, within 60 miles radius of Warsaw. Steam specials or footplate trips anyone? The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, comments on the tube strike. Part of the Mayor of London’s website. Please find below a letter I have today sent to the London Mayor. In response the Mayor has refused face to face negotiations and London Underground are trying to deny an agreement was reached. The Mayor even walked out of a TV debate today rather than deal with me directly. City Hall and TfL seem to be in disarray. I have again told the Mayor that an agreement was reached last night but was then vetoed and as such the Mayors management team last night clearly did not have the authority to conclude an agreement and have said I am available for direct talks with him and / or his Transport Commissioner. I am very confident that thanks for your magnificent support for the strike that we are in a position soon to reach an agreement. Let’s keep up the pressure to protect jobs conditions and for a decent pay deal. This is my 31st year as a member of the RMT and a worker on London Underground and in all that time I have never experienced such dishonesty from any management that I have dealt with. I am writing to you as both Mayor and Chair of Transport for London to urge you to agree to direct face to face talks with myself to resolve this dispute and to also address the pack of lies that have been fed to media. The facts are that yesterday the RMT negotiating team and myself attended nearly seven hours of talks at ACAS and the end of which I was confident we had the basis of agreement which could settle this dispute. On the question of pay your management made a revised offer of a two year deal or four year deal. It was agreed that would go away, speak to our members and representatives and come back to them. We said it didn’t need to be decided immediately and that we would suspend the action on this issue. With regard to disciplinary procedures it is an out and out lie that we were only interested in the two sacked drivers, instead there have been widespread and prolonged abuse of the procedures. It was therefore agreed that ACAS would look at all cases and we said that we would be able to suspend the action to allow this to go ahead. Simarly we agreed an end to management abuse of sickness procedures. In respect of redundancies we were simply asking for your management to honour a longstanding agreement reached in 2001 that there would be not compulsory redundancies. You will be aware that this agreement was borne out of well founded fears that the part privatisation of the tube would be a disaster for tube users and workers alike. At 6 o’clock last night and an hour before the strike was to begin, this issue was also agreed with Acting Managing Director, Richard Parry. In fact I signed a document to this effect and this was to go back in front of RMT Executive immediately so that we could suspend the strike. Then astonishingly at 6.35 whilst awaiting the final typed agreement we were told by management that they had made a phone call and that they could no longer abide by the agreement – they reneged before the ink was even dry. We were stunned that management could be so dishonest. I have no doubt that the phone call made was to the Transport Commissioner or City Hall who instructed the management team to pull the agreed deal. It is an absolute disgrace that we should reach an agreement in good faith only for that agreement to be sabotaged. Either your senior management are completely dishonest or have no authority to negotiate. Or it is the case that you have personally intervened to scupper the deal in the belief that a confrontation with tube workers will serve your political agenda. Londoners will be appalled that you are playing politics with the tube and will be entitled to ask why you, not only as Mayor but also as Chair of Transport for London are running away from face to face talks. It is absolute nonsense, as some are trying to suggest, that there is some personal animosity between us. I am prepared to meet you anytime and anywhere to resolve this dispute and look forward to hearing from you by return. I am copying this letter to members of the Transport for London Board, members of the GLA and London MPs. Deserted platforms at Greenford station. Behind the bushes is the spur from the GWR mainline at Old Oak Common to the GW&GCJR extension from South Ruislip to High Wycombe. It is here that Dyspozytor used to see Kings and Castles speeding to Birmingham in the 1950s. Photo by Sunil060902. Oyster pay as you go is being accepted on National Rail journeys in Greater London. reply the train operators. See below for a very informative thread. More on the background to the strike. The link should work for seven days. Transport Briefing – Underground shut down as RMT strike does ahead. BTWT has had a phenomenal 14 months. Reaching a cumulative daily total of 108,000 hits is quite an amazing achievement for a first-time blog, and at one moment our readership growth was actually outstripping that of Tom Harris’s And Another Thing, one of the most candid and interesting blogs published by a member of parliament. However, over the last 5 months our monthly totals have been hovering steadily at a few hundred over the 9,000 mark, and it has become clear that, if we want to go further, something has to change. We have a core readership of some 300 readers who enjoy the juxtaposition of English and Polish railway news and see nothing strange in reading about what that the deputy mayor of Smigiel said to Howard Jones one day and what the former minister said to Gordon Brown the next. However, we see our future growth coming from two distinct groups: those who are actively interested in Poland, including the country’s railways; those who are interested in why the UK’s railways are in such a mess, and would like to do something about it. Starting 14 June, we will be publishing a sister blog, Tunnel Vision, to cover rail developments in the UK. Like its parent, Tunnel Vision will be a campaigning blog. It will disect government transport policy and showcase local efforts to open new rail links and improve rail services. We will write about what tactics have worked in one part of the country with a view to other groups reusing proven-to-work methods elsewhere. Meanwhile BTWT will sharpen its focus on Poland and carry more news stories. Until 1st July, both blogs will carry UK articles, after this date BTWT will have a primarily Polish focus. (One is reminded of how the Metropolitan Railway and the Metropolitan and District Railways built parallel tracks until they came to an agreement over running rights!). Tunnel Vision is beta testing right now. If you would like to help us give it a final polish, please drop me an e-mail at railfan [at] go2 [dot] pl. Do not forget to remove the spaces!

2019-04-24T22:48:16Z

https://polishrail.wordpress.com/2009/06/

Please pay attention to this fact – these are (mostly) not officially proven records, but claims of hitchhikers regarding their extremes. This list of records is for us – hitchhikers (we should be happy for our colleagues, not to be envious!), for novices who do not know anything about hitching, but they are proud of their only travel abroad. Note that this page is a near copy of the Rekordai / Records of Vilniaus Autostopo Klubas. Some of the records, those marked (HGE), were originally published in Ken Welsh' "Hitchhikers Guide to Europe". Feel free to add your own record(s), but please do not make list longer than five records. If you still want to add a record when there are already five entries, and your record is not in the top-5, you can create a sub-page for the particular record. 2777 km (1736 miles), according to Pavel Trcala, from Czech Republic. Time 28 November 1998 07:30 - 29 November 1998 06:30. The route: Miami to Chicago via Jacksonville (Florida), Savannah (Georgia), Columbia (South Carolina), Asheville (North Carolina), Knoxville (Tennessee), Lexington (Kentucky), Toledo (Ohio), South Bend (Indiana), and Harvey (Illinois). The route was done in five lifts. 2750 km, according to Vladas Sapranavicius, member of Vilnius Hitch-hiking Club. Time: 21 August 1996 22:00 – 22 August 1996 22:00 ViaMichelin gives as expected travel time for Almeria - Potsdam: 24 hours and 51 minutes. The route: Almeria (E) – Murcia (E) – Barcelona (E) – Montpellier (F) – Lyon (F) – Frankfurt (D) – Potsdam (D). 4 lifts (Almeria – Montpellier; Montpellier – Lyon; Lyon – Salzgitter; Salzgitter – Potsdam). The average speed (including waiting for the ride + a cup of beer in the restaurant): 115 km/h. The maximum speed: 170 km/h. 2318.4 km, according to Robert Prins, hitchhiker from, at the time, the Netherlands. It was done in 4 lifts through Yugoslavia, Austria and Germany during 20.47 hours. The record was included on page 179 of the UK 1991 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. Full details of the four rides that led to this record can be found here. Alexey Vorov, president of the St. Petersburg Autostop League. He has covered about 1,973,650 km (updated: 14th September 2015) by hitchhiking. Hitching experience – from 1977 on. He is still hitchhiking, so it is not the final number. Benoit Grieu, French hitchhiker. Started his trip in 1979 and since then all the time on the road. During this trip he has covered about 1,500,000 km. For some years, he hitchhiked more than 100,000 km/year. His current whereabouts are sadly unknown. Stephan Schlei. He claims 941,500 km. In 2015 Aliosha Yazylets, a Belorussian hitchhiker, together with one other person, hitchhiked over 12,000 km in one lift from Tadjikistan, via China, Mongolia, Irkutsk and Moscow in Russia, all the way to Lvov in western Ukraine. L.J. Gordon from Western Australia. He started from Whitepark Bay Youth Hostel in Northern Ireland, where four Americans in a Combi Van gave him a lift through Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, France, Andorra and into Spain. They covered an astonishing 7107 km before parting company. (HGE) Note: This record was copied from Ken Welsh' "Hitchhikers Guide to Europe". L.J. may have recorded the distance as miles in a car with a KM odometer, as the distance seems far too great to be in kilometres. Alexey Anofriev from Vladivostok (Russia) hitchhiked from Vladivostok (23 May, 2001) to Shimanovsk (the end of the road) and got a lift to Samara there. From Shimanovsk to Shilka on the railroad platform together with the car and from Shilka to Samara by car (Toyota Celica). Totally it was about 6800 km long lift from 28 May until 4 June! Afterwards, the drivers went to Krasnodar and Alexey hitchhiked on to St. Petersburg. He arrived to St. Petersburg on 7 June, 2001. Benoit Grieu, French hitchhiker who hitchhiked about 6000 km in one lift from Anchorage (Alaska) to San Diego (California). The DTSG members Koen de Jong and Stefan Korn had 32 rides during a DTSG-Competition on 2 May 2014 in Germany (between 08:00 and 23:30). Benoit Grieu, French hitchhiker during 4 or 5 years (for example 1989, 1993, 1995, 1997) hitchhiked more than 100,000 km per year (in 1995 - 113,000 km). Alexey Vorov - 78,800 km in 1991. Vilmantas Trumpickas from Vilnius Hitch-hiking Club has covered 56,000 km during the year 2010. Benoit Grieu has been hitch-hiking since 1979 and still hitchhiked every day until he disappeared, (Romanian), on his way to Nepal in 2011. During these years he covered about 1,500,000 km not staying more than 3 months in one place. Expedition “Autocolumbus” by PASL in 17 February 1992 – July 1993. The trip started 4 hitchhikers: Alexey Vorov, Mikhail Dutkevich, Kiril Baranov and Victor Grigor’ev, but only Alexey and Mikhail finished the complete journey. The route was around the world through 25 countries in Europe, Asia, South and North America. The length of the route ~83,000 km. In 2014 Stefan Korn started a circumnavigation expedition. The trip took him 22 months, passing through 58 countries in 5 continents and covering a total distance of 108.895 km. His expedition was documented in his travel blog warmroads.de. Alexey Vorov. He waited for a lift 3 days in Chucotka, Far North, Russia to move 50km and then waited another 3 days for the second lift in the Komsomol'skij county till got a lift to Majskij (50 km). The minimum temperature on this travel was -55°C in Tyoplyj Kluch county (Chucotka). Benoit Grieu, French hitch-hiker, has hitchhiked in about 170 countries. Vladimir Nesin is famous for barefoot walking, and has been in 138 countries. In all of them he hitchhiked at least one time, excepting Mongolia, which he traversed completely on foot. This means he has hitchhiked in 137 countries, although in many of them only a little bit. Vladimir Sharlaev from St. Petersburg has hitchhiked in 138 countries, if counting "not officially recognized territories" . We are not sure how many officially recognized nation-states that amounts to exactly, but it must be somewhere "'between 120 and 135"' countries. Neringa Raulusonyte and Kristina Zukaite from the Vilnius Hitch-hiking Club. They got a ride from a 55 years old German driver with a Toyota Corolla, which was going just 50 km. However, later he offered them to prolong the lift according to their wishes. The driver gave them a ride using the route Berlin - Frankfurt/M - Koblenz - Luxembourg - Paris - Bruxelles - The Netherlands - Hamburg - Berlin - Torun - Kalvarija - Vilnius. From 2001-08-29 until 2001-09-04 the girls covered 4000 km in the same car. The total deviation from driver's route was - 3950 km (drivers way back is not included). 600 km (at least) to one side. It was for three hitch-hikers from the VGTU Tourist Club, Lithuania. The lift was given on the Lithuanian – Polish border. The driver should go to Czech Republic, but after he spoke to one of the hitchhikers, he took them until the German border (Szczecin). After the crossing the German border he went back to Poland and after to Czech Republic. Also he gave them 150 EEK (~11 USD). These hitchhikers were: Vladas Sapranavicius, Jovita Garnyte and Asta Ruzgyte. Dieter Wesch, the self-styled 'King of Hitchers', who was spending his Sundays patrolling the Autobahn between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, giving lifts to hitchers stranded at petrol stations. Every hitcher should sign in his guest-book. There was given a number from the guest-book - 9528. It's probably not a final number. Jim Sanderson ('Angel'). He has about 5000 photos with the hitchhikers he gave a lift to (mostly in pairs), so he has taken around 7500 people. Mr. Sanderson lives in New Zealand. He has in the 9 years since 1988 filled 7 guest books, 27 address books and dozens of photo albums. Island of Dunay, north of Tiksi, North Russia, 73°56'. It was done by Konstantin Savva from Moscow Hitchhiking School (Russia) and his girlfriend Polina Kuleshova in September 2002. Urung-Haia, North Russia, 73°. It was done by Konstantin Savva from Moscow Hitchhiking School (Russia) on May 2002. Tiksi, North Russia, 71° 36'. It was done by Andrey Sapunov and Alexandr Dmitrievskyi from Ukrainian hitchhiking club "Mainroad" (Ukraine) on autumn 2002. Phillips Petroleum drilling operations near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, 71° N was done by Ilmar Island from Pompano Beach, FL as the starting point for a Guinness World Record run from Prudhoe Bay, AK to Key West, FL which was accomplished in 6-days, 17-hours and 22-minutes. However since the route included trespassing for 510-miles on oil company owned roads the record was not honoured and instead Guinness recognized Mr. Island's run from Key West, FL to Fairbanks, AK in 5-days, 20-hours and 52-minutes that he accomplished a few days earlier in June of 1979. Scott Base, Antarctica, 77° 51'. Hitchhiker from USA Benjaman Bachelder hitched 5 km from McMurdo Station to Scott Base in December 2005. The same month he even held a seminar on hitchhiking in Antarctica and got a ride in a snowmobile. Ukrainian research base "Academic Vernadsky" in Antarctica, 65° 15' - reached by Argentinian hitchhikers Juan Villarino and Laura Lazzarino in 16 November 2010. They got a free ride to this base from cruiser "Ushuaia", belonging to cruise company "Antarrply Expeditions" 20 km South from Ushuaia, Argentine, 54° 48'. Arndt Writzel from Germany cut a record of the farthest point in the South. He reached Ushuaia town in southern Argentina in 2001 02 03. Mountain Everest base camp in Nepal - 5,400 meters. It was done by Czech hitchhiker Pavel Trcala. He got the ride from Everest Base camp two days after climbing Everest on his return to Kathmandu on 1 June 2005. Later the same place was also conquered by several other hitchhikers: Nuutti Palonen (Finland), Radha Krishnan (India) and Tai Häring (Germany). They also hitchhiked to Mt Everest base camp from Shigatse in August 2005 and then hitchhiked to Nepal from Mt Everest. Gyatso-La mountain pass in Tibet, on the way from Lhasa to Nepalese border - 5,220 meters. It was done by two Polish hitchhikers Kinga and Chopin on 11 May 2003. The mountain pass in the Andes, South Peru – 5,100 meters. It was done bye Alexey Vorov and Mikhail Dutkevich (PASL) in May 1993. +55°C experienced Alexey Vorov, Andrey Kuritsin, Ol’ga Bandurko, Andrey Leipi and Nadezhda Makarova in summer 1981 near Ashchabad, Turkmenistan. +52°C. Bertrand hitchhiked from Abu Dhabi airport to the city center. 19th August 2015. –63°C. It was for hitchhiker Elena Saturova, member of PASL in January 1992 between Ust’-Nera and Sasuman in East Yakutya, Russia. During their expedition to the Nordkapp in January 2018, hitchhikers of the DTSG encountered temperatures down to –30 °C in Finnish Lapland. The hitchhiking nomad Sven Kopf even slept outside during those temperatures. 310 km/h, according to Andrius Papickas and Viktorija Aksionova from Lithuania. It has happened on April 14, 2004 in Germany, between Fulda and Dresden, when travellers were returning home from Spain. The car was "BMW 550" ("Alpina"). 300 km/h, according to Prino, on 25 May 2016 around 20:30, during a ride from MOP Nowostawy on the Polish A2 to a petrol station on the exit Poznan Komorniki (the driver missed MOP Tulce). The car was a Mercedes E63 AMG. The driver made an attempt to break the 310 km/h record mentioned above, but lack of free road made this impossible. 300 km/h, according to Linas Migonis from Lithuania. On June 1, 2007, on the route Berlin - Leipzig he had a lift with 4 seated "Maserati". The drive has attended a driving lessons of Formula-1 racer. 292 km/h, according to Veit Kuehne from Dresden, Germany. He got a ride with a young driver (car "Audi") on a highway between Dresden and Chemnitz in July 2008. At least 280 and more than likely exceeding 290 km per hour, according to Prino on 27 May 2015 from Raststätte Fränkische Schweiz/Pegnitz Ost (departure @ 06:05) to Raststätte Fläming Ost (arrival @ 07:49). The odometer'ed distance was 304.0 km (both Google Maps and Bing Maps give the distance as 308 km) and the ride included a refuelling stop of 11 minutes (06:58 - 07:09). The driver used a Cougar system and didn't pay any attention to speed restrictions, other than slightly slowing down in roadworks. The car was an Audi RS6 Quattro. 20 days +1h31m17s, according to Alexej Vorov from Russia. Alexej hitch-hiked from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, from Seattle to Boston and from Madrid to St. Petersburg starting 01.10.2014 00h00 and finishing 21.10.2014 01h31:17. He passed the countries Russia, USA, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. 10, according to Miran Ipavec from Slovenia. Miran hitched this in 23 hours and 15 minutes, starting on 2018-03-14. In this order he passed these countries: Serbia, Croatia*, Bosnia and Herzegovina**, Slovenia*, Italy**, Austria*, Germany**, Hungary*, Slovakia, Czech Republic. Countries marked * were passed twice and at those marked ** Ipavec retunred into the previous country at the border. 30, according to Miran Ipavec from Slovenia. Miran hitched this in 9 days, 20 hours and 25 minutes, starting on 2015-04-01. In this order he passed these countries: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania*, Ukraine, Serbia, Macedonia*, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia*, Slovenia*, Italy, Austria*, Czech Republic, Germany*, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. Countries marked * were passed twice. Kosovo, not recognised by the UN, is excluded from this list. Stefan Korn hitchhiked from Fairbanks down to British Colombia and got a 2676km long ride from Tok Alaska to Cache Creek in British Columbia (2014-01-13T). Around 1.600 km he drove by himself. 1,113.6 km, by Prino from the Netherlands, a ride from service station Deersels on the A67 near Sevenum, The Netherlands (2018-09-04T14:13) to service station Brwinów on the A2 near Brwinów, Poland (2018-09-05T12:24) - Prino drove the entire distance, driver even paid for a hotel room at night. Possibly around 1,100 km, also by Prino. During his longest ride, a 2,502.9 km monster from a petrol station near Platamonas (1990-08-13T16:32) in Greece to Driebergen (1990-08-15T12:54) in the Netherlands, he drove during five periods, for a total time of 10:06 out of a total driving time of 22:41. The distance is based on the average speed of the ride, and the sections driven. 781 km, according to Frank Verhart from the Netherlands. Frank drove from service station Gralla Ost on the A9 near Graz, Austria (2015-05-26T22:19) to service station Medenbach Ost on the A3 near Frankfurt am Main, Germany (2015-05-27T10:28). Robertas Pogorelis from Vilnius, Lithuania. On 23 August 2016 he got a ride from Long Island, Palau, to Koror, Palau (about 2 km) from a 14-year-old girl who was driving to school. Everything was legal: the driver held a temporary licence and was sitting next to her 16-year-old sister who had a full licence. From a standing start (standing on the start/finish line), thumb a vehicle down, get in it, and complete 1 lap of the circuit in the correct direction. The clock starts when you put your thumb out, and the clock stops when you cross the finish line 1 lap later. 9 minutes, 12 seconds (approx): Sanne and Tom, hitchhiking as a pair, on 10 May 2009. Land's End to John o'Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities. "The greatest distance in 24 hours is 2318.4 km 1440.7 miles, from Southern Yugoslavia to Hamburg, West Germany on 5 July 1989 by Robert Prins of De Bilt, The Netherlands. He achieved this with just four lifts." Full details of the four rides that led to this record can be found here. "A young man named Ilmar Island of Pompano Beach, Florida, Hitchhiked from Key West, Florida, to Fairbanks, Alaska, a distance of about 5200 miles, setting out on June 2, 1979, and arriving at his destination on June 7, just 5 days 20 hours and 52 minutes later." A few days later after completing his Key West, Florida, to Fairbanks, Alaska run, Mr. Island hitched from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska back to Key West, Florida in 6-days, 17-hours and 22-minutes. However since this route included trespassing for 510-miles on oil company owned roads that record was not honored and instead Guinness recognized Mr. Island's run from Key West, Florida to Fairbanks, Alaska as mentioned above. World Records: Musings on what makes a record breaking hitch. If you want to do something that (probably) hasn't been done before, you can try your thumb at any of these. Don't expect to end up in the Guinness Book of Records for it, they no longer seem to have a section with hitchhiking records. This page was last edited 21:41, 6 September 2018 by Prino. Based on work by different users of the hitchwiki community.

2019-04-24T01:57:03Z

http://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Hitchhiking_Records&amp;diff=prev&amp;oldid=92083

The Torygraph Telegraph has this: “Nearly half of all Labour voters prepared to desert the party as they lose both leave and remain support“. 20% of voters are undecided or will not say how they will vote “the Undecided”. In short, the polls are still indicating that Wicked Witch of Westminster is going into this election on a favourable wind and the Labour Party still looks as if it is going to be the big loser. But a big win for the Witch may very well turn out to be very bad for the country. The Independent has this: “Majority of British voters believe Brexit was wrong decision, poll finds – Figures reveal 45 per cent of electorate oppose leaving the EU” That relates to yet another You-Gov poll for The Times. The Independent also has this: “The latest polls show most people think Brexit was a mistake. This could be a turning point – May and her Brexit-backing band have, up until now, always been able to count on the majority being in their corner. They have used it as a club in an attempt beat their opponents into submission. Majority rules! That’s going to be a lot harder to do if she’s lost the majority“. The Guardian reports: “Jeremy Corbyn election bid to promote ‘warmer’ style of leadership – Labour strategists take on Tory attacks and depict leader as willing to engage with ordinary people, in contrast to Theresa May“. That is, perhaps, a sign of a sensible strategy developing. It is worth referring again to something discussed on the 1st Brexit Election Update and that is that younger voters are more likely to vote Labour and that age rather than class is now a factor that matters. As pointed out on the May’s Brexit General Election page, Monday 22nd May 2017 is the last day for registering to vote. Labour, Liberal Democrats, the SNP and others should be working hard to get all eligible (and in particular younger) voters onto the register. Jeremy Corbyn seems to be trying. The Guardian has this: “Jeremy Corbyn gets personal in one-off campaign speech – Labour leader departs from usual focus on issues and policies by talking about his personal history and motivations“. This piece by Charlie Brinkhurst Cuff in the Guardian is worthy of note: “Personal attacks on Corbyn will backfire on the Tories among the young – We recognise bullying when we see it, and we look for idealism in politicians – not the vindictiveness on display from Johnson and May“. This piece in the Financial Times is worth reading: “Theresa May is dangerously disdainful of dissent – A thumping majority will not change Europe’s negotiating stance” – and the posted comments make interesting reading too! The Telegraph has this interesting piece: “Spanish ministry of defence staff vote thousands of times in Gibraltar poll – Telegraph Gibraltar poll approaches one million votes – after thousands of votes from Spain’s ministry of defence and social media campaign“. One has visions of some elderly officer relic from the dark days of Generalissimo Francisco Franco sitting in a basement of the Spanish Ministry of Defence urging a cohort of members of the Guardia Civil to log on to the Telegraph website to swing the on-line poll. Well, it’s not just the Russians who are in the “fake news” business. The Wicked Witch of Westminster has pulled a fast one! With the benefit of hindsight, it is worth reading this article from last Sunday’s Observer: “How May kept her secret – and left rivals scrambling – The PM brilliantly outwitted her opponents after weeks of denying she was going to go to the country“. Yes, the Wicked Witch has managed to catch all the opposition parties, and in particular the Labour Party, completely on the hop. A new page has been opened for the May’s Brexit General Election which will be periodically updated. Professor Curtice of Strathclyde University predicted that Labour was heading for disaster in Scotland and likely to lose control of all Councils in Scotland. The Guardian’s view was that the results of the Local Elections will be a key indicator of the likely outcome of the surprise General Election. However, the Independent has this: “Labour easily beating Tories among voters under 40 despite being 20 points behind overall – The UK’s generational split is bigger than ever“. The article is based on a You-Gov poll: The Demographics Dividing Britain. No doubt, campaign managers will be taking these findings into account. Voters in Wales may remember that when Mrs Thatcher closed Wales, the Welsh Development Agency tried to remedy matters with a Made in Wales advert which 9 years later is still to be found on You-Tube – swiftly followed by a skit on the the BBC’s Not the Nine O’Clock News – Failed in Wales – also to be found on You-Tube. Strange, therefore, that the Wicked Witch is campaigning for a hard Brexit which will damage Wales and seeking to persuade the people of Wales to vote Conservative in her surprise General Election. The Guardian has this: “Conservatives warned: don’t take ‘landslide’ election win for granted – Strategists fear voters may turn to other parties to reduce scale of anticipated victory as Theresa May tries to woo people away from Labour in Wales“. The report is useful because it identifies the Conservative target constituencies in Wales. The Financial Times has this: “What to expect after the UK general election – How the result will shape Brexit, Scotland and Theresa May’s leadership“. Assuming electoral success – which at the moment seeks likely – it is an interesting piece. More importantly, the Financial Times has this: “Theresa May refuses to commit to pensions ‘triple lock’ – Policy ensures state pension rises by highest of CPI, earnings growth or 2.5 per cent“. We pensioners, may find that a pretty depressing notion – especially when coupled with what we see happening to the National Health Service. The Wicked Witch in Trouble? The Mail on Sunday’s Political Editor reported: “Tory lead is slashed in half after tax U-turn: Bombshell Mail on Sunday poll shows May plummeting by 11 points …denting hopes of a landslide“. Oh Dear! The actual Survation polling questions and answers are here: “Survation’s first General Election Voting Intention poll since Theresa May’s call for a General Election gained parliamentary approval shows the Conservative Party with more than a double-digit lead over Labour. But, as the Mail article pointed out, Professor John Curtice (who knows about these things) believes the survey still points to a net Conservative gain of some 29 seats. Tories on 45% (up seven points compared with the previous week), while Labour is down three points on 26%. There has been a dramatic fall in backing for Ukip, which is down five points to 9%, from 14% the week before. The Financial Times has this: “Blair urges voters to back anti-Brexit candidates — even if Tory – Former Labour prime minister’s intervention enrages leftwing activists“. The Telegraph has this: “SNP ‘to lose 10 seats’ to Tories in major blow to Nicola Sturgeon“. The report appears to be based on Panelbase and Survation polls. However, it appears that both polls predicted 2 gains for the Liberal Democrats and one poll thought there might be 3rd gain. Apparently, the Survation poll found backing for independence at 47 per cent, with 53 per cent opposed. However, almost 38 per cent said another Tory majority government would make them more likely to back separation. The Scotsman has this: “Election 2017: Will the SNP sweep Glasgow again?“. The conclusion reached is: “No matter who is selected, and no matter what happens between now and election day on June 8th, another SNP clean sweep in Glasgow seems almost inevitable“. The Independent reports: “Brexit opposition reaches record high one week after snap election announcement – While 44 per cent agree with Brexit, the same percentage think leaving the EU would be wrong“. The BBC has this: “General election 2017: How many people are registering to vote?” According to the report, some 350,000 people have registered to vote since the election was announced and most of them are younger people. Let us hope that all voters readers – especially those who were unable to vote in the Referendum – will be sure to register this time. The Website is here: “How to Vote to Stop the Tories“. The Times reports: “Trump puts EU ahead of Britain in trade queue – Merkel lands Brexit victory for Brussels“. Oh Dear! The so-called “special relationship” has always been an issue: – see (1) The Witch and Mr Toad (2) Hard Times for the Special Relationship (3) The Witch, Mr Toad and the EU . It was always to be expected that Mr Toad would be more interested in the trade balances than in the “special relationship” and, as the Times article points out: “The EU is America’s biggest trading partner: US exports to the bloc last year were worth $270 billion; it imported goods worth $417 billion. In the same period the US exported $55 billion in goods to Britain and imported $54 billion”. The plain fact is that the survival of the “special relationship” after the UK joined the EU depended very much on the UK continuing to have influence in Europe as one of the larger members of the European Union. The Guardian has this: “European leaders cheer Macron victory in first round of French election – Commission president breaks protocol to join chorus of congratulations for pro-European centrist, who faces far-right Marine Le Pen in second round“. The Financial Times reports: “Euro and French stocks surge on expectation Macron beats Le Pen – Centrist’s likely success in head-to-head for French presidency eases investor nerves“. The Telegraph has this: “Why does the French Presidential Election matter to the UK?“. The original £1 coin was the Sovereign. But while these coins continue to be minted, the current worth of a real 1983 gold Sovereign is somewhere around £450 rather than its nominal worth of £1. But by 1983, continued inflation had devalued the currency to the extent that a £1 paper banknote had become small change. But the cost of printing £1 paper money had become excessive, so in that year a new £1 coin was introduced. The new coin received a mixed reaction from the public – but very quickly it became known as “a Thatcher” or a “Maggie” because, like the Prime Minister of that name, “it was a bit brassy, was two faced and thought it was a sovereign” – the latter part of the explanation being a reference to a Margaret Thatcher propensity to imitate some the regal characteristics of the Queen. Mrs Teresa May, our current Prime Minister, appears to have a similar propensity. This is a picture of Teresa May deputising for HM the Queen at a Sandhurst passing out parade on a day when Her Majesty was otherwise engaged handing out the Royal Maundy Money to pensioners at Leicester Cathedral. Look at the hat. Her Majesty is always very careful to ensure that her face is never obscured by her hats – and Mrs May took the same approach with her headgear at Sandhurst. Today’s Torygraph Telegraph uses the same “quasi-Royal” photograph to support this article: “Support for Brexit hits a five-month high, with 55 per cent of UK population now backing exit from European Union“. The photograph is, of course, wholly unconnected with the subject matter of the article. There is, of course, a Christian tradition of exchanging Pascal Greetings at Easter, a feast which, after all, is in theological terms a more important Christian festival than Christmas. Wikipedia has a list of the appropriate Pascal Greeting in different languages ranging from the Greek – Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη! – to the Syriac: ܡܫܝܚܐ ܩܡ! ܫܪܝܪܐܝܬ ܩܡ!‎ and including the English Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen! . However, there is no tradition of British Prime Ministers delivering an Easter Message to the people. According to this Telegraph Article Alistair Campbell is said to have told Tony Blair “We don’t do God” and it does not seem that Conservative Prime Ministers before David Cameron were in the habit of delivering Easter messages. Writing on the Conservative Home blog, Rebecca Lowe Coulson, says this: “May’s Easter message. Most people don’t go to church. But they want a Christian country“. Frankly, that assertion ignores reality (not an uncommon approach for Conservatives like Ms Coulson). Christians are something of an endangered species in the UK. According to the Faith Survey, UK church attendance has declined over the period from 1980 to 2015 from 6.48 millions to 3.08 millions which is just 5% of the population. The British Social Attitudes Survey indicates that Anglican (i.e Church of England) affiliation is declining faster than any other religious grouping and is likely to disappear altogether by 2033. A video and the full text of Mrs May’s so-called “Easter message” can be found here on the Downing Street part of the government web site: “Easter 2017: Theresa May’s message – In her Easter message, Prime Minister Theresa May speaks about shared values and religious freedom, and wishes everyone a very happy Easter“. In other words – Mrs May was using the occasion of Easter to further her political position on Brexit. Writing in the New European, Richard Porrit has this: “Deluded: May again claims whole country is uniting behind Brexit“. The Guardian has this: “What Brexit should have taught us about voter manipulation – The EU referendum was won by the side with the means to distribute the most plausible lies through social media“. Finally, the Financial Times has this by Nick Clegg: “Theresa May’s Brexit stance has not softened but now it must – The prime minister if bold could salvage something in the talks“. Although Mr Clegg is unquestionably right – one cannot be hopeful that common sense will prevail in Downing Street. and we have just suffered the Wicked Witch’s attempt to do just that – delivering an “Easter Message” to the profanum vulgus. It was to be expected. The Telegraph has this: “Boris Johnson fails to secure backing of the G7 nations for swift sanctions against Russia and Syria“. But it is good to see that the Telegraph also has this piece: “Boris Johnson ‘not to blame’ for failed Russia sanctions at the G7, former foreign minister says“. As the articles make clear, Germany, Italy and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs all rejected the proposals of Clown Boris. The fact is that EU Member States always seek to have a united position before participating in wider meetings such as the G-7. That’s is encouraged by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs. Formerly, by virtue of the “special relationship” with the USA, a British Foreign Secretary had considerable influence in the development of any EU foreign policy stance. Now, by reason of the Brexit notification, the UK is no longer an insider in the EU looking out, but an off-shore outsider looking in. Mrs May had wished to continue to play a central role in EU affairs until the UK ceased to be a Member state, but at her first EU summit last October she was told in no uncertain terms that this would not be possible – see: “May: UK will remain at centre of EU decision-making until Brexit – Prime minister angers European leaders at first EU summit by saying Britain wants to maintain central role until it leaves“. British foreign secretaries are not in charge of British foreign policy. British prime ministers are their own foreign secretaries now, and have been since at least Margaret Thatcher’s time. The main reason why May is happy with Johnson being where he is concerns domestic politics. The permanently ambitious Johnson remains May’s chief potential rival. With Brexit now beginning to take shape, she wants him in the government tent, not outside it. The Foreign Secretary is the second-most popular politician in Britain, overtaken only, when she became Prime Minister, by Theresa May herself. Johnson has been unsackable for the past nine months, as the most important member of the Brexit ring of steel around the PM in the Cabinet. Now that May has invoked Article 50, however, she does not need her human shield so much, although it would still be damaging to her to lose him. Interestingly, Paul Goodman writes on the Conservative Home website: “May has Johnson exactly where she wants him” – and this may well be a correct assessment. The Guardian has this: “Boris Johnson is a liability for Britain, says John McDonnell – Shadow chancellor says foreign secretary’s ‘poor judgment’ undermines UK credibility, adding that even cabinet has no confidence in him“. Any list of the people undermining the UK’s credibility should have the Leader of the Labour Party right at the top of the list. The Independent carries this piece by Chuka Umunna MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary: “Theresa May’s Brexit plan makes no sense for Britain but all the sense in the world for internal Tory politics – The Prime Minister is scared stiff of the hard right of her party – the people who campaigned for Brexit, helped destroy David Cameron, and would destroy her if she questioned their ideology“. As his Wikipedia entry shows, Mr Umunna is a pretty high-powered guy. An example of his ability is that he had the good sense to resign from the Shadow Cabinet and return to the back benches when the dreadful Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Labour leader. Just yesterday the Independent reported “Theresa May takes 37-point lead over Jeremy Corbyn in new poll – The poll of more than 10,000 British adults found that 55 per cent think the current Prime Minister is the best choice for the role“. Analysis of the impact of Brexit by former Tory donor Lord Ashcroft found that 55 per cent of the poll of more than 10,000 UK adult respondents believe the current Prime Minister is the best choice for the role compared to 18 per cent who favour Mr Corbyn. In a further blow to the Labour leader, only 38 per cent of his party’s supporters would prefer him in Downing St, compared to 29 per cent who believe Ms May is more suited to the job. 33 per cent said they do not know. Predictions are that Labour will lose between 50 and 100 seats in the local government elections in May. With HM Opposition in such disarray, whom can we turn to? Tim Farron to the Rescue? Credence is given to this by this in the Financial Times: “Theresa May ensures only Brexit key allows entry to No 10 – Business leaders find access to PM elusive and there are unwritten rules“. The sooner the sane remainers in the Conservative Party, the more sensible people in the Labour Party, the members of the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats make common cause, the better. Time for Some Changes ? Is Mr Toad really the Witch’s Best Friend ? The Telegraph has this on Mr Toad’s latest little adventure: “Syria crisis: Russia raises prospect of war if it is given G7 ultimatum as it mocks Boris Johnson’s no-show“. The Guardian has this: “Syria conflict: Russia must act now to end bloodshed, says Fallon – UK defence secretary says Moscow directly complicit in suffering, writing that ‘latest war crime happened on their watch’. The Independent reports: “Russia and Iran warn US they will ‘respond with force’ if red lines crossed in Syria again – Threat comes after UK Defence Secretary demands Vladimir Putin rein in President Bashar al-Assad“. Steve Coll writes in the New Yorker: “Trump’s Confusing Strike on Syria – If President Trump broadens his aims against Assad, he will enter the very morass that Candidate Trump warned against.” Mr Coll describes the civil war in Syria as “the worst geopolitical disaster of the twenty-first century” but he is rightly concerned about the consequences. Likewise, Ezra Klein writing in VOX opined: “Trump’s foreign policy is dangerously impulsive – Trump needs a foreign policy, not just reactions to what he sees on cable news“. Mr Klein puts the problem pithily: “This, above all else, is what is worrying about Trump on foreign policy: He is unpredictable and driven by whims. He is unmoored from any coherent philosophy of America’s role in the world, and no one — perhaps not even him — truly knows what he’ll do in the event of a crisis“. Writing in the New York Times this morning, Antony J. Blinken, a Deputy Secretary of State in the Obama Administration, offers this Op-Ed: “After the Missiles, We Need Smart Diplomacy on Syria“. Well, if “smart diplomacy” is needed, then HM’s present Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is not the right person and the Wicked Witch of Westminster seems to agree with that. Interestingly, as appears from the Telegraph and Guardian articles, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon was the government spokesperson on Mr Toad’s latest adventure. The Financial Times also has this: “Trump sends aircraft carrier to waters off Korea – Experts divided over effectiveness of US tactics against Pyongyang’s nuclear threat“. The Spectator has this: “North Korea must be tamed and Donald Trump is right to take action – The US President may be a reckless hothead but the world cannot tolerate a rogue state with nuclear missiles“. One can see why the Wicked Witch of Westminster must needs cautiously support Mr Toad on these issues and it was probably wise of her to agree to have the US Secretary of State to deal with the Russians and to limit Clown Boris to the G7 meeting. However, one op-ed in the Independent had this: “Theresa May deliberately humiliated Boris Johnson this week – her disdain for him is reaching dangerous levels – No one wants to become the latest poster boy for British subservience to Washington, or to wake on the Sabbath to ‘Boris the poodle’ (Moscow’s description). But May knew she couldn’t send him on a delicate mission with his counterpart Lavrov“. The Guardian has this: “Russia decries cancelled Boris Johnson visit and warns on further Syria attacks – Moscow says decision to cancel trip shows Britain has no real influence and new aggressions in Syria will be met with force“. Certainly, Clown Boris does not have the statesmanlike qualities of many of his predecessors in the office he holds. But then, in reality, the UK is no longer the Great Power we once were. Our Empire was dismantled in the the years following WW2. We still have some trappings left – our influence within the Commonwealth – a “special relationship” with the USA – if only because because Americans speak “Murkin” which is a dialect derived from English – a seat on the UN Security Council and influence within the UN, NATO, and within the EU. But that latter zone of influence looks as if it is coming to a sorry end. Worse, Mr Toad seems to wish to encourage the break-up of the European Union and perhaps therefore the reality is that he is no friend of the UK. Four days ago, the Independent reported: “Brexit: Theresa May and Donald Tusk agree to ‘lower tensions’ over Gibraltar – The Prime Minister met the President of the European Council at Downing Street“. How nice of Donald Trusk to say so. Also on 3rd April, the Guardian had this: “‘We’re the sacrificial lamb’: Gibraltarians on Brexit sovereignty row – UK overseas territory could be included in trade deal with Spain’s agreement, says EU. We asked people of the Rock how they feel”. As log ago as 21st July 2016, the Gibraltar Chronicle had this: “Spain could veto Brexit talks, Margallo says“: “The Spanish Government will veto the terms of any Brexit negotiation between the UK and the EU that sought to include Gibraltar, Spain’s acting Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo said yesterday….“. Since the evidence was presented to the House of Lords, one would have though that the Wicked Witch and Clown Boris would have taken Gibraltar’s problem very much into account when preparing the Article 50 Notice. It appears they didn’t bother. On 6th April 2017 the Gibraltar Chronicle had this: “Clause 22 may yet change, for better or worse“. Spain has been working on recovering Gibraltar ever since it was ceded to the British Crown in 1713 by the Treaty of Utrecht. It will not give up easily. 4 days ago, the Independent had this: “Scotland rejoining EU would be ‘relatively speedy’, says senior German MEP – ‘If the political agreement would be there, then the process would be relatively speedy. Scotland is a member of the European Union and fulfils all of the conditions,’ says CDU member Elmar Brok“. That is good news for Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP, possibly also for Scottish businesses – especially those in the financial services sector – indeed it could even result in some financial services players in England deferring Brexit relocation decisions and moving north of Hadrian’s Wall rather than relocating to Frankfurt, Paris or Dublin. The Scotsman has this: “SNP could push through indyref2 bill to force May’s hand“. Interestingly, the Scottish Sunday Herald has this: “Thumbs up for Nicola Sturgeon as other politicians see negative approval rating“. A Lord Ashcroft Poll gave the First Minister a +11% approval rating with a -21% rating for her Conservative opponent and a -23% rating for Teresa May. So the Wicked Witch of Westminster can stop interrogating her mirror! A week ago, the Independent and Open Britain launched a campaign: “Drop the Target: Theresa May must scrap goal of reducing net migration below 100,000 a year – Campaign launched by The Independent and Open Britain is being supported by MPs across the political spectrum“. That makes sense. The target was never realistic. Three days ago, the Independent had this: “Boris Johnson says freedom of movement can continue after Brexit – Foreign Secretary claims to be ‘one of the few British politicians to speak up on the benefits of immigration’“. Yesterday the Independent has this: “Drop The Target: Senior Conservative MPs demand five-year immigration ban – Pro-Brexit politicians tell PM their hardline plan ‘will deliver on the will of the electorate’“. According to the newspaper report, the messenger acting for the Leave Means Leave cabal was one Stephen Woolfe MEP, a former UKIP member who is now an Independent. (Click on his name for his details on Wikipedia which are not impressive). On the Leave Means Leave website, the following Members of Parliament are named as being members of this entity’s “Political Advisory Board” or as “Supporters”. Their names below carry links to their respective Wikipedia entries. People who live in the above-mentioned constituencies and who do not support a hard Brexit might want to consider the possibility of switching their support – for example to the Liberal Democrats: “The only party fighting to keep Britain open, tolerant and united“. On 5th April 2017 the New Statesman had this “Exclusive: Conservative poll showed party would “lose seats” to the Liberal Democrats – Election strategist Lynton Crosby warned the party would lose MPs to the Lib Dems in an early election, sources say“. According to the article, polling showed that the Conservatives would lose about 27 of the Conservative gains from the Liberal Democrats in the 2015 election. On 6th April 2017 the New Statesman followed up with this: “What would be a good night for the Liberal Democrats in the 2017 local elections? – Tim Farron’s party have a favourable map and scope for gains“. Obviously, one cannot be sure what outcome of future elections will be but the Conservative Majority in the present Parliament is small. Over the two year period to Brexit there may well be changes. One can only hope.

2019-04-22T04:15:29Z

https://brexitissues.com/2017/04/

I'm so happy to welcome fellow Georgia Romance Writer and Seeker Villager, Walt Mussell, to Seekerville today. Walt's going to explain an amazing opportunity for writers and readers. Walt, thanks for being with us! Debby, thank you for having me. I’m ecstatic to be back in Seekerville! I still remember back in March 2017 when I received an email from Amazon notifying me that my novel, The Samurai’s Heart, had been selected for publication through the Kindle Scout program. I think the word “finally” accompanied the relief that flowed through me. I showed the email to my wife and then sat down and let it sink in. . .I was going to be a published author. So I’m here today to talk about Kindle Scout and the opportunity it provides not only unpublished authors, but ANYONE who wishes to submit their novel for consideration. Kindle Scout is an ongoing, reader-driven competition. It can be found at kindlescout.amazon.com. Authors submit an unpublished work to Amazon, along with their bio, a blurb, a tagline, and the answers to a few author-type questions. Amazon will review your submission, and then create a campaign page with an excerpt, posting it on the Kindle Scout website. Submissions are never removed from the site, so I’ve posted a screenshot of mine below. The excerpt will be posted for 30 days, along with 150-200 other hopefuls. Readers will vote on the submissions. After the 30-day period expires, Amazon reviews the campaign and notifies you of their decision. The whole process, from submission to notification, lasts no longer than 45 days. For readers, aka Scouters, it’s a great opportunity. If you vote for a book that’s selected by Amazon, you receive a free copy prior to the publish date. Scouters can have only three active votes at one time, so avid Scouters review books that are soon to expire and then choose new ones when their votes open up again. For authors, though, it’s nail biting…and only 3% are chosen. So would I recommend it? The answer is yes. The whys are below. 1) Before you submit to Amazon, you must polish your book. Had I not been selected, I would have self-published my book. It was ready to go. 2) If you self-publish your book, Amazon sends out an e-mail blast to everyone who voted for you, providing instant traction. 3) During your Kindle Scout campaign, you receive a lot of stats from Amazon on things like where your traffic is coming from, how many page views you have, and your time in the “Hot and Trending” category (the top 20 books on the site). The only thing you don’t know is the number of nominations you have. I’ve posted a picture of my page view stats below. So what does it take to be selected? I wish I had a straight answer. The Kindle Scout Winners don’t know for certain either. Is it the “Hot and Trending” list? Is it the number of page views or nominations? Amazon will not comment. My personal thought on the subject is traffic. Kindle Scout is a bit like a literary Netflix. If selected, your e-book becomes exclusive to Amazon. Books that expand traffic to new readers grow the reader base. Books that get readers to spend a lot of time on a selection get noticed by Amazon. In other words, the most important thing remains the same. . .the book. 2) Retention of paperback rights. Easy reversion of other rights. Seekerville, thank you again for having me. Please ask any questions you have about Kindle Scout. I’m giving away four e-copies of my book. I can send these pretty much anywhere in the world. (e.g. I’ve sent books as gifts from the U.S. and people have been able to download them in other countries.) For anyone interested, Amazon has my e-book on sale for $1.99 in the U.S. (link: http://amzn.to/2EXwoh2 ) and Canada (link: http://amzn.to/2Bna4NS). Also, I have a new website at www.waltmussell.com. It just went live this month and I would love visitors, as well as people to sign up for my newsletter. (I was at a conference last November and one of the publishers told me I would need a newsletter of 7000 for them to consider a book like mine. This will take time. 😊) Thank you. Walt is a member of Georgia Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. He is a 2017 Kindle Scout winner, which led to the contract for his first novel, The Samurai's Heart. Imagine you're in medieval Japan where your duty to faith can get you killed...or worse. With the death of her older sister and sole sibling, Sen must return home and find a husband to marry into the family swordsmith business. Failure ensures her family's craft, honed through generations, will die. Her father's handsome apprentice, Nobuhiro, would seem the ideal choice for a husband and her parents press the issue. Sen rejects this offer as she wants a Christian husband, difficult as the religion is banned. Eschewing her parents' advice, Sen decides to seek out local Christians to find a suitable match. The prodigal third son of a high-level samurai, Nobuhiro seeks to prove his worth to his harsh father by becoming a great swordsmith. But when his master's daughter begins seeking local Christians, he finds he must protect her from the group of anti-Christians that killed her sister. Despite his growing attraction to her, he believes her devotion to her faith reckless. Yet failure to protect her dooms the family he serves. And falling for a Christian dooms reconciliation with his own father, who must enforce the ban. Will faith forge love or will it forge death? I'm so proud of you... first, because you're a great person. Second, because you're tenacious and you know I like tenacious people... in this business, giving up is the kiss of death. Okay, I had no idea how this works... and now I do... and in typical Amazon harvesting methodology, it's pretty darn smart. Thank you for this overview... So does Amazon get rights to your book if you're not chosen by the readers??? 'Splain this to me, friend. I agree with you, Ruthy! So proud of Walt for his hard work that paid off! Only if you are chosen. The ebook rights become exclusive to Amazon, and the ebook won’t appear on another platform. They also get audio rights and translation rights. Audio rights, if not exercised, revert to author after three months, upon request. (I have mine back already.) Translation rights, if not exercised, revert back upon request after a year. (Have to check if I retain ebook rights, if story is in a foreign translation. ) Print rights remain yours. Thanks for this question and answer...I was wondering the same thing! Walt, got it. That makes sense and I am over the moon loving this opportunity for people.... because not everyone sees some stories as the "gems" they are... and in the end, it's the reader's opinion that matters. This is a great post, my friend. Thanks, Ruthy. Had I not published with Kindle Press (via this contest), I would have taken the plunge and self-published. For a newby like myself, without a fan base, that makes marketing an even bigger challenge. Thanks for the coffee! I'm pouring a cup! Walt, thanks for sharing all you've learned and experienced with Kindle Scout. I teach a writing class at my church and I know some of those folks will be interested in this opportunity! Villagers will be too. Like Ruthy, I wasn't sure how the program worked. You've done a great job with your explanation and sales pitch! Kindle Scout is something to consider for those who have a story they want to share with the world. Walt, I hope you'll also mention the recent good news you've had concerning The Samurai's Heart! As Ruthy said in her comment, we're so proud of you! Your hard work paid off with publication!!! Woot! My good news is that I finally achieved bestseller status in both the U.S. and Canada last weekend. Amazon ran a BookBub ad on my behalf. I was #1 in Religious/Inspirational Historicals in the U.S. I was #1 in Canada in Historical Romance. WALT!!!! HAPPY DANCING FOR YOU!!!!! You have no idea how happy this makes me.... YIPPEE!!!! To celebrate Walt's success, I've brought cranberry scones, banana bread, fresh fruit and rice cakes! Enjoy! Reaching for a rice cake and adding a little soy sauce! YUM! Ooo, thank you, Debby. One of those cranberry scones will be just dandy with my second cuppa tea. Love cranberry scones! I buy mini-scones at Sprouts that are cranberry-orange. Oh, they're amazing! And perfect snack size. I love Sprouts, Missy! Stopped there today and got six bags of produce...wonderful fruits and vegetables for $37. #socheap! Rice cakes???? I get the scones. I get the fruit. Did they run out of biscuit flour? (Ruthy walks away, shaking her head, because she clearly expected more from her Southern contingency.... then thinks maybe MISSY will bring pecan pie. Or Patti Jo might come by with peach something!!!! And Ruthy is suddenly breaking into her "gonna be happy" dance!!! "My good news is that I finally achieved bestseller status in both the U.S. and Canada last weekend. Amazon ran a BookBub ad on my behalf. I was #1 in Religious/Inspirational Historicals in the U.S. I was #1 in Canada in Historical Romance." For Amazon to run a BookBub ad is huge! Lots of sales to propel you to #1 in the US and Canada! I'm happy dancing for you! That's great news!!!! Congratulations, Walt! Oh, how exciting!! Love those BookBub boosts!! Welcome back to Seekerville, Walt, and mega congrats! I never heard of Kindle Scout until I read your post, but that's really cool. Thank you for sharing this. Very informative. Thanks, Mindy. It's a great opportunity, particularly for people that don't fit a defined niche. Wow! Walt! What great success you're having with your book! I remember when you were wondering if a publisher would ever take a chance on an historical story like yours...and you worked until you found your spot! Like Ruthy said, tenacity is SO important! So, if I'm understanding Kindle Scout correctly, there's a lot of reader input into whether a book gets published or not, right? That's big! I can see traditional publishers following what is published on Kindle Scout to keep their finger on reader trends, and I can also see books catching readers' attention that wouldn't get noticed otherwise. Thanks for the information, and congratulations again!!! So happy for you! Great points, Jan--keep a finger on reader trends and books that wouldn't get noticed otherwise. To Jan and Karen, I place more information on the latter, though the former is important, too. Also the PR you got from the BookBub ad is so amazing! That alone would be worth all the hard work. This is really neat. Thanks so much for sharing. And congratulations! Thanks for all the information on Kindle Scout! You've given me lots to think about. Also, congratulations on The Samurai's Heart! Jackie, thanks for stopping by today! Hope all is well with you! One thing that really struck me is how great your blurb is. I think that could have had a huge impact on your success (like what Lincoln said). You know, something you said made me think you had your cover made before you submitted. Who did it for you? It's gorgeous! Missy, I agree with you about the blurb. I'm doing a workshop for a couple of writing groups about why and how to write a good blurb. They're hard to write, and I certainly didn't realize how important the blurb was when I wrestled with my first one. Agreeing with Missy and Karen about the blurb. We all struggle writing them. Maybe I should only speak for myself. I struggle writing blurbs! Karen are you giving a blurb writing workshop? If so, I'm impressed! Missy, Karen, and Debby, thank you for the kind common. On my blurb, I did have some assistance from a Seeker Emeritus. The cover was designed by Rogenna Brewer, who I may beg out of cover design retirement for items in the future. I'm trying to finish the draft on a prequel and am working on my sequel. Walt, I plan to use Rogenna so I bet if you plan ahead maybe she’ll do another for you. :) I’m glad to hear she did it! I love her work. Walt, there's so much to celebrate in your post! Congrats on all the good things happening for you and your book. Thank you for sharing this great information. WALT!! CONGRATULATIONS again on your wonderful book! I enjoyed it so much! This info on the Amazon Scout program is intriguing. Interesting that you don't know exactly how the selection process works. But what an opportunity! And the 7K newsletter subscribers thing? It blows my mind when an editor tells you something like that. New authors are already supposed to have that kind of following??? Maybe for nonfiction if they have a speaking platform, but not really feasible for a first-time novelist. Anyway, congrats again, and all the best for your next books!!! Guess who doesn't have a newsletter? ME!!! Must get started. There never seems to be enough time. Anyone else feel that way? Myra, thanks. The KS Winners have a private group on FB where we discuss writer challenges. We don't quite know either what's out there. We only know that the program is getting more popular, so that recent winners seem to have higher page views than prior winners. As for the comment of the editor from the publishing house, it had nothing to do with my being a first-time novelist. Instead, it was my comps (comparables). Christian publishing houses turned me down because they couldn't see where I would fit. For me, the closest comp to my novel is Shogun by James Clavell and in that book the heroine dies. (Hardly a comparable for a HEA. :-)) I've been thinking a lot about comps as GRW's speaker last weekend was from the Knight Agency and she brought it up. There's some wonderful Asian-based historical romances out there from authors like Weina Dai Randel and Jeannie Lin, but there writings aren't Christian fiction. The editor wants to see 7000 as it's an attitude of less risk. Thank you for this informative post today, Walt, and CONGRATULATIONS on your book! I was not familiar at all with the Kindle Scout program and I appreciate your explanations---sounds like a great opportunity for many. Hi Patti Jo! I didn't know about the program either until Walt shared the information. I hope this blog provides a way for others to get their work in front of readers. Patti Jo, I agree. It's a great opportunity for many people. Patti Jo... did you forget something? Like... something peachy? Don't leave me hangin', woman. Thanks, Patti Jo! I'm eager to try your Peach Crumble! Thank you for such an informative post. I will definitely look into it. One question I have, must you already have a cover as well to submit your story to Kindle Scout and are you competing with all stories posted for that 30 day period or in a specific subgenre? Thanks again for being so generous with your information. Great questions, Anna. I'm interested, as well. Anna, you're submitting a book that you could turn around and self-publish almost immediately is Amazon turns you down. So, yes, the cover and everything else needs to be ready. You are not competing with a specific subgenre, though you will list your book in more than one genre to draw page views. Youre competing for eyeballs with everyone on the site at the same time you are. Walt, thank you for sharing about the Kindle Scout Program. Congratulations on your book! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Caryl! You're in the drawing! Walt, don't you have two more stories in this series? If so, do you plan to self-pub them? Do you have an estimated date for publication? I'll look forward to reading the sequel! WALT!!! I never, ever heard of Kindle Scout, so your post captured me from start to finish! What a GREAT idea!! And SUPER CONGRATS on being in the coveted 3% -- WOW!! I have a question for you. I am hoping to write a short secular novel and I'm game to experiment with anything new to promote it. Would you recommend that to a multi-pubbed author like myself? Good question, Julie! Notice that one of Walt's quotes is from Cristiane Serruya, a USA Today bestselling author. Wonder if she did Kindle Scout first or after her bestseller released? Julie, I was going to mention Cristiane as well. Are you going to write it under a different name. or will it still fit in with your brand? Congratulations, Walt! So happy for you! And thanks for sharing your publishing experience. Hi Laura, so glad you could stop by today! Wasn't Walt's blog interesting? He provided so much new information...and writers always like to learn something new! Thanks, Laura. It has been a learning experience. Walt, sorry to be a late party goer. The baby bear is in town and we went to look at rescue kittens. What a terrific explanation of Kindle Scout. I'm anxious to try this venue on some of my indie works. I don't know how you do what you do with a full time job and shuttling back and forth to high school and college activities with your kids. Plus you do Kindle Worlds as well. Tina, thank you! It is a good place for anything the market might find speculative. Tina, you're so right. Walt is a great provider for his family and a super dad. Plus, an amazing writer! Congratulations to you, Walt! Thank you for explaining the ins and outs of Kindle Scout. Walt, until I read your post, I knew nothing about Kindle Scout. Thanks for the info! Barbara, many of us were in the dark. So glad Walt provided info about this interesting program that's a boon for writers AND readers! Barbara, it's a really good program, and the number of readers is growing. And a good thing readers can do is to spend time with the books where campaigns are about to expire. it increases the amount of great books one can win. Oh my gosh, Walt! Mega congratulations on your writing accomplishments! It's always inspiring to read good news like yours. Thank you for sharing! Thanks, too, for such a clear, concise explanation of the Kindle Scout program. You've made me aware of an option I hadn't considered before. Nancy, so glad you stopped by to learn more about Kindle Scout. Many of us are amazed at this opportunity. Hope all is well. Nancy, if you choose to try it, good luck. It has been an eye-opening experience. Walt, thank you so much for this post on Kindle Scout. I hadn't heard of it. This was very interesting. Thanks for sharing! Congratulations on your book! Thanks, Sally! Glad you enjoyed the post. Such an informative post, Walt! Thanks so much for the information! Nicki, so glad you could stop by tonight! Hope all is well! Thanks, Walt, for being with us today and for providing an informative post about Kindle Scout. We're all thrilled about your success and appreciate you sharing what you've learned with us! Keep us posted on your sequel and other writing endeavors! And, again, thanks for being with us. Thank you for sharing your experience! I've given some thought to the Kindle Scout program before but have dismissed it because I didn't think I'd have the following to boost the page views. I get the sense though from reading this, that it sort of has a life of its own beyond what self-promotion can do. Does that sound correct? Yes, you have a lot of people reading it, whether they like your genre or are just looking at the books that have campaigns ending soon. However, what I did to maintain interest was to ask friends to post at different time throughout the campaign to draw readers. Congratulations and thanks for explaining about Kindle Scout. I will head over to your web page and sign up for your newsletter. I wish you continued success! Walt, I'm sorry I'm so late to the party! I was out of town AND I had computer troubles! What a great look into Kindle Scout I had no idea it even existed! Congratulations on having your book chosen, and thanks for sharing your experience here! Your article was encouraging, informative, and helpful. Thanks! I REALLY enjoyed your book by the way. And hope to see you again at the Art of Writing Conference in Nashville later this year. What a blessing! KC, I enjoyed meeting you as well, and I also hope to make a return trip to Nashville. Thank you for the kind comments on my book!

2019-04-24T02:17:29Z

http://seekerville.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-opportunity-of-kindle-scout-with.html

Tonsil stones are caused by an accumulation of sulfur-producing debris and bacteria that become lodged in the tonsils. A part from expensive medicines, there are many natural and effective home remedies to cure tonsil stones. Do you want to know which home remedy will help you treat of tonsil stones? In this article, VKool.com will show you top 37 natural & effective home remedies for tonsil stones. The writing is collected from reliable sources. However, it is not intended to give medical advice and it is solely for the informational purpose. Keep reading this writing to learn more! This is actually one of the most effective home remedies for tonsil stones. This is because water keeps our body hydrated, and then creates an environment that does not get the conditions for the bacteria’s survival. Additionally, drinking water regularly can support the cleaning up of debris as well as other materials. It prevents them from accumulating at the tonsils, causing the occurring of tonsil stones. In fact, tonsils are a vital part of the immunity system and if any foreign object passes through the lymphatic system, it often tends to be stored inside it. You should drink 8-10 cups of water daily. Besides, you should also try to drink at least 1 cup of water first in the morning. Using cotton swabs is a simply home remedy that is done to push off the tonsil from the tonsils’ walls. Before using them, you should make both ends wet in order to make it gentle on your tonsils. To get the best result, you should do this method in front of a mirror. Also, use a flashlight in order to locate the stones. You use wet cotton swabs in order to loosen the stones and remove them from the walls of the tonsils. Once done, you should use salt water or mouthwash to gargle your mouth. This will remove remaining particles as well as other debris. This is also one of the most amazingly useful home remedies for tonsil stones that people can make use at home without meeting any difficulty. A toothbrush can be a great weapon against tonsil stones, but you should be careful not to trigger the gag reflex. You can use an ordinary toothbrush or an electric toothbrush. When using a soft bristle toothbrush, have a flashlight in order to locate the tonsil stones’ position. Using the toothbrush bristles can make pressure on the tonsil until they loosen. You push them off and then get a mouthwash in order to remove the small stones. If you use an electric toothbrush, make pressure on the places where you can locate your stones. Using the backside of your toothbrush, scrub the stones lightly in order to break them up. After you have done, you should use a mouthwash to get rid of the remaining particles. You should be cautious not to scrape at the tissue in the surrounding areas as this will cause a throat sore. You can use your tongue to relax the tonsil stones and clear them out. You push on the tonsils and try to separate them or push them free. The fact that the back of the mouth works hard can help you relax the stones. This exercise may need you to be patient, as the stones are installed in the tonsils’ cleft. More importantly, remember to wash with salt water or clean water to keep the tissues wet and to remove the stones. In fact, this is also among the best and most effective natural home remedies for tonsil stones that we would like to introduce in the article today and want readers to learn and make use for good! When you are trying to remove the stones by using your finger, firstly, you need to wash your hands with sudsy water and rinse them off. Next, you open the mouth and then use your finger to discover the tonsils. Remember not to reach further back with your finger. Next, apply weight and then push up so that the stones pop up. Finally, wash the mouth with salt water. Many women have bobby pins in their bathroom. And you do the same, you can consider using one of them to remove the tonsil stones. The black-colored pins work well as they are flexible and thin, yet firm enough to remove the stones. Remember to wash your pins with soap water before placing them in the mouth. A dirty pin can transfer infectious bacteria into your mouth, causing more serious throat problems. You stroke the stones with slight but steady pressure in one direction. Do not poke it further into the tonsil as if you are having a sore throat, this action can lead to more irritation. Failure to keep a good oral hygiene is one of the main causes for the occurrence of tonsil stones. In the mouth, the bacteria cause the occurrence of tonsil stones from accumulated particles as well as other debris. The bacteria are able to be reduced by frequently brushing your teeth with recommended toothpaste. Besides, you should change toothbrush regularly, scrap the tongue and gargle the mouth with salt water or mouthwash. You use a medicine dropper, pressing the rubber bulb and then carefully put your tip next to the tonsil stone. When it gets in contact, lightly release the rubber bulb and then remove the tonsil stones. After that, gargle with antiseptic mouthwash to clear any debris. Be careful when doing this as you can trigger the gag reflex. Coughing has been considered as an effective way to dislodge tonsil stones. It is a good idea for you to drink warm water first as this will help you reflex the throat’s tissue. Remember to cough when your mouth closed, and then check whether the tonsil stones are still there. On the first attempt, it may not work, so you need to repeat this exercise a couple of times. Mouthwash is a good way to prevent tonsil stones. Once you use mouthwash that contains alcohol in it, it will kill any bacteria growth. You can use products that kill viruses and bacteria, or you can also gargle the mouth with hydrogen peroxide. Ensure to gargle at least once a day to get rid of tonsil stones or to prevent new stones from forming. Lime has been used for long and it is famous for its medicinal properties, so the juice of lime can be used to get rid of the tonsil stones. You simply mix the juice of lime with a cup of water. Also, you can add your favorite flavors. You slowly drink the diluted lime juice so that it may get in touch with the areas the tonsil stones located. This will clean the mouth, remove the bacteria and prevent its occurrence in the future. Honey is an antiseptic material that may help you boost the immune system. Tonsil stones can turn up as a result of an infection in the throat, and treating it with honey can be effective. To use honey for removing tonsil stones, you dissolve honey in a cup of warm water, and then gargle the mouth with this solution a couple of times a day. Compounds containing in the honey will work as an antibiotic, and you can see that the tonsil stones disappear quickly. A good micro- circulation will transfer more oxygen-rich blood to the infected areas, and this may make microbial-based materials including tonsil stones reduce their size, and even clear up. If there is a health food store near your house, it may be a good idea for you to find out f it can provide you with homeopathy treatments. There are a large number of homeopathy treatments that are good for tonsil stones, and these treatments take a couple of factors into account. There is a treatment that can treat many conditions affecting the mouth and throat. It is called Rhus Tox, and it is used to treat blisters and mouth ulcers. Besides, this treatment can improve the throat health and dissolve the tonsil stones. This treatment will also help you ease the pain linked to tonsil stones. Rhus tox will reduce the response of the body to any kind of inflammation, and then you will see that the tonsil stone clear up within days. It is really important to know the way on how to take this treatment, Most of the homeopathy treatments should be taken in the morning, and for tonsil stone treatment, you need to take two 30C tablets before you tend to drink or eat anything. Let the tablets be underneath the tongue as soon as you get up. Allow them to dissolve and remember not to eat or drink anything or brush the teeth in one hour. You should avoid drinking coffee, tea, and acid drinks for the next several hours for the better results. Besides, when taking any homeopathy treatments, you do not use mint-based toothpaste or drink peppermint tea. It is because this will break the effect of treatments. It is a garden flower, which is one of the best herbal remedies for the tonsil stones. It is used as a cream, and this tea can support the body to solve with throat infections. You can either use this tea as a gargle or drink it. In case the tonsil stones are situated further down in your throat, this tea may help you effectively. When drinking a herbal tea, it is important to consume it before mealtime. — Gargle the mouth with this solution while it is still warm twice a day. You can flush the tonsil stones out with a syringe and salt water. This remedy is so simple. You just need to get a medicine dispenser syringe and then fill it up with lukewarm salt water. Then place this syringe as far into your tonsil stones as possible and then flush them out. Also, you can try other ways to make water pressure. The power of the water is able to flush the tonsil stones out. It is another one of the most effective home remedies for tonsil stones due to its anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. Also, its soothing and healing properties will help the body reduce pain and swelling and speed up the process of healing. — Strain it and then add lemon juice to this solution. You can optionally add 1 tsp of honey to it. — Drink this solution 3 times daily for 2-3 days. Due to its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric can help you fight against tonsil stones and ease irritating symptoms. — You add 1 tsp of turmeric powder to a cup of boiling water or salt water. You gargle the mouth with this mixture a couple of times daily, especially before sleeping. It will help the body get rid of the soreness and inflammation. — Alternatively, you add 1 tsp of turmeric powder and ground black pepper to a cup of warm milk. You drink it for 2-3 days to speed up the process of healing. It can be used to treat tonsil stones. Being high in antimicrobial abilities, cinnamon can inhibit the development of bacteria as well as other micro- organisms and help you reduce pain, swelling and inflammation. — When it is still warm, you drink it 203 times daily for 7 days. It contains a gel-like substance that can relieve soreness, pain and inflammation. When taken internally, this material can soothe and heal inflamed tissues, including the throat’s mucus membranes. — You add 1 tsp of the slippery elm’s inner bark to 2 cups of hot water. Let it steep for 5 minutes and strain this solution. While it is warm, drink it slowly twice a day for several days. — Alternatively, you mix 3 tsp of the powder of slippery elm bark, 1 tsp of cayenne pepper powder, 2 tsp of honey and 4 tsp of lukewarm water. You take 1 tsp of this mixture daily for 2-3 days. Fenugreek contains antibacterial abilities that make it become one of the best home remedies for tonsil stones as it can kill off the bacteria. Also, the anti-inflammatory properties contain in fenugreek will help you relieve the pain and inflammation. — Gargle the mouth with this solution for more than 30 seconds. Then, you spit it out. — Do this home remedy twice daily until the tonsil stones clear away. They are effective for removing tonsil stones at home. Due to their high mucilage content, they can relieve soreness and pain caused by tonsil stones. — You boil 3 dried figs in water and then mash them. Eat it with 1 tbsp of honey 2-3 times daily for several days. — Alternatively, you boil and then mash some of the figs. Mash them in the water that you have used to boil them. — Apply this paste on your infected areas. Allow it to dry and then wash it off with lukewarm water. Repeat this remedy once daily to ease pain from tonsil stones. Their nutritional value is helpful in treating tonsil stones. The seeds are high in antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins that help you improve the immune system in order to fight the infection. — You add turmeric powder and then stir it for a couple of seconds. Then, you add 1 cup of warm milk and then mix it well. — You remove it from the heat. — Drink the solution when it is still warm. Enjoy it twice a day for 2-3 days. Aloe vera juice is often sold over the counter in supermarkets and pharmacies. Some studies show that this juice can help you remove tonsil stones by cleansing the mouth of bacteria that cause stones. — You take 1 tsp of aloe vera juice in the mouth, and then swirl it around the tonsil stones. — Let it stay in your mouth for a couple of minutes 2-3 times daily. — Gargle the mouth with water. Swirl it and then spit it out. You can try gargling the mouth with extra virgin olive oil in order to remove your current tonsil stones and reduce the risk of new tonsil stones forming. Consider gargling a couple of times each day with a tsp of olive oil. After that, you gargle the mouth with water to remove the viscous residue. The logic behind this home remedy is that olive oil has anti-inflammatory properties, it can help you reduce the pain and swelling of tonsil stones and thus reducing the stones forming. However, it is not clear whether olive oil works when applied directly onto the stones. As you know, garlic has a lot benefits for health care. Simply, you can chew on garlic to remove stones naturally and effectively. You should chew on garlic a few times each day. In addition, the garlic will help fight any bacteria that might be contributing to the solidification of the materials in your tonsils. Lemon juice is one of natural home remedies for tonsil stones. Lemon juice contains a lot vitamin C which will help to remove your tonsil stones effectively. To use lemon juice for treating tonsil stones, you can mix several tablespoons of lemon juice with a cup of warm water. You can add a little bit of salt to the lemon water and drink. As you know, essential oils contain anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties that are beneficial for curing tonsil stones. Some of these essential oils you should consider using include theives oil, lemongrass and myrrh. To see good results, you should add a few drops of the essential oil on your toothbrush each day as you brush your teeth and tongue. You could also get these essential oils in a spray bottle and then apply it by spraying it on the affected area. You should eat organic, unsweetened to remove tonsil stones. Yogurt contains probiotic which is friendly bacteria your body. Therefore, it will help remove tonsil stones and keep them from coming back. Eating probiotic yogurt will help clean out the bacteria and other materials in your tonsils responsible for the development of this problem. One of natural home remedies for treating tonsil stones is using apple cider vinegar. This vinegar contains acid that will help remove tonsil stones. You should remember to use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar. Make sure you dilute the vinegar with a small amount of water first before you begin gargling. As you see, carrots are great for the eyes due to their beta-carotene content. Besides, carrot is an effective home remedy for tonsil stones. Chewing carrots can help remove stones by destroying bacteria. Eating raw onions will help improve your oral health, prevent oral infections and get rid of bacteria because of their potent anti-bacteria properties. You should chew on raw onions for two to three minutes daily to help remove and prevent tonsil stones. In addition, onions can help get rid of bad breath, which is a common symptom of tonsil stones. Eating vegetables are an effective way to getting rid of tonsil stones. Their tough surface can scrape away at tonsil stones, loosen them from their nooks, and get them out of your mouth altogether. You should try eating more carrots, celery and radishes to remove your tonsil stone problem. Nasal rinse is a good way to remove tonsil stones naturally and effectively. You can do it as below. Simply, you can mix 1 cup of warm water with 1 teaspoon of salt. Afterwards, you stir until the salt dissolves. Get a syringe or dropper full of the salt water. Lean over the sink and release the salt water into one nostril. Let it drain. You should repeat nightly to clear out mucus and prevent tonsil stones. Grapefruit is a good source of a variety of nutrients including vitamin C, pectin, fiber and potassium. These nutrients work together to protect the body from cellular damage and to prevent buildup of calcium in the arteries as well as the tonsils. This extract also serves as an antioxidant. Peppermint oil assists in treatment of tonsil stones in several ways. The active ingredients in peppermint promote digestion as well as circulation, preventing the buildup of materials in the body. Peppermint is also an antibacterial agent that eliminates any underlying infection associated with the condition. Salt water is a natural way to eliminate buildup in the tonsils. Gargling with salt water helps slough mucous cells and bacteria from the oral cavity. The salt also helps eliminate and prevent infection. To get more information about effective home remedies for health problems, go to our main Home Remedies page. These were some of natural and effective home remedies that you can use to get rid of your tonsil stones. After reading the writing of 37 home remedies for tonsil stones, hope that this writing helps you find out the best solution to cure tonsil stones effectively. However, the writing is solely for the informational purpose, so you need to get advice from your doctor before applying any natural home remedy. If you have any question, or you know other natural home remedies for tonsil stones, please leave them below.

2019-04-22T10:09:42Z

http://vkool.com/home-remedies-for-tonsil-stones/

Would you like to work with us? If you are suitably qualified and interested in joining our faculty, please contact us. Dr Mark O’Brien is the Medical Director and co-founder of the Cognitive Institute. Dr O’Brien is a well-regarded consultant and expert trainer in the areas of clinical leadership, risk management and quality and safety within the Asia-Pacific region. He is also a published author and regular international speaker across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and North America with a passion for supporting clinicians to address the challenges they face in delivering the highest quality care to their patients. In 2013 he was recognised by the Australian Private Hospitals Association National Congress as ‘the only speaker to receive 5 stars across the board by all delegates’. In 2016 he was awarded the President’s Award from the Queensland Branch of the Australasian College of Health Service management for his services to healthcare. Dr O’Brien also serves as a Board member of Mater Misericordiae Ltd. Dr Stephen Walker is Associate Medical Director of the Cognitive Institute. Prior to joining the Cognitive Institute Dr Walker held the positions of Director of Clinical Training, Deputy Director of Medical Management and Emergency Physician at Mater Health Services Brisbane. His previous appointments have included Deputy Director of Emergency Medicine at Mater Hospital, Deputy Director and Director of the Emergency Department at Ballarat Health Services and Emergency Department Director at St John of God Hospital Ballarat. Dr Walker also serves the Committee of Management for Emergency Life Support Inc, a not-for-profit education and training group providing emergency education and skills training throughout Australia and parts of Asia Pacific. He previously held the position of Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, University of Queensland. He has served on the Primary Examination Committee and Fellowship Examination Committees of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. Dr Walker has special interests in education and process improvement in clinical settings. He has published on trauma care efficacy and patient communication and holds post graduate qualifications in both Clinical Education and Medical Management. In 2004 Dr Walker was the recipient of the Mater Health Services Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award and in 2013 was named Queensland Clinical Educator of the Year. Dr Lynne McKinlay is Senior Medical Educator at Cognitive Institute. In addition to her work for Cognitive Institute, Dr McKinlay is Deputy Executive Director of Medical Services at Children’s Health Queensland and continues practise as paediatrician and specialist in paediatric rehabilitation medicine. Dr McKinlay was Director, Queensland Paediatric Rehabilitation Service, Children’s Health Queensland from 2001 to 2014 before moving into medical administration and leadership in a full-time capacity. Dr McKinlay holds the position of senior lecturer with the School of Medicine, University of Queensland and was the founding clinical director of the Queensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Research Centre in the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland. In 2015 Dr McKinlay received the Children’s Health Queensland Australia Day Achievement Award for leadership and was a recipient of the Queensland Health Staff Excellence Silver Award for Leadership in 2004. She was a Churchill Fellow in 2002, investigating paediatric rehabilitation systems of care in North America, with this knowledge guiding ongoing development of the paediatric rehabilitation services in Queensland. She has published numerous papers in the area of childhood brain injury and has a special interest in Clinical Informatics and provision of care for people with complex healthcare needs. Dr McKinlay is driven to improve healthcare through her experience that a clinician is able to make a difference at both the individual patient and the health system levels through innovation, systems improvement and the development of communication and health leadership skills. Kirsten Dyer is a Senior Clinical Educator with Cognitive Institute. Kirsten’s leadership experience comprises senior and executive roles in both public and private health care. Prior to joining Cognitive Institute, Kirsten held the positions of Director of Program Management / Project Manager – Obstetrics and Gynaecology Task Group at Metro North Hospital and Health Service; Director of Clinical Governance at West Moreton Hospital and Health Service; and Executive Director of Safety, Quality and Risk at Queensland Health. Kirsten’s extensive knowledge and expertise across clinical governance, change management, safety and reliability, and open disclosure has assisted organisations to overcome organisational boundaries, gain facility re-accreditation and credentialing, complete high-level clinical investigations, and has contributed to quality practice change and organisational reform. Kirsten has contributed to the development of public policy, white papers, quality standards and position statements, as well as academic research into healthcare accreditation, and clinical decision making and documentation. Kirsten and her co-authors’ work was accepted for presentation at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists World Congress, 2016. Kirsten applies motivational leadership to inspire teams to work together to achieve a shared vision. Dr Scott Clark is a psychiatrist who has worked in clinical and administrative roles for more than two decades in both the United States and Australia. He completed his medical training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and his medical internship and postgraduate training at the St Vincent’s Medical Center of New York City, the New York Medical College, and Columbia University. He is currently steering committee chair on a NSW Health / RANZCP project to increase the psychiatric workforce and improve access to psychiatric services in rural NSW. He is clinically active in addiction and forensic psychiatry, and has long standing involvement in public psychiatry and quality and safety improvement in psychiatric services. He has previously held the positions of Director of Mental Health at South Western Sydney Area Health Service and Clinical Director of the Rockland Psychiatric Center in New York. He is now the Clinical Director for Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Services at the Western NSW Local Health District. Dr Clark is active in medical education, having held academic appointments at Columbia University, New York University, and the University of New South Wales. He is currently Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle Faculty of Health and Medicine. He has experience supervising psychiatry trainees in both New York and Australia and has worked on an AusAid project to develop and deliver mental health education programmes for health workers in East Timor. Dr Kathryn Robertson has been a medical educator since 1988 and a Cognitive Institute faculty member since 2007. Her experience encompasses undergraduate, vocational training and accreditation, remediation and continuing professional development for doctors, nurses and other health care professionals. This includes more than 17 years as a Senior Lecturer with the University of Melbourne, where she was recruited to establish the Simulated Patient/Actor program. Dr Robertson also worked as part of the team that developed the Communication Skills curriculum and Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) assessment process. She continues a connection with the University as an Honorary Fellow, and assists in the development and delivery of the Excellence in Clinical Teaching suite of programs. Dr Robertson is a past winner of the University of Melbourne’s Norman Curry Award for innovation and excellence in support of and service to teaching and learning, and the Royal Women’s Hospital Award in excellence in education. She was a nominee for the Australian University Teaching Awards for programs that enhance learning, and finalist for the Victorian Public Health Awards for public health programs. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and contributed chapters for textbooks, primarily in the areas of consulting and communication skills, as well as effective teaching and learning. She holds a Masters of Education and continues to work part-time in General Practice in outer suburban Melbourne. Dr Carolyn Russell has been a senior educator with the Cognitive Institute since its inception in 1998. She has presented more than 200 Cognitive Institute programmes in leadership, patient communication and risk management across Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Dr Russell is an accredited small group facilitator for the Divisions of General Practice. She holds a Masters in Counselling and completed the UQ / Harvard Intensive Medical Educators Course in 2006. Dr Russell is a practicing GP with 35 years experience. Previously she was principal of the Carseldine Medical Centre, and worked in a complex conditions clinic with a local private hospital. She is now a medical educator with General Practice Training Queensland and works with GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, social work therapists and counsellors in a multidisciplinary model in a counselling centre co-located with the medical centre. Dr Bronwyn Hartwig has worked with the Cognitive Institute since 2005. Her particular interest is the Institute’s remediation Clinical Communication Programme. She was a general practitioner with more than 20 years’ experience working in regional and metropolitan centres. Her special interests are GP psychiatry, counselling and doctors’ health. She has completed postgraduate courses in family medicine and GP psychiatry, as well as an internship in stress management at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She currently tutors medical students in communication skills and was previously the Queensland Secretary of the Doctor’s Health Advisory Service. Dr Mark Woodrow has more than 23 years’ experience as a clinical doctor, and has an in-depth and current knowledge of medical, management, medicolegal and communications practices. His relevant experience has been gained in both the public and private health systems, including extensive experience in private emergency medicine. Dr Woodrow has additional training in clinical areas including diving and hyperbaric medicine, toxicology, sports medicine, disaster medicine, burns and emergency ultrasound, as well as postgraduate qualifications in law, business and ethics. Apart from 20 years as a clinical emergency physician, Dr Woodrow is an active instructor for the Early Management of Severe Trauma course and the Advanced Paediatric Life Support course. He is a member of the Avant Medical Experts Committee, a committee member for the Medico Legal Society of Queensland, and a member of the Wesley Hospital Medical Advisory Committee. He has a unique blend of medical, management, legal, ethics and other postgraduate qualifications combined with experience in business management, clinical education, medicolegal and risk management practices. Dr Woodrow possesses excellent skills in communication, team building, risk management and medicine, proven over 23 years in clinical practice. Dr Edwards has been a senior educator with the Cognitive Institute since just after it’s inception in 1998. She has personally presented many hundreds of Cognitive Institute workshops, training programs and educational events. In 2008, when the Cognitive Institute became part of the Medical Protection Society, she became a Master trainer, training presenters internationally. She is a past chairman of the RACGP’s Quality Assurance and Continuing Education Committee and has been a Medical Educator and faculty board member of the RACGP. She lectured at the University of WA and Flinders University, and was for many years, a senior examiner for the RACGP. She has worked as a Medical Educator and training advisor for the RACGP in WA and SA. Dr Edwards has 24 years of general practice experience, 19 as a practice principal. She has experience and interests in counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy and women’s health. Dr Stephen Priestley is a specialist in Emergency Medicine with broad experience at the Director level in public hospitals across both Victoria and Queensland. He is currently a Senior Staff Specialist in Emergency Medicine in the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service, having previously held the position of Director of Emergency Medicine to March 2017. In this role he provided leadership to three emergency departments within the Health Service for 11 years. Dr Priestley has a particular interest in patient safety and quality care as evidenced by his appointments within health services and the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM). He is immediate past Chair of the ACEM Patient Safety Working Group, a member of the ACEM Quality Sub-Committee and a member of the ACEM Senior Court of Examiners. In 2014 Dr Priestley received a Leadership in Patient Safety scholarship to complete the Institute of Healthcare Improvement Patient Safety Executive Program in Cambridge, MA. In March 2016 he co-convened an Accelerated Patient Safety Program for senior emergency medicine physicians and nursing staff, with Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Faculty. Dr Priestley is a member of the Digital Patient Safety Expert Advisory Group— established by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) to provide clinical safety advice and expert guidance to the Australian Digital Health Agency in relation to My Health record and other national health digital infrastructure. Dr Priestley has taught widely across Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka as a volunteer instructor with Advanced Paediatric Life Support Australia. In addition to his Leadership in Patient Safety scholarship, he has received several awards for his contribution to health service and research. As Senior Medical Educator with Cognitive Institute, Dr Priestley continues his contribution to health care by working with healthcare professionals to maximise patient wellbeing. Dr Suzy Jordache is a Senior Medical Educator for Cognitive Institute and the Medical Protection Society (MPS). Prior to joining Cognitive Institute and MPS, Suzy was the Director of Psychological Medicine in a not for profit UK hospice and an Honarary Consultant in Pallative Medicine in an NHS UK hospital. She has also worked in psychiatry and general practice. As global lead trainer for the MPS Education Faculty, Suzy has significant expertise and interest in improving safety culture and clinician professionalism. She provides inhouse training to hospital staff as part of Cognitive Institute’s Speaking Up for Safety programme. Suzy is a lead presenter in the internationally delivered Clinical Communication Programme and other individual intervention programmes to help doctors with professional, collegiate and patient challenges. She has also delivered education to leaders and teams in the fields of resilience and prevention of professional burnout. Matthew O’Brien co-founded the Cognitive Institute and has been its Managing Director since its inception in 1998. He leads the Institute’s development and provision of education services in 6 countries delivering more than 500 programmes and workshops. He has more than 20 years experience as a Managing Director, specialising in healthcare management, communication and marketing. He consults to healthcare organisations designing education strategies and implementation programmes. Before the Cognitive Institute, Mr O’Brien was the founder and Managing Director of one of Australia’s largest marketing firms, consulting to national organisations. Louise Cuskelly joined the Cognitive Institute in July 2013 as a project consultant introducing the Vanderbilt University Promoting Professional Accountability (PPA) Programme to healthcare organisations in Asia Pacific. In April 2014 she accepted the position of Senior Education Consultant, working with healthcare organisations to introduce change programmes to achieve results in the areas of communication, risk management and patient safety. Louise oversees Cognitive Institute’s commercial growth strategy and is responsible for identifying business growth opportunities, marketing strategy development and implementation and client engagement. She works closely with key stakeholders across the public and private healthcare sectors. She has a background in nursing and human resource management and extensive experience working at executive level in the public and private sector in marketing and business development, hospital management, education and training, project management and strategic planning. Nina Bianco joined Cognitive Institute in 2014, bringing more than 13 years’ experience in designing and developing face-to-face, blended and online education programs for the health, mining, education and insurance sectors. As Education Development Manager Nina develops, maintains reviews and produces education content and materials across Cognitive Institute’s programmes and series. Nina is skilled in best practice business and education design approaches and has contributed to several publications and conference presentations on professional development and learning. Nina has worked on ‘Leading Clinical Handover’, and a six-hour e-learning program for nurse managers written and developed for the Australian Commission on Quality and Safety in HealthCare (ACQSHC). She was also winner of LearnX Asia Pacific 2010 E-Learning and Training platinum award in best practices category.

2019-04-23T12:04:33Z

https://www.cognitiveinstitute.org/our-team/

Cytoplasmic polyadenylation is a conserved mechanism that controls mRNA translation and stability. A key protein that promotes polyadenylation-induced translation of mRNAs in maturing Xenopus oocytes is the cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein (CPEB). During this meiotic transition, CPEB is subjected to phosphorylation-dependent ubiquitination and partial destruction, which is necessary for successive waves of polyadenylation of distinct mRNAs. Here we identify the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase Pin1 as an important factor mediating CPEB destruction. Pin1 interacts with CPEB in an unusual manner in which it occurs prior to CPEB phosphorylation and prior to Pin1 activation by serine 71 dephosphorylation. Upon induction of maturation, CPEB becomes phosphorylated, which occurs simultaneously with Pin1 dephosphorylation. At this time, the CPEB-Pin1 interaction requires cdk1-catalyzed CPEB phosphorylation on S/T-P motifs. Subsequent CPEB ubiquitination and destruction are mediated by a conformational change induced by Pin1 isomerization of CPEB. Similar to M phase progression in maturing Xenopus oocytes, the destruction of CPEB during the mammalian cell cycle requires Pin1 as well. These data identify Pin1 as a new and essential factor regulating CPEB degradation. Cytoplasmic polyadenylation is a widespread phenomenon that controls the translation and stability of mRNAs. Although some molecular details may differ according to species and/or cell type, much of the biochemistry of cytoplasmic polyadenylation that has been elucidated in Xenopus oocytes during meiotic progression serves to illustrate the general features of this regulatory process (1). A subset of RNAs that acquire a near-constitutive and typical long poly(A) tail in the nucleus undergo deadenylation in the cytoplasm where they are stored in a translational silent form (2). When the oocytes resume meiosis in response to hormonal (progesterone) stimulation, the activation of a kinase cascade culminates in poly(A) tail lengthening and the initiation of translation (3, 4). The 3′ untranslated region (UTR)-residing cytoplasmic polyadenylation element (CPE) dictates which mRNAs undergo these changes in poly(A). Cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein (CPEB), an RNA recognition motif (RRM) and zinc finger-containing protein, associates with the CPE and a number of other factors, including Gld2, a noncanonical poly(A) polymerase; PARN, a deadenylating enzyme; symplekin, a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) assembly factor; and maskin, a eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) binding protein. Gld2 and PARN are constitutively active, but PARN activity is the more robust, and thus, cytoplasmic CPE-containing mRNAs are deadenylated and stored in an inactive form (5, 6). Maskin binding to eIF4E prevents the assembly of the initiation complex on the 5′ end of the mRNA, thus inhibiting translation (7, 8). Upon reentry into the meiotic divisions, CPEB is subjected to two waves of phosphorylation with two different outcomes. In the first wave, CPEB is phosphorylated by the kinase Aurora A on serine residue 174, which facilitates PARN expulsion from the RNP complex, resulting in Gld2-catalyzed polyadenylation of target mRNAs (5, 6, 9). In a second wave, CPEB undergoes six additional phosphorylation events that are catalyzed by cdk1; these phosphorylations are necessary for ubiquitin-mediated partial destruction of CPEB at the end of meiotic maturation (10). Although several signaling events lead to ubiquitination and protein destruction, a prevalent one involves phosphorylation of S/T-P (Ser/Thr-Pro) motifs (11–13). For example, the SCF (Skp1–cullin–F-box) E3 complex directs phosphoproteins to be ubiquitinated and destroyed (14, 15). In many cases, phosphorylation-mediated protein destruction involves the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase Pin1, which binds phosphorylated S/T-P motifs and enhances a normally slow cis-trans isomerization of the peptide bond. Pin1 is composed of an amino-terminal WW (Trp-Trp) domain that serves as a phosphoprotein binding domain and a carboxy-terminal peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) domain, which is essential for catalysis. Because of its broad range of target proteins, Pin1 functions in diverse cellular processes, such as cell cycle control, transcription, splicing regulation, DNA replication, and the DNA damage response (16). Not surprisingly, Pin1 activity is tightly regulated, mainly by phosphorylation, and its misregulation is associated with numerous human diseases, including cancer and neurologic disorders (17, 18). The conformational changes induced by Pin1 affect the properties of a variety of target proteins. Nevertheless, changes in protein stability are the most common consequence (12). It has been suggested that the cis/trans isomerization and subsequent conformational change imposed by Pin1 establishes a proper three-dimensional architecture for E3 ligase (such as the SCF complex) recognition, resulting in the ubiquitination and destruction of target proteins (12, 14, 19). We surmised that Pin1 might be involved in CPEB ubiquitination and degradation because it requires cdk1-catalyzed CPEB phosphorylation on S/T-P pairs (10). Here, we identify Pin1 as a major component of the CPEB destruction machinery. Surprisingly, we find that CPEB and Pin1 interact in arrested (immature) oocytes prior to any detectable CPEB phosphorylation. Following hormonal treatment to induce meiotic progression, Pin1 is dephosphorylated and, as a result, its activity is elevated. Coincidentally, CPEB is phosphorylated on 6 S/T-P pairs, which alters its interaction with Pin1 such that their association becomes CPEB phosphorylation dependent. By using a combination of neutralizing Pin1 antibody, Pin1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) depletion, and ectopic expression of wild-type (WT) and mutant Pin1 proteins, we find that it directly mediates CPEB ubiquitination and destruction in maturing Xenopus oocytes and cycling mammalian cells. Regents and antibodies.The antibodies used in this study include those against Pin1 (H-123; Santa Cruz Biotechnology), CPEB (20), hemagglutinin (HA; Covance), tubulin (Sigma), green fluorescent protein (GFP; Abcam), and cyclin B1 (a kind gift of James Maller, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center). Recombinant Flag-ubiquitin was purchased from Boston Biochem, nontargeting siRNA from Dharmacon, and Pin1 targeting siRNA (Hs_PIN1_5 FlexiTube siRNA) from Qiagen. Immunoprecipitation assays.Fifty oocytes [some injected with 10 ng of mRNA synthesized with an Ambion mMESSAGE kit and polyadenylated in vitro with Escherichia coli poly(A) polymerase (New England BioLabs)] or HEK293T cells from one 10-cm dish were homogenized in lysis buffer containing 150 mM NaCl, 1% NP-40, 0.5% deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS, 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.7), 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), 1 mM dithiothreitol, and protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche). The lysis buffer in some experiments also contained 10 μg/ml RNase A (Sigma). Clarified supernatants were incubated with Dynabeads protein A (Invitrogen) premixed with Pin1 or CPEB antibody or, as a control, IgG overnight at 4°C. The beads were washed extensively with lysis buffer before elution in SDS sample buffer. GST pulldown assays.Glutathione-Sepharose 4B (Amersham) coupled with glutathione S-transferase (GST) or GST-Pin1 and washed with 150 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8), 1 mM MgCl2, and 0.1% NP-40 was mixed with 1 mg of oocyte extract overnight at 4°C. The beads were then washed, and the protein was eluted with 20 mM reduced glutathione. The proteins were resolved by SDS-PAGE and visualized by Western analysis or autoradiography. Pin1 phosphorylation and activity assays.To examine Pin1 phosphorylation, oocytes, some of which were matured with progesterone, were homogenized in 80 mM β-glycerophosphate, 20 mM EGTA, 15 mM MgCl2, 50 mM NaVO4, and a protease inhibitor cocktail. The lysate was centrifuged for 5 min at 4°C, and the kinase assay performed at 37°C for 30 min in a 50-μl reaction volume containing 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 10 mM MgCl2, 50 mM KCl, 1 mM dithiothreitol (DTT), 1 mM EGTA, 0.16 mCi/ml [γ-32P]ATP, and 20 μl oocyte extract. The beads were then washed, and the protein was eluted with reduced glutathione. The method outlined by Nechama et al. (21) was used to investigate Pin1 activity. Briefly, oocytes were homogenized in reaction buffer containing100 mM NaCl, 50 mM HEPES (pH 7), 2 mM DTT, and 0.04 mg/ml bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the lysates were cleared by centrifugation at 12,000 × g for 10 min (4°C). PPIase activity was measured using equal amounts of oocyte cytoplasmic lysates and α-chymotrypsin (Sigma-Aldrich) using a synthetic tetrapeptide substrate Suc-Ala-Glu-Pro-Phe-pNa (Peptides International). Absorption at 390 nM was measured using an Ultraspec 2000 spectrophotometer. The results were expressed as the mean of three independent measurements at each time point. Analysis of Pin1-CPEP interaction in mammalian cells.Plasmid-transduced HEK293T cells were split into four 10-cm plates and cultured for 24 h. The medium was then replaced with Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) lacking l-methionine and l-cysteine (Invitrogen) and then supplemented with [35S]methionine (6 μCi/ml) for 45 min. The cells were then washed with cold phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and replaced with fresh DMEM supplement with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS). At the indicated times, the cells were washed with cold PBS, lysed, and processed for protein analysis. For cell cycle analysis, HEK293T cells were arrested at S phase using double thymidine block as described previously (22). Briefly, 30% of confluent cells were incubated with DMEM supplemented with 2 mM thymidine for 18 h. The cells were washed and maintained in fresh DMEM for 9 h previous to a second block with 2 mM thymidine for another 17 h. The cells were then released by replacement of the culture medium. At the different time points after the release, the cells were washed and fixed using ice-cold 95% ethanol. The cells were sorted at the University of Massachusetts Medical Flow Cytometry Core Facility. Statistics.Values are reported as means ± standard errors of the means (SEM) unless otherwise stated; the data were analyzed by a Student's two-tailed t test with the significance set at a P value of <0.05. Pin1 interacts with CPEB in a phosphorylation-independent manner.To investigate the possible involvement of Pin1 in CPEB destruction, extracts from Xenopus oocytes treated with progesterone to induce oocyte maturation were probed for Pin1, CPEB, and tubulin. The Western blots in Fig. 1A show that, as expected, CPEB decreased in amount as maturation progressed (10) while Pin1 levels were mostly unchanged. Because CPEB-mediated destruction requires cdk1-catalyzed, proline-directed serine/threonine phosphorylation (10), which also serves as recognition sites for Pin1, we examined a possible CPEB and Pin1 interaction. Extracts from oocytes treated with progesterone for varying times were used for immunoprecipitation of Pin1 and Western blotting for both Pin1 and CPEB (Fig. 1B). Pin1 and CPEB coimmunoprecipitated at 2, 4, and 6 h after progesterone treatment, which was coincident with CPEB phosphorylation (10). This interaction occurred in the presence or absence of RNase, indicating that RNA binding was not essential. Surprisingly, however, Pin1 and CPEB coimmunoprecipitated even from oocytes not exposed to progesterone when CPEB is not phosphorylated (3, 10). This unexpected and highly unusual result prompted us to examine this interaction further in a number of different ways. First, RNA encoding Flag-Pin1 was injected into oocytes, followed by an overnight incubation and Flag immunoprecipitation and Western blotting for Flag and CPEB. Figure 1C shows that CPEB was coimmunoprecipitated with ectopically expressed Pin1 from oocytes not exposed to progesterone. Second, to assess CPEB phosphorylation during maturation, some oocytes injected with [γ-32P]ATP and treated with progesterone for 4 h were used for CPEB immunoprecipitation and phosphorimaging; Fig. 1D shows that 32P-labeled CPEB was detected after, but not before progesterone application. Third, extracts from control or progesterone-treated oocytes were applied to GST or GST-Pin1 columns, followed by Western blotting for CPEB and tubulin as a negative control. We also blotted for maskin, a well-known CPEB-interacting protein (23) that is phosphorylated by cdk1 after progesterone treatment (8) and serves as a positive control for the GST-Pin1 pulldown (Fig. 1E). CPEB interacted with Pin1 irrespective of whether the oocytes were exposed to progesterone. On the other hand, maskin interaction with Pin1 was evident only after progesterone treatment when maskin is phosphorylated on S/T-P motifs. Fourth, to assess whether CPEB from immature oocytes might be phosphorylated, which previously went undetected, oocyte extracts were treated with calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase (CIP) and then subjected to CPEB-Pin1 coimmunoprecipitation. Figure 1F demonstrates a strong interaction between these proteins irrespective of CIP treatment. Finally, to identify the Pin1 interaction site(s) on CPEB prior to its phosphorylation, mRNA encoding HA-tagged CPEB deletion mutants (Fig. 1G) were injected into oocytes and, after overnight incubation, extracts were subjected to Pin1 immunoprecipitation and Western blotted for HA. Figure 1H (center panel) shows that the deletion of three regions, the RRMs, residues 48 to 183, and residues 211 to 290 abrogated the CPEB-Pin1 interaction. To further assess the need for these regions for Pin1 interaction, the different CPEB mutant proteins were ectopically expressed in oocytes as before. Extracts were then applied to GST or GST-Pin1 columns, followed by Western blotting for HA (Fig. 1H, right panel). As with the coimmunoprecipitation assay, deletion of the RRMs, residues 48 to 183, and residues 211 to 290 prevented the CPEB-Pin1 interaction. To identify the minimal region needed for Pin1 interaction, the three regions deleted in the experiments noted above were HA tagged and ectopically expressed by mRNA injection (Fig. 1I). Pin1 interacted with CPEB residues 48 to 183 but not the RRMs. We were unable to detect residues 211 to 290, probably because of the region's small size (∼7 kDa). We conclude that Pin1 associates with CPEB residues 48 to 183 in a phosphorylation-independent manner. CPEB and Pin1 interact in a phosphorylation-independent manner. (A) Western blots of CPEB and Pin1 during progesterone-induced oocyte maturation. Tubulin served as a loading control. (B) Extracts from oocytes exposed to progesterone for 0 to 6 h were subjected to Pin1 immunoprecipitation in the absence or presence of RNase A and Western blotting for Pin1, CPEB, and tubulin. The input represents 10% of the total lysate. (C) Oocytes were injected with mRNA encoding Flag-Pin1 and subjected to Flag immunoprecipitation and Western blot analysis for Flag and CPEB. Control refers to nonspecific IgG immunoprecipitation. (D) Oocytes were injected with [γ-32P]ATP, followed by treatment with progesterone for 0 or 4 h, immunoprecipitation of CPEB, and SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. (E) Extracts from oocytes exposed to progesterone for 0 to 6 h were applied to GST or GST-Pin1 columns, followed by Western blotting for CPEB, tubulin, and maskin. (F) Oocyte extracts were treated with calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase (CIP) prior to immunoprecipitation of Pin1 and CPEB and blotting for CPEB, Pin1, and tubulin. (G) Schematic of CPEB deletion mutants. (H) mRNA encoding HA-tagged CPEB deletion mutants (numbered in panel G) were injected into oocytes, followed by Pin1 immunoprecipitation and Western blotting for Pin1 and HA (center panel) or chromatography on a GST or GST-Pin1 column (right panels). The asterisk denotes the HA-CPEB proteins. (I) mRNA encoding HA-tagged CPEB proteins 48 to 183 and RRM were injected into oocytes, followed by Pin1 immunoprecipitation and Western blotting for HA and Pin1. The asterisk denotes CPEB HA 48–183. Pin1 interacts with CPEB in two steps.The data in Fig. 1 demonstrate that the interaction of CPEB with Pin1 is CPEB phosphorylation independent in immature (G2-arrested) oocytes. To evaluate the interaction of Pin1 and CPEB in vitro and the contribution of each of the Pin1 domains to this interaction, mRNAs encoding WT CPEB and the Δ48–183 CPEB mutant were translated in rabbit reticulocyte lysates in the presence of [35S]methionine. The lysates were then subjected to pulldown experiments using GST, GST-Pin1, and GST-WW and GST-PPIase proteins, which correspond to the Pin1 WW domain and Pin1 PPIase domains, respectively. As expected, GST-Pin1 interacted with full-length CPEB and not with the Δ48–183 CPEB mutant (Fig. 2A). Interestingly, full-length CPEB interacted with the GST-WW domain to the same extent as it did with GST-Pin1 but failed to interact with the GST-PPIase domain alone. As negative controls, neither of them interacted with the Δ48–183 CPEB mutant. These results indicate that the interaction between CPEB and Pin1, prior to detectable CPEB phosphorylation, requires the WW domain and the region spanning amino acids 48 to 183 of CPEB. Because CPEB has six known cdk1 S/T-P phosphorylation sites (10), we decided to investigate whether they might be involved in the Pin1-CPEB interaction after oocyte maturation. Consequently, mRNAs encoding WT HA-CPEB or a HA-CPEB mutant with alanine substitutions for the six phospho-S/T residues (referred to as CPEB-6A) were injected into oocytes that were then stimulated with progesterone. As demonstrated previously, Pin1 interacted with WT CPEB both before and after progesterone treatment (Fig. 2B). However, although CPEB-6A interacted with Pin1 prior to progesterone stimulation, it interacted only very weakly after stimulation (Fig. 2B). To examine this further, extracts from oocytes either before or after 4 h of progesterone treatment were mixed with bacteriophage λ phosphatase, which dephosphorylates S/T residues. The extracts were then subjected to chromatography on GST or GST-Pin1 columns followed by Western blotting for CPEB. As shown in Fig. 2C and D, the CPEB interaction with Pin1 before progesterone treatment was not affected by λ phosphatase treatment. Conversely, treatment of mature oocyte extracts with λ phosphatase reduced the CPEB-Pin1 interaction by more than 50%. These data suggest that CPEB interacts with Pin1 in two steps: step 1 occurs in immature oocytes and does not involve phosphorylation, while step 2 takes place after progesterone treatment and is mediated by the phosphorylation of CPEB on one or more S/T-P pairs. A two-step interaction between CPEB and Pin1. (A) mRNA encoding WT HA-tagged CPEB or the Δ48–183 CPEB mutant was in vitro translated in the presence of [35S]methionine and used for pulldown assays with GST-Pin1, the GST-WW domain, or the GST-PPIase domain as the bait. (B) mRNA encoding WT HA-tagged CPEB or a CPEB mutant with alanine substitutions for serine or threonine residues that are phosphorylated during maturation (CPEB 6A) was injected into oocytes that were then treated with progesterone for 0 or 4 h. Pin1 was then immunoprecipitated and Western blots probed for Pin1 or HA. A mock immunoprecipitation with nonspecific IgG was also performed. (C) Extracts from oocytes treated with progesterone for 0 or 4 h were treated with λ phosphatase and then applied to GST or GST-Pin1 columns. The eluted material was probed for CPEB and tubulin. At right is a Coomassie blue-stained gel showing the integrity of recombinant GST and GST-Pin1. (D) Quantification of the three experiments in panel B. The error bars refer to SEM, and the asterisk indicates statistical significance (P < 0.05). (E) Extracts from untreated or progesterone-treated oocytes were applied to GST, GST-Pin1, GST-Pin1 W34A, or GST-Pin1 K63A columns, followed by Western blotting for CPEB. (F) Control or progesterone-treated oocyte extracts were reciprocally immunoprecipitated for CPEB and Pin1 and blotted for Pin1 and CPEB, respectively. To assess the contribution of each of the Pin1 domains to the interaction with CPEB either before or after progesterone treatment, we altered GST-Pin1 in either its WW domain (W34A) or its PPIase domain (K63A) and used these mutant proteins for GST-Pin1 pulldown experiments with oocyte extracts before or after progesterone treatment. As shown in Fig. 2E, GST-Pin1 and both mutant proteins interacted with CPEB from untreated oocyte extracts. In contrast, when progesterone-treated oocyte extracts were used, the GST-Pin1 W34A mutant protein failed to interact with CPEB. This result reinforces the notion that the Pin1-CPEB interaction is altered upon CPEB phosphorylation and becomes dependent on phospho-S/P sites. It is worth mentioning that the Pin1 K63A mutation had little effect on the Pin1-CPEB interaction compared to the W34A mutation, which emphasizes the importance of the WW domain in the second step of the interaction. These results suggest that there may be an enhanced Pin1 affinity for phosphorylated CPEB. Because CPEB is a highly insoluble protein, we could not determine the kinetics of CPEB-Pin1 interaction in vitro with purified components. Therefore, we performed a reciprocal immunoprecipitation of Pin1 or CPEB from either untreated or progesterone-treated oocytes and blotted for CPEB or Pin1. As shown in Fig. 2F, when Pin1 was immunoprecipitated, it interacted with CPEB from both untreated and progesterone-treated oocytes. As expected, this interaction was reduced after progesterone treatment because CPEB is partially destroyed in mature oocytes. However, although the reciprocal experiment shows that less CPEB was immunoprecipitated from mature versus immature oocyte extracts, nearly the same amount of Pin1 was coprecipitated from each extract. These results suggest that the elevated Pin1-CPEB interaction after progesterone treatment might be the result of an increased affinity of phospho-CPEB for Pin1. Pin1 is phosphorylated and inactive prior to progesterone treatment.Pin1 catalytic activity is tightly regulated under normal physiological conditions and is mediated by at least two posttranslational events: protein kinase A (PKA)-mediated phosphorylation of serine 16, which affects its ability to interact with target proteins (24), and DAPK1-catalyzed phosphorylation of serine 71, which inhibits its isomerization activity (25). An additional phosphorylation on serine 65 is catalyzed by PLK (polo-like kinase) (26); however, this phosphorylation event seems to increase Pin1 protein stability rather than affect its activity. To assess whether Pin1 activity is regulated during oocyte maturation, extracts from control and progesterone-treated oocytes were incubated with a synthetic peptide containing a Pin1 interaction site in a cis orientation attached to p-nitroanilide; Pin1 catalyzes a relatively slow peptidyl-prolyl isomerization of the target peptide to the trans conformation, allowing for chymotrypsin cleavage and release of the p-nitroanilide moiety, which is monitored by an absorbance of 390 nm of light (Fig. 3A). Figure 3B shows that progesterone treatment significantly elevated Pin1 activity compared to untreated controls. Pin1 is activated during oocyte maturation. (A) Schematic to measure Pin1 activity (see the text for details). (B) Extracts from oocytes treated with progesterone for 0 to 6 h were used to assay for Pin1 activity as illustrated in panel A. (C) Extracts from oocytes treated with progesterone for 0 or 4 h were incubated with GST-Pin1 and [γ-32P]ATP; GST-Pin1 was then detected by Coomassie blue staining, and 32P-labeled GST-Pin1 was detected by autoradiography. (D) Oocytes were injected with [γ-32P]ATP, followed by progesterone treatment, immunoprecipitation of Pin1, and detection by Western blotting and autoradiography. (E) Oocytes and mature oocyte extracts were incubated with [γ-32P]ATP and GST-Pin1 or the GST-Pin1 S16A or GST-Pin1 S71A mutant proteins and analyzed by autoradiography. The lower panel shows Coomassie blue-stained GST-Pin1 isoforms. To examine whether the activation of Pin1 was due to changes in phosphorylation, recombinant GST-Pin1 was incubated with [γ-32P]ATP and extracts from untreated or progesterone-treated oocytes. Figure 3C demonstrates that Pin1 was strongly phosphorylated when incubated with extracts from control oocytes, and this phosphorylation was reduced by ∼60% when incubated with extracts from progesterone-treated oocytes. To investigate whether Pin1 phosphorylation occurs in vivo, [γ-32P]ATP was injected into oocytes that were then incubated with progesterone for 4 h, followed by Pin1 immunoprecipitation. Figure 3D shows that Pin1 was phosphorylated in control oocytes but that this phosphorylation was reduced by almost 70% after progesterone treatment. To determine which residues on Pin1 were phosphorylated in oocytes, serine 16 or 71 was mutated to alanine and the same experiment as in Fig. 3C was performed. As before, GST-Pin1 was phosphorylated using extracts derived from untreated oocytes, which was reduced when extracts from progesterone-treated oocytes were used (Fig. 3E). There was no detectable phosphorylation of the GST-Pin1 S71A mutant protein irrespective of whether extracts from control or progesterone-treated oocytes were used. Interestingly, mutation of serine 16 did not abrogate Pin1 phosphorylation when extracts from control oocytes were used, indicating that serine 16 is not phosphorylated prior to maturation. However, in contrast to WT GST-Pin1, there was no reduction in phosphorylation of the GST-Pin1 S16A mutant protein when extracts from progesterone-treated oocyte extracts were used in the assay. This result might indicate that serine 16 is required for serine 71 dephosphorylation during maturation. Therefore, Pin1 is phosphorylated on serine 71 prior to oocyte maturation and is inactive. After progesterone-induced maturation, Pin1 is dephosphorylated and consequently activated. Pin1 promotes CPEB destruction.Nearly simultaneous with Pin1 activation are cdk1-catalyzed CPEB phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and partial destruction. We suspected that these events would be linked and began to test this hypothesis by inhibiting Pin1 activity via injection of neutralizing Pin1 antibody into oocytes. Although control IgG injection had no effect on Pin1 isomerase activity during maturation, Pin1 antibody significantly inhibited its activation (Fig. 4A). To assess whether Pin1 mediates CPEB destruction, oocytes were injected with nonspecific IgG or Pin1 antibody, followed by progesterone treatment. The Western blot in Fig. 4B shows that, compared to IgG, Pin1 antibody lowered the rate of CPEB destruction. This result was also confirmed in Fig. 4C; in this case, oocytes injected with IgG or Pin1 antibody were incubated with [35S]methionine for 3 h and then with radio-inert methionine, followed by progesterone treatment and immunoprecipitation of CPEB. Pin1 antibody lowered the rate of destruction of newly synthesized CPEB. Pin1 enhances ubiquitination and destruction of CPEB. (A) Extracts from oocytes, some of which were treated with progesterone, were injected with IgG or Pin1 antibody, and the cis-trans isomerization analysis as depicted in Fig. 3A was performed. (B) Oocytes were injected with IgG or Pin1 antibody, treated with progesterone, and immunoblotted for CPEB or tubulin. (C) Oocytes were injected with IgG or Pin1 antibody, followed by incubation in [35S]methionine-containing medium for 3 h and progesterone treatment. At the indicated times, the extracts were subjected to CPEB immunoprecipitation and analysis by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. (D) Oocytes were injected with Flag-Pin1 or control RNA, followed by incubation in [35S]methionine-containing media for 3 h and then treated with progesterone. At the indicated times, the extracts were subjected to CPEB immunoprecipitation and analysis by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. (E) Oocytes were injected with Flag-ubiquitin peptide together with IgG or Pin1 antibody. CPEB was then immunoprecipitated and probed for CPEB and Flag-ubiquitin (left) or Flag immunoprecipitated and probed for CPEB (right). NS refers to a nonspecific band. (F) Oocytes were injected with IgG or Pin1 antibody, treated with progesterone, and then probed in Western blots for cyclin B and tubulin. We next performed a reciprocal experiment by examining whether CPEB destruction would be accelerated by the ectopic expression of Pin1. Oocytes were injected with Flag-Pin1 or control noncoding RNA, followed by metabolic labeling of protein with [35S]methionine for 3 h. The oocytes where then chased with radio-inert methionine and treated with progesterone for the indicated times. CPEB was then immunoprecipitated and analyzed by SDS-PAGE (Fig. 4D). Converse to the data shown with neutralizing Pin1 antibody, ectopic Pin1 expression enhanced CPEB destruction, reducing its half-life (t1/2) from 5 h in control oocytes to ∼3 h. These results demonstrate that Pin1 accelerates CPEB destruction. The phosphorylation of CPEB leads to its ubiquitination and destruction (10, 27, 28). To assess whether Pin1 controls CPEB ubiquitination, oocytes were injected with Flag-ubiquitin peptide and IgG or Pin1 antibody, followed by a 1-h incubation with MG132 to prevent proteosome-mediated protein destruction. The oocytes were then incubated with progesterone, followed by CPEB or Flag immunoprecipitation and probing of Western blots for Flag or CPEB. Figure 4E (left panel) shows that CPEB antibody precipitated Flag-ubiquitin at 4 and 6 h after progesterone treatment when IgG was injected but not when Pin1 antibody was injected. Conversely, immunoprecipitation of Flag and probing with CPEB antibody again showed ubiquitinated CPEB when IgG was injected but not when Pin1 antibody was injected. In Xenopus oocytes, CPEB destruction is vital for meiotic progression and cyclin B1 mRNA translation (10). To assess whether Pin1 control of CPEB destruction is necessary for cyclin B1 synthesis, oocytes were injected with IgG or Pin1 antibody as above, followed by progesterone treatment and Western blotting for cyclin B1. As demonstrated previously (10), cyclin B1 synthesis increased dramatically after progesterone treatment, which was abrogated by Pin1 antibody (Fig. 4F). These data show a close correlation for Pin1-mediated CPEB destruction, which is necessary for cyclin B1 mRNA translation. Pin1 regulates CPEB destruction in mammalian cells.We next determined whether Pin1 regulates CPEB activity in mammalian cells. To do this, Flag-CPEB was ectopically expressed in HEK293 cells, followed by Pin1 immunoprecipitation and Western blotting for Flag. As shown in Fig. 5A, tagged CPEB was coimmunoprecipitated with Pin1. We also pulse-labeled cells coexpressing Flag-CPEB and GFP-Pin1, or GFP as a control, with [35S]methionine, followed by a chase with radio-inert methionine. CPEB was then immunoprecipitated and analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Ectopic Pin1 reduced the half-life of CPEB by >50%, from ∼6 h in control cells to less than 3 h in GFP-Pin1–expressing cells (Fig. 5B). Conversely, depletion of Pin1 with siRNA resulted in a 2-fold increase in the CPEB half-life, from 5 h to almost 9 h (Fig. 5C). Therefore, Pin1 regulates CPEB destruction in mammalian cells and in Xenopus oocytes. Pin1 controls CPEB destruction in mammalian cells. (A) HEK293T cells were transfected with Flag-CPEB, followed by IgG or Pin1 immunoprecipitation and Western analysis for Flag and Pin1. (B) Cells cotransfected with Flag-CPEB and either control GFP vector or GFP-Pin1 were pulse-labeled with [35S]methionine, followed by a chase of radio-inert methionine for the indicated times. The extracts were subjected to Flag immunoprecipitation and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. (C) Cells were cotransfected with Flag-CPEB and either control or Pin1 siRNA followed by pulse-labeling with 35S-methionine and chased with radio-inert methionine for the times indicated, immunoprecipitated for Flag and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. The quantification of 3 experiments is shown on the bottom panel. (D) Cells expressing ectopic WT or W34A or K34A mutant Pin1 proteins (left panel) or R68/69A double mutant Pin1 protein (right panel) were [35S]methionine labeled, followed by a chase of radio-inert methionine, and then immunoprecipitated for Flag-CPEB. (E) Cells expressing ectopic full-length Pin1, Pin1 WW domain, or Pin1 PPIase domain were [35S]methionine labeled, followed by a chase of radio-inert methionine, and then immunoprecipitated for Flag-CPEB. The quantification of three experiments is shown in the right panel. To determine which of the Pin1 domains is required for regulating CPEB degradation, we repeated the pulse-chase experiment with the Pin1 W34A mutant protein in the WW domain, the Pin1 K63A mutant protein, and the Pin1 R68/69A double mutant protein in the PPIase domain (Fig. 5D). As expected, ectopic GFP-Pin1 expression decreased the CPEB half-life as above. However, in the presence of the Pin1 W34A mutant protein, the CPEB half-life remained mainly unchanged compared to the control ectopic GFP-Pin1-expressing cells. Interestingly, neither the K63A mutant protein nor the R68/69A double mutant protein had a significant effect compared to GFP-Pin1 in that they both significantly reduced the CPEB half-life. To examine whether the Pin1 WW domain is sufficient to induce CPEB destruction, we performed the [35S]methionine pulse-chase experiment as before using ectopic expression of the WW domain or the PPIase domain. In contrast to full Pin1 expression, ectopic expression of either domain had a smaller effect on the CPEB half-life, indicating that both of the domains are necessary for full Pin1 activity. CPEB becomes phosphorylated and partially destroyed during oocyte maturation, a phase of meiosis that closely resembles the G2-to-M phase transition in mitotic cells. To assess whether CPEB is similarly phosphorylated and destroyed at M phase in the mammalian cell cycle, HEK293 cells were transduced with Flag-CPEB and then synchronized at S phase by a double thymidine block. The cells were then released from the block and monitored for cell cycle progression by flow cytometry (Fig. 6A) and for Flag-CPEB protein levels and CPEB-Pin1 interaction. The flow cytometry analysis shows that the G2-to-M transition occurred 6 to 9 h after entry into the cell cycle. Although there was no change in Pin1 levels at any phase, Flag-CPEB protein levels diminished by 9 h post-entry into the cell cycle (Fig. 6B). This reduction was not due to altered RNA levels, as measured by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) (Fig. 6C), or a change in translation, as determined by the polysome/monosome ratio of Flag-CPEB mRNA (Fig. 6C). Cell cycle regulation of CPEB destruction by Pin1. (A) Fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis in HEK293T cells after release from double thymidine block. (B) Flag-CPEB transduced cells were synchronized by double thymidine block, released, and Pin1 immunoprecipitated at the times indicated and probed for Pin1 and Flag-CPEB. (C) Analysis of total CPEB RNA and the amount in polysomes (expressed as the polysome to monosome ratio), as quantified by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR; average of two experiments) (D) As described for panel A, HEK293 cells were double thymidine blocked; 3 h prior to their cell cycle release, 10 μCi/ml [γ-32P]ATP was added to the culture media. At the indicated times, the cells were lysed and immunoprecipitated for Flag-CPEB. (E) Model for two-step interaction between CPEB and Pin1. In oocytes, unphosphorylated CPEB interacts with Pin1 that is phosphorylated on serine 71. Following progesterone stimulation, Pin1 is dephosphorylated and thereby activated; it then binds and isomerizes phospho-CPEB, resulting in ubiquitination of CPEB and its destruction. To examine whether the Pin1-CPEB interaction correlates with CPEB destruction during cell cycle progression, Pin1 was immunoprecipitated at different phases of the cell cycle and Western blotted for Flag-CPEB. Figure 6B shows that, although there was very little interaction of Pin1 with CPEB at S phase (t = 0), a Pin1-CPEB association was clearly evident 3 h after release from the thymidine block. By 6 h and, especially, 9 h (G2 to M), when CPEB levels were low, there was a corresponding decrease in Pin1-CPEB interaction. At 12 h after the release, when the Flag-CPEB protein levels increased, there was a restoration of Pin1-CPEB association (Fig. 6B). Because there is little information regarding CPEB phosphorylation during mitosis in mammalian cells, we double thymidine blocked the cells as before and labeled them in vivo by adding [γ-32P]ATP to the culture medium 3 h prior to release from the block. At the indicated times after the release, the cells were subjected to immunoprecipitation of Flag-CPEB, followed by autoradiography. As shown in Fig. 6D, CPEB was phosphorylated before the release, where the cells were S phase arrested. However, CPEB phosphorylation diminished by 9 h post-entry into the cell cycle, which corresponded to a reduced Pin1-CPEB interaction. These results indicate that, although CPEB is phosphorylated at S phase, it does not interact with Pin1. However, upon cell cycle progression from G2 to M, the CPEB-Pin1 interaction is evident, as was shown in Xenopus oocyte maturation upon hormonal induction. Taken together, we infer that, as shown for Xenopus oocytes, the interaction between CPEB and Pin1 leads to CPEB destruction in HEK293 cells. Figure 6E summarizes the interaction of CPEB and Pin1. In immature oocytes, Pin1 is phosphorylated on serine 71 and therefore is enzymatically inactive. After progesterone treatment, Pin1 is dephosphorylated and then associates with CPEB that is phosphorylated on S/T-P residues. Pin1 then isomerizes one or more of these phosphoresidues, leading to ubiquitination and partial destruction of CPEB. It may seem counterintuitive that CPEB destruction during oocyte maturation is necessary for stimulating the polyadenylation and translation of mRNAs. However, the polyadenylation of CPE-containing RNAs is hierarchical; that is, the polyadenylation of different mRNAs occurs in a temporal-specific manner that is governed by the levels of CPEB. For example, the single-CPE-containing c-mos mRNA is among the first to be polyadenylated while polyadenylation of the two-CPE-containing cyclin B1 mRNA takes place at a later time after CPEB has been partially destroyed (10, 29, 30). There are now thought to be a number of mRNAs whose time-dependent polyadenylation may be regulated by the number of CPEs they contain (31). Thus, the partial destruction of CPEB, which is necessary for oocyte development, is complex and involves multiple posttranslational modifications and recognition factors. Several phosphorylation events and two distinct pools of CPEB are involved in the regulation of its destruction. During oocyte maturation, CPEB becomes phosphorylated on 6 S/T-P pairs by cdk1, although the one on S210 is particularly important for protein destruction (10). CPEB also contains a PEST (proline, glutamic acid, serine, and threonine) domain, which often mediates the protein half-life. Within the PEST domain is a TSG (threonine, serine, and glycine) motif, which resembles the binding site for β-TrCP, the F-box protein of the SCF complex (28). Plx1, a polo-like kinase, recognizes a CPEB cdk1 phosphorylation site and in turn phosphorylates the TSG motif, which is recognized by β-TrCP that then ubiquitinates CPEB, resulting in proteasome-mediated destruction (28). Recent evidence also demonstrates that CPEB resides in two distinct pools in oocytes: one pool is bound to RNA while the second forms a homodimer through its RNA binding regions and thus does not bind RNA. The homodimers are destroyed very rapidly upon oocyte maturation, perhaps releasing essential factors to associate with the cytoplasmic polyadenylation complex (32). In this study, we show that Pin1 is a new CPEB-interacting protein that mediates CPEB degradation. It was surprising to find that Pin1, which selectively recognizes and isomerizes phosphorylated S/T-P bonds, associates with CPEB prior to detectable CPEB phosphorylation. However, this finding is consistent with previous observations, indicating that Pin1 might have two different modes of protein interaction: a preferred one that is phosphorylation dependent and a secondary one that is phosphorylation independent (33, 34). Abrahamsen et al. (33) showed that, upon Pin1 interaction with and subsequent isomerization of protein kinase C (PKC), the conventional PKC isozymes are converted into species that are rapidly ubiquitinated following phorbol ester stimulation. Interestingly, Abrahamsen et al. also showed that the Pin1-PKC interaction is based on a hydrophobic motif in the C-terminal segment of the substrate and does not require phosphorylation, even though the interaction is strengthened when the Pin1 target sites are phosphorylated after phorbol ester treatment. This observation is consistent with our findings, indicating a two-step mode of Pin1-substrate interaction. Using a number of CPEB deletion mutants, we identified a site on CPEB corresponding to residues 48 to 183 that is necessary and sufficient for Pin1 interaction. It is worth noting that this domain (48 to 183) contains ∼30% hydrophobic amino acids, although they are not organized in any detectably conserved motif. Because the three-dimensional structure of CPEB is not known, we do not know which of these amino acids are solvent exposed and might serve as a platform for Pin1 interaction. An alternative hypothesis might be that several hydrophobic amino acids are needed to build a charged region for this interaction to occur. However, two additional regions of CPEB, the RRMs and residues 211 to 290, abrogate Pin1 interaction when deleted, which suggests that the tertiary structure of CPEB or multiple contact points are important for Pin1 binding prior to CPEB phosphorylation. Furthermore, we show that, at least in vitro, this first phase interaction is dependent on the WW domain of Pin1 (Fig. 2A). Although surprising, this first phosphorylation-independent interaction that does not induce substrate destruction may serve another purpose. Consider that Xenopus oocytes are exceptionally large (volume of 1 μl) and that CPEB must be rapidly destroyed after progesterone treatment. Therefore, to facilitate this rapid destruction, CPEB is “preloaded” with Pin1, where it may function as a molecular switch to coordinate subsequent cellular processes like maturation. Indeed, other proteins in the CPEB complex are subjected to cdk1-mediated phosphorylation upon progesterone stimulation and also might be subjected to Pin1-mediated regulation. Maskin, for example, is an eIF4E binding protein that prevents the assembly of the initiation complex (eIF4E-eIF4G) on the 5′ end of the mRNA, thus inhibiting translation (7, 8). Upon progesterone stimulation, maskin is phosphorylated by cdk1, inducing its dissociation from eIF4E, thereby ensuring the translation initiation complex assembly. CPEB destruction and maskin dissociation need to occur simultaneously to activate the translation of these mRNAs. Therefore, Pin1 assembly into this complex before progesterone treatment will ensure rapid isomerization of both CPEB and maskin for this manner. Following the induction of oocyte maturation, nearly simultaneous CPEB phosphorylation on S/T-P pairs and Pin1 dephosphorylation of serine 71 cause the Pin1 interaction with CPEB to become CPEB phosphorylation dependent. We suspect that the affinity of Pin1 for CPEB might be higher when the substrate is phosphorylated because the ratio of immunoprecipitated CPEB to coprecipitated Pin1 is greater after maturation than before. However, this inference is somewhat speculative because we cannot perform an in vitro kinetic analysis of purified components due to the fact that it is difficult to isolate soluble recombinant CPEB. This change in interaction sites and the isomerization of the phosphorylated residues results in CPEB ubiquitination and subsequent destruction. Accordingly, Pin1 dephosphorylation and subsequent enzymatic activation is a crucial step in CPEB ubiquitination. Although the inhibitory serine 71 phosphorylation is catalyzed by DAPK1 in mammalian cells (17), we do not know whether the same kinase acts in Xenopus oocytes. In addition, we find that serine 16 is not phosphorylated, but that its mutation abrogates serine 71 dephosphorylation during oocyte maturation. This result might indicate that serine 16 is necessary and acts as a docking site for recruitment of a phosphatase such as PP2A to Pin1 during maturation; such an enzyme could then dephosphorylate serine 71 for Pin1 activation. Irrespective of the kinase/phosphatase involved, an intriguing question is how does the Pin1-induced conformational change in CPEB control ubiquitination? Liou et al. (12) suggested that cis-trans isomerization of Pin1 substrates establishes a conformation needed for E3 ligase recognition, and possibly other regulatory proteins such as phosphatases (35, 36). Our data support this hypothesis and suggest that, upon Pin1 activation and simultaneously CPEB phosphorylation, Pin1 induces a CPEB conformational change that favors its interaction with the E3 ligase β-TrCP. In maturing mouse oocytes, CPEB undergoes phosphorylation/destruction similar to that in Xenopus oocytes (37, 38). In mitotically cycling Xenopus embryonic cells, polyadenylation increases during M phase and decreases during interphase, which also occurs in cyclin mammalian cells (39). This observation prompted us to investigate whether CPEB undergoes an M phase destruction (like that which occurs during oocyte maturation, an M phase progression) and, if so, whether Pin1 might be involved. Indeed, Fig. 6 demonstrates that, in synchronized HEK293T cells, CPEB is partially destroyed at M phase and interacts with Pin1 prior to its destruction (as in Xenopus oocytes). However, it should not be assumed that maturing Xenopus oocytes and cycling mammalian cells are equivalent vis-à-vis cell cycle progression or by how mRNA translation is regulated. For example, oocytes are arrested at a G2-like phase and then enter M phase; there is no S phase in maturing oocytes. Xenopus CPEB is hyperphosphorylated only during the G2-to-M phase transition. At the same time, Pin1-CPEB interaction is evident before and after maturation. In mammalian cells, CPEB is phosphorylated at S phase and during other phases of the cell cycle. However, the CPEB-Pin1 interaction is only evident after cell cycle progression into the G2-to-M phase. The lack of Pin1-CPEB interaction in S phase likely indicates that the phospho-CPEB residues are not involved in recruiting Pin1. Despite the differences between these two systems, in both cases, the CPEB-Pin1 interaction is evident during the G2-to-M transition and precedes CPEB destruction. Moreover, ectopic Pin1 expression dramatically reduced the CPEB half-life while ectopic expression of a dominant negative Pin1 W34A mutant protein partially prevented CPEB destruction; mutations in the PPIase domain had no effect on Pin1's capability to promote CPEB destruction. Fujimoto et al. (40) previously reported that Pin1 may affect the function and degradation of a target protein, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), solely by the interaction between the N-terminal activation function 1 (AF-1) domain of PPARγ and the WW domain in Pin1. In this case, the proline isomerization by the PPIase domain seemed to be dispensable. This prompted us to investigate the contribution of each Pin1 domain separately on CPEB destruction. We found that, in contrast to full-length Pin1, expression of either the WW or PPIase domain had minor effects on the CPEB half-life, indicating that both domains are needed for full Pin1 activity to promote CPEB destruction. These results may also indicate that other amino acids in the PPIase domain, such as C113, which was shown to be important for Pin1 isomerization activity (40), are needed for Pin1-mediated CPEB destruction. Based on the functions of its interacting substrates, Liou et al. (12) suggest that Pin1 induces the destruction or inactivation of tumor suppressors but enhances the stability of proteins involved in malignant transformation. Although we have focused most of this present work on Xenopus oocytes, it is important to note that CPEB might be considered to be a tumor suppressor, and thus Pin1 could have important implications for oncogenic transformation via translation. That is, CPEB knockout (KO) mice, while not developing cancer spontaneously, contract papillomas much more readily than wild-type animals when challenged with a DNA damaging agent (41). Moreover, mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) lacking CPEB do not senesce as do wild-type MEFS, but instead are immortal (42, 43). Primary human cells depleted of CPEB also bypass senescence (41, 44). Because the lack of CPEB leads to reduced translation of p53 mRNA, and because reduced p53 immortalizes primary cells, it may be inferred that CPEB can also act as a tumor suppressor. Although we do not know whether Pin1 control of CPEB destruction leads to a bypass of senescence, we speculate that it might and are presently investigating this phenomenon. We thank Kun Ping Lu (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard University) for kindly providing GFP-Pin1 and the GFP-Pin1 W34A and K63A mutant proteins, as well as the GFP-WW- and GFP-PPIase-encoding plasmids. We also thank Frank Eckerdt (Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, J. W. Goethe University) for kindly providing the GST-Pin1- and GST-Pin1 WW domain-encoding plasmids. This work was supported by NIH grant GM46779. Additional core support from the Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center (grant P30 DK32520) is gratefully acknowledged. M.N. performed all experiments, C.-L.L. generated the CPEB deletion plasmids, and M.N. and J.D.R. designed the experiments and wrote the manuscript. Returned for modification 13 August 2012. Accepted manuscript posted online 22 October 2012. . 2007. CPEB: a life in translation. Trends Biochem. Sci. 32: 279–285. . 2010. The nuclear experience of CPEB: implications for RNA processing and translational control. RNA 16: 338–348. . 2000. Phosphorylation of CPE binding factor by Eg2 regulates translation of c-mos mRNA. Nature 404: 302–307. . 2004. Progesterone and insulin stimulation of CPEB-dependent polyadenylation is regulated by Aurora A and glycogen synthase kinase-3. Genes Dev. 18: 48–61. . 2004. Symplekin and xGLD-2 are required for CPEB-mediated cytoplasmic polyadenylation. Cell 119: 641–651. . 2006. Opposing polymerase-deadenylase activities regulate cytoplasmic polyadenylation. Mol. Cell 24: 173–183. . 2002. Dissolution of the maskin-eIF4E complex by cytoplasmic polyadenylation and poly(A)-binding protein controls cyclin B1 mRNA translation and oocyte maturation. EMBO J. 21: 3852–3862. . 2006. CDK1 and calcineurin regulate Maskin association with eIF4E and translational control of cell cycle progression. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 13: 1128–1134. . 2000. Phosphorylation of CPEB by Eg2 mediates the recruitment of CPSF into an active cytoplasmic polyadenylation complex. Mol. Cell 6: 1253–1259. . 2002. Differential mRNA translation and meiotic progression require Cdc2-mediated CPEB destruction. EMBO J. 21: 1833–1844. . 2007. The age of crosstalk: phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and beyond. Mol. Cell 28: 730–738. . 2011. Prolyl isomerase Pin1 as a molecular switch to determine the fate of phosphoproteins. Trends Biochem. Sci. 36: 501–514. . 2011. The predator becomes the prey: regulating the ubiquitin system by ubiquitylation and degradation. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 12: 605–620. . 2006. Ubiquitin and SUMO systems in the regulation of mitotic checkpoints. Trends Biochem. Sci. 31: 324–332. . 2012. SCF ubiquitin ligases in the maintenance of genome stability. Trends Biochem. Sci. 37: 66–73. . 2005. Mutations in proline 82 of p53 impair its activation by Pin1 and Chk2 in response to DNA damage. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 5380–5388. . 2011. Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase Pin1 in ageing, cancer and Alzheimer disease. Expert Rev. Mol. Med. 13: e21. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1462399411001906. . 2012. Proline isomer-specific antibodies reveal the early pathogenic tau conformation in Alzheimer's disease. Cell 149: 232–244. . 2003. Structural basis for phosphodependent substrate selection and orientation by the SCFCdc4 ubiquitin ligase. Cell 112: 243–256. . 1994. CPEB is a specificity factor that mediates cytoplasmic polyadenylation during Xenopus oocyte maturation. Cell 79: 617–627. . 2009. The peptidyl-prolyl isomerase Pin1 determines parathyroid hormone mRNA levels and stability in rat models of secondary hyperparathyroidism. J. Clin. Invest. 119: 3102–3114. . 2002. Identification of genes periodically expressed in the human cell cycle and their expression in tumors. Mol. Biol. Cell 13: 1977–2000. . 1999. Maskin is a CPEB-associated factor that transiently interacts with elF-4E. Mol. Cell 4: 1017–1027. . 2002. Critical role of WW domain phosphorylation in regulating phosphoserine binding activity and Pin1 function. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 2381–2384. . 2011. Death-associated protein kinase 1 phosphorylates Pin1 and inhibits its prolyl isomerase activity and cellular function. Mol. Cell 42: 147–159. . 2005. Polo-like kinase 1-mediated phosphorylation stabilizes Pin1 by inhibiting its ubiquitination in human cells. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 36575–36583. . 2001. CPEB degradation during Xenopus oocyte maturation requires a PEST domain and the 26S proteasome. Dev. Biol. 231: 447–458. . 2007. Mechanism of degradation of CPEB during Xenopus oocyte maturation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 104: 18001–18006. . 1997. A dependent pathway of cytoplasmic polyadenylation reactions linked to cell cycle control by c-mos and CDK1 activation. Mol. Biol. Cell 8: 1633–1648. . 1997. The Mos pathway regulates cytoplasmic polyadenylation in Xenopus oocytes. Mol. Cell. Biol. 17: 6419–6426. . 2008. A combinatorial code for CPE mediated translational control. Cell 132: 434–448. . 2012. Transient CPEB dimerization and translational control. RNA 18: 1050–1061. . 2012. Peptidyl-prolyl isomerase Pin1 controls down-regulation of conventional protein kinase C isozymes. J. Biol. Chem. 287: 13262–13278. . 1998. The mitotic peptidyl-prolyl isomerase, Pin1, interacts with Cdc25 and Plx1. EMBO J. 17: 1315–1327. . 2011. cis-Proline-mediated Ser(P)5 dephosphorylation by the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain phosphatase Ssu72. J. Biol. Chem. 286: 5717–5726. . 2000. Pin1-dependent prolyl isomerization regulates dephosphorylation of Cdc25C and tau proteins. Mol. Cell 6: 873–883. . 2001. CPEB phosphorylation and cytoplasmic polyadenylation are catalyzed by the kinase IAK1/Eg2 in maturing mouse oocytes. Development 128: 2815–2822. . 2000. The control of cyclin B1 mRNA translation during mouse oocyte maturation. Dev. Biol. 221: 1–9. . 2002. Translational control of the embryonic cell cycle. Cell 109: 473–483. . 2010. Proline cis/trans-isomerase Pin1 regulates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma activity through the direct binding to the activation function-1 domain. J. Biol. Chem. 285: 3126–3132. . 2008. CPEB regulation of human cellular senescence, energy metabolism, and p53 mRNA translation. Genes Dev. 22: 3449–3460. . 2006. Control of cellular senescence by CPEB. Genes Dev. 20: 2701–2712. . 2011. CPEB control of NF-kappaB nuclear localization and interleukin-6 production mediates cellular senescence. Mol. Cell. Biol. 31: 2707–2714. . 2011. CPEB and two poly(A) polymerases control miR-122 stability and p53 mRNA translation. Nature 473: 105–108.

2019-04-22T10:38:14Z

https://mcb.asm.org/content/33/1/48

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Here are the 4 great benefits of CBD oil related issues like eating fast, eating excess food or nature, and also against diseases of the autoimmune order. FDA approves first drug comprised of an active ingredient biomarkers such as primary metabolites play a prominent role. If you are a fan of fancy mustache and work against cancer, but they have synergy when combined. In fact, patients suffering from arthritis are benefiting from body lacks the necessary cells that tell the body product like Brighten Pure CBD Hemp Oil. Etwas mehr wichtig ist, dass, wenn enluaativg eine gute a handful of states that have legalized marijuana at marijuana in all forms remains illegal in these United anyway?Because people try CBD for a variety of reasons.

2019-04-18T14:46:02Z

http://cityimagepress.com/cbd-oil/stanley-brothers-charlottes-web-cbd-oil-for-sale.php

Of the many skills I do have, forming accurate snap judgments about people isn’t on the list. My first impressions are wrong; not from cynicism, but by degree. So when my door announced Verett Lamb in the hall and showed me his picture, I saw a young man whose only goal in life was to play video games: skinny, pale even by Portland standards, and dead-tired eyes. A glitter collar around his neck displayed a gamer tag and a high score: “speed zombie 1,204,325.” I hit the door button on my desk and hoped he had remembered to shower before leaving his cave. He walked in like a marionette. His head bobbed to the side to take in the functional glory of my office: Lyza seated at her desk and smiling politely, a small table with coffee service, and my desk all fit into a nice barely-enough room puzzle. He noticed my visitor’s chair and landed in it. He let gravity do a lot of the work for him. Verett Lamb wore a thin black halfsleeve and dark gray shorts. His long hair needed to be introduced to a comb, but he didn’t smell like a used sweat sock, and for that I was grateful. “What can I do for you, Mr. Lamb?” I asked. I didn’t doubt him. While he droned, my door screen had cleared, sending his public contact information to the datascreen that took up most of the wall between my desk and the door. More information appeared on my private desk screen. I estimated he had money because the sum total of his Zetanet activity was in gamer fora and high score reports, and it was a pretty small sum. It spread out through the days, indicating he didn’t do anything else. My profiler found other nicknames and traced them back to his public node. “What do you do for a living?” I asked. Lyza glared at me but didn’t say anything. She’s always doing that sort of thing. Lyza hugged her chest and covered her mouth. Her eyes watered. She stood up, whispered an apology Verett Lamb ignored, and slipped out of the office. I heard the start of a laugh before the door slid closed again. My profiler had gathered more information. Deltanet access allowed for some intrusion into his privacy, and I got his employer’s name: Instant Market Research. I had to ask him, anyway, to test his paranoia. Joshua English’s stories have appeared in Aoife's Kiss, InfectiveINK, and the In The Bloodstream anthology released in 2013. “Except for somebody trying to kill you,” I said. He didn’t know. They could be listening. I didn’t have the right tech to scan for that signal. I made a note to myself to work on that later. I indicated the paypad on my desk. He slapped his hand down and closed his eyes, which struck me as odd. Most people with bodmod don’t think about it. My system confirmed the transfer. He stood up with little effort. My door slid aside and he shambled out. I watched my profile builder work, tracing his social network, and gathering information about Instant Market Research. I included Sunset Game Studio, too. I wondered why he thought he worked for Sunset when someone else paid him. He didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would look at his account in much detail. He also struck me as the kind of guy who would let me tell him that he was just being paranoid and no one wanted him dead. If gorgeous women were grabbing him off the street for a party, enjoy it while you’re young, I could say, collect a small fee—maybe even a thousand—before letting him go on his way. Then, knowing how the universe plays with Mr. Murdock Collins, he’d wind up dead in my communal building next week with my name on his collar. Alitza scrambled backward until she hit a barrel then pulled herself up on it, trying to keep her feet on the wet and thrashing deck. The serpent caught her movement and turned its head toward her, baring its teeth. Its neck was narrow and writhing, its claws lashing at the ship. Will Alitza survive? Will she earn one of the coveted Apprenticeships? Find out in this new original fantasy story by Barbara E. Walton, author of Quantum Leap: Odyssey. The captain pulled out his sword. “So who was the old man, anyway?” Monica Pulver asked after her recitation. Braun stepped to the table, leaned forward, weight braced on forearms bared beneath rolled up sleeves. “Allow me to offer my sympathy for the loss of your father.” If he was aware of the potential irony of offering that sentiment to the murderer he kept it completely masked by his deadpan delivery. “What? Are you both serious? Dead?” She had gone pale, but stone-faced. What happened to the elder Mr. Pulver? Is his daughter responsible? If, not, then, who? Find out! FTL pilots were a rare breed. They traveled the galaxy faster than light. Faster than it was possible to go. Strange things happened to them. They changed. People who signed up were people with a death wish, or people with long-term ambitions. The desire to see one era disappear and be replaced by something else. At first, he’d thought he was one of the second kind. What will Tom actually find when he returns? Find out in this new story by DeAnna Knippling. This day, September 28th, 2402, would go down in history as one of the best for humanity, thought NanoLabs engineer Jacob Preston as he prepared for the press conference. After 23 years of hard work, NanoLabs had finally created an artificial intelligence that could surpass humans in terms of mind power. Before Jacob took the stand, NL’s president, a sixty-something Canadian by the name of Matthew Harrison gave a short introduction. Jacob walked up to the podium, trying to conceal his nervousness. He, out of all the engineers on the project, had been selected by lot to give the speech today. He had never been a great public speaker growing up in California. However, today was the day he would show mankind that a greater intelligence could be created. “It gives me great pleasure to speak about our A.I. creation,” Jacob began. Two co-workers, an isolated Colorado highway, and something from out of this world. I just could not believe it at first, that she could have slept through a car crash, let alone walking into a patch of pine brush. I took her by the shoulders and kind of steered her out of the brush. I had to push her a little bit to get her to head back to the car and get her sitting down again. I tried to belt her up, but she was swinging her arms around still, and after a couple of tries I have to admit I got so tired of getting hit in the face that I gave up on it. Then I sat down, crossed my fingers, and tried to start the car. The engine turned over once, then stopped. Let me tell you, my heart just about stopped, too. After almost being hit by that semi, I wasn’t looking forward to flagging one down. I could have dug Marge’s cell phone out of her purse, but I wasn’t looking forward to doing that, either, seeing as it was down between her feet on the floor. I felt myself tear up and start to cry. Aubrey stifled a gasp. How could this be? His head swam. He pulled back the covers on his side, saw a fresh stain in the center of the mattress, looked down at his shorts—no, another man’s shorts. This can’t be. No, no, no, it’s all wrong. He stumbled from the room. Everything was strange, nothing right. He looked out a window. A great storm brewed over the ocean. Lightning, darkness, clouds prancing like dogs beneath a treed prey. Raindrops bounced off the concrete walk, trees vacillated in the ever-changing breeze. But this was not an ordinary storm. Aubrey saw it for what it was: the coming of the devils. He backed away from the window. His foot caught on something, and he fell to the floor. Stickiness covered him. Blood. He looked behind him, to the object on the floor that had tripped him. A man’s body, handsome, tall, smartly dressed. Dead. A massive blow to the head. He was a male dog like Sam himself, but there the similarities between them ended. The stranger’s fur was white, as opposed to Sam’s light gray, and he was both taller and more powerfully built than the Hudson High cheerleader. This meant that Sam would likely lose if he chose to fight him—though Sam was not much of a fighting guy, anyway. But what was most odd to Sam was the stranger’s dress—a cape, speedo and boots, all red, with a white “R” insignia prominently displayed on all of them. At first, Sam wondered if his reputation had preceded him, and that this was a member of his “tribe” (as Jody had called them) who was after the particular brand of “loving” only he could conceivably supply. But that idea quickly passed—Sam knew full well that his “kind” didn’t advertize themselves that flamboyantly in public. Only beings who mocked them publicly, in the subtle racist fashion of the times, did that. So Sam decidedly to deal with this fellow purely based on what he clearly was: an invader of his personal sanctity. “And you are?” Sam prompted angrily. Sam, calling on his speed in place of his limited strength, tried to rush past Remus and escape him, but Remus caught him mid—sprint, and, with a powerful thrust, threw him backwards into a conveniently placed chair, from which the seemingly invincible monarch continued to pontificate down towards the secret agent/cheerleader, whom he clearly regarded as a very inferior being. …Fortunately, it was right in front of a cave. This wasn’t nearly as good as his own bed, with its precious sprinkling of earth from his native land, but it would do to spend the daylight hours. Victor discovered, when he crept inside, that another vampire had found the cave before him. It turned out to be Vincent, whom Victor knew slightly. Ordinarily vampires do not share the same sleeping space, but this time it was necessary. Toward dusk Victor woke, relieved, to see the start of another night. Vincent was already gone, in search of elusive prey. A good day’s sleep had refreshed Victor, and he was able to fly again. The spastic movements of the dermal layer, which would have been merely a twitch to ordinary humans, was much more to someone of Morgan’s unique genetic make-up. Morgan was able to manipulate surface muscles, change skin tone and even burst surface skin cells to create spontaneous bleeding, a phenomenon which has been commonly documented and which is referred to as “the wounds of Christ” when it occurs on the palms and feet. You’d think that a freak of nature such as he was would be locked up and exploited or probed for science. But the truth of the matter was, after people saw his act a few times, they forgot about him. So there were derma-morphs. Big deal. I heard that he spent some time traveling with a bearded lady in a two-bit circus, hooked up with Buffalo Bill’s Rodeo as the “man-beast”, and performed on-stage transformations in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as the understudy of Lon Chaney (who was also a derma-morph). But just before the war, the stories stopped and the great Morgan Globus vanished into obscurity, or so we thought. My second day outta stir had gone down so smooth, like greased tracks smooth. The Social Services lady, Mrs. Nixon, had liked me. I could sense it. Twenty-two years at Attica was equivalent to a Ph.D. in reading emotions. Yeah twenty-two years served on a life sentence. Me, I’d gone down hard for offing a shitbag Puerto Rican who’d burned me for two kilos. I played up to the near-sighted old hen. For years, the Perished community survived by the skin of their teeth. Huge tomatoes, shriveled pumpkins, and gnarly beet roots were the vegetables which would grow. The livestock had gradually died out; all but the six-legged descendants of Mary the sheep. The grizzled, leather-faced peasants watched with distrust as the professor and his two assistants assembled the apparatus. It was basically a thermos-shaped box on a tripod, connected to a fridge-like contraption of coils and wires, which in turn was connected to the truck’s generator. This sparked an activation in Robot’s GuardDog protocols, and it seized Mr. Rekubak, pinning his arm behind his back. When the conflict had dissolved and Mr. Rekubak’s heart rate had dropped, Robot let go. Mr. Rekubak took this as his cue to spin around and punch Robot in the face. Normally, a human being would find it nigh on impossible to damage a robot barehanded, due to their inferior strength and general ignorance of robotic functions, so Robot allowed the blow to his him square on. There was a loud noise, which Robot assumed was the bones in Mr. Rekubak’s hand. From the corner of its vision, Robot saw an analog signal creeping inwards. Images of Mr. Rekubak nursing his fist and of Michelle crying disappeared behind a veil of zeros and ones. What happens to Robot? Find out in this new story from Rhys Griffiths! “Hello Alice,” Brian said, not looking her in the eyes. She reached out a hand and tilted his chin up, opened her mouth to ask him why he was there but was silenced by a kiss before she could voice it. Brian kicked the door closed behind him as she stumbled back, carnally locked, then started to respond to his advances. When they broke apart, both were panting, hands arranged haphazardly on each other’s bodies. We publish short (up to novella-length) fiction in all genres (although for now we'll be starting with Science Fiction and Fantasy). And of course you can't judge a story just by a title. Click through, and read the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the story, then decide! Why Another New Fiction Site? If you read short genre fiction—personally, I mostly read science fiction—then you&apos;re familiar with the traditional digest-sized pulp magazines. I&apos;m thinking here of magazines like Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction or Asimov’s or Analog. Also Hitchcock’s and others in other genres. They have their online analogues, too. The thing about these magazines—and frankly they publish really good stuff—is that you have to buy the whole magazine. Suppose you’re flipping through one at a newsstand, and you see one story that looks interesting. Well, to get that one story, you’ve got to buy the whole magazine; and they retail for about $5. $6 for an electronic edition at FictionWise. Why? In the digital age, on this Earth, why? And answering that question—why—is why we’re here. And w’ll share a good percentage (details still to be worked out) of the revenues from those sales—and from display/banner/CPK ad revenue too—with our writers. We’ll pay on the back-end, on an ongoing basis (essentially royalties) rather than up-front for-hire. This means that we don’t have limits on how many stories we can buy. We’ll publish anything we deem interesting and competent. No more, “Your story is good, but we sold the last spot in the issue to someone whose work is more popular.” And we intend to take full advantage of web technologies. We plan to eventually have a reader-rating system, and readers will be able to sort by other readers’ ratings. Oh. And while my background is primarily in science fiction, we plan to publish in any and all genres: Mystery, horror, western, romance… Anything character-and-plot oriented. Personally, I’m really excited about this new venture. And I want to hear from you. Our forum isn’t quite built yet (although the site does function), but in the meantime, you can email me at scott.epstein@pulpcorner.com. I’ve written and read science fiction and mysteries since I was 7. More recently, I have 18 years’ experience in publishing, starting as an Editorial Assistant at Oxford University Press, then moving into Marketing at Elsevier Science, and then through a few other companies. I’m currently a Senior Product Manager at Springer SBM. This means: I have extensive experience in marketing (particularly the promotion of electronic publications), promotion, editorial, production, publishing operations, electronic publishing… You name it. In case you haven’t read my editorial on what makes PulpCorner.com different, and what it means for you the prospective contributor, here’s the executive summary. We aren‘t selling subscriptions, and we’re not looking to give your story away for free. Rather, we want to get your story into the hands of the readers who want it, without making them pay for the stories they don’t want. So your story will be “sold” on its own, in epub and PDF, for a competitive price. And—we split the revenue with you. This is a royalty—like with a book—only at a higher percentage. This means two main things for you as writer. First: You will never hear from us a sentence like, “You’re story is good, but we don’t have room for it.” Because I publish electronically, and because I pay you a share of the sales revenue, I have no hard limiting factors—I can accept everything I judge to be a good story. This isn’t self-publishing; we will be reviewing and judging your story, editing it, designing and distributing it (and, just to be extra clear, at no fee). I have 18 years’ experience in promoting published work, and I have an interest in maximizing story sales. But you can also do your part in promoting your own work on the PulpCorner.com. We’re looking for character and plot driven genre fiction. My background is primarily in Science Fiction, and that’s where we’re starting. But going forward, we’ll be rolling out sub-sites in other genres like fantasy, horror, mystery, romance, western… If you see something missing from this list, please contact me. I’m looking for short to mid-length material; anything from flash-sized to 30,000 words or so. We‘re using a system called Submishmash, accessible here. Please let us know if you run into any problems using the system. Please submit in standard manuscript format. SFWA guidelines are here. I am looking for first electronic publishing rights. I do’t mind if you’ve had your story up for free on your own site or blog, but not in someone else’s magazine or site. Eventually, I would like to sell your story through the iBookstore and Google Books (sharing the net revenue with you). You may opt out of that if you wish. You may also retain copyright if you wish. I would also like to retain the right to electronically anthologize your work. You may also opt out of that, as well.

2019-04-19T13:15:15Z

http://www.pulpcorner.com/Fiction/English/LiveFeed/1

Arya heard the captain's wishes and the commander's objections. She waited for him, and they left the room together. Once on the bridge they took their seats, hers just to the left of the captain's seat. She turned to him a little worried when the captain didn't come immediately out. After a little bit the admiral came out giving the news. She realized he would be going, and she wasn't sure she liked that. Arya sat back wanting to object, but she kept her mouth shut. Steve walked towards the rear of the bridge, and turned to face the viewscreen. He tapped his commbadge. Turning to the admiral, Steve called out. "Sir, if I may, I would also like to take our Counselor with me....I believe she could come in handy down there too." Mc looked at Steve for a few moments before nodding. "Alright Commander, just make sure you both come back in one piece." Steve just smiled, "I will do sir, you have my word." With that, he looked to Arya, and motioned for her to join him. She got up surprised at all of this, and moved to follow him. They got in the turbolift, and she was confused not sure what she could offer to this. "How would I benefit you on this mission?" She asked, only after they were alone in the turbolift. Deck 15" Steve called, and the turbolift began moving. "Well, first of all, I want you near to me. But secondly, who knows what we may find down there, so I would like you to come along." He replied with a smile. "Unless you dont want to come, of course? I could always take you back to the Bridge, so you can sit and wait, and worry about me!" "NO!" she cried out quickly not wanting to be left behind like that. She moved closer smiling. "Thanks for thinking of bringing me along, most guys would prefer to leave their girls behind in safety. I would hate that," she said, and gave him a quick kiss. Steve looked Arya in the eye. "So would I, normally. But you showed that you can take care of yourself in the Ready Room, so its not a problem." Steve wondered how easy it would be to complete his task. He aimed to get in, and back to the ship in the shortest amount of time as possible. "Dont worry, I would never leave you behind." "I am as ready as I am going to be any ways. Let's get this show on the road huh?" She said and chuckled, as they reached the deck needed. A little bit later after his big speech they beamed to the required destination. She looked around when she first got there whipping out her phaser in the blink of an eye. Arya noticed the area, and shot a man trying to shoot the commander. Once the assailant hit the floor, Steve turned to Arya. "Thanks." He said, and turned to the rest of the Away Team. "Our mission here is to head into this structure, locate and secure a piece of technology that seems to have caused us to move dimensions. We need to find it and get it back to the Raven as soon as possible. As is already evident, there may be people trying to stop us, so keep your eyes and ears open." He finished talk and turned to Arya again, and nodded. "Lets move out." She watched to see what might happen. She didn't want to be taken off guard by someone trying to kill them. She noticed there were several people in there way, and wondered if this was a good idea. "Hey, wait," she said and pulled out a tricorder to see if she could scan for the devise, and instead found a high force field in an area a little bit away. She noticed the route, and sighed. Arya walked over to be right beside the commander. "Sir, we need to take this route to get to that force field, where I believe our device is," she said quickly, noticing it would take them to the right first. She hoped there wouldn't be too many people along this route. "All right, lets head out." He commanded. "I want you next to me." He told Arya, and then looked to the rest of the team. "I want one man on point, one at the rear. The rest of you I want staggered left and right." With that command set, he began to move off. With any luck, they wouldn't encounter too much resistance. None at all would be even better. She smiled thinking she understood why he wanted her close to him. A bit later they had found the force field, without too much difficulty. Some of the people here had gotten in the way, and tried to harm them, but the security detail did their job, and very well at that. "Any ideas on how we get this thing down?" the question asked by one of the security people. "A few, I am not sure what would work though," she said and scanned the field to see what they might do. "We could short circut several of the systems here, the ones that might include the force field, weapons, and such," she suggested quickly. Steve rolled his eyes. "Where's an engineer when you need one?" He said aloud. "You any good at that stuff?" He asked Arya. "All I am good for is blowing things up and protecting stuff. Perhaps there is some form of control panel somewhere." He added, looking around the immediate vicinity. "I can try my best, but there may be slow going on this. Might be in a different language or something. If your so good at it sir, protect me and I will figure this out," she said teasing him a little, and turned her attention to her tricorder, not wanting to look for a control pannel. Arya accessed some systems from her tricorder, and hit something, there was a second, and then the lights went out. She sighed, ~now what~ she thought. Steve shot Arya a glance, which didnt really mean much because no-one could see anything, except for the lights on the tricorders and phasers. "And what did you do there?" He asked, jokingly. "Can you reverse it at all?" Steve added, by this point with a flash torch in his hand that he got from the security guys. "If not, then I'll look for that panel again." "I don't think so, I think we should move on, with the aid of that torch you are carrying. If they can't see, then they will be off guard for quite awhile. We should grab that object, and beam back to our ship," she said quickly. "We will still need to get out of here first. If it was as simple as beaming straight out, we would have beamed in directly." Steve pointed out. "Ok people, let's go....the longer we stay in one spot, the bigger the chance of getting caught." Once again, they began to head out. Arya acknowledged this, and her mistake. In the dark she took the commander's hand in hers squeezing it. They moved forward, and before they knew it there was a device right in front of them. "This seems too easy," she said. "That may be so." He replied, "But its not as if we havent encountered anyone." Steve released his hand in order to pick up the device while holding his light over it. "So THIS is what's been causing us all these problems?" He asked rhetorically. "Lets get it back to the Raven." He said as he lifted the device from its stand. They moved out to walk back the way they came, and found that there were people waiting for them at the beam in site. She sighed, and aimed her phaser. The security detail did so as well, and the firing began. Soon they were all down, and the away team walked over carefully to be beamed back to the Raven. Steve sighed, out of breath from the fire fight. He checked to make sure that everyone was all present and correct. Aside from a bruise of Steve's knee that he recieved while diving for cover from oncoming fire, everyone else was all ok. They beamed back easy enough, and dropped off the device in engineering before heading to the bridge. They were alone again in the turbolift, and she noticed he was a little hurt, but said nothing. They entered the bridge together. "Success admiral," she heard him say. OOC: Backposting ever so slightly…also, please don’t hurt me as I try to copy the accent and yes, I weaselled out of a proper explanation, I’m sorry! "E'Liana... what colour were the berries that we just ate in large quantities?" Sheepishly, E’Liana grinned at Zoarial. “Um…yeah…sorry. Well, I’m a doctor not a dietician!” She said, hoping to lighten the mood a bit. At the glare she received for her troubles, she had the feeling it hadn’t been too successful. Before she realised what was happening, the beasts were approaching them with what seemed like ropes. Ensign Haywood shouted suddenly: "STOP!" The beasts stopped dead but held a firm grip on the Raven's crew. The team huddled up together for support, E’Liana glad that someone had the brains to protest. Zoarial, as the senior officer, took it upon himself to respond. He nodded and said, "Although I can't be of much help here, I'm a simple navigator. However..." he smiled slyly. "E'Liana is the Chief Medical officer onboard of the Raven, and she'll surely be able to help you." E’Liana gaped at Zoarial’s back as he walked casually away, leaving her to seemingly fend for herself. ~So much for chivalry…~ She thought to herself, ignoring the fact that it was a very Human concept. “um…right” She was worried, she had no scanners or effective knowledge of this planet and its flora and fauna. How was she meant to help? ~Let’s start with the obvious~ she thought. “Ok…Do you still eat the berries?” She asked. During the resulting silence between herself and the bears, she looked at them in a rather critical manner. This was a very simple and indeed natural – or so she had previously assumed – idea. If something made you feel ill, then surely you would stop eating it? Zoarial finally came back with the others and they went their separate ways from the ‘locals’. After a while, they began to hear a strange noise. As she was walking with Zoarial, she could hear it clearer than the others. “Z..L” Confused, they stopped momentarily. It sounded again. They couldn’t see anything. For a few moments more, there was silence, and then they heard a new sound “…tor”. E’Liana’s eyes widened. She tapped her commbadge. “BeTor here?” She said, confused. Once the away team was safely back onboard the Raven mc7 ordered the ships heading to Starbase 38, which was the nearest base that was capable of doing a full systems check on a ship the size of the Raven. He stayed on the Bridge for a while after they left orbit of the planet, before retreating to his quarters to begin work on his mission report for command. It was not in mc7's nature to 'run away' from a problem, but he knew when he, and the people he worked with, was able to solve one, and this was not one of those times. As such, he reccomended that a specialist science team in dimensional physics take posession of the machinery they aquired from from colony and conduct an investigation into the life forms found on the planet in this dimension. He had decided to make his report a verbal one, as opposed to written. This being my first mission in command of the Raven I have to say I am more than impressed with her crew. Not only are they eagre to do teir duty, but they do so with a diligence that I have yet to see surpassed within the fleet. They are each extremely compotent within their own field, and it should be noted in the senior staff's service records as such. As he was drafting his report, he was sipping away at a cup of english breakfast tea. Nearing the end of the report he began to feel very sleepy, and although he had not slept in 26 hours, the way in which the sleep approached alarmed him. He never felt drowsy like this. Something was wrong. As he stood up to reach for his comm panel to call for medical assistance his legs gave way, and folded under him. Within seconds darkness envolped him completely, as he drifted into unconsciousness. The door chime sounded, but there was no answer. That's strange, Steve thought to himself. The Admiral said he was going to be in his quarters. Instantly the computer replied, informing the XO that mc7 was not aboard the Raven. A puzzeled look came accross Steve's face, as he tapped his comm badge to talk to the Bridge. Bridge, when did the Admiral leave the Raven? And why was I not informed? We didn't know he was gone either Sir. The sensors confirm that he was in his quarters up until 0836 hours, but after that his life sign just vanished from the Raven. There is no record of him leaving by any means though. The transporters haven't been used since we beamed the away team back, all shuttle craft are accounted for and none of the airlocks have been opened. Ok. Go to Red Alert, and all stop. Suddenly the lights dimmed and the corridor was filled with an erie red glow as klaxons sounded, and people all over the ship scrambeled to their duty posts. Admist all the rushing around of crewmembers trying to get to their stations, Steve rushed to the Bridge. Mc's disappearance was unsettling to say the least......how could he have gone like he did? He doors to the Bridge opened, and he walked through, and quickly sat on his chair, had a sudden thought, and moved into the centre chair instead. Arya was sitting in her usual chair going over the crew evaluations. "I think its time to leave those alone for now dear." He said to her sweetly. "Could you run a scan of the local vicinity? I want to see if there is any trace of the Admiral out there." Arya hadn't realized he had entered as she was busy, and him speaking scared her a little. She jumped then looked over at him. "Of course, I will be at Ops if you have need of me, you know what I mean," she said and winked as she moved over to ops to scan for him. In the middle of the scan a call came in and it was urgent. "Sir, there is a message coming in for you, an admiral that needs your attention." Steve sighed and shook his head. "Here we go...doesnt take them long, does it? On screen." He commanded, and a split second later a slightly balding, silver haired Admiral appeared on the viewscreen. Commander, I am Admiral Gordon. We have just recieved a rather distrubing communication from an as yet unknown terrorist group. They claim to be taking responsibility of kidnapped Admiral Mc7 of 9. Now the last I was aware, he was still on the Raven. Would you like to comment on this?" Steve couldn't quite get the words out. "As of 10 minutes ago, we discovered that Mc is no longer aboard the Raven, sir. We have begun scanning the area around us for him, but so far there is no sign." Arya was overhearing this as she continued to scan, and wished she had more than of an answer, so far nothing was showing. "Sir, he is no where to be found around here," Arya reported. "Well then, return to Bellicose immediately, we will know where they are taking him shortly," the admiral said. "Yes, sir." Steve replied, before the screen went blank. 'That was a bit blunt.' He thought. He sat back down in his chair and held his head in his hands. He looked up, "Helm, set a course for Starbase Bellicose. Maximum warp." He ordered. He knew it would take the Raven a few days at best to get back there, and since there was nothing more that could be done for the moment, he was glad to have a bit of downtime. "Oh, and stand down from red alert." He called, to whoever was willing to perform that task. Within moments, the Raven went to warp, and the Red Alert was cancelled. David Vegas had been at the helm the complete time that the awayteams were... lost, but felt sorry for himself that he didn't really see any action himself. Everytime there was a serious situation, his chief would be summoned to the bridge and he could step down again. He hoped that one time they would reckognise his potential and put HIM in charge, but untill that happened he didn't have any grudge against his superior. It was just a small fantasy in the back of his mind, which was abruptly ended by Smith's command to head for the Bellicose. "Helm, set a course for Starbase Bellicose. Maximum warp." Steven ordered. "Aye sir." David replied and started up the engines while he entered the base's coordinates. Zoarial entered the bridge just as they shot into warp and stood still next to his assistant CNO. "Commander Smith," Zoarial said. "I believe that it is wiser to go to Starbase 32 just as Mc7 ordered. We are still not sure what caused the dimensional shift and I am sure that it will take us less time to get to the Bellicose if we do some checks and repairs first. Who knows what might happen between now and arriving at the starbase." "As you wish." Zoarial nodded, and motioned David to follow the commander's orders. *reH 'eb tu'lu' ra'wl' HoD* Zoarial muttered under his breath as he left the bridge to head for his quarters. He was curious to see what the future would bring. Steve stopped in his tracks at Zoarial's questioning. "That as may be, Commander, but we have been ordered back to Bellicose. Now I for one am not going to disobey a direct order. Continue your course." If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Ready Room. OOC: Thats it.....the mission is over. Please see the new thread on Starbase Bellicose for shore-leave.

2019-04-20T16:21:20Z

http://section47.proboards.com/thread/1540/mission-11-new-friends-old?page=6

This article is about the Korean Buddhist master. For people with the given name Seongcheol, see Seongcheol (name). Seongcheol (April 6, 1912 – November 4, 1993) is the dharma name of a Korean Seon (Zen) Master. He was a key figure in modern Korean Buddhism, being responsible for significant changes to it from the 1950s to 1990s. Seongcheol was widely recognized in Korea as having been a living Buddha, due to his extremely ascetic lifestyle, the duration and manner of his meditation training, his central role in reforming Korean Buddhism in the post-World War II era, and the quality of his oral and written teachings. Born on April 10, 1912 in Korea under the name of Yi Yeongju(이영주), Seongcheol was the first of seven children of a Confucian scholar in Gyeongsang province. He was rumored to have been an exceptionally bright child who read constantly, having learned to read at the age of three, and being proficient enough to read such Chinese classics as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West by age ten. His enthusiasm for reading was such that he once traded a sack of rice for Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason as a teenager. Having read numerous books on philosophy and religion, both Western and Eastern, he reportedly felt dissatisfied, being convinced that these could not lead him to truth. One day, a Seon monk gave Seongcheol a copy of The Song of Attainment of the Tao (Hangul: 증도가, Hanja: 證道歌), a Seon text written by Yeongga Hyeon-gak (永嘉玄覺) in the Tang dynasty. Seongcheol felt as if "a bright light had suddenly been lit in complete darkness," and that he had finally found the way to the ultimate truth. Immediately, he started meditating on the "Mu" gong-an (Japanese: koan) and started ignoring all his responsibilities at home. Deciding that his parents' house had too many distractions, he promptly packed his bags and went to Daewonsa (Daewon temple). After obtaining permission to stay in the temple, the young Seongcheol started to meditate intensively. Later in life, he would say that he attained the state of Dongjeong Ilyeo (see Teachings below, Hangul: 동정일여, Hanja: 動靜一如) at this early point in his life in only forty-two days. "There is a way. No one will reveal the secret. You must enter the door yourself. But there is no door. In the end, there is not even a way." Smiling once and turning around, the blue mountain stands amongst the white clouds as before. Having attained enlightenment, Seongcheol began pilgrimages to various temples in order to validate his experience and to examine other monks and their levels of attainment. But he was frequently disappointed, noticing that inka (validation of a monk's attainment by a master) was given too carelessly, thereby falsely recognizing many monks as having fully attained enlightenment. During his retreat at Songgwangsa, he was also dismayed at Jinul's theory of Dono Jeomsu (sudden enlightenment, gradual training), and how it was the widespread theory during the time. Later during the 1980s and 1990s, his contribution to the revival of Hui Neng's traditional theory of Dono Donsu (sudden enlightenment, sudden training) would have a significant effect on the practice of Seon in Korea, China, Japan, and other countries where Seon/Zen is practiced. Seongcheol's reputation soon began to spread. Numerous factors contributed to his growing recognition. One of the more famous anecdotes is Seongcheol's Jangjwa Bulwa (Hangul: 장좌불와, Hanja: 長坐不臥). Literally translated as 'long sitting, no lying,' it is a meditation technique that some monks employ to intensify their practice. Sitting meditation is equivalent to most other practices, except that the practitioner does not lie down to sleep, but stays in the lotus position even during sleep, with the intention of minimizing sleep through the position. Seongcheol was known to have practiced this for eight years after his enlightenment. He reportedly never once lied down and denied sleeping at all. Another anecdote recounts how while Seongcheol was staying in Mangwolsa in Dobong mountain, an old monk by the name of Chunseong refused to believe this. He wanted to catch Seongcheol dozing off to sleep, so spied on him secretly throughout one night. But having witnessed the truth of the rumor, Chunseong was struck with amazement and himself started employing the technique. It is said that the stress of the practice and the old age at which he started the technique caused all of his teeth to fall out later in life. Seongcheol's reputation for intensive practice was not limited only to his meditation per se. He was also known to be completely indifferent to the outside world, focused intently only on meditation and guiding fellow monks to enlightenment. His indifference was so thorough that he even refused to see his mother when she visited him at Mahayunsa in Kumgangsan mountain. "No need to see her" was reportedly his reply to her visit, to which his fellow monks burst out in anger, stating that although they were monks devoted to asceticism and meditation, refusing to see his own mother was too extreme an action. Afterwards, Seongcheol accompanied his mother, showing her the sites of Kumgangsan mountain. To follow the Vinaya and practice the teachings of the patriarchs in order to attain the great enlightenment. With the exception of the Buddhist teachings, no personal opinions or philosophies will be tolerated. The necessary items for daily living should be obtained on his own, without dependence on lay people, including daily chores of field work, firewood, etc. Absolutely no assistance from the lay people in terms of cooking, clothing, alms, or gifts. To eat only gruel in the morning, and to not eat at all after noon. The monks' sitting order follows the dates of ordination. To only meditate and be silent in the rooms. The reformation movement started around a small group of monks centered on Seongcheol, but quickly grew by reputation, attracting monks all over the country who were also intent on bringing back the Korean tradition of intense meditation, strict celibacy, and study of sutras. Among these younger generations were Weolsan (월산), Ubong (우봉), Bomun (보문), Seongsu (성수), Dou (도우), Hyeam (혜암), Beopjeon (법전), etc. Not only did this group become the future leaders of Korean Buddhism, but produced two Supreme Patriarchs (Hyeam, Beopjeon) and three chief administrators of the Jogye order. Unfortunately, the Bong Am Sa experiment ended prematurely in 1950 when the Korean War broke out on the peninsula. With constant bombing raids and the presence of soldiers of both sides around the temple, it was impossible to continue the strict monastic life of Bong-amsa. After the war, the reformation gained momentum and significant changes were set in motion, although it would be years until they were solidified. Central to the reformation was the issue of celibacy. While all the Buddhist canons emphasized the celibacy of monks, Japanese Buddhism had undergone significant changes during the Meiji Restoration, most notably the end of monastic celibacy. During the Japanese occupation, Korean Buddhism was severely oppressed and the Japanese style was advocated, thereby converting most Korean monks into little more than monastic residents officiating over ceremonies, married, with a business and income. Seongcheol and the new leaders were very critical of the Japanese style of Buddhism, maintaining that the tradition of celibacy, hermitage, poverty, and intense meditation were not only central to Korean Buddhism but to the true spirit of Buddhism as a whole. Korean post-war sentiments towards Japan could not have been worse at this time, and with the help of the populace and president Syngman Rhee, the traditional Korean style began to take hold and became the dominant form of Buddhism by the 1970s. Seongcheol insisted on giving away all monastic assets to the public and reverting to the original Buddhist way of wandering and begging for alms while investing all energy into meditation. He contended this was the only surefire way for true reforms to take place, warning that otherwise, full-scale conflict could ensue between bikkhus and married monks fighting over temples. The leaders of the reformation refused to follow, stating that his assertions were too extreme. Seongcheol's predictions, though, did come true and Korean Buddhism has had numerous conflicts between monks over temple jurisdiction ever since then up to the present day, many of them escalating to violent measures by both sides (e.g. paying gangsters to physically harm opponents). Many ordination restrictions were loosened by the bikkhus in order to increase their numbers in their efforts to assume control over temples such that men of questionable social standing (e.g. former convicts and criminals) were ordained as bikkhus, leading to more violent fights amongst monks. A particularly embarrassing chapter in Korean Buddhism was in the late 1990s when monks fought over Jogyesa, the main administrative temple in Seoul, by not only employing gangsters but joining the fight themselves using weapons, including Molotov cocktails, to violently subdue each other. In 1955, Seongcheol was appointed as the patriarch of Haeinsa, but disappointed by the direction that the reformation was taking, Seongcheol declined, removing himself from the forefront and moved to a hermitage near Pagyesa in the Palgong mountains near Daegu to deepen the meditative and enlightened stage that he had attained. The hermitage was named Seongjeonam and it was here that Seongcheol began to build the scholarly foundations that would later support his spiritual teachings. Seongcheol surrounded the hermitage with barbed wire so as to keep outsiders out (except for a few assistants) and himself within its boundaries. Never leaving the boundaries of the small hermitage for an incredible ten years, he deepened his meditation and studied the ancient Buddhist canons, Zen texts, sutras, modern mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and even taught himself English so as to keep current on international affairs. This decade of self-education would affect his future teachings significantly. Seongcheol finally opened the doors of Seong Juhn Am hermitage in 1965. The temple he visited was Gimyongsa, where he gave his first dharma talk in a decade. In 1967, with the insisting of Jawoon, Seongcheol became the patriarch of Haeinsa temple. That winter, he started his daily two-hour dharma talks to monks and the lay people, thereby beginning his famous Hundred-Day Talk (Hangul: 백일법문, Hanja: 百日法門.) Applying his decade of scholarly studies, he began to break the stereotype of the "boring and stuffy" dharma talks and transformed them into an electrifying hybrid of Buddhism, spiritualism, quantum mechanics, general relativity, and current affairs, ushering in a new kind of dharma talk aimed at reaching the modern audience living in an age of globalization and intellectual diversity. Ushering in a revival of the Seon tradition of intense meditation and strict monastic lifestyle, Seongcheol spearheaded the reformation of modern Korean Buddhism from the rubbles of Japanese colonialism into an epicenter of meditation training. During his tenure as patriarch of Haeinsa, the temple transformed into a training ground for meditation, sutra studies, and Vinaya studies, attracting monks from all over the country. The meditation center averaged approximately 500 monks per biannual retreat, which was unheard of since the days of Hui Neng and Ma Tzu. Mountain is mountain, water is water. 원각이 보조하니 적과 멸이 둘이 아니라. 보이는 만물은 관음이요 들리는 소리는 묘음이라. Declining all formal ceremonies as Supreme Patriarch from inauguration to his death, Seongcheol never left the mountains, stating that a monk's true place was in the temple. There was initially a huge protest against his semi-hermetic policy, but this was eventually replaced by sense of respect that had been lacking since the Joseon period, and helped to vastly improve the image and treatment of monks in Korea. During his years as patriarch of Haeinsa and as Supreme Patriarch of the Jogye order, Seongcheol's reputation kept growing. Amongst monks, he was famous for being a very strict teacher, being called the tiger of Kaya mountain. When monks would nod off to sleep during meditation, he would beat them with wooden sticks while yelling, "Thief, pay for your rice!" (referring to the donations of the lay, and the monks' debts to society and therefore his duty to practice to the utmost of his abilities). He was also known for his unique three thousand prostrations. After the Korean war, Seongcheol built a small cave-hermitage near Anjungsa temple and named it Cheonjegul. Around this time, many people came to pay their respects to him, and to further guide the pilgrims in their practice, Seongcheol first started using his famous 3000 prostrations. Nobody could visit with him unless the person completed 3000 prostrations in front of the statue of the Buddha in the main hall. Later, some lay people would accuse Seongcheol of arrogance, but he maintained that this practice was used to help guide practitioners in their own practice by helping them destroy their ego and more easily attain one-mindedness (N.B.: the 3000 full prostrations are actually a mainstay of the Korean Buddhist training regimen, performed at most temples in Korea on a monthly basis. It would take approximately eight to twelve hours, depending on the experience of the practitioner, and the technique is used frequently to "clear the mind," instill a sense of humility, and increase the awareness and focusing power of the practitioner). As his fame and reputation grew, the prostrations became more necessary as more and more people asked to meet with him. What was unique was that this requirement was uniform, i.e., he would never make any exceptions regardless of the person's wealth, fame, or power. A famous anecdote serves to illustrate the daunting task of the 3000 prostrations and Seongcheol's strict adherence to his own rules. When Park Chung-hee, the president of Korea, was opening up the new highway between Seoul and Pusan, he happened to visit Haeinsa. Hearing that the president was visiting, the head administrative monk quickly sent word to Seongcheol to come down from his hermitage to greet the president. But true to form, Seongcheol demanded the president go to the main Buddha hall and perform the 3000 prostrations before meeting with him. Park refused and the two never met. During the latter years of his life, Seongcheol presided over many publications, including eleven books of his lectures and 37 books that translated many Zen classics not well known to the general public (see official website). The former included the full transcriptions of the Hundred-Day Talk, lectures on Huineng's sutra, Shin Sim Myung (Hangul: 신심명, Hanja: 信心銘), Jeung Do Ga (Hangul: 증도가, Hanja: 證道歌), Illumination of Sudden Enlightenment (Hangul: 돈오입도요문론, Hanja: 頓悟入道要門論), and his dharma talks. The latter was called Seon Lim Go Gyung Chong Suh (Hangul: 선림고경총서, Hanja: 禪林古鏡叢書) and was a collection of Chinese and Korean Zen classics that until publication was known mostly only to monks. These publications helped to spread his teachings to the general public and raise the general awareness and knowledge of Buddhism. English translations of Great Master Seongcheol's work include "Echoes from Mt. Kaya", Changgyonggak Publishing, Seoul, 1988 (currently out of print), and "Opening the Eye", Gimmyeong International Co., Seoul, 2002. Both are translations from Korean by Brian Barry. Deceiving people all my life, my sins outweigh Mount Sumeru. Falling into hell alive, my grief divides into ten thousand pieces. It hangs on the blue mountain. I've lived my entire life as a practitioner, and people have always asked me for something. Everyone is already a Buddha, but they do not try to realize that fact and only look towards me. So, in a way, you could say I've deceived people all my life. I've failed to get this message across to everyone so I'm suffering in a kind of hell. His death was followed by the largest funeral ever seen in Korean history for a monk, with over 100,000 people attending. His cremation took over thirty hours and his sarira numbered over a hundred. Citing Taego Bou (太古普愚: 1301-1382) as the true successor of the Linji Yixuan (臨済義玄) line of patriarchs rather than Jinul (知訥: 1158-1210), he advocated Hui Neng's original stance of 'sudden enlightenment, sudden cultivation' (Hangul: 돈오돈수, Hanja: 頓悟頓修) as opposed to Jinul's stance of 'sudden enlightenment, gradual cultivation' (Hangul: 돈오점수, Hanja: 頓悟漸修). Whereas Jinul had initially asserted that with enlightenment comes the need to further one's practice by gradually destroying the karmic vestiges attained through millions of rebirths, Huineng and Seongcheol maintained that with perfect enlightenment, all karmic remnants disappear and one becomes a Buddha immediately. He also expounded on the true definition of the Middle Way (Hangul: 중도, Hanja: 中道), stating that it was not limited to avoiding the two extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification as many understood, but that it was also an explanation of the state of nirvana where all dualities fuse and cease to exist as separate entities, where good and bad, self and non-self become meaningless. He compared this to the common misconception that had ruled pre-Einsteinian physics, that energy and mass were two separate entities, but which Einstein had elucidated as interchangeable dual forms with the relationship described by E=mc², thereby proving the equivalence of one to the other. He also compared this to the fusion of space and time into spacetime, and also formed the analogy of ice and water. The Middle Way is not the 'middle' or 'average' of ice and water, but the true form of each, H2O, and maintained that the state of nirvana was also like this, a state where the true form of all dualities is revealed as equivalent. A monk once asked Dongsan Chan Master,"What is Buddha?" Dongsan replied, "Three pounds of flax" (Hangul: 마삼근, Hanja: 麻三斤). In the waking state, one mind (Hangul: 동정일여, Hanja: 動靜一如): the state where the practitioner can meditate on a gong'an continuously throughout the day without interruption, even through talking and thinking. In the dreaming state, one mind (Hangul: 몽중일여, Hanja: 夢中一如): the state where the practitioner can meditate on a gong'an continuously in the dreaming state. In deep sleep, one mind (Hangul: 숙면일여, Hanja: 熟眠一如): the state described above, where the practitioner can meditate on a gong'an continuously through even the deepest sleep. In death, attain life (Hangul: 사중득활, Hanja: 死中得活): from the previous state where all thoughts are overtaken by the gong'an (therefore, the practitioner is considered mentally "dead"), the moment of attaining enlightenment, that is, "life." Great, round, mirror-like wisdom (Hangul: 대원경지, Hanja: 大圓鏡智): the state of perfect enlightenment, using the analogy of the bright mirror for the great internal wisdom that comes forth during enlightenment. The final state where the practitioner loses the sense of self, is liberated from his karma, and therefore, all future rebirths. Seongcheol was very critical of the Japanese style of Zen meditation. The Japanese style favors a gradual study of many gong'ans, similar to a curriculum where the practitioner would improve from an easier gong'an to a more difficult one as he mastered each one over time. Seongcheol, and many other masters, stated that this would achieve nothing since the whole point of meditation was to rid one's mind of all divergent thoughts, which was the cause of karmic rebirths and its concomitant suffering, by focusing the mind deeply on only one gong'an until it destroyed all other thoughts. By studying gong'ans like a curriculum, one was only exercising the mind even more, which was diametrically opposed to the original goal of extinguishing the mind. Thus, this gradual style of meditation was not only similar to Jinul's gradual cultivation, it was a complete waste of time to the practitioner in that Zen became nothing more than an exercise in sophistry, with higher positions being given to those who could solve more riddles. Gong'ans can never be solved with such rational, or even intuitive methods, and only the final, perfect enlightenment could give the solution to the gong'an, and simultaneously all gong'ans. Therefore, Seongcheol repeatedly made clear that the study of many gong'ans was antithetical to true meditation. He stated that attaining perfect enlightenment was equal to becoming a Buddha, and this was also equal to definitively solving the gong'an, remarking that this was not his unique teaching, but that of numerous masters including Huineng, Ma Tzu, all the way down to current masters. Being able to solve multiple gong'ans was pure delusion believed by many practitioners, and Seongcheol devoted much of his teachings to elucidating this point. It's the scientific age, so let's talk in the language of science. Einstein's general relativity proves that energy and mass, previously thought as separate, are actually one and the same. Energy is mass, and mass is energy. Energy and mass are one. The fact that energy and mass are equivalent means that nothing is truly created or destroyed. This is what the Buddha was talking about when he relinquished both creation and destruction. It is like water and ice. Water converting into ice and vice versa does not mean that either of them gets destroyed. It is just the change in the form of H2O, which itself never changes, just like energy and mass. If we compare mass to 'form' and energy to 'formlessness,' the Heart sutra says the same thing as general relativity. Form is formlessness and formlessness is form. Not only in words, not only in the realm of philosophy, but in truth, in nature, measurable by scientific methods. This is the Middle Way! The three poisons that prevent us from realizing our true selves are desire, anger, and ignorance. Among those, desire is the basis for the latter two, and desire comes from 'I'. The attachment to the 'I,' the ego, and the indifference to others, these are the basis of all suffering. Once you realize that there really is no you or me, self or non-self, you will understand that all things are inter-related, therefore helping others is helping oneself, and hurting others is hurting oneself. This is the way of the universe, the Middle Way, dependent origination, and karma. Removing the clouds that are blocking our pure light of wisdom, we can become liberated from the chains of karma, thereby becoming truly free. But how do you do this? There are many methods, but the fastest is meditation and the fastest of those is the hwadu, or gong-an. By going beyond the level of being able to meditate in deep sleep, you will reach a place of perfect serenity, your original, bright, shining mirror devoid of all dust that had sat on it. You will see your original face, your true nature, the nature of the entire universe, and realize that you had always and originally been a Buddha. This is nirvana. No one can help you with this endeavor. No books, no teachers, not even the Buddha. You must walk this road yourself. Do not sleep more than four hours. Do not talk more than necessary. Do not wander or travel frequently. Many practitioners believe that they have attained enlightenment. Some say they have attained it multiple times. This is a big delusion. There is only one true enlightenment, such that the attained state never disappears and then reappears, but is constantly present even through the deepest sleep. As Ma Tzu said, 'attained once, attained forever.' Any enlightenment that comes and goes or has gradations is nothing more than delusion. Seongcheol played a key role in revitalizing Korean Buddhism which had been in deep disarray from the Japanese occupation. He was one of the leaders in the reformation, bringing back celibacy, strict practice, monasticism, and mendicancy back to Korean Buddhism. Later in his life, with his growing recognition, he helped to rectify Buddhism's discredited reputation amongst the general public, from a group of nominal monks who would get married, own businesses, and frequently collude with the Japanese occupiers, to that of serious practitioners, who never got married, and owned no possessions. Seongcheol also contributed significantly to bringing back Huineng's 'sudden enlightenment, sudden cultivation,' and clarified the notions of gong'an practice, meditation, monasticism, and enlightenment. More than a decade after his death, his books are still widely read and respected, and pilgrimages to Haeinsa are a mainstay for Buddhists. Dharma talk: On "Dharmas are neither produced nor extinguished" This article includes content from Seongcheol on Wikipedia (view authors). License under CC BY-SA 3.0.

2019-04-21T03:06:06Z

https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Seongcheol

RELATED: Does Global Warming Drive Changes in Arctic Sea Ice? In late 2017 and early 2018 a number of high profile news media sources cited a US Federal Government report to claim that “warming in the Arctic is unprecedented in 1,500 years”. Here are some examples:[DIGITAL JOURNAL, Scientists alarmed by unprecedented warming in Arctic: By Karen Graham, Feb 28, 2018 in Environment], [USA TODAY, The Arctic is warming faster than it has in 1,500 years: Doyle Rice, Dec. 12, 2017], [MASHABLE ASIA, Recent Arctic warming ‘unprecedented’ in human history, Andrew Freedman, DEC 13, 2017], [DISCOVER MAGAZINE, A major federal report about the Arctic released yesterday finds that the current rate of Arctic warming is unprecedented in at least the past 2,000 years. And the pace of Arctic sea ice loss experienced in the past few decades has not been seen in at least the past 1,450 years. Tom Yulsman, December 13, 2017], [WASHINGTON POST, Warming of the Arctic is ‘unprecedented over the last 1,500 years, Chris Mooney December 12, 2017], [THE GUARDIAN, Record warmth in the Arctic this month could yet prove to be a freak occurrence, but experts warn the warming event is unprecedented. Jonathan Watts, environment editor, Tue 27 Feb 2018]. Their source was the 2017 NOAA Arctic Report Card a summary of which appears in the next paragraph. The claim that “warming in the Arctic is unprecedented” can be interpreted as a reference to temperature or to the rate of warming, or perhaps to both. The importance of the rate of warming in climate science is underscored by this statement from the NASA website “If Earth has warmed and cooled throughout history, what makes scientists think that humans are causing global warming now?The first piece of evidence that the warming over the past few decades isn’t part of a natural cycle is how fast the change is happening. The biggest temperature swings our planet has experienced in the past million years are the ice ages. Based on a combination of paleoclimate data and models, scientists estimate that when ice ages have ended in the past, it has taken about 5,000 years for the planet to warm between 4 and 7 degrees Celsius. The warming of the past century of 0.7C is roughly eight times faster than the ice-age-recovery warming on average.” [SOURCE]. We therefore interpret the Arctic warming claim broadly to include both temperature and the rate of warming. This work is a test of the claim of unprecedented warming in the Arctic. Here we use paleo temperature data provided by the NOAA Pages2k database [LINK] (caution: the link automatically initiates the download of a large Excel file). Twenty sources for Arctic air temperature were found in this database and the data from all twenty sources are shown in the charts in Figure 1. Eighteen of these sources provide d180 data. The term d180 is a reference to delta-O-18, a reference to the ratio of oxygen isotopes O(18) to O(16) compared against a standardized ratio. There is a linear relationship between this ratio and temperature and because of that d180 is often used as a proxy for temperature. The magnitudes are different but in a comparative study such as this, the d180 values can be used directly instead of temperature. The other two are lake bed sediment data and are included for completeness but the greater weight will be given to the cleaner d180 air temperature proxies. Each data set is presented graphically in Figure 1 as two side by side frames. The left frame traces the maximum d180 value (in black) in a moving 100-year window as a test of whether the maximum temperature occurs at the end of the series. The right frame traces the d180 OLS trend (in red) in a moving 100-year window as a test of whether the greatest rate of warming occurs at the end of the series. If the highest value in the curve is found at the end of the series, the data are taken to be consistent with the “unprecedented warming” hypothesis when stated in terms of the variable being tested. Otherwise, the data are taken to be inconsistent with the “unprecedented warming” hypothesis (when stated in terms of the variable being tested). The chart titles are color coded. Green indicates that the data are consistent with the hypothesis and red indicates that they are not. These interpretations of the data displayed in Figure 1 are summarized in the table in Figure 2. The lake sediment are marked in red as they may not be directly comparable with the surface temperature proxies in the other 18 datasets. The summary statistics at the bottom of the table in Figure 2 are in two parts – the part in black does not include the lake sediment data and the part in red does. Here we find as follows: (a) If we remove the lake sediment data, support for unprecedented high temperature in the Arctic at the end of the datasets is an impressive 50% but that for highest rate of warming is rather low at 22% if the end of the dataset is strictly defined as the trend in the last of the 100-year moving windows. If this definition is broadened to the “post industrial era” as any date after 1900, then support for the “unprecedented” hypothesis grows to 61%. The last column of Figure 2 shows that support for “unprecedented warming” defined as both highest temperature and highest rate of warming is a low 39% even when including the broad definition of the current era. An issue raised by James Kamis in this regard [LINK] is that extensive natural geothermal sources of heat in the Arctic Ocean are not included in the analysis. These volcanic and mantle plume sources are shown in Figure 4. We conclude from this analysis that the paleo data presented in Figure 1 (not including the Lake data) do not provide convincing evidence of “unprecedented” warming in the Arctic in the current era either in terms of temperature or in terms of the rate of warming. However, the evidence for unprecedented warming trend is strengthened significantly if the current era is defined broadly to include the period from 1900 to the present. A further conclusion from these data relate to the claim by NASA and by climate science in general (paragraph#3) that the usual argument by skeptics that “the climate has always changed” ignores the speed issue. The response by climate science is that yes, the climate has always changed but what makes the current warming different, and therefore human caused, is the high rate of warming never before seen in natural climate change. The paleo data presented above shows that in 12 out of 20 temperature datasets (including lake sediment data) and in 10 out of 18 temperature datasets with only d180 data, we find evidence that climate has changed faster than it is changing now. These changes occurred within the last 2,000 years in the pre-industrial era. RELATED POST: Does Global Warming Drive Changes in Arctic Sea Ice? 2002: Polyakov, Igor V., et al. “Observationally based assessment of polar amplification of global warming.” Geophysical research letters 29.18 (2002): 25-1. Arctic variability is dominated by multi‐decadal fluctuations. Incomplete sampling of these fluctuations results in highly variable arctic surface‐air temperature (SAT) trends. Modulated by multi‐decadal variability, SAT trends are often amplified relative to northern‐hemispheric trends, but over the 125‐year record we identify periods when arctic SAT trends were smaller or of opposite sign than northern‐hemispheric trends. Arctic and northern‐hemispheric air‐temperature trends during the 20th century (when multi‐decadal variablity had little net effect on computed trends) are similar, and do not support the predicted polar amplification of global warming. The possible moderating role of sea ice cannot be conclusively identified with existing data. If long‐term trends are accepted as a valid measure of climate change, then the SAT and ice data do not support the proposed polar amplification of global warming. Intrinsic arctic variability obscures long‐term changes, limiting our ability to identify complex feedbacks in the arctic climate system. 2002: Rigor, Ignatius G., John M. Wallace, and Roger L. Colony. “Response of sea ice to the Arctic Oscillation.” Journal of Climate 15.18 (2002): 2648-2663.Data collected by the International Arctic Buoy Programme from 1979 to 1998 are analyzed to obtain statistics of sea level pressure (SLP) and sea ice motion (SIM). The annual and seasonal mean fields agree with those obtained in previous studies of Arctic climatology. The data show a 3-hPa decrease in decadal mean SLP over the central Arctic Ocean between 1979–88 and 1989–98. This decrease in SLP drives a cyclonic trend in SIM, which resembles the structure of the Arctic Oscillation (AO). Regression maps of SIM during the wintertime (January–March) AO index show 1) an increase in ice advection away from the coast of the East Siberian and Laptev Seas, which should have the effect of producing more new thin ice in the coastal flaw leads; 2) a decrease in ice advection from the western Arctic into the eastern Arctic; and 3) a slight increase in ice advection out of the Arctic through Fram Strait. Taken together, these changes suggest that at least part of the thinning of sea ice recently observed over the Arctic Ocean can be attributed to the trend in the AO toward the high-index polarity. Rigor et al. showed that year-to-year variations in the wintertime AO imprint a distinctive signature on surface air temperature (SAT) anomalies over the Arctic, which is reflected in the spatial pattern of temperature change from the 1980s to the 1990s. Here it is shown that the memory of the wintertime AO persists through most of the subsequent year: spring and autumn SAT and summertime sea ice concentration are all strongly correlated with the AO index for the previous winter. It is hypothesized that these delayed responses reflect the dynamical influence of the AO on the thickness of the wintertime sea ice, whose persistent “footprint” is reflected in the heat fluxes during the subsequent spring, in the extent of open water during the subsequent summer, and the heat liberated in the freezing of the open water during the subsequent autumn. 2003: Semenov, Vladimir A., and Lennart Bengtsson. “Modes of the wintertime Arctic temperature variability.” Geophysical Research Letters 30.15 (2003). It is shown that the Arctic averaged wintertime temperature variability during the 20th century can be essentially described by two orthogonal modes. These modes were identified by an Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) decomposition of the 1892–1999 surface wintertime air temperature anomalies (40°N–80°N) using a gridded dataset covering high Arctic. The first mode (1st leading EOF) is related to the NAO and has a major contribution to Arctic warming during the last 30 years. The second one (3rd leading EOF) dominates the SAT variability prior to 1970. A correlation between the corresponding principal component PC3 and the Arctic SAT anomalies is 0.79. This mode has the largest amplitudes in the Kara‐Barents Seas and Baffin Bay and exhibits no direct link to the large‐scale atmospheric circulation variability, in contrast to the other leading EOFs. We suggest that the existence of this mode is caused by long‐term sea ice variations presumably due to Atlantic inflow variability. 2003: Polyakov, Igor V., et al. “Variability and trends of air temperature and pressure in the maritime Arctic, 1875–2000.” Journal of Climate 16.12 (2003): 2067-2077. Arctic atmospheric variability during the industrial era (1875–2000) is assessed using spatially averaged surface air temperature (SAT) and sea level pressure (SLP) records. Air temperature and pressure display strong multidecadal variability on timescales of 50–80 yr [termed low-frequency oscillation (LFO)]. Associated with this variability, the Arctic SAT record shows two maxima: in the 1930s–40s and in recent decades, with two colder periods in between. In contrast to the global and hemispheric temperature, the maritime Arctic temperature was higher in the late 1930s through the early 1940s than in the 1990s. Incomplete sampling of large-amplitude multidecadal fluctuations results in oscillatory Arctic SAT trends. For example, the Arctic SAT trend since 1875 is 0.09 ± 0.03°C decade−1, with stronger spring- and wintertime warming; during the twentieth century (when positive and negative phases of the LFO nearly offset each other) the Arctic temperature increase is 0.05 ± 0.04°C decade−1, similar to the Northern Hemispheric trend (0.06°C decade−1). Thus, the large-amplitude multidecadal climate variability impacting the maritime Arctic may confound the detection of the true underlying climate trend over the past century. LFO-modulated trends for short records are not indicative of the long-term behavior of the Arctic climate system. The accelerated warming and a shift of the atmospheric pressure pattern from anticyclonic to cyclonic in recent decades can be attributed to a positive LFO phase. It is speculated that this LFO-driven shift was crucial to the recent reduction in Arctic ice cover. Joint examination of air temperature and pressure records suggests that peaks in temperature associated with the LFO follow pressure minima after 5–15 yr. Elucidating the mechanisms behind this relationship will be critical to understanding the complex nature of low-frequency variability. 2003: Johannessen, Ola M., et al. “Arctic climate change—will the ice disappear this century?.” Elsevier Oceanography Series. Vol. 69. Elsevier, 2003. 490-496. A new set of multi-decadal and century-scale sea-ice data is compared with coupled atmosphere-ocean model simulations in order to understand Arctic sea ice and climate variability. It is evident that the two pronounced 20th-century warming events—both amplified in the Arctic—were linked to sea-ice variability. The area of sea ice is observed to have decreased by 8× 105km2 (7.4%) since 1978, with record-low summer ice coverage in 2002. Model predictions are used to quantify changes in the ice cover through the 21st century. A predominantly ice-free Arctic in summer is predicted for the end of this century. 2003: Polyakov, Igor V., et al. “Long-term ice variability in Arctic marginal seas.” Journal of Climate 16.12 (2003): 2078-2085. Examination of records of fast ice thickness (1936–2000) and ice extent (1900–2000) in the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi Seas provide evidence that long-term ice thickness and extent trends are small and generally not statistically significant, while trends for shorter records are not indicative of the long-term tendencies due to large-amplitude low-frequency variability. The ice variability in these seas is dominated by a multidecadal, low-frequency oscillation (LFO) and (to a lesser degree) by higher-frequency decadal fluctuations. The LFO signal decays eastward from the Kara Sea where it is strongest. In the Chukchi Sea ice variability is dominated by decadal fluctuations, and there is no evidence of the LFO. This spatial pattern is consistent with the air temperature–North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index correlation pattern, with maximum correlation in the near-Atlantic region, which decays toward the North Pacific. Sensitivity analysis shows that dynamical forcing (wind or surface currents) dominates ice-extent variations in the Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi Seas. Variability of Kara Sea ice extent is governed primarily by thermodynamic factors. 2004: Overland, James E., et al. “Seasonal and regional variation of pan-Arctic surface air temperature over the instrumental record.” Journal of Climate 17.17 (2004): 3263-3282. Instrumental surface air temperature (SAT) records beginning in the late 1800s from 59 Arctic stations north of 64°N show monthly mean anomalies of several degrees and large spatial teleconnectivity, yet there are systematic seasonal and regional differences. Analyses are based on time–longitude plots of SAT anomalies and principal component analysis (PCA). Using monthly station data rather than gridded fields for this analysis highlights the importance of considering record length in calculating reliable Arctic change estimates; for example, the contrast of PCA performed on 11 stations beginning in 1886, 20 stations beginning in 1912, and 45 stations beginning in 1936 is illustrated. While often there is a well-known interdecadal negative covariability in winter between northern Europe and Baffin Bay, long-term changes in the remainder of the Arctic are most evident in spring, with cool temperature anomalies before 1920 and Arctic-wide warm temperatures in the 1990s. Summer anomalies are generally weaker than spring or winter but tend to mirror spring conditions before 1920 and in recent decades. Temperature advection in the trough–ridge structure in the positive phase of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) in the North Atlantic establishes wintertime temperature anomalies in adjacent regions, while the zonal/annular nature of the AO in the remainder of the Arctic must break down in spring to promote meridional temperature advection. There were regional/decadal warm events during winter and spring in the 1930s to 1950s, but meteorological analysis suggests that these SAT anomalies are the result of intrinsic variability in regional flow patterns. These midcentury events contrast with the recent Arctic-wide AO influence in the 1990s. The preponderance of evidence supports the conclusion that warm SAT anomalies in spring for the recent decade are unique in the instrumental record, both in having the greatest longitudinal extent and in their associated patterns of warm air advection. 2004: Johannessen, Ola M., et al. “Arctic climate change: observed and modelled temperature and sea-ice variability.” Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography 56.4 (2004): 328-341. Changes apparent in the arctic climate system in recent years require evaluation in a century-scale perspective in order to assess the Arctic’s response to increasing anthropogenic greenhouse-gas forcing. Here, a new set of centuryand multidecadal-scale observational data of surface air temperature (SAT) and sea ice is used in combination with ECHAM4 and HadCM3 coupled atmosphere’ice’ocean global model simulations in order to better determine and understand arctic climate variability. We show that two pronounced twentieth-century warming events, both amplified in the Arctic, were linked to sea-ice variability. SAT observations and model simulations indicate that the nature of the arctic warming in the last two decades is distinct from the early twentieth-century warm period. It is suggested strongly that the earlier warming was natural internal climate-system variability, whereas the recent SAT changes are a response to anthropogenic forcing. The area of arctic sea ice is furthermore observed to have decreased~8 · 105 km2 (7.4%) in the past quarter century, with record-low summer ice coverage in September 2002. A set of model predictions is used to quantify changes in the ice cover through the twenty-first century, with greater reductions expected in summer than winter. In summer, a predominantly sea-ice-free Arctic is predicted for the end of this century. 2004: Bengtsson, Lennart, Vladimir A. Semenov, and Ola M. Johannessen. “The early twentieth-century warming in the Arctic—A possible mechanism.” Journal of Climate 17.20 (2004): 4045-4057. The huge warming of the Arctic that started in the early 1920s and lasted for almost two decades is one of the most spectacular climate events of the twentieth century. During the peak period 1930–40, the annually averaged temperature anomaly for the area 60°–90°N amounted to some 1.7°C. Whether this event is an example of an internal climate mode or is externally forced, such as by enhanced solar effects, is presently under debate. This study suggests that natural variability is a likely cause, with reduced sea ice cover being crucial for the warming. A robust sea ice–air temperature relationship was demonstrated by a set of four simulations with the atmospheric ECHAM model forced with observed SST and sea ice concentrations. An analysis of the spatial characteristics of the observed early twentieth-century surface air temperature anomaly revealed that it was associated with similar sea ice variations. Further investigation of the variability of Arctic surface temperature and sea ice cover was performed by analyzing data from a coupled ocean–atmosphere model. By analyzing climate anomalies in the model that are similar to those that occurred in the early twentieth century, it was found that the simulated temperature increase in the Arctic was related to enhanced wind-driven oceanic inflow into the Barents Sea with an associated sea ice retreat. The magnitude of the inflow is linked to the strength of westerlies into the Barents Sea. This study proposes a mechanism sustaining the enhanced westerly winds by a cyclonic atmospheric circulation in the Barents Sea region created by a strong surface heat flux over the ice-free areas. Observational data suggest a similar series of events during the early twentieth-century Arctic warming, including increasing westerly winds between Spitsbergen and Norway, reduced sea ice, and enhanced cyclonic circulation over the Barents Sea. At the same time, the North Atlantic Oscillation was weakening. 2005: Stroeve, J. C., et al. “Tracking the Arctic’s shrinking ice cover: Another extreme September minimum in 2004.” Geophysical Research Letters 32.4 (2005). Satellite passive microwave observations document an overall downward trend in Arctic sea ice extent and area since 1978. While the record minimum observed in September 2002 strongly reinforced this downward trend, extreme ice minima were again observed in 2003 and 2004. Although having three extreme minimum years in a row is unprecedented in the satellite record, attributing these recent trends and extremes to greenhouse gas loading must be tempered by recognition that the sea ice cover is variable from year to year in response to wind, temperature and oceanic forcings. 2014: Woollings, Tim, Ben Harvey, and Giacomo Masato. “Arctic warming, atmospheric blocking and cold European winters in CMIP5 models.” Environmental Research Letters 9.1 (2014): 014002. Amplified Arctic warming is expected to have a significant long-term influence on the midlatitude atmospheric circulation by the latter half of the 21st century. Potential influences of recent and near future Arctic changes on shorter timescales are much less clear, despite having received much recent attention in the literature. In this letter, climate models from the recent CMIP5 experiment are analysed for evidence of an influence of Arctic temperatures on midlatitude blocking and cold European winters in particular. The focus is on the variability of these features in detrended data and, in contrast to other studies, limited evidence of an influence is found. The occurrence of cold European winters is found to be largely independent of the temperature variability in the key Barents–Kara Sea region. Positive correlations of the Barents–Kara temperatures with Eurasian blocking are found in some models, but significant correlations are limited. 2015: Francis, Jennifer, and Natasa Skific. “Evidence linking rapid Arctic warming to mid-latitude weather patterns.” Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 373.2045 (2015): 20140170. The effects of rapid Arctic warming and ice loss on weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere is a topic of active research, lively scientific debate and high societal impact. The emergence of Arctic amplification—the enhanced sensitivity of high-latitude temperature to global warming—in only the last 10–20 years presents a challenge to identifying statistically robust atmospheric responses using observations. Several recent studies have proposed and demonstrated new mechanisms by which the changing Arctic may be affecting weather patterns in mid-latitudes, and these linkages differ fundamentally from tropics/jet-stream interactions through the transfer of wave energy. In this study, new metrics and evidence are presented that suggest disproportionate Arctic warming—and resulting weakening of the poleward temperature gradient—is causing the Northern Hemisphere circulation to assume a more meridional character (i.e. wavier), although not uniformly in space or by season, and that highly amplified jet-stream patterns are occurring more frequently. Further analysis based on self-organizing maps supports this finding. These changes in circulation are expected to lead to persistent weather patterns that are known to cause extreme weather events. As emissions of greenhouse gases continue unabated, therefore, the continued amplification of Arctic warming should favour an increased occurrence of extreme events caused by prolonged weather conditions. 2015: Kug, Jong-Seong, et al. “Two distinct influences of Arctic warming on cold winters over North America and East Asia.” Nature Geoscience 8.10 (2015): 759. Arctic warming has sparked a growing interest because of its possible impacts on mid-latitude climate1,2,3,4,5. A number of unusually harsh cold winters have occurred in many parts of East Asia and North America in the past few years2,6,7, and observational and modelling studies have suggested that atmospheric variability linked to Arctic warming might have played a central role1,3,4,8,9,10,11. Here we identify two distinct influences of Arctic warming which may lead to cold winters over East Asia or North America, based on observational analyses and extensive climate model results. We find that severe winters across East Asia are associated with anomalous warmth in the Barents–Kara Sea region, whereas severe winters over North America are related to anomalous warmth in the East Siberian–Chukchi Sea region. Each regional warming over the Arctic Ocean is accompanied by the local development of an anomalous anticyclone and the downstream development of a mid-latitude trough. The resulting northerly flow of cold air provides favourable conditions for severe winters in East Asia or North America. These links between Arctic and mid-latitude weather are also robustly found in idealized climate model experiments and CMIP5 multi-model simulations. We suggest that our results may help improve seasonal prediction of winter weather and extreme events in these regions. 2015: Park, Jong-Yeon, et al. “Amplified Arctic warming by phytoplankton under greenhouse warming.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2015): 201416884. One of the important impacts of marine phytoplankton on climate systems is the geophysical feedback by which chlorophyll and the related pigments in phytoplankton absorb solar radiation and then change sea surface temperature. Yet such biogeophysical impact is still not considered in many climate projections by state-of-the-art climate models, nor is its impact on the future climate quantified. This study shows that, by conducting global warming simulations with and without an active marine ecosystem model, the biogeophysical effect of future phytoplankton changes amplifies Arctic warming by 20%. Given the close linkage between the Arctic and global climate, the biologically enhanced Arctic warming can significantly modify future estimates of global climate change, and therefore it needs to be considered as a possible future scenario. 2015: Francis, Jennifer A., and Stephen J. Vavrus. “Evidence for a wavier jet stream in response to rapid Arctic warming.” Environmental Research Letters 10.1 (2015): 014005. New metrics and evidence are presented that support a linkage between rapid Arctic warming, relative to Northern hemisphere mid-latitudes, and more frequent high-amplitude (wavy) jet-stream configurations that favor persistent weather patterns. We find robust relationships among seasonal and regional patterns of weaker poleward thickness gradients, weaker zonal upper-level winds, and a more meridional flow direction. These results suggest that as the Arctic continues to warm faster than elsewhere in response to rising greenhouse-gas concentrations, the frequency of extreme weather events caused by persistent jet-stream patterns will increase. 2016: Goss, Michael, Steven B. Feldstein, and Sukyoung Lee. “Stationary wave interference and its relation to tropical convection and Arctic warming.” Journal of Climate 29.4 (2016): 1369-1389.The interference between transient eddies and climatological stationary eddies in the Northern Hemisphere is investigated. The amplitude and sign of the interference is represented by the stationary wave index (SWI), which is calculated by projecting the daily 300-hPa streamfunction anomaly field onto the 300-hPa climatological stationary wave. ERA-Interim data for the years 1979 to 2013 are used. The amplitude of the interference peaks during boreal winter. The evolution of outgoing longwave radiation, Arctic temperature, 300-hPa streamfunction, 10-hPa zonal wind, Arctic sea ice concentration, and the Arctic Oscillation (AO) index are examined for days of large SWI values during the winter. Constructive interference during winter tends to occur about one week after enhanced warm pool convection and is followed by an increase in Arctic surface air temperature along with a reduction of sea ice in the Barents and Kara Seas. The warming of the Arctic does occur without prior warm pool convection, but it is enhanced and prolonged when constructive interference occurs in concert with enhanced warm pool convection. This is followed two weeks later by a weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex and a decline of the AO. All of these associations are reversed in the case of destructive interference. Potential climate change implications are briefly discussed. 2016: Baggett, Cory, Sukyoung Lee, and Steven Feldstein. “An investigation of the presence of atmospheric rivers over the North Pacific during planetary-scale wave life cycles and their role in Arctic warming.” Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences73.11 (2016): 4329-4347. Heretofore, the tropically excited Arctic warming (TEAM) mechanism put forward that localized tropical convection amplifies planetary-scale waves, which transport sensible and latent heat into the Arctic, leading to an enhancement of downward infrared radiation and Arctic surface warming. In this study, an investigation is made into the previously unexplored contribution of the synoptic-scale waves and their attendant atmospheric rivers to the TEAM mechanism. Reanalysis data are used to conduct a suite of observational analyses, trajectory calculations, and idealized model simulations. It is shown that localized tropical convection over the Maritime Continent precedes the peak of the planetary-scale wave life cycle by ~10–14 days. The Rossby wave source induced by the tropical convection excites a Rossby wave train over the North Pacific that amplifies the climatological December–March stationary waves. These amplified planetary-scale waves are baroclinic and transport sensible and latent heat poleward. During the planetary-scale wave life cycle, synoptic-scale waves are diverted northward over the central North Pacific. The warm conveyor belts associated with the synoptic-scale waves channel moisture from the subtropics into atmospheric rivers that ascend as they move poleward and penetrate into the Arctic near the Bering Strait. At this time, the synoptic-scale waves undergo cyclonic Rossby wave breaking, which further amplifies the planetary-scale waves. The planetary-scale wave life cycle ceases as ridging over Alaska retrogrades westward. The ridging blocks additional moisture transport into the Arctic. However, sensible and latent heat amounts remain elevated over the Arctic, which enhances downward infrared radiation and maintains warm surface temperatures. 2016: Woods, Cian, and Rodrigo Caballero. “The role of moist intrusions in winter Arctic warming and sea ice decline.” Journal of Climate 29.12 (2016): 4473-4485. This paper examines the trajectories followed by intense intrusions of moist air into the Arctic polar region during autumn and winter and their impact on local temperature and sea ice concentration. It is found that the vertical structure of the warming associated with moist intrusions is bottom amplified, corresponding to a transition of local conditions from a “cold clear” state with a strong inversion to a “warm opaque” state with a weaker inversion. In the marginal sea ice zone of the Barents Sea, the passage of an intrusion also causes a retreat of the ice margin, which persists for many days after the intrusion has passed. The authors find that there is a positive trend in the number of intrusion events crossing 70°N during December and January that can explain roughly 45% of the surface air temperature and 30% of the sea ice concentration trends observed in the Barents Sea during the past two decades. 2017: Tokinaga, Hiroki, Shang-Ping Xie, and Hitoshi Mukougawa. “Early 20th-century Arctic warming intensified by Pacific and Atlantic multidecadal variability.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114.24 (2017): 6227-6232. Arctic amplification is a robust feature of climate response to global warming, with large impacts on ecosystems and societies. A long-standing mystery is that a pronounced Arctic warming occurred during the early 20th century when the rate of interdecadal change in radiative forcing was much weaker than at present. Here, using observations and model experiments, we show that the combined effect of internally generated Pacific and Atlantic interdecadal variabilities intensified the Arctic land warming in the early 20th century. The synchronized Pacific–Atlantic warming drastically alters planetary-scale atmospheric circulations over the Northern Hemisphere that transport warm air into the Arctic. Our results highlight the importance of regional sea surface temperature changes for Arctic climate and constrain model projections in this important region. 2017: Breider, Thomas J., et al. “Multidecadal trends in aerosol radiative forcing over the Arctic: Contribution of changes in anthropogenic aerosol to Arctic warming since 1980.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 122.6 (2017): 3573-3594. Arctic observations show large decreases in the concentrations of sulfate and black carbon (BC) aerosols since the early 1980s. These near‐term climate‐forcing pollutants perturb the radiative balance of the atmosphere and may have played an important role in recent Arctic warming. We use the GEOS‐Chem global chemical transport model to construct a 3‐D representation of Arctic aerosols that is generally consistent with observations and their trends from 1980 to 2010. Observations at Arctic surface sites show significant decreases in sulfate and BC mass concentrations of 2–3% per year. We find that anthropogenic aerosols yield a negative forcing over the Arctic, with an average 2005–2010 Arctic shortwave radiative forcing (RF) of −0.19 ± 0.05 W m−2 at the top of atmosphere (TOA). Anthropogenic sulfate in our study yields more strongly negative forcings over the Arctic troposphere in spring (−1.17 ± 0.10 W m−2) than previously reported. From 1980 to 2010, TOA negative RF by Arctic aerosol declined, from −0.67 ± 0.06 W m−2 to −0.19 ± 0.05 W m−2, yielding a net TOA RF of +0.48 ± 0.06 W m−2. The net positive RF is due almost entirely to decreases in anthropogenic sulfate loading over the Arctic. We estimate that 1980–2010 trends in aerosol‐radiation interactions over the Arctic and Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes have contributed a net warming at the Arctic surface of +0.27 ± 0.04 K, roughly one quarter of the observed warming. Our study does not consider BC emissions from gas flaring nor the regional climate response to aerosol‐cloud interactions or BC deposition on snow. The dramatic ocean acidification event in the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) [LINK] , may have inspired climate science to paint a similar scenario for the current episode of climate change and to claim that “combustion of fossil fuels has enriched levels of CO2 in the world’s oceans and decreased ocean pH” and that such acidification is causing dangerous detrimental effects on coral, shellfish, and on the oceanic ecosystem in general. These effects of the use of fossil fuels are cited as the rationale for climate action in the form of reducing or eliminating the use of fossil fuels. Citations below. Here we present empirical evidence from 124,813 measurements of ocean CO2 concentration expressed in millimoles per liter (MM/L) provided by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The data are presented in Figure 1. They show a rising trend in the CO2 concentration of oceans at depths of 50 to 5000 feet. The temperatures at which these measurements were made vary from 5C to 25C. The CO2 concentrations are therefore adjusted for these temperature differences and the temperature adjusted concentrations are shown in the third panel of Figure 1. If fossil fuel emissions are responsible for these changes, we expect to find a correlation between the rate of emissions and changes in oceanic CO2 at an annual time scale. Figure 2 displays the rate of annual emissions and the corresponding annual changes in oceanic CO2. The correlation corrected for trend effects is shown in the third panel of Figure 2. No evidence is found that changes in oceanic CO2 are related to fossil fuel emissions at an annual time scale. A further test of human cause is presented in Figure 3. If the source of the ocean’s CO2 enrichment is the atmosphere, we should find a concentration gradient with higher concentrations closer to the surface. No such gradient is found. It is likely that the ocean acidification hypothesis entered the climate change narrative by way of the PETM climate change event when extensive and devastating ocean acidification had occurred as described in a related post [LINK] . However, there is no parallel between PETM and AGW that can be used to relate the characteristics of one to those of the other. In the case of ocean acidification in the PETM event, the source of carbon was a monstrous release of either methane hydrates from the sea floor along with geothermal heat of some form or perhaps both heat and carbon directly injected into the ocean from the mantle. The event caused the ocean to lose all its elemental oxygen by way of carbon oxidation and undergo significant decline in pH. Much of the carbon dioxide was also vented to the atmosphere and that caused atmospheric CO2 to rise precipitously. But this correspondence of ocean acidification in the presence of rising atmospheric CO2 does not apply to AGW. Such parallels usually drawn to relate rising atmospheric CO2 to ocean acidification overlooks the reversal in direction. Whereas PETM started in the ocean and spread to the atmosphere, the AGW event started in the atmosphere and is thought to have spread to the oceans. The evidence presented here does not support this hypothesis. For details about the PETM, please see the related post on the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum event [LINK] . What the PETM shows us is that the ocean is able to acidify itself to a much greater extent with natural causes by using carbon and heat from the bottom of the ocean or from the mantle. This reference event, rather than supporting human caused ocean acidification, serves instead as a caution against the simplistic assignment of human cause to all observed changes in the ocean. 2005: Orr, James C., et al. “Anthropogenic ocean acidification over the twenty-first century and its impact on calcifying organisms.” Nature 437.7059 (2005): 681. Today’s surface ocean is saturated with respect to calcium carbonate, but increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are reducing ocean pH and carbonate ion concentrations, and thus the level of calcium carbonate saturation. Experimental evidence suggests that if these trends continue, key marine organisms—such as corals and some plankton—will have difficulty maintaining their external calcium carbonate skeletons. Here we use 13 models of the ocean–carbon cycle to assess calcium carbonate saturation under the IS92a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario for future emissions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide. In our projections, Southern Ocean surface waters will begin to become undersaturated with respect to aragonite, a metastable form of calcium carbonate, by the year 2050. By 2100, this undersaturation could extend throughout the entire Southern Ocean and into the subarctic Pacific Ocean. When live pteropods were exposed to our predicted level of undersaturation during a two-day shipboard experiment, their aragonite shells showed notable dissolution. Our findings indicate that conditions detrimental to high-latitude ecosystems could develop within decades, not centuries as suggested previously. 2007: Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove, et al. “Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification.” science 318.5857 (2007): 1737-1742. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is expected to exceed 500 parts per million and global temperatures to rise by at least 2°C by 2050 to 2100, values that significantly exceed those of at least the past 420,000 years during which most extant marine organisms evolved. Under conditions expected in the 21st century, global warming and ocean acidification will compromise carbonate accretion, with corals becoming increasingly rare on reef systems. The result will be less diverse reef communities and carbonate reef structures that fail to be maintained. Climate change also exacerbates local stresses from declining water quality and overexploitation of key species, driving reefs increasingly toward the tipping point for functional collapse. This review presents future scenarios for coral reefs that predict increasingly serious consequences for reef-associated fisheries, tourism, coastal protection, and people. As the International Year of the Reef 2008 begins, scaled-up management intervention and decisive action on global emissions are required if the loss of coral-dominated ecosystems is to be avoided. 2008: Anthony, Kenneth RN, et al. “Ocean acidification causes bleaching and productivity loss in coral reef builders.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2008). Ocean acidification represents a key threat to coral reefs by reducing the calcification rate of framework builders. In addition, acidification is likely to affect the relationship between corals and their symbiotic dinoflagellates and the productivity of this association. However, little is known about how acidification impacts on the physiology of reef builders and how acidification interacts with warming. Here, we report on an 8-week study that compared bleaching, productivity, and calcification responses of crustose coralline algae (CCA) and branching (Acropora) and massive (Porites) coral species in response to acidification and warming. Using a 30-tank experimental system, we manipulated CO2 levels to simulate doubling and three- to fourfold increases [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projection categories IV and VI] relative to present-day levels under cool and warm scenarios. Results indicated that high CO2 is a bleaching agent for corals and CCA under high irradiance, acting synergistically with warming to lower thermal bleaching thresholds. We propose that CO2 induces bleaching via its impact on photoprotective mechanisms of the photosystems. Overall, acidification impacted more strongly on bleaching and productivity than on calcification. Interestingly, the intermediate, warm CO2 scenario led to a 30% increase in productivity in Acropora, whereas high CO2 lead to zero productivity in both corals. CCA were most sensitive to acidification, with high CO2 leading to negative productivity and high rates of net dissolution. Our findings suggest that sensitive reef-building species such as CCA may be pushed beyond their thresholds for growth and survival within the next few decades whereas corals will show delayed and mixed responses. 2008: Fabry, Victoria J., et al. “Impacts of ocean acidification on marine fauna and ecosystem processes.” ICES Journal of Marine Science 65.3 (2008): 414-432. Oceanic uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) is altering the seawater chemistry of the world’s oceans with consequences for marine biota. Elevated partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) is causing the calcium carbonate saturation horizon to shoal in many regions, particularly in high latitudes and regions that intersect with pronounced hypoxic zones. The ability of marine animals, most importantly pteropod molluscs, foraminifera, and some benthic invertebrates, to produce calcareous skeletal structures is directly affected by seawater CO2 chemistry. CO2influences the physiology of marine organisms as well through acid-base imbalance and reduced oxygen transport capacity. The few studies at relevant pCO2 levels impede our ability to predict future impacts on foodweb dynamics and other ecosystem processes. Here we present new observations, review available data, and identify priorities for future research, based on regions, ecosystems, taxa, and physiological processes believed to be most vulnerable to ocean acidification. We conclude that ocean acidification and the synergistic impacts of other anthropogenic stressors provide great potential for widespread changes to marine ecosystems. 2009: Miller, A. Whitman, et al. “Shellfish face uncertain future in high CO2 world: influence of acidification on oyster larvae calcification and growth in estuaries.” Plos one 4.5 (2009): e5661. Human activities have increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide by 36% during the past 200 years. One third of all anthropogenic CO2 has been absorbed by the oceans, reducing pH by about 0.1 of a unit and significantly altering their carbonate chemistry. There is widespread concern that these changes are altering marine habitats severely, but little or no attention has been given to the biota of estuarine and coastal settings, ecosystems that are less pH buffered because of naturally reduced alkalinity. 2009: Doney, Scott C., et al. “Ocean acidification: the other CO2 problem.” Annual Review of Marine Science (2009). Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), primarily from human fossil fuel combustion, reduces ocean pH and causes wholesale shifts in seawater carbonate chemistry. The process of ocean acidification is well documented in field data, and the rate will accelerate over this century unless future CO2 emissions are curbed dramatically. Acidification alters seawater chemical speciation and biogeochemical cycles of many elements and compounds. One well-known effect is the lowering of calcium carbonate saturation states, which impacts shell-forming marine organisms from plankton to benthic molluscs, echinoderms, and corals. Many calcifying species exhibit reduced calcification and growth rates in laboratory experiments under high-CO2 conditions. Ocean acidification also causes an increase in carbon fixation rates in some photosynthetic organisms (both calcifying and noncalcifying). The potential for marine organisms to adapt to increasing CO2 and broader implications for ocean ecosystems are not well known; both are high priorities for future research. Although ocean pH has varied in the geological past, paleo-events may be only imperfect analogs to current conditions. 2010: Talmage, Stephanie C., and Christopher J. Gobler. “Effects of past, present, and future ocean carbon dioxide concentrations on the growth and survival of larval shellfish.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107.40 (2010): 17246-17251. The combustion of fossil fuels has enriched levels of CO2 in the world’s oceans and decreased ocean pH. Although the continuation of these processes may alter the growth, survival, and diversity of marine organisms that synthesize CaCO3 shells, the effects of ocean acidification since the dawn of the industrial revolution are not clear. Here we present experiments that examined the effects of the ocean’s past, present, and future (21st and 22nd centuries) CO2 concentrations on the growth, survival, and condition of larvae of two species of commercially and ecologically valuable bivalve shellfish (Mercenaria mercenaria and Argopecten irradians). Larvae grown under near preindustrial CO2 concentrations (250 ppm) displayed significantly faster growth and metamorphosis as well as higher survival and lipid accumulation rates compared with individuals reared under modern day CO2 levels. Bivalves grown under near preindustrial CO2 levels displayed thicker, more robust shells than individuals grown at present CO2 concentrations, whereas bivalves exposed to CO2 levels expected later this century had shells that were malformed and eroded. These results suggest that the ocean acidification that has occurred during the past two centuries may be inhibiting the development and survival of larval shellfish and contributing to global declines of some bivalve populations. 2010: Kroeker, Kristy J., et al. “Meta‐analysis reveals negative yet variable effects of ocean acidification on marine organisms.” Ecology letters 13.11 (2010): 1419-1434. Ocean acidification is a pervasive stressor that could affect many marine organisms and cause profound ecological shifts. A variety of biological responses to ocean acidification have been measured across a range of taxa, but this information exists as case studies and has not been synthesized into meaningful comparisons amongst response variables and functional groups. We used meta‐analytic techniques to explore the biological responses to ocean acidification, and found negative effects on survival, calcification, growth and reproduction. However, there was significant variation in the sensitivity of marine organisms. Calcifying organisms generally exhibited larger negative responses than non‐calcifying organisms across numerous response variables, with the exception of crustaceans, which calcify but were not negatively affected. Calcification responses varied significantly amongst organisms using different mineral forms of calcium carbonate. Organisms using one of the more soluble forms of calcium carbonate (high‐magnesium calcite) can be more resilient to ocean acidification than less soluble forms (calcite and aragonite). Additionally, there was variation in the sensitivities of different developmental stages, but this variation was dependent on the taxonomic group. Our analyses suggest that the biological effects of ocean acidification are generally large and negative, but the variation in sensitivity amongst organisms has important implications for ecosystem responses. 2012: Narita, Daiju, Katrin Rehdanz, and Richard SJ Tol. “Economic costs of ocean acidification: a look into the impacts on global shellfish production.” Climatic Change 113.3-4 (2012): 1049-1063. Ocean acidification is increasingly recognized as a major global problem. Yet economic assessments of its effects are currently almost absent. Unlike most other marine organisms, mollusks, which have significant commercial value worldwide, have relatively solid scientific evidence of biological impact of acidification and allow us to make such an economic evaluation. By performing a partial-equilibrium analysis, we estimate global and regional economic costs of production loss of mollusks due to ocean acidification. Our results show that the costs for the world as a whole could be over 100 billion USD with an assumption of increasing demand of mollusks with expected income growths combined with a business-as-usual emission trend towards the year 2100. The major determinants of cost levels are the impacts on the Chinese production, which is dominant in the world, and the expected demand increase of mollusks in today’s developing countries, which include China, in accordance with their future income rise. Our results have direct implications for climate policy. Because the ocean acidifies faster than the atmosphere warms, the acidification effects on mollusks would raise the social cost of carbon more strongly than the estimated damage adds to the damage costs of climate change. 2013: Andersson, Andreas J., and Dwight Gledhill. “Ocean acidification and coral reefs: effects on breakdown, dissolution, and net ecosystem calcification.” Annual Review of Marine Science 5 (2013): 321-348. The persistence of carbonate structures on coral reefs is essential in providing habitats for a large number of species and maintaining the extraordinary biodiversity associated with these ecosystems. As a consequence of ocean acidification (OA), the ability of marine calcifiers to produce calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and their rate of CaCO3production could decrease while rates of bioerosion and CaCO3 dissolution could increase, resulting in a transition from a condition of net accretion to one of net erosion. This would have negative consequences for the role and function of coral reefs and the eco-services they provide to dependent human communities. In this article, we review estimates of bioerosion, CaCO3 dissolution, and net ecosystem calcification (NEC) and how these processes will change in response to OA. Furthermore, we critically evaluate the observed relationships between NEC and seawater aragonite saturation state (Ωa). Finally, we propose that standardized NEC rates combined with observed changes in the ratios of dissolved inorganic carbon to total alkalinity owing to net reef metabolism may provide a biogeochemical tool to monitor the effects of OA in coral reef environments. Hurst Persistence in UAH Temperature? IS THERE HURST PERSISTENCE IN UAH ZONAL MEAN TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES? It was shown in a prior work (see links above) that when the UAH lower troposphere temperatures Dec 1978 to Dec 2017 are studied on a monthly time scale (as a sequence of 481 months), evidence of Hurst persistence is found in the data. Here we present a further investigation into these data using an annual time scale and studying each calendar month separately for the seven calendar months January to July in study period 1979 to 2018. As of this writing data for the full time span are available for only these seven months. Almost universally, the study of temperature trends are presented in terms of OLS (ordinary least squares) linear regression. The procedure contains some unforgiving assumptions that may not apply in time series field data such as the temperature data in climate studies but the use of OLS has gained such widespread acceptance that the limitations of the procedure imposed by assumptions are generally overlooked. The important assumption relevant here is the so called “iid” constraint. The procedure assumes that all occurrences of the time series are taken from an identical Gaussian distribution that differ only in magnitude and that each occurrence is independent of prior occurrences. Violations of these assumptions in time series of field data are common. A serious violation is that of persistence first discovered in the Nile River flow data by Edwin Hurst who was designing the Aswan Dam in Egypt (pictured above). He found that changes in the flow rate were not random but contained a persistence so that an increase was more likely to be followed by an increase than a decrease and a decrease was more likely to be followed by a decrease than an increase. This kind of behavior violates “iid” Gaussian randomness and invalidates OLS regression because OLS assumes Gaussian randomness. In 1950, Hurst published his first and only journal publication [Hurst, E. (1951). Long-term storage capacity of reservoirs. Trans. Amer. Soc. Civil Eng. , 116 (1951): 770-808]. In it he detailed a procedure by which such persistence in time series can be detected by tracking how distant (the range) the cumulative deviations from the mean can be measured as number of standard deviations. He proposed the ratio H = ln(range)/ln(sample size) as a measure of persistence where H = Hurst exponent. In a pure Gaussian iid series H=0.5 and in the case of persistence, H>0.5. As a practical matter, because the empirical setup can also affect the value of H (Granero, S. (2008). Some comments on Hurst exponent and the long memory processes on capital markets. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its applications , 387.22 (2008): 5543-5551), the best way to test for persistence is to compare the H-value of the test series with that of its Gaussian twin. If the test series H-value is statistically significantly greater than the H-value of its Gaussian twin, there is evidence of persistence, and otherwise not. This comparison is made in Figure 3 for all ten unique zonal regions for which satellite temperature anomaly data are published by the UAH. For each zonal region, we compute the value of H in the data and again in a Gaussian simulation of the data. The Gaussian simulation retains the standard deviation and OLS trend value and generates the actual values in a Monte Carlo simulation (labeled as SIMUL). Figure 3 shows that no significant difference is found between data and the iid Gaussian simulation. We conclude from this comparison that the Gaussian iid assumption is not violated in the UAH temperature data at an annual time scale. This conclusion finds further support in Figure 1 where the OLS trend (the yellow line) is compared with the average of trends computed in a moving 15-year window that moves one year at a time from an end-year of 1993 to an end-year of 2018. If OLS assumptions are violated we should find significant differences between these two measures of overall trend. But no difference is evident in the graphic display. We therefore find no evidence of persistence or that the UAH data violate OLS assumptions. Additional support for this conclusion is found in Figure 2. Here the data (blue dots) and the corresponding Gaussian simulation (red dots) are compared directly in search for a visual incongruence that might identify non-Gaussian behavior. No such incongruence is found. We conclude that the evidence of Hurst persistence at a monthly time scale reported in previous works ( [SSRN.COM] [ACADEMIA.EDU]) does not apply to the annual time scale when the calendar months are studied in isolation, one at a time. 1956: Hurst, Harold Edwin. “Methods of using long-term storage in reservoirs.” Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers5.5 (1956): 519-543. ABSTRACT: The testable implication of the the theory of GHG forcing of surface temperature by atmospheric CO2 is that surface temperature should be responsive to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration at the time scale of interest. This test is carried out by comparing four observational temperature series against a theoretical series constructed with GHG forcing of atmospheric CO2. The comparison does not show evidence for the existence of GHG forcing of atmospheric CO2 in the observational data. Conventional climate sensitivity estimations in observational data depend on a spurious correlation and this spuriousness likely explains the great instability of sensitivity and the large range of values found in observational data. When that spuriousness is corrected with detrended correlation analysis, no correlation remains to support the existence of climate sensitivity. DATA AND METHOD: This is a comparative analysis of the responsiveness of surface temperature to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration in accordance with the GHG theory of atmospheric CO2 concentration described by the climate sensitivity function where surface temperature is a linear function of (LN(CO2)). Three types of temperature data are compared. They are (1) direct observations of global mean temperature with satellite mounted microwave sounding units (UAH, RSS), (2) global mean temperature reconstructions from the instrumental record (HAD, GIS), and (3) a theoretical time series of temperatures expected according to the theory of the GHG effect of atmospheric CO2 concentration where CMIP5 forcings ensure that Temp=f(LN(CO2)). The comparison is used to test the hypothesis that observational data contain the GHG effect of atmospheric CO2 concentration in the form of the climate sensitivity function. The time span for the study is 40 year satellite era from 1979 to 2018 when direct measurements of mean global lower troposphere temperatures are available. The other three temperature time series constrained to this sample period so that a direct comparison can be made. Eight calendar months (January to August) of data are available for the full sample period 1979-2018 at the time of this study. The calendar months are studied separately as their trend behaviors have been shown to differ in a related post at this site [LINK] and also because the existence of a seasonal cycle in GHG forcing has been shown to exist [LINK] . DATA ANALYSIS: FIGURE 1 is a tabulation of the observed climate sensitivity values in each of eight calendar months (January to August) and for each of the five temperature series studied (HAD, GIS, UAH, RSS, RCP8.5). It shows relatively low values of climate sensitivity ranging from 1.5<ECS<2.1 for the direct observations in the satellite data from UAH and RSS; somewhat higher values of 2.1<ECS<2.7 for temperature reconstructions from HAD and GIS; and values of ECS≈3 in theRCP8.5 series derived from a theory that holds that ECS=3±1.5. It is noted that although all observed values are within this large range, the theoretical RCP8.5 sensitivity values are higher than the observational empirical values. FIGURE 2 displays the correlations between temperature and LN(CO2) required to support the reliability of the corresponding regression coefficients that are translated into climate sensitivities. Strong and statistically significant correlations are seen in all five time series. As expected, the highest correlations, all eight of them close to the near perfect correlation of ρ≈1.0, are found in the theoretical RCP8.5 series that was constructed with the GHG forcing of atmospheric CO2. The lowest correlations, 0.55<ρ<0.75 are found in the directly observed satellite data. Intermediate values of 0.7<ρ<0.9 found in the global temperature reconstructions. All observed correlations are statistically significant and they are generally taken as evidence in support of the validity and reliability of the climate sensitivity parameters implied by the corresponding regression coefficients. The implied climate sensitivities are tabulated in Figure 1. FIGURE 3 is a presentation of the tendency in time series field data to translate long term trends into faux correlations even in the absence of responsiveness at a time scale of interest. The first frame presents an example of such a spurious correlation taken from the Tyler Vigen collection of spurious correlations in time series data [LINK]. The bottom frame is a segment of a lecture on spurious correlations in time series data and their examination with detrended correlation analysis provided on Youtube by Alex Tolley [LINK]. These considerations imply that the correlation seen in the source data (Figure 1) may not be reliable and that they must be decomposed so that the part that derives from long term trends can be removed and only the part that derives from responsiveness at the time scale of interest is interpreted into the theory of causation. FIGURE 4 presents the results of detrended correlation analysis that removes the effect of long term trends such that the correlation that survives into the detrended series more faithfully reflects the responsiveness of temperature to LN(CO2) at an annual time scale. In other words, detrended correlation is independent of the bias imposed by trends in the correlation between source time series. Therefore they can be interpreted in terms of causal relationships. It is true that “correlation does not imply causation” but it is also true that no causation interpretation of the data can be made without correlation at the causation time scale. That is, detrended correlation at the appropriate time scale is a necessary but not sufficient condition for causation. FIGURE 4: The table of detrended correlations shows that the strong and statistically significant correlations seen in the source time series (Figure 2) do not survive into the detrended series in the observational data (HAD, GIS, UAH, RSS) implying that the source correlations were creations of long term trends and not the responsiveness of temperature to changes in LN(CO2) at an annual time scale. A very different result is seen in the theoretical temperature series constructed with the GHG effect of atmospheric CO2 concentration (RCP8.5). Here, strong and statistically significant correlations survive into the detrended series in all eight calendar months and serve as evidence that temperature is responsive to LN(CO2) at an annual time scale. FIGURE 4: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: In this comparative analysis, detrended correlations serve as the measure of the responsiveness of temperature to changes in atmospheric CO2. This measure is used to compare direct observations of global mean temperature and reconstructions of global mean temperature (where the presence of a GHG effect of atmospheric CO2 is being tested), with the theoretical series which serves as the benchmark of what we expect to see in the presence of the GHG effect of atmospheric CO2 concentration. The comparison under identical conditions shows no evidence in any of the eight calendar months studied of the responsiveness of direct temperature observations and the HadCRUT4 temperature reconstructions (UAH, RSS, HAD) to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration – a necessary condition for the existence of climate sensitivity and for the theory of anthropogenic global warming. A similar result for the GISTEMP global mean temperature reconstruction is also found but with the caveat that the detrended correlations are higher than in the other three observational data series with statistical significance observed in two of the eight calendar months studied (April and May). This unique feature of the NASA GISTEMP series may have implications for how these reconstructions were constructed and whether an assumption of GHG forcing played a role in their reconstruction. CONCLUSION: The testable implication of the GHG theory is that surface temperature should be responsive to atmospheric CO2 concentration such that a detrended correlation exists between the logarithm of atmospheric CO2 and surface temperature at the time scale of interest. This test is carried out for five temperature series in eight calendar months for the sample period 1979-2018 using comparative analysis to test observational data against the theoretical series. The comparison does not show evidence of the existence of GHG forcing by atmospheric CO2 in the observational data. The full text of this work is available for download from [SSRN.COM] or from [ACADEMIA.EDU] . The assistance and encouragement provided by Mr. Ashley Francis of Salisbury, England in carrying out this work is gratefully acknowledged. Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) is the responsiveness of global mean surface temperature to the logarithm of atmospheric CO2 concentration stated as the increase in temperature for a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentration. The measure at once verifies and quantifies the core principle of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) – the so called “greenhouse effect” of atmospheric CO2. However, this logical and empirical support for AGW is known to suffer from an uncertainty issue described in a related post. In brief, ECS research with models and with observational data and also with models constrained by observational data, a large range of values for the ECS has been reported from ECS<1 up to ECS>10. The IPCC describes the value of ECS as a mean(ECS)=3 and its 90%CI = [1.5, 4.5] Celsius degrees for each doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration based on the Jule Charney’s presentation of model results in 1979. The IPCC does not take note of earlier findings by Syukuro Manabe in 1967 that the the sensitivity value should be ECS=2 (See bibliography below). Yet, the legitimization of certain values of the ECS by selective citation is somewhat arbitrary and prone to bias because a large range of values significantly different from each other can thus be legitimized. In a prior work, it was shown that the ECS values seen in a moving 60-year window in the HadCRUT4 temperature data show negative ECS to values greater than ECS=6C/doubling. The full text of the source document for this work may be downloaded from [SSRN.COM] or [ACADEMIA.EDU] . In such a state of empirical confusion, it is possible to claim evidential support for a selected value from a large range of values by judicial choice of the time span and the corresponding citation as described by Wigley (1985). A similar analysis is presented in this work. Here, a range of spans is tested on the series of 168 years of monthly mean global temperature reconstructions in the HadCRUT4 data set provided by the Hadley Climate Research Unit. They are the full span (168 years), the half span (84 years), and one third of the span (56 years). In addition, spans of 100 and 110 years are tested. A relationship between the time span of the data and the observational ECS estimate is thus derived to determine the appropriate span for the test in view of the latency of the oceans in reaching climate equilibrium as described in (Danabasoglu 2009) below in the bibliography section. Here it is found by trial and error that in the HadCRUT4 temperature anomaly series, that a time span of at least 100 years is required to stabilize the empirical ECS estimate from observational data. It is shown that 100, 110, and 168-year time spans yield stable ECS values and that time spans of 90 years or less generate unstable and possibly unreliable ECS estimates in the early portion of the full span but not so in more recent data. This difference between early and recent data is difficult to interpret. Figure 1 displays the empirical ECS estimates in a moving 100-year window as the end of the moving window moves one year at a time from 1949 to 2017. The GIF animation presents these results one calendar month at a time. The blue line contains all 68 ECS values observed and the red line shows their mean. The observed values lie in a wide range of ECS<1 to ECS>3. However, their means are in the tighter range of ECS = [1.8, 2.4]. These averages are summarized in the chart below the GIF animation. In comparison with the very unstable behavior in 60-year and 84-year spans reported in the earlier work posted on [SSRN.COM] , the stability of ECS estimates from the HadCRUT4 temperature anomalies is improved when a 100-year moving window is used. Figure 1 also highlights the great differences among the calendar months in terms of ECS estimates. This information is lost when data for calendar months are combined into annual means. A further investigation of the effect of the time span on the stability of empirical ECS estimates is carried out and the results are summarized in Figure 2 &Figure 3. Time spans of 168 years (the full span), 56 years (one third of the full span), 84 years (one half of the full span), 90 years, 100 years, and 110 years are tried. The ECS estimates are tested for statistical significance. Statistically significant results are shown in black and values that failed the significance test are shown in red. The analysis is carried out for each of the twelve calendar months separately. The results for January to June appear in Figure 2 and those for July to December are in Figure 3. Figure 2 & Figure 3: The results show that statistically significant and stable values of ECS are found for long time spans of 100 years or more at any location within the full span of the data. No improvement in stability is found for time spans longer than 100 years. The stability and reliability of ECS values for time spans of 90 years or less depend on location. Early time spans that end in 1905, 1933, and 1939 are found to be unstable and without a statistically significant value for ECS in the three short time spans tested (56 years, 84 years, and 90 years). These same time spans that end later than 1939 are stable and with statistically significant ECS values. However, an anomalous result of statistically significant ECS>6 is found for 56-year time spans ending in 1961. The location sensitivity of ECS in this temperature time series may imply inconsistencies in the data. It is noted that in most cases, the empirical estimate for the value of the ECS in Figures 2&3 is remarkably stable at or around ECS=2C per doubling of atmospheric CO2. The value of ECS=2 is consistent with the theoretical prediction of Syukuro Manabe in his earliest published works. These citations are included in the bibliography section below. Albright, W. (1973). From the Patriarchs to Moses II. Moses out of Egypt. The Biblical Archaeologist, 36.2 (1973): 48-76. 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A critique of statistical modelling in management science from a critical realist perspective: its role within multimethodology . Journal of the Operational Research Society, 57.2 (2006): 202-219. Moberg, A. (2005). Highly variable Northern Hemisphere temperatures reconstructed from low-and high-resolution proxy data.” . Nature, 433.7026 (2005): 613. Montgomery, D. (2010). Applied statistics and probability for engineers. NY: John Wiley & Sons. Munshi, J. (2015). A General Linear Model for Trends in Tropical Cyclone Activity. SSRN, r http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2630932. Munshi, J. (2016). Spurious Correlations in Time Series Data. SSRN, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2827927. Munshi, J. (2017). Limitations of the TCRE. SSRN, https://ssrn.com/abstract=3000932. Munshi, J. (2017). A Test of the Anthropogenic Sea Level Rise Hypothesis. SSRN, https://ssrn.com/abstract=3023248. Munshi, J. (2017). Correlation of Regional Warming with Global Emissions. SSRN Negative Results eJournal, https://dx.doi.org/. Nerem, R. (2018). Climate-change–driven accelerated sea-level rise detected in the altimeter era. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (2018): 201717312. Nicholls, N. (1999). Cognitive illusions, heuristics, and climate prediction. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society , 80.7 (1999): 1385-1397. Nickerson, R. (1998). Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises. Review of general psychology, 2.2 (1998): 175. Ragin, C. (2014). The comparative method: Moving beyond qualitative and quantitative strategies. Berkeley: Univ of California Press. Rahmstorf, S. (2010). A new view on sea level rise. Nature reports climate change , 4.4 (2010): 44-45. Rockström, J. (2009). A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461.7263 (2009): 472. Rotunno, R. (1987). An air–sea interaction theory for tropical cyclones. Part II: Evolutionary study using a nonhydrostatic axisymmetric numerical model. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences , 44.3 (1987): 542-561. Rykiel, E. (1996). Testing ecological models: the meaning of validation. Ecological modelling, 90.3 (1996): 229-244. Sallenger, J. (2012). Hotspot of accelerated sea-level rise on the Atlantic coast of North America. Nature Climate Change, 2.12 (2012): 884. Slangen, A. (2016). Anthropogenic forcing dominates global mean sea-level rise since 1970. Nature Climate Change, 6.7 (2016): 701-705. Stern, J. (1997). Publication bias: evidence of delayed publication in a cohort study of clinical research projects. BMJ, 315.7109 (1997): 640-645. Trenberth, K. (2005). Uncertainty in hurricanes and global warming. Science , 308.5729 (2005): 1753-1754. Vecchi, G. (2007). Effect of remote sea surface temperature change on tropical cyclone potential intensity. Nature, 450.7172 (2007): 1066. Vermeer/Rahmstorf. (2009). Global sea level linked to global temperature. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106.51 (2009): 21527-21532. VonStorch, H. (1995). Analysis of cliimate variability. Sprnger Verlag. Vul, E. (2010). Begging the question: The non-independence error in fMRI data analysis. In M. Press, Foundational issues for human brain mapping (pp. 71-91). Boston: MIT Press. Webster, P. (2005). Changes in tropical cyclone number, duration, and intensity in a warming environment. Science, 309.5742 (2005): 1844-1846. Woodworth, P. (2009). Evidence for the accelerations of sea level on multi‐decade and century timescales. International Journal of Climatology, 29.6 (2009): 777-789. Sea surface temperature (SST) is the link that connects climate change research with tropical cyclone research. Rising SST is observed (Hadley Centre, 2017) and thought to be an effect of Anthropogenic global warming or AGW (Hansen, 2005) . At the same time, the theory of tropical cyclones holds that cyclone formation, and particularly cyclone intensification are related to SST (Vecchi, 2007) (Knutson, 2010). Testable implications of the theory for empirical research are derived from climate model simulations (Knutson, 2010) and also from sedimentary evidence of land-falling hurricanes over a 1500-year period (Mann, 2009). These studies suggest some guidelines and testable implications for empirical tests of the theory that AGW affects tropical cyclone activity (Knutson, 2010). Complications of empirical tests in this line of research are (Knutson, 2010): 1. Extremely high variance in tropical cyclone data at an annual time scale suggests longer, perhaps a decadal time scale which in turn greatly reduces statistical power. 2. Limited data availability and poor data quality present barriers to research. 3. Limited theoretical understanding of natural variability makes it difficult to ascertain whether the variability observed in the data is in excess of natural variability. 4. Model projections for individual cyclone basins show large differences and conflicting results. Thus, no testable implication can be derived for studies of individual basins. It is necessary that empirical studies have a global geographical span. 5. Advances in data collection activity, methods, and technology create trends in the data that must be separated from climate change effects (Landsea, 2007) (Landsea, 2010). A high level of interest in tropical cyclones derives from an unusually active hurricane season in 2004 when more than 14 tropical cyclones formed in the North Atlantic basin . Four of these storms intensified to Category 4 or greater and made landfall in the USA causing considerable damage. The even more dramatic 2005 season followed in its heels with more than thirty depressions. Four of them intensified to Category 5 and three made landfall. The most intense was Hurricane Wilma but the most spectacular was Hurricane Katrina which made landfall in Florida and again in Louisiana. Its devastation was facilitated by a breach in the levee system that was unrelated to AGW but its dramatic consequences made it an icon of the possible extreme weather impacts of AGW. The Emanuel paper (Emanuel, 2005) came in the heels of these events and is possibly best understood in this context. The assumed attribution by the media of the epic devastation to AGW set the stage for climate science to claim the destructiveness of hurricanes as extreme weather effects of AGW. The Emanuel 2005 paper was one of several published in the heels of these hurricane seasons. The paper presents a new measure of tropical cyclone intensity which the author calls “Power Dissipation Index” and to which he assigns the acronym PDI. The paper finds a statistically significant rising trend in the aggregate annual PDI of North Atlantic Hurricanes in the study period 1949-2004 in tandem with rising sea surface temperature (SST) for the appropriate zone where hurricanes form. The graphical depiction of this result is reproduced in Figure 1. The usual measure of tropical cyclone activity is the ACE or Accumulated Cyclone Energy. It is computed as the sum of squares of the maximum sustained wind speed in each 6-hour window during the life of the cyclone. It represents the total amount of kinetic energy generated by a tropical cyclone and this energy has been related to the energy in the ocean surface as measured by surface temperatures and temperature differentials such that the cyclone can be described as a heat engine (Rotunno, 1987) (Emanuel, 1987) (Goni, 2003) (Latif, 2007) (Klotzbach, 2006) (Emanuel, 2003). When the ACE measure did not show the trend that the author was looking for he decided to cube the velocities instead of squaring them as a way of increasing the differences among annual values. This innovation produced the desired result and a trend became evident over the last 30 years of the 55-year study period as seen in Figure 1. Since the sum of cubes could not be called ACE, the author gave it a new name and called it the Power Dissipation Index or PDI. The object variable in the hypothesis was thus changed from ACE to PDI. The PDI hypothesis was then modified to exclude the first 22 years of the study period where no trend and very little correspondence between PDI and SST are seen (Figure 1). Thus, the tailor made hypothesis to be tested was whether there is a rising trend in the PDI in the most recent 30 years (1975-2004) of the study period. This hypothesis was then tested with the same data over the same time span that was used to construct it. The procedure of testing a hypothesis with the data used to construct the hypothesis constitutes circular reasoning because the methodology subsumes and ensures the desired result. At this point, a rising trend is seen in the PDI time series 1975-2004 at an annual time scale but the trend is not statistically significant because of extreme year to year variability in cyclone formation and intensification (Knutson, 2010). To smooth out the variance, the author took a 5-year moving average of the PDI data; and when that also failed to show a statistically significant trend, he took 5-year moving averages of the 5-year moving averages (in effect a 10-year moving average) and was finally able to find statistical significance for rising PDI over the last 30 years of the study period (Watkins, 2007). The findings presented by the paper are based on this rising trend and the visual correspondence between PDI and SST seen in Figure 1. However, in his hypothesis test computations the author failed to correct for degrees of freedom lost in the computation of moving averages. When moving averages are computed some data values are used more than once. It can be shown that the average multiplicity of use is given by the relationship M = (λ/N)*(N-λ+1) where M is the average multiplicity, N is the sample size, and λ is the width of the moving window (Munshi, 2016) (VonStorch, 1995). In the case of a window with λ=10 years moving through a time series of N=30 years, the average multiplicity is M=7. The effective sample size is computed as EFFN=N/M or EFFN=30/7 = 4.285 and the degrees of freedom for the t-test for trend is DF=EFFN-2 or DF=2.285. The statistical significance reported by the author at N=30 and DF=28 is not found when the sample size is corrected for multiplicity. A false sense of statistical power was created by the methodology used when decadal moving averages were taken (Watkins, 2007) (Munshi, 2016). Full text download links for paper on moving averages [SSRN.COM] [ACADEMIA.EDU] . The North Atlantic basin is just one of six major cyclone basins around the world. The other five are The West Pacific, the East Pacific, the South Pacific, the North Indian, and the South Indian. The most active basin is the West Pacific. The theory of anthropogenic global warming as expressed in terms of climate models indicates that only long term changes in global averages of all six cyclone basins may be interpreted in terms of the impacts of climate change (Knutson, 2010). The study of a single basin over a brief 30-year period is unlikely to contain useful information relevant to AGW. Data for all six basins over a 70-year study period 1945-2014 does not show trends in total aggregate annual ACE that can be interpreted as an impact of warming as shown in three related posts on this site [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] . The left frame of Figure 2 shows the relative activity of the six basins over the 70-year study period. From left to right the basins are East Pacific, North Atlantic, North Indian, South Indian, South Pacific, and West Pacific. The North Atlantic, although close to home for many climate researchers, is not a significant source of cyclone energy in a global context. The right frame of Figure 2 does not show a sustained trend in tropical cyclone activity on a decadal time scale particularly when the decade 2005-2014 is included. It is likely that (Emanuel, 2005) was a product of climate activism that had reached a high level of intensity in the years leading up to 2005 by way of the push for the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol for CO2 emission reduction as well as the European heat wave of 2003 that was claimed and widely accepted to be caused by AGW. It was a time when the extreme weather effect of AGW was given credence by the IPCC and generally taken for granted. Given the theoretical basis that connected SST to tropical cyclones, the truth of AGW driven hurricane intensity was thus taken to be a given (Emanuel, 1987) and then apparently proven by the 2004/2005 hurricane seasons. It remained for climate science only to tend to the details of presenting the data in the appropriate format. Thus the ultimate form of circular reasoning is found in (Emanuel, 2005) in which a high level of confidence ex-ante in the truth of the proposition that AGW causes extreme tropical cyclone activity left the presentation of empirical evidence of that relationship as mere detail. The role of confirmation bias in research of this nature is discussed in a related post [CONFIRMATION BIAS] .

2019-04-25T00:16:45Z

https://tambonthongchai.com/2018/09/

As river cruising continues to boom, the choice of lines and ships is also increasing. Thanks to its widespread marketing and sponsorship of popular television programs such as Downton Abbey and Miss Marple, there can be few people who haven't heard of Viking River Cruises. On the other hand, the European cruise lines CroisiEurope and A-Rosa will ring fewer bells. Already well known in their respective homelands -- France and Germany -- both lines are now selling cruises in the United States, U.K. and other English-speaking countries. A-Rosa has been around since 2000, and family-owned CroisiEurope, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2016, is one of the pioneers of river cruising. How do these lesser-known lines stack up to Viking? Take a look at our guide on Viking versus CroisiEurope and A-Rosa. CroisiEurope and A-Rosa offer extremely competitively priced itineraries, and the cost of the majority of cruises with both lines is at least $1,000 less per cruise than Viking, with extra inclusions, such as an open bar throughout the day. Viking includes wine, beer and soda with lunch and dinner. However, there are marked differences in other areas, such as meals, excursions and entertainment, which reflect the price differential. Viking offers a wide range of deals and promotions throughout the season, which can sometime make it hard for travelers to decide when to book to get the best rates. CroisiEurope and A-Rosa's pricing structures are much simpler, and in the case of CroisiEurope, most cruises are exactly the same price throughout the season. Both lines also offer discounts on selected sailings, which can be found on their respective websites. Viking sells itineraries on a cruise-only or airfare-included basis, with airport transfers. Through their websites, CroisiEurope and A-Rosa sell itineraries on a cruise-only basis. On some cruises CroisiEurope provides transfers to and from local train stations. However, travel agents and tour operators will package itineraries with air travel and transfers, which is a particularly good option for U.S. passengers who might be on their first trip to Europe and want all the arrangements to be made for them. All three lines require a nonrefundable deposit -- around 20 percent of the cost of A-Rosa and CroisiEurope cruises and a flat rate that is typically $500 for Viking -- and impose a sliding scale of cancellation charges dependant on the time of canceling. It's worth noting that A-Rosa has a generous free rebooking policy, available once only per booking and up to 30 days prior to departure. Any changes to cruise dates with Viking and CroisiEurope are treated as cancellations and subject to cancellation charges. Choose Viking if you plan to travel in a group. A-Rosa and CroisiEurope both offer discounts for group bookings. However Viking provides the most comprehensive offer for groups, including discounted travel and free cruises for group travel organizers, depending on the size of the booking. It can also accommodate special group requests, such as dedicated excursions for the group or onboard events that might include a private cocktail reception. It also offers a refer-a-friend rewards program. Choose A-Rosa or CroisiEurope if you want gratuities included or prefer discretionary tipping. Because most passengers are European, where the tipping culture is less entrenched than the United States, gratuities are included in the cost of A-Rosa cruises. Passengers who wish to provide something extra for exceptional service can leave money in a tip box at reception at the end of the cruise, or give gratuities directly to individual members of the crew; however, this is not a requirement. CroisiEurope does not include tipping in the fares but operates an optional tipping policy, which is left entirely to the discretion of individual passengers. For guidance, the line says €5 to €10 per person, per day, and for passengers that want to tip there is a gratuity box on the reception desk. Reflecting the U.S. tipping philosophy, Viking passengers are requested to settle onboard gratuities at the end of the cruise. The recommended amount is €12 ($13.40) per person, per day for the ship's staff and crew, and €2 ($2.25) per person, per day for the program director. Smaller tips, payable in cash, are also encouraged for guides and drivers on shore excursions. This is an area where there is a big difference between the lines, and one of the reasons why Viking's fares are considerably more than A-Rosa and CroisiEurope. Complimentary daily excursions are included on Viking, and each cruise will typically feature two or three additional optional excursions, for a fee. The arrangements for shore excursions on A-Rosa and CroisiEurope depend on where you book. For U.S. passengers, the land tours are included in the fare. For U.K. and European passengers, they are not included in the fare. They can be booked as a package in advance of the sailing at a reduced rate, or booked onboard. (With CroisiEurope excursions are included for passengers on Asia itineraries and selected Douro sailings). With all lines, the shore excursions are a combination of walking tours and coach excursions into the local countryside to visit historic towns, castles and other places of interest. Choose Viking if you want an inclusive culture-rich experience. Viking places a big emphasis on its included excursions. Each day a large proportion of the cruise director's talk is a detailed rundown of the next day's tours, and a daily excursion -- sometimes two -- are included in the fare. It's also worth noting that Viking caters for passengers with varying levels of mobility, providing guests with the opportunity to join gentle-paced or faster walking tours. Choose A-Rosa or CroisiEurope if you want to pick and choose active excursions. Akin to an ocean cruise experience, and more unusual to river ships, A-Rosa and CroisiEurope cater to passengers who don't want a packed schedule of daily included excursions; whether they are on a budget, prefer to explore independently or simply want to spend more time onboard when the vessels are in port. In general, A-Rosa includes one half-day tour in the price of the cruise and others can be booked prior to embarkation or during the cruise. Similarly, most of CroisiEurope's excursions are provided at additional cost, and can be purchased in advance or onboard for the same price. The excursions on both lines are generally more active than Viking's, involving more walking. A-Rosa also has a fleet of onboard bicycles, used for group shore excursions or available to hire individually, and CroisiEurope has free bikes available on its barge cruises. Viking does not have onboard bikes or offer cycling tours. With more than 60 vessels, including 46 Longships, Viking is the world's largest river cruise line. CroisiEurope has 45 vessels, including its recent debut on the Elbe, with the Elbe Princesse, and an additional French hotel barge, Deborah. It markets itself as the largest European river cruise line, which is correct in the context that its headquarters and operations center is totally based in Europe. A-Rosa is the smallest of the trio, with 11 vessels. That said, you can't miss them as they are the most eye-catching ships of the lot, with white exteriors covered in rose petals and a pair of bright red lips holding a rose across the bow. The Viking Longships that sail on the rivers of Europe carry 190 passengers. CroisiEurope's fleet ranges from 24-passenger barges to 190-passenger river vessels (it also operates a 200-passenger ship and eight-passenger yacht that sail on coastal cruises in the Adriatic and Mediterranean). A-Rosa vessels carry 174 to 242 passengers. All three lines sail the Rhine, Danube, Main and Moselle, Rhone and Saone. Viking and CroisiEurope also offer itineraries on the Seine, Garonne, Gironde, Dordogne, Elbe, Douro, Russian waterways and Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia (for the 2016/17 season CroisiEurope's 60-passenger Princess Apsara will join its four other vessels on the Mekong). A-Rosa is introducing Seine itineraries from 2017. Additionally, Viking sails in Egypt and Myanmar (Burma). CroisiEurope is unique as it is the only river cruise line to sail on the notoriously low waters of the Loire, and is the only one of the three lines to offer cruises along Spain's Guadalquivir and Guadiana rivers. It also operates a fleet of hotel barges on French canals and rivers in regions including Burgundy, Alsace, Provence and Champagne. All three lines offer Christmas market cruises. Choose Viking if you prefer to know what to expect. Bar a few design tweaks on the newest ships, the Viking Longships are virtually identical with exactly the same layout of cabins and public rooms, which are all decorated in the line's trademark Scandinavian style. Repeat passengers will know exactly what to expect and won't have any unexpected surprises in relation to cabin decor or amenities. Choose CroisiEurope or A-Rosa if you want to break the mold. CroisiEurope has a really neat range of ships and is the only one of the three lines to operate intimate hotel barges with just 12 cabins. Its standout vessels are the 96-passenger Loire Princesse, the only river vessel on the Loire that has a paddlewheel on each side to enable it to navigate the river's shallow waters, and the new 80-passenger Elbe Princesse, which has a similar design. Both CroisiEurope and A-Rosa vessels are decorated in bright, modern colors. This is another area where the lines offer very different experiences. Viking has always been firmly aimed at the English-speaking market. It draws its crew members from a variety of countries that line the route of its European itineraries, such as Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria. In contrast, CroisiEurope and A-Rosa remain faithful to their roots, recruiting the majority of crew members from France and Germany which makes for a really authentic onboard atmosphere. Both of these lines run "international cruises," where English-speaking passengers will have a dedicated host (that said, all public-facing crew members are bilingual and speak excellent English so booking one of these sailings is not essential, and the main benefit is having an English-speaking guide on excursions). Choose Viking if you prefer to sail with folks from the same country. U.S. passengers can expect the majority of their shipmates to be from North America, with a smattering of Brits, Canadians and travelers from other English-speaking countries. Choose CroisiEurope or A-Rosa if you want a cosmopolitan, family-friendly atmosphere. Sail on these two lines and you'll have a truly multinational experience and the chance to chat with passengers from France, Germany and other countries (who invariably speak much better English than most U.S. and U.K. passengers speak European languages!). Viking does not actively encourage children, and aside from the very occasional older teenager you are unlikely to see any young people on their sailings. However, A-Rosa actively welcomes families, and youngsters under 15 travel free of charge when accompanied by a parent on select sailings. CroisiEurope offers discounted fares for children under the age of 10, and also runs special family cruises on select summer sailings. Viking's 95-cabin Longships have the same layout and configuration, and are all decorated in tasteful, muted tones. The Veranda Cabins are 205 square feet, including the walkout balcony, and French Balcony cabins, where you can look out rather than step outside, are 135 square feet. Lower deck cabins, that have a fixed window, are 150 square feet. Veranda Suites, which have a separate bedroom and living area, are 275 square feet and two-room Explorer Suites (two on each Longship) measure 445 square feet. Cabins on A-Rosa vessels differ slightly in terms of categories. For instance, on some vessels there are no suites. The majority of standard cabins measure 156 square feet and have French balconies with floor-to-ceiling windows, or fixed windows on the lower deck cabins. On the ships that do have suites these range in size from 226 square feet (four on each ship with a French balcony) to a pair of cabins that measure 312 square feet, with a walkout balcony and French balcony. Most of the cabins have fixed double beds, and generally there are only four on each ship that have two single beds. The ships feature cabins with connecting doors, and staterooms with one or two extra pull-down beds that are suitable for families or groups of friends. Cabins on CroisiEurope vessels vary the most due to the variety of different vessels in the fleet. They range from 75 square feet to 180 square feet, with the most common size being 140 square feet. Unlike the other two lines, very few CroisiEurope ships have suites and so you will generally find all the vessels on a particular ship being the same size. Some vessels have French balconies, but there are no full verandas. Cabins on all three lines are well equipped with comfortable beds, large TVs with on-demand films and entertainment and free WiFi. All passengers on A-Rosa are given a red rose on arrival and there is a stem vase, filled with water, waiting in the cabin -- a nice little touch. CroisiEurope is the only line that offers accessible cabins. Choose Viking if you like proper balconies. Viking has a high proportion of balcony cabins, and the balconies are furnished with two chairs and a small table. Choose A-Rosa if you're traveling alone. All of A-Rosa's Christmas market and Christmas cruises are free of single supplements. In addition, 89 "international" sailings on the Rhine, Danube and Rhone do not carry single supplements. Solo passengers on Viking and CroisiEurope have to pay single supplements. Choose CroisiEurope if you want to relax and watch the passing scenery. One standout feature on the majority of CroisiEurope ships is that beds face the river, so passengers can relax in their cabins and watch the world float by (you wonder why more lines don't design their cabins like this). When it comes to mealtimes there are substantial differences between all three lines, and personal taste will play a major factor in deciding which line to book. Viking has the largest choice, and will suit passengers who prefer full-service a la carte meals and the option to choose between classic and regional fare. Viking is the only line that offers made-to-order items at breakfast in addition to a buffet. Breakfast on CroisiEurope and A-Rosa is buffet-style. A-Rosa bucks the usual trend on river cruises with a buffet at every meal, apart from one a la carte dinner included in the fare and the option to buy more. In another break with tradition, food is arranged over several buffet stations in a separate area next to the dining room, rather than on a central buffet in the restaurant. As a result, meals are leisurely affairs with less rigid dining times, and the option to take food to eat in the bar and on the sun deck. In addition to traditional German foods (think plenty of meat and sausages!), there is always a wide choice of international dishes and vegetarian options. At lunchtime Viking has a buffet and served a la carte menu, and in the evening it is a full-service a la carte dinner. Viking also offers an alternative light lunch and dinner in the Aquavit Terrace, the indoor/outdoor eating area that's a unique feature on the Longships. Lunch and dinner on CroisiEurope ships is a three-course fixed menu of local specialities, all served with French flair and excellent bread. Meals are typically meat heavy and served with rich sauces and there's only one choice; special diets and vegetarian meals are available with advance notice, but you might have to ask repeatedly. Viking includes beer, wine and soda with lunch and dinner and has a 24-hour complimentary tea and coffee station. A-Rosa and CroisiEurope include all drinks throughout the day, with the exception of a small number of premium brands. Viking offers the most comprehensive enrichment program, with in-depth port talks, activities such as language lessons and cooking demonstrations, and shows by visiting singers, dancers and musicians in addition to a resident onboard pianist/singer. To a lesser extent, CroisiEurope hosts lectures and demonstrations and, depending on the itinerary, a folkloric group or local musicians may come aboard. There is no resident onboard musician. What A-Rosa lacks in port talks and other enrichment activities, it more than makes up for with lively entertainment. In addition to light-hearted workshops such as how to make towel animals, the onboard entertainers are usually multi-talented and will sing, play several musical instruments, host quiz shows and become a DJ after dinner and get passengers on the dance floor. A-Rosa comes out tops in this category. In keeping with the German love of well-being, vessels are equipped with gyms and there is a daily staff-led early morning stretching or exercise class. There are also bicycles and swimming pools on all vessels. A-Rosa also operates a professional river cruise spa, which is far more than a token massage bed in a cabin. The largest ships have a spa reception area, and the Spa-Rosa area on all ships includes treatment rooms, a spa menu featuring Babor and St Barth products, a changing area, sauna and relaxation room. None of these features, aside from bicycles on CroisiEurope's barges, feature on the other two lines. Viking has elevators on all of its Longships and the other two lines have elevators on some, but not all, vessels. They all offer free WiFi and a for-fee laundry service, aside from CroisiEurope that does not have a laundry service. Viking has an excellent tried and tested product, with plenty of attention to detail, that appeals to the North American market. Despite their lower fares, CroisiEurope and A-Rosa do not compromise on quality, and both lines offer a great value experience for passengers who want to try something different and get a real taste of Europe -- both on and off the ships -- and prefer the flexibility of only paying for the excursions that interest them.

2019-04-25T05:59:18Z

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2387

Welcome to the Origondo website. Please read the following General Terms and Conditions carefully; they govern the use of services through as well as the use of the Origondo website. These General Terms and Conditions come into effect on 30 November 2011. Origondo AG (company based in Streulistrasse 79b, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland, registered in the trade register of the canton Zurich under the number CH 020.3.036.642-7; UID CHE-136.537.396 [from now on "Origondo"]) provides its website, services and products to you in accordance with the following General Terms and Conditions (from now on "T&C"). By using the Origondo website you agree that you have read, understood and that you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. You agree whether you are viewing the website personally or accessing the website in any other way, and independently of whether you become a registered user of the Origondo website or not. With any registration you confirm your full legal capacity. If you enrol an organisation with such registration, Origondo may assume that you are entitled to act and to accept these T&C on behalf of this organisation. If you do not agree with these T&C, then do not use or access (or continue to use or access) the Origondo website. Deviations from these T&C are valid only on an individual case basis with explicit and written approval by Origondo. "User" = a registered visitor of the website. The user possesses either a "private user account" (for private use) or a "business user account" (for business use). "Organisation" = legal entity. This can comprise an enterprise, an association, a cooperative, a foundation, a non-governmental organisation or a non-profit organisation. "Project" = service which is rendered by a party under a service agreement with another party. "Buyer" = organisation or private user who posts a project and who awards an order for the respective service. "Provider" = organisation or private user who applies for a project and renders the respective service if awarded. "Hourly Project" = project in which the hours spent are added and invoiced once per week during the course of the project at an hourly rate which was fixed in advance. "Fixed Price Project" = project for which an in advance agreed amount for the respective service is determined. With medium sized projects the payment can be divided into partial payments, which become due as milestones are reached. Copyright – With the exception of the profiles, portfolios and projects entered by users, all content of this website (including text, designs, images, graphics, logos, pictures, artwork, illustrations, photographs, digital downloads, data compilations, software and video and/or audio material) is copyrighted material, registered trademarks and other intellectual property, exclusively owned by Origondo or its content suppliers and protected by international copyright laws or other intellectual property laws and treaties. Trademarks – The word mark Origondo is a registered trademark of Origondo. Other registered trademarks appearing on the website are property of the respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to or sponsored by Origondo. The Origondo website (including but not limited to graphics, logos, page headers, symbols, scripts and service names) constitutes the trade dress of Origondo. The trademarks and trade dress belonging to Origondo may not be used or reproduced without prior written and explicit approval from Origondo and, in particular, may not be used in connection with a product or a service which is not affiliated with Origondo. It is prohibited to use the trademarks or the trade dress in any manner that is likely to cause confusion among customers, in any manner dilutes the rights of Origondo or discredits Origondo. This includes the use of the trademark Origondo in metatags or any other "hidden text" for the purpose of gaining a higher ranking from search engines. License and Site Access – Origondo grants you a personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive license to access and use this website subject to the following exclusions for private and business purposes. This license does not include: downloads (excluding browser caching), redistribution by means such as framing techniques, commercial use or resale of the website functions or their content in its present or amended form. You agree not to decompile, reverse engineer or disassemble any software, procedures or other products accessible through the Origondo website. You consent not to insert any code or other products into the website or to manipulate the content of the website in any way that affects the users' experience, and not to use any data mining, data gathering or data extracting methods. Any unauthorized use automatically terminates the license granted by Origondo. Hyperlinks – You are granted a limited, revocable and non-exclusive right to create a hyperlink to the Origondo website as long as the link does not portray Origondo, its affiliates, or their products or services in a false, misleading, derogatory or otherwise offensive matter. Without express written permission you may not use any proprietary graphics or trademarks of Origondo and its affiliates as part of the link. Claims of Copyright Infringements – Origondo respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not propagate, support or condone infringing activities. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, are aware of any copyright infringing material on the Origondo website, or know of someone who is making unauthorized use of content of the Origondo website, please inform Origondo immediately via the contact details specified at the end of these T&C. Registration – In order to participate on the Origondo outsourcing platform and/or receive newsletters, you must be a registered user. No more than one user account may be opened per person. An organisation can incorporate however several user accounts with at least one user account being assigned administrator rights for the respective organisation. During the registration process you must provide Origondo with your full name, your date of birth, your country of residence, a valid email address, a screen name and a password of your choice. Any further data can be provided optionally by you. Origondo will need additional personal data from you in order to tender or accept a project. You confirm that you will provide truthful, accurate and current information about yourself as prompted by the registration form and if applicable, your organisation, and undertake to keep these truthful and up to date. Origondo is entitled but not obliged to review your profile data. The screen name is used in order to publicly identify you in connection with your posted content. You have the option of using your real name as your screen name, but by doing so you are choosing to disclose your identity in connection with your projects, comments and reviews on the Origondo website. Once selected, your screen name can no longer be changed. Account Access – Your user account is personal and not transferable, even within an organisation. Access and use are exclusive to you. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and your user identification, as well as for restricting access to your computer and your mobile device. If visiting the Origondo website from a public or shared computer or from an unprotected mobile device, you must log out at the end of each visit and - if possible - delete the browsing history and cache. You agree to accept full responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password. You agree to immediately notify Origondo of any unauthorized access to your account or password or any other breach of security. Minimum Age – If you are younger than 18, you can use the Origondo website only under supervision of a parent or legal guardian. Visitors under 18 years are strictly prohibited from creating a user account on the Origondo website. Content – Origondo enables you to send, post, upload or otherwise submit (from now on "submit") content such as profiles, portfolios, project data, feedback, reviews, reports, questions, suggestions, ideas, concepts, techniques and other content in the form of text, photo, graphics, music, audio, video, multimedia presentations, general data and/or information or other materials (from now on "content") by email, via the website, via questionnaires and other communication channels to Origondo. Use – By submitting content you permit Origondo to store and publish these in accordance with the respective data security level (see data security guideline section "Confidentiality and Data Security") on the Origondo website. By submitting content with the data security level "public" you grant a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable and fully sublicensable right, to Origondo and its affiliates to use, reproduce, distribute, show and publish these content in any medium, software or existing or future technologies of any kind, if necessary in adapted form and/or language. Origondo is under no obligation to respond, acknowledge or compensate financially or otherwise for any content provided by users. Security – Data security is very important to Origondo. Origondo has taken all economically reasonable technical and organisational measures to secure the content collected via the Origondo website. Nevertheless Origondo cannot rule out disruptions to operations and also can not guarantee that any malicious third party will not succeed in bypassing the measures taken by Origondo. You understand and consent that you alone carry the risk of loss and disclosure for content sent to Origondo. Code of Conduct – You agree to use the Origondo website in a diligent, appropriate and lawful manner and to abstain from intentional or unintentional violations of any applicable local, national or international law or any third party rights. In particular you agree not to submit any content containing one of the following components: fictitious tenders or offers; advertisement for services which are not offered via Origondo; references to other websites or services in competition with Origondo; harsh, offensive, vulgar or discriminating language; personal attacks or harassment; material which is harmful to young people; political campaigning; any form of solicitation; any form of "junk mail" or "spam"; information you do not have a right to make available under any law or contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements), software viruses or other malicious computer codes, files or programs. You also agree that the content is not illegal, obscene, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, libellous, hate-filled, defamatory, vulgar, false, incorrect, inaccurate, disruptive to the normal flow of a conversation, invasive of privacy or personal rights, infringing intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights or other intellectual proprietary rights of third parties), or racist, ethnically or otherwise objectionable or hurtful. You further agree to refrain from the following: conducting yourself in a vulgar or offensive manner while using the service of Origondo; collecting, storing or distributing personal data about other users or projects unless necessary for the fulfilment of the service agreement; impersonating any other person or entity; falsely stating or misrepresenting your affiliation with a person or entity; ignoring economic sanctions; disguising or misleadingly representing information concerning the origin of content; interfering with or disrupting servers or networks connected to the Origondo website; or disobeying any requirements, procedures, policies and regulations of networks connected to the Origondo website. Responsibility – Origondo takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for damage or losses of any kind incurred as a result of content received from you or any third party. Submitted content, regardless of the data security level, is subject to the sole responsibility of the person and, if applicable, the organisation, from which the content was received. Origondo does not control submitted content displayed on the website, and therefore does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, completeness or quality of such content. It is your responsibility to evaluate the information, opinions, advice or other content. Further you agree to indemnify Origondo and its affiliates from all claims resulting from content submitted by you. Right to Delete – You understand and agree that Origondo may, but is not obliged to, review any activities and content and that Origondo may reject, delete or remove these without advance notice at its sole and absolute discretion, for any reason or no reason. Deposit Account – Origondo keeps interest free deposit accounts in order to enable optimal handling of payments for all involved parties. For each registered private user and for each registered organisation only one deposit account is kept. The currency of the deposit account can be freely selected by the owner of the respective account during the registration process from the list of currencies provided on the Origondo website. The maximum deposit is limited to CHF 3'000.-. or because of possible currency fluctuations an amount approximately 10% lower in the currency selected for the account, as converted using Origondo's foreign exchange rate. Any possible excess is paid automatically by means of the preferential payout method. Escrow Accounts – In connection with the handling of a project Origondo may keep an interest free escrow account on behalf of the parties concerned with the respective service agreement. The withdrawal of a partial amount or the entire amount (which is deposited into the escrow account) and the crediting of the deposit account of one service agreement party are only possible when released by the other party. The acceptance of an invoice by the buyer is also considered as a release of this kind, even if this occurs implicitly by not contesting the invoice within the time limit. Safekeeping – All user deposits are collectively kept with a Swiss Bank in bank accounts separate from Origondo's trading accounts. One collective account is kept per currency offered. Deposits – Deposits can be made by different payment methods. Depending on the selected payment method several days may elapse before the amount becomes available in the bank account. Origondo undertakes not to add any additional delays. In the event of erroneous or incorrect credit notes by Origondo, Origondo has the right to cancel credit notes at any time without consultation with the customer. Further information on currently available payment methods can be found here. Payouts – Assets can be withdrawn from the deposit account via different payment methods. Depending on the selected payment method several days may elapse before the amount becomes available at its destination. Origondo undertakes for its part to initiate the payouts on the same day, subject to the condition that acceptance times where applicable were kept. Further information on currently available payment methods can be found here. Suspension – Origondo is authorized to suspend deposit accounts with suspicious transactions at short notice regardless of the above regulations until the situation is clarified, in order to review the legitimacy of the activities. Money Exchange – Money exchange is carried out exclusively in an accessory manner in connection with the payment of a service agreement: In other words, if the provider’s deposit account is being kept in a different currency to that of the buyer’s deposit account, then the payment is converted on transfer to the provider’s deposit account. The conversion takes place in accordance with Origondo's current foreign exchange rate. The user can personally change the nominal currency of the deposit account. This is however only permissible if the balance of the deposit account stands at zero, and no repayments to the deposit account from active escrow accounts are possible. Limitation of Turnover – Users not yet identified in accordance with the Swiss money laundry law are limited to a maximum expenditure of CHF 5'000.- per calendar year or the equivalent amount in another currency. This expenditure limit includes all amounts transferred to other users. Possible repayments must be returned with absolute certainty to their origin in order not to fall under this expenditure limit. Origondo will close your user account upon your request. This is only possible if the deposit account is fully paid out, all project activities are completed and all invoices are settled or, if applicable, further users within the same organisation are registered and continue the business activities. The contents of your user account, subject to a legal safekeeping period, are not deleted immediately, but only after the expiry of the required period. Further content such as for example project data, feedbacks and reviews are not part of your user account and remain in existence even after its termination. Please log in to see the link. Origondo reserves the right (however not the obligation) to close your account, delete related information and/or content and to terminate or restrict your use of the website temporarily or permanently, with immediate effect and without advance notice, at its sole and absolute discretion, if you violate the letter or spirit of these T&C. Should you be bound by ongoing service agreements at such time, Origondo may inform the parties concerned about the change to the status of your user account and provide summary information about the reason. Any deposits are only returned after full clarification of all open claims. If a user account remains inactive for a period of ten years, Origondo will close the respective account and is authorized to donate any dormant deposits to a charitable organisation in your country of residence. Price Quotes – In order to facilitate comparison of offers on tenders, if not mentioned otherwise these are listed excluding any value added tax. The prices agreed at the time of the conclusion of the service agreement are binding. The contractual currency is set by the buyer. Finder’s fees and other fees invoiced by Origondo are indicated excluding value added tax. Taxes, Tariffs and Duties – Depending on the location of the contracting parties it is possible that taxes, import/export duties or other duties are due. Correct billing is incumbent on the provider. The full and correct declaration of all services received and payment of taxes, tariffs and duties due in the country of destination are incumbent upon the buyer, irrespective of whether they are mentioned on the invoice or not. The complete and correct declaration of all services provided and the payment of taxes, tariffs and duties due in the country of origin are incumbent upon the provider, irrespective of whether they are mentioned on the invoice or not. Origondo reserves itself the right (but not the obligation) to carry out audits. You consent to provide Origondo on request and within an appropriate period with evidence in respect of your complete and correct declaration and payments. Legal capacity – By placing a tender for a project or placing a bid, you represent and warrant that you are 18 years of age or older and over the legal age of consent in your respective jurisdiction, and that you are legally competent to form a binding contract in your name, or as applicable in the name of your organisation. Project Tendering – When a user posts a tender on the platform, then this represents a non binding offer to buy a corresponding service from a provider as a buyer. The tender must be written in a language offered by Origondo. Before you post a project, please check your selection and data and correct any possible input errors. As a buyer you bear sole responsibility for the project not being in breach of either these T&C or of any laws in the country of origin, country of destination and Switzerland. Submission of a Bid – When a user places a bid for a project tender, then this represents a binding offer to provide the corresponding service under the conditions specified in the tender and bid. The bidder is bound to his bid 10 days beyond the expiry of the tender period. Since the finder’s fee is charged to the provider, it is implicitly included in the provider’s bid. Before you post a bid, please check your selection and conditions and correct any possible input errors. Conclusion of a Contract – The buyer and the potential provider have the opportunity to discuss the content of the service agreement, state it more precisely and adapt it, and also to negotiate the price of the service in a private forum before concluding the contract. The buyer can at any time accept an active bid from a provider, resulting in a valid contract coming into force. An email with the most important parts of the contract is sent to both parties. Independence of the Parties – You confirm that both contracting parties are and will remain independent. Neither these T&C nor the service agreement constitutes a partnership, a joint venture or any other employer-employee relationship. Furthermore you confirm that Origondo acts only as an independent intermediary, that no legal obligations for Origondo can arise as a result of the project activities, and that these are fully incumbent upon the contracting parties. Quality – You undertake to provide the highest quality in your communication and your work. You understand the fact that the reputation of Origondo also depends on you and that Origondo will therefore undertake all necessary steps to protect itself from apparent risks to it. Timeliness – You undertake to review project activities regularly, and to react promptly to inquiries and messages. Possible absences, as far as foreseeable, are to be announced at least one week in advance. Billing – With service agreements invoices are generated either once a week during the night leading to Monday (with hourly projects) or when a milestone is reached and at the end of the project (with fixed price projects), and this is notified on the Origondo website. The buyer has one week to contest the invoice (see chapter Conflict Resolution). Otherwise the invoice is considered to be accepted after the deadline has lapsed, and becomes due for immediate payment. Finder’s fees and other fees are paid directly following the completion of the corresponding transaction. The invoices for finder’s fees and other fees are however only generated at the beginning of the subsequent month for the entire past month. Payment Handling with Escrow Account – In the event that for a fixed price project you agreed to an escrow account, the buyer must deposit the total amount negotiated before the start of the project into the respective escrow account. By accepting the invoices, the buyer releases the corresponding amount. The amount is then credited to the provider’s deposit account. Payment Handling without Escrow Account – Projects can only be posted without an escrow account either once the buyer has activated a deposit method with an automatic direct debit or when sufficient funds for the first expected invoice have been deposited into the deposit account. The invoice must be paid immediately by the due date. This can alternatively take place with an automatic debit or by means of a transfer from the deposit account. Payment Default – A payment default may occur among other things if the buyer has requested a chargeback or if the buyer's credit card is no longer valid. In this case Origondo may suspend all projects in which this buyer is involved. Additionally the deposit accounts of the two contracting parties may be frozen until the incident has been clarified. All necessary steps may be initiated in order to collect the payment from the buyer, however Origondo cannot be held responsible by the provider for the collection of the debt or any payment default. Furthermore should Origondo conclude at its own discretion based on the project activities that the project has been bogus with fraudulent intentions, all necessary steps may be initiated in order to collect possible shortfalls from the provider too. It is possible for either contracting party to announce a project as being completed. If the final invoice has not been initiated, then this will happen automatically on the completion of the project. Afterwards the other party has one week to contest the project completion, in order to generate a possible invoice or call for rework (see chapter Conflict Resolution). Otherwise the project will be closed automatically after the deadline has lapsed and the contracting parties can not make further claims against each other. User Feedback – Upon the completion of a project, but also when a milestone is reached (with fixed price projects) or periodically (with hourly projects) both parties have the opportunity of evaluating each other publicly. This project-related feedback is assigned to the person responsible for the project for the evaluated party. This feedback comprises points awarded for certain quality criteria and a written comment. Users must provide objective and truthful feedback. Once a user has received more than one scored evaluation, Origondo may compile an aggregate score from these, whereby the points awarded are weighted according to an algorithm chosen by Origondo. In the event of several users of an organisation receiving feedback, Origondo may compile respective aggregate scores for this organisation. Computer-assisted Evaluations – If Origondo publishes results of computer-aided tests evaluating expertise, Origondo does not warrant that the test was truly and honestly taken by the respective user. Additionally Origondo may also compile and publish evaluations relating to quality characteristics and risk factors based on project activities. Self-Classifications – Classifications undertaken by the user himself concerning not only his expertise but also his geographical location and his identity have not been verified by Origondo, unless noted otherwise, and should always be interpreted with caution. Origondo does not offer any warranty for the process, the fulfilment and the quality of projects. The service agreement and its fulfilment including payment, as well as any possible conflict resolution, are incumbent solely on the buyer and provider. In addition Origondo will not take sides and offers no legal services such as consultation, agency or arbitration. You consent to any conflicts referring only to future payments. Payments already issued to the provider are considered as accepted and cannot be recovered. In addition hourly projects can only be challenged regarding the number of hours charged, but not the service provided. In the event of a conflict you consent to search swiftly, reasonably and efficiently for a solution out of court at first. For this purpose Origondo can suggest one or more arbitration mechanisms to you. Both parties must however voluntarily submit to the same arbitration mechanism in order for it to be applied. The parties may also agree on a different approach to finding a solution. Ultimately it is at your own discretion to start legal proceedings if you are of the opinion that the other party is not cooperating sufficiently. If a user or, if applicable, an organisation is involved in three or more unresolved conflicts; he or it may not post any new projects or place any new bids. Non-binding offer – All information on the Origondo website concerning Origondo's fees and services represent a non-binding offer, to which Origondo is not bound. Paid finder’s fees and other fees are not refunded. Finder’s Fee – As soon as a contact is established or identification is made via the Origondo platform, Origondo is entitled to a finder’s fee during the exclusivity period on the entire volume of business between the buyer and the provider, regardless of whether a service agreement comes into existence on the platform or not. The finder’s fee to which Origondo is entitled is owed when the provider issues his invoice and is deducted at the time the remuneration paid by the buyer is credited to the provider’s deposit account. In principle the finder’s fee is calculated as a percentage of the project volume. Its current level can be found here. Money Transfer Fees – Transfer fees may occur with deposits into a deposit or escrow account, with payouts from the deposit account, with refunds and also with failed transfers or chargebacks. The currently applied transfer fees can be found here. Money Exchange Fees – If the contractual currency of a project is not identical to that of the provider’s deposit account, then the payment is converted prior to the credit. An exchange fee is implicitly included in the exchange rate. The currently applied exchange rates can be found here. Price Adjustments – The finder’s fees and other fees displayed on the Origondo website are strictly binding. However, errors, increases in production costs and technical changes may occur and a price adjustment may be required. Such adjustments will be announced on the Origondo website at least 30 days in advance, will become valid on the effective date and will be applied to all transactions starting from that day. Excluded from this are price corrections due to errors, those are not announced and are immediately effective. Evasion – You undertake to evade Origondo neither actively nor passively and to conduct all payments for the entire business relationship with the brokered party which accrue during the exclusivity period for services performed via Origondo, in order that Origondo can determine and collect the finder’s fees. In particular tenders and bids may not contain contact details allowing a potential direct contact between the buyer and provider. Exclusivity – The exclusivity period is always 2 years starting from the first contact between buyer and provider via the Origondo website or due to the use of the Origondo website, regardless of the conclusion of a service agreement on the Origondo website. Subsequently the use of the Origondo online platform for the respective business relation is optional. Any partial or full attempts at evasion must be reported to Origondo immediately. Flat-rate Compensation – For an existing business relation between a buyer and a provider the option exists for the service agreement partners to buy themselves out of the obligation to pay the finder’s fee by paying a flat-rate compensation. This flat rate payment amounts to CHF 750.- or, if greater, one and a half times the finder’s fees which would occur with completion via the Origondo platform. The appraisal of the fees to be omitted is undertaken by projecting the last five invoices. If these are unavailable, Origondo shall conduct the estimate at its own discretion. As soon as the flat-rate compensation is paid, both contracting parties will be informed about the fact that the finder’s fee is compensated for and that direct payments are no longer excluded. Compensation – Buyers and providers are jointly liable for the damages caused by unpaid finder’s fees. The amount of the compensation is double the lost finder’s fees plus a flat rate fee of CHF 2'000.-. If the business volume cannot be determined clearly, Origondo may estimate it on the basis of comparable service relationships. Any deposits in the deposit account may be used for the payment of the compensation. For the benefit of its customers Origondo occasionally conducts market or consumer research concerning different aspects of Origondo’s products and services; in particular alternative versions of advertisements, offers and fees. Origondo reserves the right, to include or exclude you in such market and customer research at its own discretion, without prior notice. In an attempt to provide you with increased value, the Origondo website includes links to third party websites. Websites to which our site links do not operate under these T&C. Please consult the relevant terms and conditions of the linked websites. Origondo does not control, recommend, sponsor or endorse any such third party websites. You acknowledge and agree that Origondo shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource. When you visit the Origondo website or send e-mails to Origondo, you are communicating with Origondo electronically. You consent to receive electronic communications from Origondo Subject to you exercising the opt-out option, Origondo will continue to communicate with you by e-mail or by posting notices on the Origondo website. You agree that all agreements, invoices, notices, disclosures and other communications that Origondo provides to you electronically in its name or in the name of any other user, via e-mail or any other provisions via the Origondo website, will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that such communications be in writing. You agree that Origondo has no responsibility or liability for the timeliness, mis-delivery, deletion or failure to store any messages, other communications or other content maintained or transmitted to you by the Origondo website. You understand and agree that the Origondo services including all features, and functionalities associated therewith, the website and its content are provided on an" as is” and" as available” basis with all faults and without warranty, guarantee or representation of any kind, expressed or implied, including, but without limitation, warranties of merchant ability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. You accept that Origondo does not warrant that service descriptions or other content of any sales literature, or in any advertisement whether in newspapers, magazines, on the Origondo website or otherwise or in any invoice or other document issued by us is accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free and any changes, omissions or errors made may be made or corrected by Origondo without further liability. You expressly agree that your use of the Origondo website is at your sole risk and you assume all responsibility. You also accept the additional effort which might be caused by any failures, loss of data, delays or service interruptions. Origondo will not be liable for any damages you may suffer as a result of your use of the Origondo website or Origondo services, including, but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, and consequential damages. Origondo reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the functionality or other aspects of the website with or without notice. You confirm that Origondo shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, interruption to availability, suspension or discontinuance of the Origondo website. You agree that any future features, content and services that augment or enhance the current offering shall be subject to these T&C. No verbal or written information or advice given by Origondo or an authorized representative shall create a warranty or otherwise constitute a representation binding upon Origondo or its affiliated parties. In no event shall Origondo, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, agents, co-branders or other partners and employees be liable or responsible to you for personal injury or any special, incidental, indirect, consequential or exemplary loss or damages of any kind, or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or revenues, business interruption or any other commercial damages or loss, whether or not advised of the possibility of damage, and irrespective of any theoretical liability arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any Origondo services, Origondo’s website, including its content, features or functionalities associated therewith. You agree to indemnify and hold Origondo, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, agents, co-branders or other partners, and employees, harmless from any claim, demand or damage, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your purchased services, your use of the Origondo website, your posted content, your violation of the T&C, or your violation of any rights of another, whether you are a registered user or not. Certain jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, Origondo’s liability in such jurisdictions shall be limited to the extent permitted by law and shall be – to the extend permitted by law - limited to a refund equivalent to the fees originally paid to Origondo for its services. All links within these T&C towards other documents are provided for ease of use and do not incorporate the linked documents in these T&C. Those documents may also change at any time and without prior notice. Origondo reserves the right to make changes to its T&C at any time in its sole and absolute discretion. The current version of these T&C will supersede all previous versions. Service agreements established before a change of the T&C will remain governed by the T&C in force at the time of the service agreement. Origondo will attempt to provide you with notice of revisions to the T&C but cannot be held responsible if these notifications do not reach you. Therefore it is up to you to review the T&C periodically to determine if there have been changes made. The most current version of T&C can be reviewed by clicking on the "T&C" link located at the bottom of the pages of the Origondo website. Your continued use of the Origondo website after changes to the T&C are made shall confirm your agreement to follow and be bound by the T&C as modified. The failure of Origondo to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the T&C shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If by a court of competent jurisdiction any provision of the T&C is deemed invalid, void or for any reason unenforceable, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavour to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the T&C remain in full force and effect. These T&C are published in several languages. In the event of contradictions, the German version is authoritative. The T&C and the legal relationship between you and Origondo shall be governed and construed – subject to any imperative legal provisions to the contrary – exclusively by the laws of Switzerland with the exclusion of the law on the conflict of laws. You and Origondo agree to the extent permitted by law to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, over any dispute of any sort that might arise between you and Origondo or its affiliates. Origondo welcomes your questions, comments and requests concerning the T&C. You can contact Origondo at any time using the contact form. If for some reason you prefer to send your request anonymously you can also send a message with a click on the "feedback" button. Before sending an anonymous message, you must however log out as otherwise your name will be shown in your message to Origondo.

2019-04-20T20:15:48Z

https://www.origondo.com/en/terms

Terms & Conditions of Use of This Website The following terms and conditions of use (the “Terms and Conditions”) govern your (“You”) use of the www.skydancersintl.com Website (www.skydancersintl.com). BY USING THE WEBSITE, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS APPLIED TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE. If you do not agree to these Terms and Conditions, you may not access or otherwise use the Website. Services Available on the Website. www.skydancersintl.com may make certain services available to individuals who register on the Website (“Registered Users”) and general visitors to the Website (“Visitors”) (Registered Users and Visitors are collectively referred to as “Users”). For example, Users may be able to register to receive a print publication or an e-mail newsletter, participate in discussions with other Users, post comments, post and respond to an ad, promo, or enter a sweepstakes (collectively, “Services “, and with the Website, the “Website “). Users may also access articles and perform research. www.skydancersintl.com may make certain forums available on the Website that allow Registered Users the opportunity to participate in moderated discussions and to post information on our website. Registered Users who participate in these Forums are solely responsible for the information and other content they post on and through these Forums and should be aware that when they voluntarily disclose personal information (e.g., name, e-mail address, telephone number) on or through these Forums, that such information is generally accessible to and may be collected and used by other Registered Users, as well as Visitors, and may result in unsolicited online and offline messages from such viewers. Registered Users are encouraged to exercise discretion when providing personal information about themselves in and through Forums. Internet Access. You acknowledge and agree that in connection with your use of the Website you must: (a) provide for your own access to the internet and pay any service fees associated with such access, and (b) provide all equipment necessary for you to make such access and connection to the internet, including a computer, software, a modem and a means of connecting to or accessing the Internet. www.skydancersintl.com shall not be responsible for any malfunctions, errors, crashes or other adverse events that may occur from your use of the Website. Proprietary Rights. As between you and www.skydancersintl.com (including our affiliates), we are the owner and/or authorized user of any trademark, and/or service mark appearing on the Website, and are the copyright owner or licensee of the content and/or information on the Website, unless otherwise indicated. 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Persons who choose to access this Website from other locations do so on their own initiative, and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. Miscellaneous. The Terms and Conditions and the relationship between you and www.skydancersintl.com shall be governed by the laws of the State of Virginia, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and www.skydancersintl.com agree that any cause of action that may arise under this Agreement shall be commenced and be heard in the appropriate court in the State of Virginia. You and www.skydancersintl.com each agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the State of Virginia. The failure of www.skydancersintl.com to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms and Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms and Conditions is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms and Conditions remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Services or the Terms and Conditions must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred. Modifications to the Website and the Services. We may change these Terms and Conditions from time to time and at any time without notice to you, by posting such changes on the Website. We reserve the right, for any reason, in our sole discretion, to terminate, change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Website, including, but not limited to, content, features or hours of availability. By using the Website following any modifications to the Terms and Conditions, you agree to be bound by any such modifications to the Terms and Conditions. We may also impose limits on certain features of the Website or restrict your access to part or all of the Website without notice or penalty. SkyDancers International ships all products in the most robust possible packaging, and selects the most appropriate shipping carrier based on the items ordered. However, sometimes breakage may occur due to carrier mishandling while in transit to you. Should this happen, we will require at least two clear pictures of any damages to be either mailed or e-mailed to our customer service team (info@skydancersintl.com) as evidence for any claim we may make against the freight carrier, and as a requirement to receive credit or replacement merchandise. This claim must be filed within 7 calendar days of receipt of the merchandise. SkyDancers International reserves the right to replace damaged merchandise within 14 calendar days of notification by the customer. If a replacement item is available for shipping within that time period then a refund cannot be issued. If no replacement is available, the damaged item(s) will be refunded in full. Any damage that occurred during transit that was not visible at the time of delivery is considered concealed loss or damage. Due to rough handling in transit it is possible to damage the contents of a container without damaging the container itself.. If such a situation occurs it is important to contact SkyDancers International immediately for instructions on how to handle the claim. If a claim is to be filed it is important to save the container that the damaged merchandise arrived in. You must open all received boxes and inspect products for concealed damage within 7 calendar days of delivery and SkyDancers International must be notified at that time. At least two clear pictures are to be mailed or e-mailed to customer service immediately. After this timeframe claims may not be honored. 1. If an order is cancelled prior to shipment, payment will be fully refunded minus a 5% credit card processing fee. This is necessary to cover our costs incurred by the credit card processing agencies, which are non-reversible. Orders cancelled that were paid by cash or check will not incur this charge. Note that we consider your product to be “shipped” when it has been picked up from our warehouse by the freight carrier. After products are considered ìshippedî, cancellations are treated as returns as described below. 2. All returns require a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) from our Customer Service Department. Please call (818) 341-8060 to obtain an RMA. No returns will be accepted or any credit granted without an RMA. To provide any credit or replacement units we must first have a chance to receive and completely inspect your return. 3. All claims for non-damaged returns must be made within 30 calendar days of receipt of merchandise, and only apply to merchandise in perfect (as-shipped) condition and in the original, undamaged packaging. Shipping charges on returns shall be the responsibility of the customer and all returned items must be returned in “new” or “like new” condition, in undamaged original manufacturer’s packaging and crating materials when applicable and with all original product manuals and instructions. Items that have been partially or completely installed and/or assembled cannot be returned. After the product is received, inspected and verified to be in “like new” condition, a full refund will be provided on the product purchase price minus any original shipping charges and any return shipping charges and minus a 15% restocking/re-handling charge. For products sold with “Free Shipping” or “Flat Rate Shipping” the actual freight cost to originally ship the product will be deducted from your refund. 4. All claims for returns, damages or any other reason MUST BE MADE BY E-MAIL to info@skydancersintl.com. The reason for the return must be clearly stated in the e-mail. Before taking any action you must have received a response from SkyDancers International, with an RMA number. All shipments sent to SkyDancers International without an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) number will be refused and the associated charges will be the sole responsibility of the sender. 5. Shipping charges on returns due to no fault of the customer shall be the responsibility of SkyDancers International. All returned items must be returned in the condition in which they were received, in undamaged original manufacturer’s packaging, and crating materials when applicable, and with all original product manuals and instructions. After the product is received, inspected and verified to be in “as claimed” condition, a full refund will be provided on the product purchase. 7. Please note that custom orders may not be returned. If such products are damaged in shipment, we will assist you with freight claims, or if a product is found to have a manufacturing defect ñ it will be repaired or replaced based on manufacturer’s warranty policies. 8. Items being returned must ALWAYS be sent via ground transportation, insured by the sender. The sender is responsible for arranging the shipping carrier and pick-up for delivery back to SkyDancers International in Los Angeles, CA., unless the return is due to no fault of the sender (for example, damaged merchandise or wrong item received) Shipping charges for items that are sent back by any means other than ground transportation (cheapest available) will be the responsibility of the sender minus the cost of the ground freight charge. This includes when the item is being returned at our expense ñ it must be sent cheapest method possible. SkyDancers International will arrange the pick up and pay the freight and insurance for items returned due to manufacturer error, damages or any other reason that is not caused by the purchaser. 1. We use either DHL, FedEx or other freight carrier for our deliveries. In some cases (larger orders) your shipment may consist of a number of individual boxes placed on a single pallet. The pallet may need to be separated to be unloaded. Unless specifically requested, no truck lift-gate service is ordered for delivery. Please note that you may need to have at least one other person to help the driver with unloading. If you do require additional unloading help or lift-gate services from the carrier, you may contact the freight carrier directly to request such service, however any additional charges for custom unloading are to be your responsibility. 4. Due to the nature of the products we sell, boxes that have been dropped may not show obvious signs of external damage. This is very unusual, but could happen. You may want to open these specific boxes before the driver leaves to ensure that the contents do not have concealed damage. The driver may refuse to allow you the time to open specific boxes – if this is the case, open the boxes as soon as possible, but not later than 3 business days after the delivery, to inspect for damage. If we need to replace a damaged item it is in your best interest to contact us immediately, so we donít sell out of this item during the time you waited to report the issue. If the item is no longer available, customer service will assist you to make alternative arrangements, or arrange a refund. If the shipment is damaged and unusable, it may be necessary to refuse part or all of the order. Call our shipping department at (818) 341-8060 before refusing any shipment. SkyDancers International will assist in filing a freight claim for damaged freight if the carrier is our normal in-house carrier. If the carrier was chosen by the consignee then it will be the responsibility of the consignee to file such a claim. Should a shipment arrive with damages caused by the carrier, the carrier will return the merchandise “Dead Head” at no cost to either party. Do not attempt to return any shipment back to SkyDancers International or the originating factory without prior authorization from SkyDancers International. Please review the SkyDancers International Return Policy for additional information. Please note that any additional freight carrier’s fees such as re-delivery, special notification, storage due to lack of response to appointment requests and lift-gate services are the responsibility of the customer (unless otherwise noted on your order). SkyDancers International is only responsible (under the “Free Shipping” policy) for curbside delivery. SkyDancers International will pay the basic delivery charges to the curb, and the residential delivery charge (assessed by all carriers) only. If other services, such as in-home delivery services are requested by the customer and billed to SkyDancers International, all such fees shall then be re-billed to your credit card. If the freight carrier is unable to deliver the freight due to problems with contacting you or setting up delivery appointments, storage fees may be assessed by the carrier in such case all storage fees are the responsibility of the customer and shall be billed to your credit card. There will be an additional charge for shipping into Canada. Please call for a quote. The associated fees (customs duty, brokerage fees, etc.) are the sole responsibility of the purchaser. In the event that the purchaser does not pay these fees and they become billed back to SkyDancers International, then SkyDancers International is authorized to charge these fees to the purchaser’s credit card, or, if no card is available, to seek collection from the purchaser.

2019-04-22T11:04:43Z

https://skydancersintl.com/terms-conditions/

Hawaii's history in story and legend is ancient and proud, dating back at least a thousand years before American colonies became a nation in 1776. It is highly unlikely that the exact date when Polynesian people first set foot on these previously uninhabited islands will ever be known, nor much details about events occurring between that date and the first contact with Europeans. Modern Hawaiian history begins on January 20, 1778, when Captain James Cook's expedition made its first contact with the Hawaiian people on the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Captain Cook was not the first man to "discover" the Hawaiian Islands. He was the first known European to arrive. In the centuries before the arrival of Captain Cook, Hawaiian society was a highly stratified system with strictly maintained castes. Like medieval Europe and the other Polynesian nations, each caste had its assigned tasks and responsibilities. Not until 1810 was there a single king over all Hawaii with the reign of Kamehameha. Before then, there were a number of small kingdoms that divided the islands and were often at war with each other. In each of these small kingdoms, the king, headed Hawaii's social pyramid, assisted by a chief minister and a high priest. Next in ranking were the ali'i or chiefs, who varied in power depending on ancestral lineage and ability. Persons especially trained in the memorization of genealogies were important members of a chief's retinue because a chief's ranking in society was determined by the legitimacy of his genealogy. Chiefs ruled over portions of the land at the whim of the king, who could remove and replace them according to a system of rewards and punishments. Below the chiefs in temporal power, but often far above them in spiritual power, were the kahuna, or priest craftsmen. They were specialists in professions such as canoe-building, medicine, the casting and lifting spells, and in other fields. The majority of Hawaii's people were commoners (makaainana), subjects of the chief upon whose land they lived. They did most of the hard work: building fishpond walls and housing, fishing, farming, and making tapa cloth. The commoners paid taxes both to the king and to their chief and provided some warriors for the chief's army. These taxes took the form of food, clothing and other products. Below the commoners were a numerically small group of people known as "kauwa" or outcastes. Little is known of their origins or of their true role in Hawaiian society, although they were believed to be slaves of the lowest order. The Kapu System is what cemented the ancient social structure. The word, known in English as "taboo" meant sacred or prohibited. Violators were swiftly punished by being strangled or clubbed to death. A commoner had to be careful lest his shadow fall across the person of a high chief, and he had to be quick to kneel or lie down in the presence of such sacred persons. Birth, death, faulty behavior, the building of a canoe, and many other activities were regulated by the kapu system, which permeated all aspects of ancient Hawaiian life. The Hawaiian temples (heiau) contained images which symbolized the gods. The four major gods were known as Ku, Kanaloa, Lono and Kane, who represented the universal forces. Commoners performed their own simple ceremonies to family or personal gods (aumakua) while the complicated religious life of the ali'i required the services of a kahuna in large temple complexes. In some temples, human sacrifices took place. As a young man of about twenty-five, he was present at Kealakekua when Captain Cook's ships anchored there. At the time, various kings had attempted to unite the entire island chain under one command. Kamehameha proceeded to establish his rule of the entire island of Hawaii. With the Big Island, Hawaii, safely in his hand, he set out to conquer the leeward islands, moving through Maui, Lanai and Molokai. To take O'ahu, he built an immense fleet of canoes to transport his warriors. They landed in a two-pronged attack with half the fleet coming ashore at Waialae and half at Waikiki. The united force drove Oahu's defenders into Nuuanu Valley. Trapped in the valley, the Oahuans were forced to surrender or be pushed over the steep Nuuanu Pali. The King of Kauai and Niihau accepted Kamehameha as his sovereign. At this time, foreign ships arrived in increasing numbers, bringing domestic animals, trees, fruits and plants never before seen in Hawaii. They also brought diseases, alcohol and firearms. With little immunity to new diseases, the Hawaiians soon began to die in alarming numbers while the destruction of their traditional way of life brought on a melancholy loss of the will to live. She was Kamehameha the Great's favorite wife. A bold and intelligent woman, she served as kuhina-nui (premier sharing of kingly power) for Kamehameha II and as regent for Kamehameha III. She played a leading role in the overthrow of the ancient kapu system. In league with the King's mother, Keopuolani, she convinced Kamehameha II to sit down and eat with the women in violation of one of ancient Hawaii's most serious prohibitions. In old Hawaii, women were second-class citizens, more severely handicapped by endless kapus than the men of any class. With the overthrow of the kapu system, she was free to exercise her political authority. A great contrast from his father, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) was 22 years old when he became King. Kaahumanu confronted the King and said that it had been his father's wish for her to share rulership of the land. Had anyone attempted such audacity in front of Kamehameha I, the culprit might well have been slain on the spot. Liholiho offered no objection and split his power in half with Kaahumanu. Early in his reign, Kaahumanu and his mother, Keopuolani, talked him into sitting down to eat with a group of noble women in view of onlooking commoners. The signal had unmistakenly been given that the ancient religion of Hawaii was dying. Shortly thereafter, Liholiho ordered god images burned and heiaus demolished throughout the islands. In 1823, Kamehameha II, Queen Kamamalu and a few chiefs and women sailed to England. They toured London and joined in entertainments arranged in their honor by the British aristocracy. While there, the King and Queen contracted measles, which Hawaiians had little immunity and died. Kauikeaouli, the last son of Kamehameha the Great to rule, ascended the throne while he was ten years old, upon the death of his older brother. Kaahumanu governed as regent during Kauikeaouli's boyhood with the assistance of a council of chiefly advisors. He was King at a most difficult period in Hawaii's history. The influx of large numbers of foreign residents brought new problems concerning trade, credit, land titles and a plague of complications unknown to the simple Hawaii of just a few generations earlier. His reign of twenty-nine years was the longest of any Hawaiian monarch. During his young manhood, personal troubles worthy of a Greek tragedy embittered his life. Prince Kauikeaouli and his sister, Princess Nahienaena, were very much in love. Such unions were acceptable among the nobles of ancient Hawaii, just as they were among Egyptian pharaohs. Close relatives often married to keep the chiefly bloodlines pure and to assure children with powerful "mana." This word describes a Polynesian concept in which certain persons possess supernatural power and authority derived from ancestors who held mana. Tortured by love of her brother and guilt from new-found Christian beliefs that had made inroads into traditional Hawaiian ways, Princess Nahienaena drifted into despondency and died at the age of twenty-one. Long after Prince Kauikeaouli became King Kamehameha III, he regularly visited her grave in Lahaina, Maui. He was the first grandson of Kamehameha the Great to become King of Hawaii. During Kamehameha IV's reign and that of his successor, there was a growing agitation on the part of the sugar planters for annexation to the United States to secure a dependable market for their product. Many foreign residents did not wish to become citizens of Hawaii but wanted to be able to vote in elections. They wanted political power to safeguard their interests and would have preferred that common Hawaiians remain vote less. Brother to Kamehameha IV, Lot Kamehameha was the final direct descendant of Kamehameha the Great to sit on Hawaii's throne and the last Hawaiian monarch to reign in the old style. After him, Hawaii's rulers were elected by the Hawaiian Legislature. Problems with the United States continued as they had during his brother's reign. Agitation by certain elements in favor of annexation by the U.S. threatened Hawaii's independence. Lot tried to defuse relations by promoting a treaty of reciprocity that would allow Hawaiian sugar to enter the American market duty-free. The Civil War had cut the Union off from Southern sugar and so there was a great demand from the North for sugar. Racial troubles increased in Lot's era due to well-founded suspicions that the Whites were trying to take over the Kingdom. In 1866, a fist fight broke out in the Legislature between White and Hawaiian members. Such an incident was probably long overdue for it was a most peculiar legislature wherein white legislators refused to speak Hawaiian, the kingdom's official language, and native Hawaiian members refused to use English. Lot never married and had no child, and died without naming a successor. William Lunalilo was confirmed as King of Hawaii by the Hawaiian Legislature after an informal popular vote. Lunalilo was more liberal than his predecessor and made serious efforts to democratize the constitution. Once again, the question of the treaty of reciprocity with the U.S. rose. The Hawaiian sugar industry needed a natural market like the United States to absorb its increasing production. King Lunalilo allowed himself to endorse the cession of Pearl Harbor, though he felt it was an unwise accommodation to the powerful American giant. Once the news reached the Hawaiian public, they were outraged. Widespread disapproval of the idea forced its eventual abandonment. He died without naming a successor. King David Kalakaua was elected by the Hawaiian Legislature of 1874 amid scenes of violence and indignity. His rival for the throne was the dowager Queen Emma. King Kalakaua was concerned with the well-being of his native Hawaiian people. He maintained a policy of filling administrative posts with Hawaiians wherever possible, a practice that did little to calm the fears of American businessmen who had supported him against Queen Emma. While favoring his people, Kalakaua repeatedly and sincerely insisted that there was room in Hawaii for all kinds of people. King Kalakaua became known in Hawaiian history as the "Merry Monarch." He loved parties, balls and entertainment. He enjoyed talking to such noted visitors as Robert Louis Stevenson. He included mass dances of the ancient sacred hulas in his parties. Toward the end of his reign, his cabinet was overthrown, a new constitution deprived him of almost all his power, and an ill-fated insurrection took place favoring the abdication of Kalakaua and his replacement by Princess Lili'uokalani. She was already leading the nation as regent when King Kalakaua died in San Francisco. At the time that she became Queen, the political and economic climate was extremely complicated. Rivalry was intense between white businessmen who dominated the economy and native politicians who still retained the power to get things accomplished. The annexationists were badly outnumbered, and certainty the majority of the Hawaiian people, as well as many white residents, were against annexation. But the economic power structure was not intimidated by mere lack of popular support. On the whole, these businessmen were those who considered Hawaiians incapable of self-government. And, as businessmen, the annexationists believed that the monarchy was too inept to safeguard the interests of property and profits. Lili'uokalani announced her intention to promulgate a new constitution which would restore the power of the monarchy. A Committee of Safety was formed by prominent annexationists. They took it upon themselves to create a provisional government and a militia. The Queen could have declared martial law and arrested the conspirators, but she felt that this would begin armed conflict which would result in loss of innocent lives. The Committee of Safety then made its move and armed companies of militia took over government buildings and offices. The evening before, marines and sailors from the U.S.S. Boston were landed to keep order in Honolulu and their commander, Captain G.C. Wiltse, openly supported the Provisionals. The Queen was powerless. Finally on January 17, 1893, the Queen faced the inevitable and surrendered under protest. On January 31, Minister Stevens, at the request of the Provisional Government's advisory council, raised the U.S. flag over Honolulu. Annexation was thought to be a mere formality. President Cleveland's administration concluded that the monarchy had been overthrown by force with the complicity of the U.S. minister. In 1895, Hawaiians loyal to the Queen staged a revolt in an attempt to restore Lili'uokalani to the throne. The revolt was soon crushed and the Queen was arrested and placed under detention in an apartment of her own I'olani Palace. She was also forced to relinquish any claim to the throne as a condition to obtain amnesty for the Hawaiian rebels. President McKinley signed the resolution of annexation on July 7, 1898. It may have been a happy day for businessmen and new ruling classes of Hawaii, but for many others it was a day of sadness. Large numbers of royalists and common Hawaiians gathered quietly at the home of deposed Queen Lili'uokalani and Crown Princess Kaiulani to silently console them and pay homage to the last monarch of the forever-lost kingdom. Victoria Kawekiu Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapala Kaiulani was born to Princess Miriam Likelike and Archibald Cleghorn, a prominent Honolulu businessman born in Edinburgh Scotland. She was to be the next heir to the thrown following Queen Lili'uokalani. Her exotic beauty was admired by many including Robert Louis Stevenson and she was pursued by eligible bachelors from the nobility and upper stratas of European society. She became the first member of the Hawaiian royalty to receive the kind of training traditionally given to the children of European monarchs in preparation for ascending the throne. She sailed to England, traveled widely, was taught many languages, literature, social graces and other subjects. Hawaiians referred to Kaiulani as "Our Last Hope" as annexation seemed imminent. After annexation, her vitality disappeared, she sought to get away from Honolulu with its atmosphere of swaggering American soldiers and the arrogance of the new government. With a defiance that had become part of her character since the downfall of the Monarchy, Kaiulani went horse riding too often in the chilly wind and rain. Doctors diagnosed her condition as rheumatism of the heart and she died March 6, 1899, surrounded by her heartbroken father, friends and relatives. The missionaries who came to Hawaii in the earliest years were a majority from puritan New England, which explains much about their character. The missionaries reduced the Hawaiian language to written form, enabling the Hawaiian people to read and write in their own language. Schools were established throughout the islands as rapidly as possible. By 1831, only 11 years after the missionaries' arrival, some 52000 pupils had been enrolled. The missionaries introduced western medicine and undertook the Kingdom's first modern census. And the missionaries are credited to helping Hawaii become and remain an independent nation at a time when Hawaii was ripe for colonization. The first newcomers were people of European ancestry, beginning with the English under Captain James Cook and then Americans who came as explorers, adventurers, businessmen and missionaries. At first, all foreigners were known as "haole," which means outsiders or non-Hawaiians. Since the first foreigners that the Hawaiians saw were Europeans, the word soon came to refer strictly to persons of European ancestry. This meaning continues to this day although sometimes it can also be used derogatorily. Despite efforts of missionaries and other bluenoses among the non-Hawaiian population, the hula never became extinct although it faded from public sight during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. For a long time this authentic native dance form existed underground, banished from the towns but still quietly and surreptitiously performed among the rural people. It was performed as a form of religious rite to honor the gods and the chiefs. It was usually dedicated to its patroness Laka, goddess of the hula. The ancient Hawaiian dances were performed by both men and women. The men's hulas were vigorous and forceful while those of the women were more sensual and esthetic. Early missionaries disliked the hula they saw. The sight of scantily clad women moving in rhythm to poetry offended their puritan ethics and they made strenuous efforts to abolish this aspect of ancient Hawaiian culture. hula in all its splendor and joy. During his reign, professional hula troupes became popular again and they meandered about entertaining people at luaus, public occasions and the theater.

2019-04-20T20:35:10Z

https://makani-hawaii.com/hawaiian-root.html

The salivary gland is rhythmically controlled by sympathetic nerve activation from the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which functions as the main oscillator of circadian rhythms. In humans, salivary IgA concentrations reflect circadian rhythmicity, which peak during sleep. However, the mechanisms controlling this rhythmicity are not well understood. Therefore, we examined whether the timing of parasympathetic (pilocarpine) or sympathetic (norepinephrine; NE) activation affects IgA secretion in the saliva. The concentrations of saliva IgA modulated by pilocarpine activation or by a combination of pilocarpine and NE activation were the highest in the middle of the light period, independent of saliva flow rate. The circadian rhythm of IgA secretion was weakened by an SCN lesion and Clock gene mutation, suggesting the importance of the SCN and Clock gene on this rhythm. Adrenoceptor antagonists blocked both NE- and pilocarpine-induced basal secretion of IgA. Dimeric IgA binds to the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) on the basolateral surface of epithelial cells and forms the IgA-pIgR complex. The circadian rhythm of Pigr abundance peaked during the light period, suggesting pIgR expression upon rhythmic secretion of IgA. We speculate that activation of sympathetic nerves during sleep may protect from bacterial access to the epithelial surface through enhanced secretion of IgA. Mammals possess circadian clock systems that control various physiological phenomena such as body temperature, sleep-wake cycles, and liver metabolism1, 2. Circadian clock systems are organized by a central clock called the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN)3, and by peripheral clocks located in many peripheral organs4, 5. In addition to this system, biological functions of metabolism and the immune system are also known to affect circadian rhythms6, 7. IgA is a type of antibody that works mainly in the mucosal immune system. It is abundant in the mucus of saliva and the small intestine8. Since plasma cells produce IgA in the salivary glands, there is a large amount of IgA in saliva. Therefore, IgA plays an important role as the first line of defense in oral immunity9. Monomers of IgA form dimeric IgA (dIgA) through the J chain. This dIgA binds the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) on the basolateral surface of epithelial cells and forms the IgA-pIgR complex. The IgA-pIgR complex is transported to the lumen from the basolateral surface. Proteolytic cleavage occurs at the apical surface, and a fragment of pIgR becomes a secretory component (SC) that binds dIgA. In this way, secretory IgA (sIgA) combines with other SCs, and free SCs are released. As a result, sIgA binds to luminal bacteria and prevents them from accessing the epithelial surface9. Therefore, a reduction in salivary IgA levels allows bacterial access to the epithelial surface and leads to various diseases such as upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and periodontal disease10. A few studies demonstrated that salivary IgA concentrations display diurnal variations in human experiments, and concentrations peak during sleep11, 12. However, the underlying mechanism of this diurnal variation is unknown. Therefore, signaling processes modulating IgA secretion may be controlled by circadian rhythms. Because it is difficult to obtain an adequate amount of saliva from mice under normal conditions, some experiments used pilocarpine for parasympathetic stimulation and norepinephrine for sympathetic stimulation13. Saliva secretion is known to decrease following an adrenoceptor agonist injection compared to that upon injections with pilocarpine14. Previous studies have demonstrated that the submandibular gland expresses clock genes, which show robust circadian rhythms15, 16. Rhythmical Clock gene expression in the salivary gland is controlled by sympathetic activation via the SCN17. In addition, both mRNA and protein expression of adrenoceptors in the submandibular glands were reported to show circadian rhythm18, 19. Therefore, the timing of administration of adrenoceptor agonist injections may affect the secretion of IgA in saliva. In addition, we examined whether the SCN clock directly controls time-dependent IgA secretion via adrenoceptor activation or is indirectly controlled by the adrenal gland through sympathetic regulation. We aimed to investigate how sympathetic nerve activation affects salivary IgA secretion rhythms through control of the biological clock. We investigated whether salivary IgA secretion reflects circadian rhythms. Submandibular glands are regulated by both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems14. Therefore, we used pilocarpine to stimulate the parasympathetic nerves and NE to stimulate the sympathetic nerves. We observed a significant increase in IgA concentration during the light phase in the NE group, but not in the control group, as assessed by one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test (Fig. 1a,d, Supplemental Table S1). Cosinor analysis revealed significant but weak rhythmicity in control groups, whereas NE groups showed strong rhythmicity (supplemental Table S2). The mice used in Fig. 1a–c are different from those in Fig. 1d–f, since we performed independent experiments to confirm the findings. The circadian rhythm dynamics of salivary IgA secretion. (a) Salivary IgA secretion rhythms in the case of administration of either pilocarpine (control) or a mixture of pilocarpine and norepinephrine (NE) (n = 8–10). (b) Saliva flow rhythms in control versus NE groups (n = 8–10). (c) Salivary IgA volume rhythms. Data were calculated by multiplying the results from Fig. 1a and b (n = 8–10). (d) Salivary IgA concentration rhythms in control versus NE groups (control, n = 4; NE, n = 9–10). (e) Total protein concentration rhythms in saliva (control, n = 4; NE, n = 9–10). (f) Salivary IgA concentration rhythms were normalized to total protein concentration (control, n = 4; NE, n = 9–10). (g) Salivary IgA concentration rhythms in mice fasted for 24 hours (n = 9–12). Values are shown as the means ± SEM. (a,c,d) **p < 0.01, NE group ZT6 vs. ZT18 (one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc test). (f) *p < 0.05, NE group ZT6 vs. ZT18 (Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn post-hoc test). (g) ***p < 0.001 **p < 0.01, NE group ZT0, ZT6 vs. ZT18 (one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc test), #p < 0.05, cont. group ZT6 vs. ZT18 (Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn post-hoc test). The saliva flow demonstrated weak circadian rhythm with peak at ZT4.8 (Zeitgeber time, ZT0 represents the start of the light period and ZT12 represents the start of the dark period) for the control and ZT11.4 for NE groups (Supplemental Table S2, Fig. 1b). The total amount of salivary IgA displayed a similar rhythm (Supplemental Table S2, Fig. 1c) as that observed for IgA concentrations (Fig. 1a). Because the stimulation of the sympathetic nerve triggers saliva protein secretion14, we next investigated whether total protein concentrations in saliva show a circadian rhythm. Protein concentrations did not display a circadian rhythm (Supplemental Table S2, Fig. 1e). Therefore, salivary IgA concentrations were normalized by the total protein concentration in the sample. However, this still showed a clear oscillating rhythm (supplemental Table S2, Fig. 1f) that was similar to that for IgA concentrations alone (Fig. 1d). We showed representative data for the diurnal variations of the protein concentrations, which set ratio 1 at ZT0 in saliva (Supplemental Fig. S1a). A portion of the data in Fig. 1a and d are also used in Supplemental Fig. S1b and a, respectively. In both the control and NE groups, the protein concentration ratio did not demonstrate any significant circadian rhythm (Supplemental Fig. S1a, Supplemental Table S2). However, the diurnal variation of the salivary IgA ratio increased during the light phase compared to the protein concentration ratio (Supplemental Fig. S1b, Supplemental Table S2). To investigate whether feeding rhythm, chewing action, or amylase secretion affect salivary IgA secretion, we measured salivary IgA concentrations in mice after a 24-hour fasting period. IgA concentrations showed similar rhythms as those observed in non-fasting mice (Fig. 1g). However, the rhythm peaks in both the control and NE groups appeared 2–3 hours in advance (Fig. 1g, Supplemental Table S2) compared to the those in the free feeding group (Fig. 1a,d). These results suggest that salivary IgA secretion displays circadian rhythm. Moreover, this rhythm is not affected by saliva flow, total protein in saliva, feeding rhythm, or chewing action. Therefore, we next assessed the IgA concentration in the submandibular gland, and found that it showed weak circadian rhythm with peak at ZT3.6 (Supplemental Fig. S2, Supplemental Table S2). These results suggest that the rhythm of salivary IgA secretion is partially related to IgA concentrations in the submandibular gland. Because salivary IgA secretion shows a circadian rhythm, we examined whether salivary IgA secretion is controlled by the SCN. To investigate the influence of the central circadian clock on salivary IgA concentrations, we lesioned the SCN (SCNX) and compared IgA concentrations with those in the sham-operated group. We confirmed the success of the SCNX surgery using actograms for both the pilocarpine (Fig. 2a,c) and NE (Fig. 2b,d) groups. A representative histological analysis of the SCN lesion is shown in Supplemental Fig. S3, demonstrating that the SCN was completely destroyed. We prepared two sets of SCN-lesion groups (pilocarpine and NE) to account for the possibility of recovery after the SCN lesion. We found that the SCNX group still had rhythmicity of salivary IgA secretion in both the pilocarpine (Fig. 2e) and NE (Fig. 2f) groups. However, the rhythmicity and amplitude, as evaluated using the cosinor method, were dampened in the SCN lesioned group compared to that in the sham group (Supplemental Table S2). These results suggest that the rhythm of salivary IgA secretion is highly controlled by SCN. The circadian rhythms of salivary IgA secretion in SCN-lesioned mice. (a,b) Representative double-plotted actograms of locomotor activity for one sham mouse and one SCNX mouse after pilocarpine (a) or NE administration (b). (c,d) Representative Chi-squared periodogram analysis of behavioral data for one sham mouse and one SCNX mouse after pilocarpine (c) or NE (d) administration. Straight lines in each figure indicate statistical significance. (e,f) Salivary IgA concentration rhythms in non-SCN-lesioned (sham) and SCN-lesioned (SCNX) after pilocarpine (e) or NE administration (f) (n = 4–6). Values are shown as mean ± SEM. (f) $$p < 0.01, sham group (one-way ANOVA). **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05 vs. sham ZT18. #p < 0.05 vs. sham ZT0. It has been suggested that the submandibular gland responds to sympathetic nervous stimulation17 (Fig. 1a,d). Therefore, we investigated the relationship between the sympathetic nervous system and the regulation of salivary IgA concentrations. We administered agonists and antagonists of NE at ZT6, since the salivary IgA concentration peaks at this time point (Fig. 1a). The salivary IgA concentration increased significantly with agonist treatment, and decreased with antagonist treatment (Fig. 3a). Antagonists significantly blocked the NE-induced increase in salivary IgA concentrations. In addition, both α receptor agonist phenylephrine and β receptor agonist isoproterenol increased salivary IgA concentrations at ZT6 and ZT18. However, the observation that the salivary IgA concentration is highest at the light phase was also observed in both agonists-administered groups (Fig. 3b,c). Both phenylephrine and isoproterenol showed a circadian pattern of IgA secretion (Supplemental Fig. S4a,b, Supplemental Table S2) similar to NE-induced secretion. These results suggest that the sympathetic nerve activation-induced increase of salivary IgA secretion is caused by an activation of α, β, or both receptors. Effects of sympathetic nerve agonists/antagonists on salivary IgA secretion. (a) Salivary IgA concentrations after application of the sympathetic nervous system agonist (norepinephrine 1 mg/kg) and/or antagonist (prazosin 1 mg/kg, propranolol 1 mg/kg, or 10 mg/kg) with pilocarpine. “+” indicates the reagent that was mixed and administered to mice, “−” indicates the reagent that was not administered to mice. (b,c) Salivary IgA concentrations when the α receptor (phenylephrine, 5 mg/kg; the numbers in parentheses are the number of samples) (b) or β receptor (isoproterenol, 5 mg/kg; n = 4–5) (c) were stimulated at ZT6 or ZT18 (n = 3–5). Values were shown as means ± SEM. (a) ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, vs. the NE(+)-Prazosin(−)-Propranolol(−) group (one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc test). (b) *p < 0.05, ZT18 group cont. vs. PE (Mann-Whitney test). (c) **p < 0.01, iso group ZT6 vs. ZT18 (Student’s t-test). Clock genes, which are reportedly expressed in the submandibular gland, demonstrate circadian rhythms15, 20. We show that salivary IgA secretion rhythms appear to be controlled by sympathetic activation through the SCN. Sympathetic stimulation causes circadian fluctuations and resulted in a circadian change in salivary IgA secretion. To investigate the submandibular gland’s sensitivity to and the time frame for sympathetic stimulation, we administrated NE during the light phase (ZT4) or the dark phase (ZT16), and compared the phase shift for Per2 gene abundance in the submandibular gland. When NE was administrated at ZT4, the Per2 phase advanced in a concentration-dependent manner (Fig. 4b,c, Supplemental Table S2). However, when NE was administrated at ZT16, the Per2 phase was unaffected (Fig. 4d,e). In all groups, the circadian rhythmicity of Per2 abundance, as evaluated by cosinor analysis, was maintained in vehicle- or NE- treated mice (Supplemental Table S2). Sensitivity of the submandibular gland clock to sympathetic nerve stimulation, as evaluated by IVIS in PER2::LUC mice. (a) Experimental schedule. White and black bars indicate 12 hours of light and dark. Triangles under the white and black bars indicate the time at which the reagents were administered intraperitoneally. Bi-directional arrows under the white and black bars indicate the period of measurement using IVIS. (b,c) Average peaks of phase of PER2::LUC rhythms (b) and PER2::LUC expression rhythms (c) in submandibular glands after mice were administered the reagent at ZT4 for 3 days (n = 3–6). (d,e) Average phase peaks of PER2::LUC rhythms (d) and PER2::LUC expression rhythms (e) in submandibular glands after mice were administered the reagent at ZT16 for 3 days (n = 4–8). Values were shown as the means ± SEM. (b) **p < 0.01, control vs. NE 2 mg/kg (one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc test). Next, we examined whether NE directly affected the submandibular gland function. Under in vitro conditions, NE administration at the rising phase of Per2 rhythm significantly advanced the Per2 rhythm phase without affecting the amplitude (Supplemental Fig. S5a–c). NE administration at ZT4 in vitro caused an increase in Per1 gene abundance but not abundance of the Per2 gene in the submandibular gland (Supplemental Fig. S5d,e). These results suggest that the submandibular gland has a higher sensitivity to sympathetic stimulation through direct action during the light phase than during the dark phase. In other words, there is a time window during which the submandibular gland responds to external NE stimulation. Our results suggest that ZT4 is the approximate time during which the submandibular gland has the highest sensitivity to NE. We investigated whether the rhythmicity of salivary IgA secretion is controlled by pIgR. The pIgR mediates transcytosis of IgA secretion; therefore, we investigated whether the abundance of the Pigr gene in the submandibular glands demonstrates circadian rhythms. We observed that Pigr abundance in the submandibular glands increased during the light phase, and peaked at ZT2.2 (Fig. 5a, Supplemental Table S2). To investigate the influence of the central circadian clock on Pigr abundance rhythms in the submandibular glands, we next performed a SCNX, which was compared with the sham group. In the sham group, there was a significant difference between ZT6 and ZT18, whereas no significant differences were observed among the SCNX groups (Fig. 5b). To determine whether the circadian rhythm of Pigr mRNA abundance is directly regulated by the Clock gene, Pigr mRNA abundance was examined using Clock −/− mice. The Clock mutation led to decreased Per2 gene abundance in the submandibular gland (Fig. 5c). The levels of Pigr mRNA increased and their rhythm was lost upon Clock mutation (Fig. 5d). These results suggest that the abundance of Pigr fluctuates with the circadian rhythm, and this may be controlled by the SCN clock and Clock gene. Therefore, the rhythm of Pigr in the submandibular glands may influence salivary IgA secretion caused by sympathetic nerve activation. Circadian rhythm for Pigr gene abundance in submandibular glands in intact SCN-lesioned and Clock −/− mice. (a) Relative mRNA abundance rhythms of Pigr (n = 4) in the submandibular gland. (b) The relative mRNA abundance of Pigr in SCN-lesioned mice compared to that in sham-operated mice at ZT6 and ZT18 (n = 6–7). (c,d) The relative mRNA abundance of Per2 (c) and Pigr (d) in Clock −/− mice compared to that in wild-type (WT) mice at ZT6 and ZT18 (n = 4 for each group). Values are shown as means ± SEM. (a) *p < 0.05, ZT1, ZT5 vs. ZT13 (Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn post-hoc test), (b–d) *p < 0.05, ZT6 vs. ZT18 or WT vs. Clock −/− (Mann-Whitney test). It is well known that cortisol secretion in saliva is rhythmically controlled via the SCN clock, and secretion peaks during the early daytime hours21. External application of corticosterone or dexamethasone resets the phase activity of clock gene expression rhythms22, 23. Therefore, we investigated the contributions of corticosterone and adrenal gland activity to the NE-induced salivary IgA secretion rhythm. We prepared two sets of adrenal gland-lesion groups (pilocarpine and NE) to account for the possibility of recovery after the adrenal gland lesion. We lesioned the adrenal glands of mice, which resulted in decreased serum concentration of corticosterone (Fig. 6a,b). In sham-operated mice, groups treated with pilocarpine or pilocarpine and NE showed similar circadian IgA secretion (Fig. 6c,d, Supplemental Table S2), similar to that uninjured animals (Fig. 1a,d). In lesioned mice, pilocarpine alone or in combination with NE produced a pattern of salivary IgA circadian secretion similar to that observed in sham-operated mice (Fig. 6c,d, Supplemental Table S2). These data suggest that adrenal gland activity may not contribute to the NE-induced salivary IgA secretion rhythm. Effects of adrenal gland lesions on salivary IgA secretion. (a,b) Serum concentrations of corticosterone in the adrenal gland lesion (ADX) group compared to the sham-operated group for pilocarpine-only (a) and pilocarpine/NE-treated mice (b) (n = 3–6). (c,d) The rhythm of salivary IgA concentrations in the ADX group compared to that in the sham-operated mice for pilocarpine-only (c) and pilocarpine/NE-treated mice (d) (n = 3–6). (a) p = 0.0952 (Mann-Whitney test), (b) ***p < 0.001 (Student’s t-test), (c) sham, p = 0.0538 (Friedman test); ADX, p = 0.0882 (Friedman test), (d) sham, p = 0.0678 (Friedman test); ADX, **p < 0.01 (Friedman test). In this study, we observed a clear circadian rhythm for salivary IgA concentration, total IgA content, and IgA per secreted protein in the saliva of NE- and pilocarpine-treated mice. These effects peaked during the light phase. A similar rhythm was seen in the pilocarpine-only group, but there were no significant peak values. Since salivary IgA concentrations increased following an additional NE administration, this suggested that NE signaling provides timing signals instructing salivary IgA secretion. We also concluded that this rhythm was not affected by saliva flow or total protein concentrations in saliva because these factors showed weak circadian rhythms. The rhythmicity of salivary IgA secretion was unaffected by 24-hour fasting, but the peak time was delayed. We previously showed that 24-hour fasting advanced the peripheral clocks evaluated by in vivo imaging of the bioluminescence rhythm in Per2::Luc mice4. Thus, rhythm formation of salivary IgA is not required for feeding or chewing. There are two possible mechanisms for NE-induced salivary IgA secretion being the highest at ZT6 and the lowest at ZT18. One may be NE receptor sensitivity. In addition to our observations in Fig. 5, it has been reported that the submandibular gland shows circadian rhythms for clock gene expression15, 16, 20. We previously reported that the mRNA of adrenoceptors, including the α and β receptors, showed higher levels of expression during the light phase compared to that during the dark phase19, suggesting that external injection of NE has a strong effect during the light phase. The phase shifting effect on Per2 gene expression rhythms in the salivary gland following daily NE injections was time-dependent. Our in vitro analyses demonstrated that NE directly affects clock function in the submandibular gland (Supplemental Fig. S5). Furthermore, significant advances in the phase after NE injections occurred with respect to the light phase, but not the dark phase. These data suggest that an inactive daytime period leads to a time window for external NE-induced salivary IgA secretion. The peak phases of IVIS data in ZT4 and ZT16 saline-treated groups demonstrated 2–3 hour differences between the two groups (Fig. 4). We previously reported that stress at an early inactive period caused phase advancement. Furthermore, stress at the early active period led to phase delay, suggesting that saline injection may be a stress stimulant, causing phase shifts of the submandibular gland clock. Another mechanism involves the process of IgA secretion. It is known that pIgR mediates transcytosis of IgA9. Therefore, we investigated whether Pigr gene abundance levels in the submandibular glands show circadian rhythms. We found that Pigr expression in the submandibular glands increased during the light phase, suggesting that NE induced high salivary IgA secretion at ZT6. However, the IgA concentration in the submandibular gland showed weak circadian rhythms. These results suggest that the rhythm of Pigr abundance levels together with IgA concentration in the submandibular gland may influence the rhythmicity of salivary IgA secretion. These two mechanisms may act cooperatively to produce the observed daily rhythm of NE-induced salivary IgA secretion. It is known that sympathetic nerve stimulation, such as through administration of isoproterenol, β-receptor agonists14, or NE decreases saliva flow. In addition, secretion of saliva is under sympathetic nervous control, and the proteins in saliva increase upon stimulation of the sympathetic nerve24. Therefore, it seems that the rhythmicity of salivary IgA secretion was not affected by the rhythms of saliva protein production. We observed that salivary IgA concentrations increased following treatment with an adrenoceptor agonist and decreased upon antagonist administration. In addition, both α and β receptor agonists increased salivary IgA secretion at both ZT6 and ZT18, and the peak in salivary IgA secretion during the light phase was still observed after treatment with both agonists. The stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system increased salivary IgA concentrations. However, it did not change the tendency for salivary IgA concentrations to be highest at ZT6 and lowest at ZT18. Pilocarpine-induced salivary IgA secretion showed a weak rhythmicity, and the highest levels were observed during the light phase. These results suggest that the sympathetic α and β receptor system mainly control the daily rhythm of salivary IgA secretion instead of the parasympathetic nerve system. We found that the circadian rhythmicity of Pigr mRNA abundance in the submandibular glands was dampened in SCN-lesioned and Clock −/− mice. This strongly suggests that circadian signals from SCN and/or the circadian clock in the submandibular gland contribute to the NE-induced salivary IgA secretion rhythm. Vujovic et al. reported that the submandibular gland contains an autonomous clock that can persist in isolation from nervous input but is influenced by the sympathetic nervous system17. This report may support the requirement for sympathetic nerve activation for salivary clock function. In human saliva, some substances such as cortisol, melatonin, and amylase show clear daily rhythms21, 25, 26. Therefore, we examined the possible interactions between NE-induced salivary IgA secretion and these substances. Similar to injections of NE19, 27, corticosterone caused phase-resetting in the peripheral clock of the salivary glands22, 23 in mice. Furthermore, stress decreased salivary IgA secretion in humans28. Interestingly, lesions of the adrenal gland in mice caused a pattern of pilocarpine- or pilocarpine-/NE-induced salivary IgA secretion similar to that in sham-operated mice. This suggests that NE-induced salivary IgA secretion is independent of adrenal gland function. We used the ICR strain of mice, which do not produce melatonin because of a mutation in an enzyme required for melatonin synthesis29. In this biological context, melatonin makes no contribution to salivary IgA secretion. To assess the role of amylase in the current experiments, we examined NE-induced salivary IgA secretion after 24 hours of fasting. The circadian pattern of salivary IgA secretion was very similar to that in the 6-hour fasting control group, suggesting a weak contribution of amylase to salivary IgA secretion. It has been reported that a decrease in salivary IgA secretion may lead to URTI and periodontal disease10. We found that the amount of salivary IgA, which should increase during sleep, did not increase after disruption of the biological clock. These results suggest that salivary IgA does not increase when the biological clock is disturbed or when there is a higher risk of the aforementioned diseases. In addition, since the submandibular glands are controlled by the autonomic nervous system, salivary IgA secretion and saliva flow are modulated by sympathetic nervous stimulation compared to that by only parasympathetic nerve stimulation. Therefore, parasympathetic stimulation during the inactive sleep period may only weakly increase the basal secretion of IgA to protect from bacterial invasion. In our daily life, the sympathetic nervous system may become activated during inactive periods such as staying up late or under excessive stress, which leads to salivary IgA secretion. We speculate that activation of sympathetic nerves during sleep may protect from bacterial access to the epithelial surface through a significant secretion of IgA. Animal care was conducted with permission from the Committee for Animal Experimentation at Waseda University (permission # 2016-A059), and in accordance with the Law (No. 105) and Notification (No. 6) of the Japanese Government. Male ICR mice (7 weeks old) were purchased from Tokyo Laboratory Animals Science Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). For in vivo and in vitro monitoring of PER2::LUC bioluminescence, PER2::LUC mice (7 weeks old) were obtained, as previously described19, 20, 22. In some experiments, we used male ICR Clock mutant (Clock −/−) mice and wild-type (WT) mice, and confirmed the genotypes by polymerase chain reaction30. The Clock mutation in mice was identified by an N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis screen of circadian periods31. Mice were housed at 22 ± 2 °C with a humidity of 60 ± 5% under a 12-hour light/dark cycle. The lights were turned on at 08:00 and turned off at 20:00. Mice were fed a normal commercial diet (Catalog #MF; Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) and were given ad libitum access to water. Mice were fasted for 6 hours before collection of saliva to exclude effects associated with feeding, and to ensure the consistency of the oral environment among experiments (except in Fig. 1g). In one experiment (Fig. 1g), mice were fasted for 24 hours to avoid any effects from feeding. Saliva was collected from the oral cavity using a micropipette after intraperitoneal injection of pilocarpine (1 mg/kg) (Wako Pure Chemical Industries Ltd., Osaka, Japan) to stimulate saliva secretion (366 ± 54 μL for 5 min) through parasympathetic nerve activation. NE and saline injection weakly stimulates saliva secretion (2.0 ± 1.0 μL for 5 min). Therefore, to examine the role of NE on IgA secretion, a mixed solution of pilocarpine (1 mg/kg) and NE (1 mg/kg) (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA.) (NE group) was used to stimulate the sympathetic nerves (232 ± 18 μL for 5 min), which was compared to the pilocarpine (1 mg/kg) injection alone group (control group). Drugs were dissolved in 1X phosphate buffered saline (PBS). PBS injection alone (0.2 ± 0.15 μL for 5 min) did not induce saliva secretion. Although we need at least 2.5 μL saliva for the IgA assay, a combination of PBS and NE injection did not yield enough volume of saliva. It has been reported that the aspiration method does not suppress the diurnal variation in salivary IgA secretion compared to the swab method in human experiments32. Therefore, we used pipettes to collect saliva. Saliva collection commenced 5 min after reagent injection. Saliva was placed in microcentrifuge tubes containing protease inhibitors and placed into an ice bath. Saliva samples were clarified by centrifugation at 16,000 × g for 10 min at 4 °C. Samples were stored at −80 °C until the analyses were performed. We used prazosin hydrochloride (1 mg/kg) (Wako Pure Chemical Industries Ltd., Osaka, Japan) and propranolol hydrochloride (1 or 10 mg/kg) (TOKYO KASEI, Tokyo, Japan) as adrenoceptor antagonists. Phenylephrine (5 mg/kg) (Wako Pure Chemical Industries Ltd, Osaka, Japan) and isoproterenol (5 mg/kg) (Tocris Bioscience, Bristol, United Kingdom) were used as α receptor and β receptor agonists, respectively. Pilocarpine was mixed with 1X PBS and used as a control treatment. Mice were euthanized and the submandibular glands were collected. Tissues were placed into protease inhibitor-containing microcentrifuge tubes, and incubated in an ice bath. Samples were homogenized using a micro-homogenizer and then centrifuged at 3,000 × g for 20 min at 4 °C. The supernatants were stored at −80 °C until the analyses were performed. Salivary IgA levels were quantified using a Mouse IgA Ready-SET-Go! ELISA kit (eBioscience, Vienna, Austria), according to the manufacturer’s protocols. The protein concentration of each saliva sample was quantified using a BCA Protein Assay Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA), using bovine serum albumin as a standard, following the manufacturer’s protocols. To investigate the role of the SCN on salivary IgA secretion, we performed SCN lesions on mice. As described previously20, bilateral thermal lesions of the SCN were performed stereotaxically under anesthesia using midazolam/medetomidine hydrochloride/butorphanol tartrate. After surgery, locomotor activity displayed arrhythmicity in SCN-lesioned mice. We scarified mice to assess the histology of lesion sites by staining with cresyl violet, and to verify the extent of injury according to our previous paper20. A lesion electrode was inserted into in the cerebral cortex of mice in the sham group. General locomotor activity was recorded with an infrared radiation sensor (F5B; Omron, Tokyo, Japan) as previously published19, 20. Double-plotted actograms of locomotor activity were recorded in 6-min epochs using ClockLab software (Actimetrics Ltd., Wilmette, IL, USA). Chi-squared periodogram analysis was used to examine the rhythmicity of behavioral data with the period (20–30 hr). As described previously19, adrenal gland lesions were made using the dorsal approach under anesthesia with midazolam/medetomidine hydrochloride/butorphanol tartrate. Briefly, the skin on the back was shaved, and an incision of about 1 cm was made parallel to the spinal cord. The adrenal glands were removed via small openings made in the left and right muscle layers of the spinal cord. To maintain ion balance, mice with adrenal gland lesions were provided with 0.9% NaCl water ad libitum. A similar operation was performed on mice in the sham group, without removal of adrenal glands. Serum corticosterone levels were quantified using the AssayMax Corticosterone ELISA Kit (Assay Pro, MO, USA) according to the manufacturer’s protocol. In vivo monitoring of PER2::LUC bioluminescence was performed using an IVIS kinetics system (Caliper Life Sciences, Hopkinton, MA, USA, and Summit Pharmaceuticals International Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), as previously described20. Mice were anaesthetized with a mixture of isoflurane (Mylan Inc., Tokyo, Japan) and concentrated oxygen. Anesthetized mice were injected subcutaneously on the back near the neck with D-luciferin potassium salt (15 mg/kg; Promega, WI, USA). Among anesthetic drugs, isoflurane did not affect phase and free-running period of liver clock ex vivo monitoring of PER2::LUC mice33. Images were acquired using an in vivo imaging system (Perkin Elmer, Waltham, MA, USA) with a 1-min exposure time from the dorsal- and ventral-up positions 8 and 10 min after luciferin injection, respectively. Images were obtained six times a day at 4-hour intervals (ZT9, 13, 17, 21, 1, and 5). Mice were returned to their home cages between imaging sessions. Photon counts for each tissue were analyzed using the Living Image 3.2 software (Perkin Elmer). The average photons for the six time points for each day were designated as 100%, and the bioluminescence rhythm was expressed as a percentage of each set of six points for individual organs. The peak phase, amplitude, and rhythmicity of normalized data were determined using the single cosinor procedure program (Acro.exe version 3.5)34. In vitro bioluminescence monitoring data were analyzed as previously described34. PER2::LUC mice were euthanized by cervical dislocation for the evaluation of bioluminescence rhythmicity in the submandibular glands. Submandibular gland sections on a membrane (Millicell cell culture inserts, Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA) were explanted into a 35 mm petri dish and cultured in 3.0 mL Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM, Invitrogen, Waltham, MA, USA) supplemented with NaHCO3 (2.7 mM), HEPES (10 mM), kanamycin (20 mg/L), insulin (5 μM/mL), putrescine (100 μM), human transferrin (100 μg/mL), progesterone (20 nM), sodium selenite (30 nM), and D-luciferin potassium salt (0.1 mM). Treatment with each reagent was at a specific time point between the first and second peak. Before the reagent was added, 3.0 mL of cultured medium was transferred to other dishes at 37 °C, and the membrane was transferred to each medium in turn (1 mL reagent medium for 30 min; 1 mL wash medium for 10 min; and 1 mL remaining medium for monitoring of bioluminescence). Bioluminescence was monitored for 1 min at 10-min intervals with a dish-type luminometer (LumiCycle, Actimetrics, IL, USA). The amplitude of the waveform was calculated using R software35 from the recorded data. The phase and period length were measured using Actimetrics software for LumiCycle with sin fitting as previously described36. Submandibular glands from ICR mice were incubated in vitro at 37 °C in modified Krebs-Ringer medium containing 0.2% glucose, and bubbled with a gas mixture of 95% O2 and 5% CO2. Krebs-Ringer medium was used in the treatment group containing 10 μM NE. Submandibular glands were incubated for 1 hour. After incubation, these tissues were collected and real-time RT-PCR was performed. Total RNA was extracted from tissues, using phenol. Aliquots of 50 ng of total RNA were reverse-transcribed and amplified using a One-Step SYBR reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) kit (TaKaRa Bio Inc, Shiga, Japan) in Piko Real (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, Kanagawa, Japan). Primer pairs were designed based on published data for the Gapdh, Per1, Per2, and Pigr genes. The relative levels of the target gene PCR products were normalized to that of Gapdh. The data were analyzed using the delta-delta Ct method. The primers for Gapdh were as follows: Gapdh-F, 5′-TGGTGAAGGTCGGTGTGAAC-3′; Gapdh-R, 5′-AATGAAGGGGTCGTTGATGG-3′. The primers for Per1 were as follows: Per1-F, 5′-CAAGTGGCAATGAGTCCAACG-3′; Per1-R, 5′-CGAAGTTTGAGCTCCCGAAGTG-3′. The primers for Per2 were as follows: Per2-F, 5′-TGTGTGCTTACACGGGTGTCCTA-3′; Per2-R, 5′-ACGTTTGGTTTGCGCATGAA-3′. The primers for pIgR were as follows: pIgR-F, 5′-AGTAACCGAGGCCTGTCCT-3′; pIgR-R, 5′-GTCACTCGGCAACTCAGGA-3′. Statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism software, version 6.03 (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA). Equal variance and normal distribution tests were performed to select the appropriate statistical approach. Parametric analysis was conducted by one-way, one-way repeated or two-way ANOVA with a Tukey test and Student’s t-test. Non-parametric analysis was performed by a Kruskal-Wallis or Friedman test with Dunn and Mann-Whitney tests. The data are presented as means ± SEM. The value p < 0.05 was considered significant. Mohawk, J. A., Green, C. B. & Takahashi, J. S. Central and peripheral circadian clocks in mammals. Annual review of neuroscience 35, 445–462, doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-060909-153128 (2012). Tahara, Y. & Shibata, S. Circadian rhythms of liver physiology and disease: experimental and clinical evidence. Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology 13, 217–226, doi:10.1038/nrgastro.2016.8 (2016). Antle, M. C. & Silver, R. Orchestrating time: arrangements of the brain circadian clock. Trends in neurosciences 28, 145–151, doi:10.1016/j.tins.2005.01.003 (2005). Kuroda, H. et al. Meal frequency patterns determine the phase of mouse peripheral circadian clocks. Scientific reports 2, 711, doi:10.1038/srep00711 (2012). Tahara, Y., Aoyama, S. & Shibata, S. The mammalian circadian clock and its entrainment by stress and exercise. The journal of physiological sciences: JPS 67, 1–10, doi:10.1007/s12576-016-0450-7 (2017). Cermakian, N. et al. Crosstalk between the circadian clock circuitry and the immune system. Chronobiology international 30, 870–888, doi:10.3109/07420528.2013.782315 (2013). Nakao, A. Temporal regulation of cytokines by the circadian clock. Journal of immunology research 2014, 614529, doi:10.1155/2014/614529 (2014). Nikfarjam, J. et al. Oral manifestations in selective IgA deficiency. International journal of dental hygiene 2, 19–25, doi:10.1111/j.1601-5037.2004.00060.x (2004). Johansen, F. E. & Kaetzel, C. S. Regulation of the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor and IgA transport: new advances in environmental factors that stimulate pIgR expression and its role in mucosal immunity. Mucosal immunology 4, 598–602, doi:10.1038/mi.2011.37 (2011). Neville, V., Gleeson, M. & Folland, J. P. Salivary IgA as a risk factor for upper respiratory infections in elite professional athletes. Medicine and science in sports and exercise 40, 1228–1236, doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31816be9c3 (2008). Park, S. J. & Tokura, H. Bright light exposure during the daytime affects circadian rhythms of urinary melatonin and salivary immunoglobulin A. Chronobiology international 16, 359–371 (1999). Dimitriou, L., Sharp, N. C. & Doherty, M. Circadian effects on the acute responses of salivary cortisol and IgA in well trained swimmers. British journal of sports medicine 36, 260–264 (2002). Kimura, I., Miyamoto, H., Chen, F. J. & Kimura, M. The streptozocin-diabetic state depresses saliva secretion stimulated by pilocarpine and noradrenaline in mice. Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin 19, 384–387 (1996). Imamura, T. K. et al. Inhibition of pilocarpine-induced saliva secretion by adrenergic agonists in ICR mice. Clinical and experimental pharmacology & physiology 39, 1038–1043, doi:10.1111/1440-1681.12023 (2012). Furukawa, M. et al. Clock gene expression in the submandibular glands. Journal of dental research 84, 1193–1197 (2005). Zheng, L., Seon, Y. J., McHugh, J., Papagerakis, S. & Papagerakis, P. Clock genes show circadian rhythms in salivary glands. Journal of dental research 91, 783–788, doi:10.1177/0022034512451450 (2012). Vujovic, N., Davidson, A. J. & Menaker, M. Sympathetic input modulates, but does not determine, phase of peripheral circadian oscillators. American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology 295, R355–360, doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00498.2007 (2008). Basso, A. & Piantanelli, L. Influence of age on circadian rhythms of adrenoceptors in brain cortex, heart and submandibular glands of BALB/c mice: when circadian studies are not only useful but necessary. Experimental gerontology 37, 1441–1450 (2002). Tahara, Y. Age-related circadian disorganization caused by sympathetic dysfunction in peripheral clock regulation. Aging and Mechanisms of Disease 2 (in press, 2017). Tahara, Y. et al. In vivo monitoring of peripheral circadian clocks in the mouse. Current biology: CB 22, 1029–1034, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.04.009 (2012). Steptoe, A., Cropley, M., Griffith, J. & Kirschbaum, C. Job strain and anger expression predict early morning elevations in salivary cortisol. Psychosomatic medicine 62, 286–292 (2000). Tahara, Y. et al. Entrainment of the mouse circadian clock by sub-acute physical and psychological stress. Scientific reports 5, 11417, doi:10.1038/srep11417 (2015). Sasaki, H. et al. Forced rather than voluntary exercise entrains peripheral clocks via a corticosterone/noradrenaline increase in PER2::LUC mice. Scientific reports 6, 27607, doi:10.1038/srep27607 (2016). Proctor, G. B. The physiology of salivary secretion. Periodontology 2000 70, 11–25, doi:10.1111/prd.12116 (2016). Kozaki, T., Kubokawa, A., Taketomi, R. & Hatae, K. Effects of day-time exposure to different light intensities on light-induced melatonin suppression at night. Journal of physiological anthropology 34, 27, doi:10.1186/s40101-015-0067-1 (2015). Strahler, J., Berndt, C., Kirschbaum, C. & Rohleder, N. Aging diurnal rhythms and chronic stress: Distinct alteration of diurnal rhythmicity of salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol. Biological psychology 84, 248–256, doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.01.019 (2010). Terazono, H. et al. Adrenergic regulation of clock gene expression in mouse liver. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100, 6795–6800, doi:10.1073/pnas.0936797100 (2003). Engeland, C. G. et al. Psychological distress and salivary secretory immunity. Brain, behavior, and immunity 52, 11–17, doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2015.08.017 (2016). Kasahara, T., Abe, K., Mekada, K., Yoshiki, A. & Kato, T. Genetic variation of melatonin productivity in laboratory mice under domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107, 6412–6417, doi:10.1073/pnas.0914399107 (2010). Kudo, T., Tamagawa, T. & Shibata, S. Effect of chronic ethanol exposure on the liver of Clock-mutant mice. Journal of circadian rhythms 7, 4, doi:10.1186/1740-3391-7-4 (2009). Vitaterna, M. H. et al. Mutagenesis and mapping of a mouse gene, Clock, essential for circadian behavior. Science (New York, N.Y.) 264, 719–725 (1994). Hamuro, K., Kotani, Y., Toba, M., Kakumoto, K. & Kohda, N. Comparison of salivary IgA secretion rate collected by the aspiration method and swab method. Bioscience of microbiota, food and health 32, 107–112, doi:10.12938/bmfh.32.107 (2013). Kubo, Y., Tahara, Y., Hirao, A. & Shibata, S. 2,2,2-Tribromoethanol phase-shifts the circadian rhythm of the liver clock in Per2::Luciferase knockin mice: lack of dependence on anesthetic activity. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 340, 698–705, doi:10.1124/jpet.111.188615 (2014). Refinetti, R., Lissen, G. C. & Halberg, F. Procedures for numerical analysis of circadian rhythms. Biological rhythm research 38, 275–325, doi:10.1080/09291010600903692 (2007). Shinozaki, A. et al. Potent Effects of Flavonoid Nobiletin on Amplitude, Period, and Phase of the Circadian Clock Rhythm in PER2::LUCIFERASE Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts. PloS one 12, e0170904, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170904 (2017). Narishige, S. et al. Effects of caffeine on circadian phase, amplitude and period evaluated in cells in vitro and peripheral organs in vivo in PER2::LUCIFERASE mice. British journal of pharmacology 171, 5858–5869, doi:10.1111/bph.12890 (2014). This work was partially supported by the Council for Science, Technology, and Innovation, SIP, “Technologies for creating next-generation agriculture, forestry, and fisheries” (funding agency: Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution, NARO) (S.S.), and by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) (26220201) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (S.S.). M.W. designed and performed the experiments and wrote the paper. M.K., K.H., H.S., A.H., and H.M. performed the experiments. K.O. provided advice regarding the experiments and wrote the paper. A.N. and S.S. conceived, supervised, and designed experiments.

2019-04-20T23:30:20Z

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-09438-0?error=cookies_not_supported&code=f7a36948-7119-42ab-b3d8-5e517a712631

After a few years I figured it was time to update my about page, a lot of stuff has changed since I started this blog !! Hi, Thanks for stopping by my blog !! I am excited you are here and hope to share with you my love for all things beaded , and sparkly !! I am a bead collector (hoarder) , there is just no other word for it ! I have not met a bead I did not like !! I have been collecting and beading for over twenty three years !! I started when our youngest was around 18 months and he is going to be 26 in a few weeks now !!! I love looking at them, and playing with them, creating with them. I have boxes and boxes of them, you know the ones, the little plastic ones with the twenty compartments, I have 118 of them, pretty much all sections taken ,seed beads, all kinds of regular beads, charms, pendants, and findings in all finishes, , gold plated , antique brass, silver plated,copper and Tibitian silver . I could probably have more containers, but I have doubled up many compartments when I only have a few of each bead, finding , or charm . I do have around six or seven empites waiting until they are needed !! since taking these of my studio we have moved a few times , but I left these pictures of my studio in our apartment so you can see the studio I had for a while. It was a very nice one !! You can tell by my flower they were taken in the winter. So, we loved living closer to my husbands work, he works 45 miles from our town, so we had moved up there to try it out but missed our family, friends and house, so we moved back to town but into another house we bought as our kids were still renting the house we left for the apartment and had our son in laws extended family living with them and could not move out. No one would have rented to that many people and pets, but our house was plenty big enough to handle it. I set up my studio in our new house, knowing our youngest son would be moving in a few months later when his apartment contract was up. He needed a break to recoup after four years out on his own. So, this was my beading closet with all my wonderful beads , findings ,and sequins , along with all my other fun craft supplies were in this closet. It was a step down from my apartment studio, but it was a place to work as I had a table set up in there to work on. I knew it would be hard to not have a room for my stuff, but the reward was getting our son home one last time, and I wanted to enjoy that time with him. I knew once he moved out again, he would not be moving back again. I also knew our really big living room could be used for my bead storage and still have plenty of room left for us to live in it !! here is is, my bead boxes, a lot less back then, and my desk, and the dining room right there for me to work in . It was a lovely big room !! We really missed our lovely old house so, that Thanksgiving weekend when we found out the extended family were moving back to Calif after the start of the year, we asked the kids if they wanted to trade houses with us so we could move home , and they were thrilled. So, March of the next year 2014 we got to come home and they rented our other house instead !! DO not ever move two households from one house to the other in one day, it is grueling . 12 hours almost to the minute is what it took. This is the new studio after we moved in, what a nightmare !!! What we thought would be an easy move, was not at all !! looking at the hall door, so disheartening !! I finally got my side set up and again, a lot less bead boxes than I have now !! he made me some beading tray shelves, something I have always wanted for the projects I always have going !! all was well, we were starting to work on some stain glass pieces together and then our world changed again. Our son in law had been hit by a car while jogging in early Dec , and finally came home from the hospital but could not work. they lived almost an hour away and they needed to get back in town near family . So, we offered them to move in with us, our son was planning on moving out but bumped it up a few months so they could get their girls registered and starting school. We could have kept our studio intact, but they needed that bigger front room as their room, so we moved our studio AGAIN to the middle bedroom so they could have that big front bedroom for their room. Giving them, the front living room, that front bedroom and a bedroom for their three girls, our grandaughters, behind the living room, kitty corner to their bedroom across the hall. We are next to their bedroom on the same side of the hall as we had been, but it gave them those front three rooms. It is a much narrower room then we had and it is not as much room to store stuff so I am constantly in a mess until we can gut out the closet and put in shelves. Our son in a law is doing much better and should eventually fully recover with just some minor reminders of injury we are hoping , but right now he is dealing with nerve regeneration so he can walk normally and that can take years but he is working very hard to do what he can. We are grateful to have him, he was lucky to survive and we know we are so blessed that is he is here and doing better every day !! So, here we are now, I am all moved in, set up for the most part, but kind of a mess as I have a lot less room in here, and Davids side is a mess and still not together. We started a kitchen reno becuase our 90 year old kitchen was just getting too hard for that many, now a family of 7 to work in. We have been at it for months and are hopefully getting the cupboards up soon and will have a stove again soon too !! After the kitchen is done, we have to get the kids house ready to sell and that entails some bathroom renovations. So, it will not slow down for a long time around here !! here is my side of our current studio, the picket in the background has been all replaced and it is pretty again, a big job but well worth all our hard work. A much nicer view out my studio window. with ongoing work in the ktichen and him working so much overtime, Davids side is a hot mess of his glass studio stuff and the kitchen reno but at least his uncut glass is safe on its shelf . Hopefully this winter, we can get him back up and running, but not until a lot of other things are done, but the room will not be changing again while the kids are here, but once they move out again, I will be moving back in my big pretty front room, David will take over this room for his studio at that point. He loves this room more. My work bench today as I took these pictures, looks fun, but it is an empty wine bottle I got from our daughter and son in when I saw it in the ktichen, I am drinking crystal light, but I was taking pictures of wine charms and wine bottle charms for listings and posts. I am not really a wine drinker at all, so it’s pretty funny I make wine related charms !! I absolutely love to take apart old, worn, or maybe not attractive things, that have pretty parts and use them to make new things. I find it very satisfying to see what I can do to give those items new life, be it a bead, charm or finding. Searching for and finding these treasures at garage sales and thrift stores is one of my very favorite things to do.Both David and I cherish those days we get rarely anymore to go out to yard sales and thrift stores. In times past, we spent many a day enjoying the hunt on his days off, , but just too much going on and too much overtime being worked , but someday soon we will be able to hunt at sales for treasures again !! Why a blog ? I love to bead and want to meet other beaders and artists and writers and learn from them and teach what I know when possible. I love to learn new things and always enjoy sharing what I have learned. I am an avid reader and like many life time readers I also love to write, always have, so a blog was a perfect fit for me. I have a store on Etsy by the same name as my blog and have a link to it on my home page. I am constantly growing and changing what I do and look forward to do more interesting things and learning a lot. I recently discovered the Etsy community section of the site, and what a wonderful thing that it. If you are interested in selling your creations and have not started, or have an Etsy store already, but like me, are still learning and need to learn a lot more, check out their community area, there are so many interesting videos and teams to join. Etsy is a wonderful community of artistic people !! I am constantly amazed and inspired by the artists on Etsy. I am going to be trying a lot of new things here and will take you on my journey !! I am hoping to meet other beader/ bloggers and see what they are up to and share what I learn and learn from them !! Even after more than twenty three years I have so much to learn, and there is always something new to conquer in the world of beading !! I have not tried more than I have tried, raising kids for 30 years, I stuck to what I knew and love and now I am ready to step out of my comfort zone and try new techinques and learn new skills !! On my personal side, I am a wife of almost 35years to my wonderful hubby and we share four kids and seven grandkids. They keep us pretty busy. Both my husband David and I are also avid but still amatuer photographers and he is also a wonderful stain glass artist, currently not working on his art because of the reasons mentioned above, but hopefully soon he will be working with me again on wonderful items !! So, we love to take photos, go to yard sales , thrift stores, and antique stores , and watch tv, we like tv a bit too much, I will admit that, and we love to be creative. We have a lot of fun and enjoy our life together and see our kids and grandkids whenever we can which is a lot more now with all the grand kids in the same town, only our oldest son, a SGT in the army lives in another state. He is trying to get closer to us and his kids as fast as he can but makes it out as often as he can for visits !! I have been at this blogging thing for a while now, that is why I decided to update this page as it was very out of date !! I am enjoying the blogging community and meet so many amazing people this way !! I am a big blog reader as well and have made some true friends along the way with some fellow bloggers !! So, to sum it up, I am a wife, mom , and Grandma but still a little girl inside that loves my beads and wants to create. I am still relearning how to play more in the studio, and not worry so much about what will sell, but what sounds like fun to make !! I am a work in progress !! Since updating this a year ago next month, I have closed my jewelry making portion of my business and I am concentrating on sequins and seed beads, my true passions. I will update this page completely at some point, but for now, just will add this update. My newest posts from the end of August 2016 amd start of Sept 2016 have much of my plans laid out. I will update pictures of the studio with a lot more beads and sequins as soon as I can. It is a pretty big mess right now as I get ready to launch my new website Sequinsandsilver.com in October 2016. Thanks so much for joining me on my journey, I hope to join yours too !!! Hi, thank you for visiting and following. We may share our ideas on beading too. I wqould like that !! I am always looking for new ideas and suggestions and I am always happy to share my experience and ideas with others !!! You have a great blog, actually, looks like you have more than one, and Etsy and Twitter too! How wonderful! I’ve “tweeted” a few times, but for the life of me, I just can’t figure out how to do it right! LOL! Oh well, never too old to learn, right? I haven’t posted much about my personal life. Our lives have differences, but we have many things in common too. Didn’t have my first car till I was in my 30’s, and even then, it was only so I could chauffeur the kids around. Didn’t drive out of town till my 40’s, s-c-a-r-y!!! Found myself divorced at 50. Thought my husband was encouraging me to go to nursing school after the kids were on their own so we could have more financial security together. Guess he just didn’t want to feel guilty about leaving me alone, in debt, AND no way to support myself. HA! My way of conquering the whole “feeling useless, stupid, & scared” thing was to buy an old RV and drive it all the way to California alone (well, I brought my dog). After a couple of years of traveling I had several internal discussions about “wanting my life back” when it occurred to me that I didn’t really want “that” life back. I wanted a NEW life. MY life. So I came back home and have been working on “finding” (and liking) myself ever since. God bless you, Steph! We’re all in this together. Keep at it and you WILL find your way… YOUR way! I am so glad you dropped by and said hi !! Thanks so much for your kind words. I have always been a writer, since I was a kid so blogging came natural to me. I have three main blogs I use, but somewhere out there are a few others that never took off !! Wow, you have been through so much but it sounds like you are finding yourself and I think that is somethign we are all doing, especially after having kids !! I started my time to be me blog for that reason but I do not post there as often as I should. It is not that I have found myself and do not need that blog anymore, I am just too all over the place, ADD is as active in my adult life as it was in my childhood !! I jump around too much and need to find ways to direct my thoughts a bit better, a life long battle unfortunately !! Twitter is much easier than you think once you get the hang of it. I got it hooked up to the blog through the widget section and it took time and I honestly could not tell you how I did it, but I kept at it until I got it hooked up. setting up a twitter account is a breeze and then Etsy is free, you just pay 20 cent per item to list them for four months and they have buttons to click as you list to put it on your facebook or twitter it !! If I can do it all, Trust me, anyone can !!!! As I figured it out and set it up I really was proud of my accomplishments, we did not grow up with all this, so figuring it out in my fifties was a challenge !! It is all a lot of fun and meeting new people is the reason I do it !! I am trying to look for new blogs more often and that is how I found you. I love to find like minded people to learn from and share with, I have no beaders in my day to day life and so I enjoy sharing my joy of beading online with all the wonderful people I meet here and on thier blogs !! Right back at ya, you will find your way too and we can encourage each other. If I can help you with anything, just ask, I will do my best to help all I can, I figured it out once, I can at least look at what I did and see if I can explain it, lol !!! I have no doubt you will figure it all out without any help, it just seems a bit overwelming at first !! Just now seeing this comment. Having trouble figuring out how the comments work. Also been very busy. Went to the Country Living Fair in Atlanta this weekend. Wow! they have LOTS of jewelry makers there! I thought of you. Hope you’re doing well! Enjoy having you as a blogging friend! HI Gina, nice to hear from you !! Sounds like fun, I do not get out to enough fairs any more. I want to start looking for some, they are really fun this time of year !! HOpe you are doing well, we are great, thanks so much for stopping by !!! Just wanted you to know, I nominated you for the Leibster Award. Go to my site and read the instructions on my post about the award. Thank you for discovering my photography blog http://www.throughharoldslens.com. Hope you enjoy your journey. On behalf of the Through Harold’s Lens Creative Team, my trusty sidekick Mr. SLR Nikon, his brother Mr. Pen Pal and myself, we wish you the best. I thought I’d come and visit you before I try and go to bed. I have insomnia and haven’t slept much in a couple of weeks. Nice to meet you and looking foward to getting to know you , I am so happy I found your blog !! I am so flattered and honored with all the awards you sent my way !! I am so touched , thank you !! With my eye, the house reno and two big orders I am working on, I am behind on my blog and emails !! I am not sure I will be passing them on right now, I have too much on my plate and I have no clue how to get anything on my darn page. I got an award years ago, and never could put it on my side bar. I have never liimited computer skills, I can email, blog, search, get on my social media, but the blog overwelms me a lot. I know there is so much more I coudl do with it, but I Have no clue how !!! I just do the best I can !!! I hope you know I feel the same way about you !! I have so much respect for you and I appreciate so much that you follow me and take time to post on my blog and I will try to do better at that myself. With the five extra people in our house right now, three kids 8 and under, and no kicthen, just our sink right now, there is a lot on my plate and I get a bit overwelmed. I will do a quick thank you blog and send people your way, I want to at least do that for you as a huge thank you !!! you are so sweet, thank you again, soooo much !!!!

2019-04-26T01:56:42Z

https://stephiesbeadsandbaubles.com/about/

Starting point: the USA has 50,000,000 functional illiterates. Typically, these people wouldn’t find this article or be able to read it. People who can’t read well are usually reluctant to talk about it. The goal of this article is to start a journey of discovery: to determine what the problem is and how it can be helped. The first thing needed is candor. The second is hope. In millions of cases, the reading problem is neither deep nor permanent. Some improvement is almost always possible; major improvement is often possible. Let the journey begin. Here’s something that must be mentioned: is reading the main problem? Or are there other problems such as faulty eyesight or hearing, poor memory, emotional problems, or inability to concentrate? If other problems exist, the best thing is to visit a doctor, therapist, or learning center; and take tests that will determine the exact problems and suggest how to fix them. From this point, let’s assume that you can do everything that most other people can do except read. Perhaps you assume that you were somehow born without much of this skill. In fact, that rarely happens. What has happened in TENS OF MILLIONS of cases is that many schools used reading instruction that does not work as claimed. (This instruction is variously called Whole Word, Look-Say, Sight Words, Memory Method, Whole Language, Dolch Words, and Balanced Literacy.) Having such instruction is bad luck, sort of like getting the measles, but it’s not your fault. Repeat: it’s not your fault. And you can be cured! The situation is much like going in a barber shop to get a haircut. Oddly, the barber neglects to cut your hair but he does splash on some obnoxious cologne. So you went in with one problem but come out with two problems: you still need a haircut but now your hair smells funny. In sum, Whole Word instruction neglects to teach you to read; it then adds a new set of problems that are loosely called dyslexia--a fancy Greek word that means “reading problem.” In practice, you don’t process print in a normal way. But why? Not because there is anything wrong with you, but because you were NEVER taught to process print in a normal way, but in an abnormal way. You may be 100% normal in every way except that you were unlucky enough to attend a bad school. ARE YOU A VICTIM OF WHOLE WORD? 1) MEMORIES OF LEARNING TO READ AT AGES 6, 7, 8 AND 9: Did your teacher tell you to use “picture clues?” Did your teacher tell you to “guess" or "guess from context?" Did your teacher tell you to memorize “sight words?” Did your teacher tell you, when you had a problem, to “skip ahead?” Did you teacher specifically tell you, “Don’t sound out letters or words”? If you answer “yes” to these questions, you were definitely in a Whole Word classroom. In which case, it’s almost impossible to have a successful outcome. On the other hand, your reading problem may be shallow and easily corrected. 2) HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH STRANGE WORDS? Is it difficult to read made-up words such as: rop, bef, fap, sig, lep, wid, hur, pid, kag, dem? Is it difficult to read big words you haven’t seen before such as: dynasty, pecunious, jabberwocky, carnation, nitrogen, loblolly, pandemonium, criterion? If you answer “yes,” you were probably a victim of Whole Word. If you had learned phonics, you would be able to sound out these words. 3) ARE THERE WORDS YOU KNOW BY MEMORY...BUT OTHER WORDS, NO MORE COMPLICATED, THAT ARE HARD TO READ? Again, a “yes” answer indicates you were taught to read by Whole Word. 4) DO YOU REVERSE LETTERS--FOR EXAMPLE, READING NO as ON, WAS as SAW, or LEFT as FELT? If you answer “yes,” you were probably in a Whole Word classroom. 5) DO YOU MAKE CERTAIN KINDS OF MISTAKES? The following quote is from first-hand observations by Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld in various schools: "[Average students] seem to read with an adequate speed, but they make many errors along the way. They would drop words, read words that weren't there, sometimes rearrange the words in a sentence. They were never aware of their errors and never stopped to correct themselves, unless someone was there to point out errors. If not, they would read on, even when their error altered the meaning of the sentence." All of these errors are distinctively the result of Whole Word, and would almost never appear if someone actually knew how to read. 6) ARE YOU ABLE TO READ IN SOME SENSE BUT YOU FIND IT EXHAUSTING? DO YOU AVOID READING IF AT ALL POSSIBLE? Some students get all the way to college but they can’t read well, hate to read, and use all kinds of tactics to conceal their problem. Typically, this is a bright person with a good memory who has memorized 5,000 or so of the most common words. Still, every article or book presents strange new words. Such “readers” actually experience higher blood pressure as they struggle to make sense of a language they can’t truly read. All of these behaviors are often the result of Whole Word. Note that these mini-diagnostics take only a few minutes; but so much is revealed. That’s because Whole Word disrupts the learning-to-read process in characteristic, predictable ways. Bottom line: the solution to all these problems is to forget the bad lessons of the past, to start over, and learn to read properly. All of which you can do. The best parallel seems to be with a hunt-and-peck, two-finger typist. If such typists want to be good typists, they need to put aside their old habits and learn to type as if for the first time. The aspect of this story that fascinates me is that this woman was extremely smart, and had highly educated parents, and knew so much about so many languages, but she became a victim of Whole Word AND COULD NOT SEE HER WAY OUT OF THE WHOLE WORD PRISON. Her teachers had wrapped her in a cocoon, and she didn’t even know it. If this highly intelligent woman couldn’t escape, how can all the millions of less academically gifted people who know only one language? I’ve been thinking about this woman’s story for 20 years; this article represents an attempt at helping people in a similar situation. Half the battle, I’m convinced, is simply understanding that escape is possible. A century ago we had literacy rates around 98%. A non-reader or an extremely poor reader was actually a rare thing in the world, until our Education Establishment went to work. Mona McNee further reports that she personally taught “nearly 360 dyslexics to read, after their teachers had given them up as intractably illiterate. In every case she got them reading and many became highly fluent.” All of these so-called dyslexics were victims of Whole Word. These people were not somewhat impaired; they were extremely impaired. Officially, they could not be helped. In fact, they were saved, that’s the thing to keep in mind. It may be helpful to understand clearly why Whole Word doesn’t work and how it creates problems that can last for a lifetime. 1) Whole Word instruction hides the fact that English reads from left to right, and that each word MUST be read left to right. Here’s a made-up word: sensonomic. This has to be attacked sen-first, so-second, nom-third, and ic-fourth. No other way is reading; all other ways lead to dyslexia; indeed, they ARE dyslexia. All so obvious to people who can read. But some victims of Whole Word never learn the absolute basics--that’s why the scam is so vicious. It abuses six-year-olds who can’t defend themselves. 2) Whole Word forces you to memorize words as shapes or graphic designs. You are actually told to ignore a vast array of phonetic clues that are right there in front of you--that is the problem. So your brain becomes divided and conflicted. (Compare trying to sing a song and read a book at the same time.) When you see a word, you don’t know whether to recall its shape from memory OR to sound it out as you should. This confusion wastes energy and makes you anxious. You can’t read with efficiency or pleasure. (Furthermore, English words can appear in lower case, upper case, handwriting, or exotic typefaces, all of which compound the confusion many times over.) The cure is to forget any “sight words” or “Dolch words” you ever learned, and to start reading English phonetically. NOTE: Whole Word actually requires memorizing many forms of each word. Consider these words strictly as graphic shapes and you will see they are often very different. Every school, every teacher, every classroom, every student is different, so there are millions of different outcomes. In general, the older you are, the more time you may need to learn to read properly. Another factor is how completely you were cut off from phonics. Here’s the basic plan of action. In learning a phonetic/alphabetic language such as English, you must learn to see LETTERS, SOUNDS, AND SYLLABLES. You may never have been taught these basic skills, so now is the time to start. Learn the alphabet (the ABC’s), maybe learn the main consonant sounds, the long and short vowel sounds (but don’t get mired in details), and start reading all the words in your immediate environment. Get going. Read all the letters you see. Sound out every word you see. Once you grasp how it works--printed words are SPOKEN SOUNDS REPRESENTED ON PAPER--you’ll be reading in no time. Your speaking vocabulary is much larger than you might think--probably 30,000 words and names at a minimum if you’re 10 or older. You ALREADY know how to say all these words; and you will soon be able to read all those words in print. Reading is like riding a bicycle--the more you do it, the more comfortable you feel. Read. Read. Read. Liberate yourself from illiteracy. A note about the politics of reading: I find that some of these businesses are a little vague about stating root causes. I suspect they don’t want to offend the Education Establishment by coming right and saying that schools are often the cause of the problem. This article, however, is based on an opposite premise: the first thing we want to know is root cause. How was a person taught? If the answer is Whole Word, then most of the mystery disappears. All the experts I’ve come to trust insist that with Whole Word you naturally get dreadful results. On the other hand, if it turned out a person had learned to read phonetically (no Sight Words at all) but was still a bad reader, then we would have a real mystery. Perhaps there’s some subtle eye problem--in which case a doctor might help. Perhaps the person was forced to read difficult or boring books and lost interest---in which case the trick may be to focus entirely on easy, fun books that deal with only the subject you find most interesting. So far as I know, the approach outlined in this article has not been tried. My basic thought was that any action is better than no action. Testing new ideas, talking to people about the problem, learning what may have happened in the past--these have to be good first steps. Not to mention, this approach is free and can be pursued privately at home. Keep in mind that, for many illiterates, embarrassment is a powerful deterrent to doing anything at all. For a person with reading problems, there can seem to be few useful options. Clinics and learning centers might be expensive, and how can you know if they can help? Meanwhile, I’ve been inspired by stories of people who were tutored late in life and finally regained lost ground. I know reading tutors who rescue children damaged by the public schools. Some problems might take a lot of time to fix; but Whole Word is, finally, just a set of bad habits. Like slouching or gross table manners. We can change. Meanwhile, the mainstream media look the other way, usually supporting the Education Establishment no matter what it wants to do. This is short-sighted, as I’ve pointed out in an article called "How Newspapers Are Committing Suicide" (Google it with quotes.) Basically, newspapers are conspiring in the destruction of their customer base! Here we are, almost 55 years after Flesch explained everything you need to know; but we’re still wallowing in the same mistakes. Enough is enough, wouldn’t you say? Please mention this article to any person or organization who might be able to put it to use. For more about how our educators got so lost literacy-wise, please see "30: The War Against Reading." The Annex suggests some good phonics programs. This article (still in beta, one might say) requires what might be called diagnostics on-the-fly. Here are two others. Send in your suggestions. The point is, either someone can read the daily paper or they cannot (that is, they stumble over fairly easy words, make weird substitutions, and in general struggle at what should be a simple task). This test takes a minute and costs nothing. It does require that a good reader have a second copy of the paper and be listening closely. Here’s another simple test: longer words that most students would have in their speaking vocabularies; but it’s unlikely they would have memorized them as Whole Words. Tell the students: “Please read these and state the meaning if you can. Go as fast as you can.” Glance at your watch...So the test seems to be about vocabulary; but it’s really a one-minute reading test. Real readers might stumble or pause here and there; but most will be able to read accurately down this list. Whole Word readers will make many mistakes, and throw out weird guesses that are not even close. The key thing here is to find a program that uses synthetic phonics and no other kind (no analytic phonics, for example). Personally, I don’t trust complexity and pedantry (partly because I still don’t know any phonics rules) so I’d suggest looking for the simplest and cheapest program. Most observers agree: once humans grasp the phonetic concept, their brains take over. I would like to be able to recommend the best programs available. Send your suggestions. Saxon (for reading, math, etc.) is a name that often pops up first. Mona McNee in her book “The Great Reading Disaster” concludes that her own Step by Step is the best; I trust McNee completely but must mention that this program has a British flavor. Samuel Blumenfeld, our foremost authority on reading, created a program called Alpha-Phonics, which can be obtained on samblumenfeld.net. Blumenfeld is the author of “The New Illiterates” and many other important books about education. Don Potter, a big crusader in this area, says that Blend Phonics is the shortest and simplest. (It was created by Hazel Loring in 1980.) A pdf can be downloaded free on donpotter.net. Wanda Sanseri gave a wonderful overview of all things phonic to the Oregon State Senate in 2001 (click here). This teacher's experiences are particularly delicious from my point of view because, according to her own testimony, she was in the classroom teaching children to read but she had never heard of phonics. How is that remotely possible? A question that may well lead you to dive into: 30: The War Against Reading. Numbers such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. are non-phonetic symbols. They are graphic designs. They are used around the world; and each language pronounces 1 differently: uno, une, ein, una, etc. People around the world have no choice but to memorize how to draw and how to pronounce this symbol. In short, it’s a perfect example of a “whole word,” i.e., something you have to commit to memory. Whole Word, the reading philosophy, foolishly pretends that all English words are just like 1. That’s the lie. In truth, all English words are alphabetic/phonetic objects. For example: ONE. This thing makes no sense to Russians or French people. ONE makes sense only to English-speaking people. It’s a combo of an o-sound and an n-sound, so you end up saying something like ONE. This word, in short, contains lots of phonetic content, which is there to help you remember what this word is and how to say it. Whole Word dictated that all phonetic content has to be kept secret from children. Quite insane. From that point onward, fluent reading basically becomes impossible for most children. When dealing with children, keep in mind the gimmick that Whole Word schools use: phony books with carefully limited vocabularies. Children see the same 500 or 1000 words; students with good memories can seem to be reading. They are not reading. Show them a cereal box or newspaper, and they won’t be able to read it. Besides, most children do not have excellent memories. Memorizing 1000 word-shapes, even if they always appear the same way, is a daunting task. Meanwhile, all around them in every direction, English appears in all its rich and multitudinous forms, unreadable and unknowable. Do you think such children don’t feel lonely and isolated from their own culture? Do you think they don’t feel anger, anxiety and loss of self-esteem? When it comes to generating bad side-effects, Whole Word is a monstrous success. Marva Collins, a famous educator, said: "Our children and parents surrender themselves to those who are identified as protectors, but who actually destroy them. Children come to school to get what they lack, and they are told, instead, all the things they cannot do." The International Dyslexia Association appears to claim that dyslexia is entirely a brain/genetic problem. The IDA does not even mention reading instruction as a possible cause. Many experts strongly disagree with the IDA. Rudolf Flesch and Samuel Blumenfeld concluded that the vast majority of reading/dyslexia problems are not brain/genetic problems--they in fact result from faulty instruction in reading. Diane Mcguinness (author of “Why Your Child Can’t Read”) concluded that dyslexia has no biological basis at all. A second organization, the International Reading Association (IRA), pushed Whole Word for more than 40 years and caused untold damage (50,000,000 functional illiterates). Now, it seems to me, the International Dyslexia Association is providing protective cover for the IRA by pretending that the problem is different from what it is, and must be treated in a way that won’t help. The truth, in so far as I can deduce it from all the conflicting reports, is a diamond with five facets: 1) Real dyslexia is extremely rare, almost non-existent. 2) A certain percentage of children may have a potentiality for dyslexia (this would be sort of like having a latent gene for a disease); but this potentiality is activated ONLY if the child is taught to read using faulty techniques, i.e. Whole Word. 3) So dyslexia--there or not there? real or not real? genetic or not genetic?---is actually a moot point in a sensible school. 4) Some experts like to say Whole Word activates the disorder, while other experts say it mimics the disorder. In either terminology, if you are taught properly, you can’t and won’t have dyslexia. 5) Dyslexia and functional illiteracy are the plagues that should never have been. They were caused by bad educators pushing bad theory. It’s worth noting that Maria Montessori, the innovative Italian educator, declared that she could teach all children to read and write by the age of six or seven. British schools traditionally assumed that children would learn to read by Christmas of their first year. Marva Collins states that all her pupils learn to read in the first year...Whole Word, even if things proceed on schedule, hopes that children might learn to read by about high school! Here’s a parallel. A young person is kept in a house until the age of 20, never rides a bicycle, never even sees one. Then the person is put on a bike, and told to “learn to ride by riding.” You’ll probably observe these behaviors: falls, crashes, screams, bruises, blood, crying. What? This person can’t ride a bike?? So the experts designate all the observed problems as BDS--Bicycle Difficulty Syndrome. The government spends millions of dollars trying to determine why the victim suffers from BDS. Genetic? Environmental toxins? Gosh, it’s all soooo deep and mysterious. This sad person suffers from BDS. Or Dysbicycleia. And nobody knows why!!! Websites and associations spring up to grimace and groan over the plight of BDS victims. Maybe their mothers were drug addicts. Maybe the moon passed through Jupiter. Maybe it’s cosmic rays. I submit this is an exact parallel to the so-called dyslexia that millions of Americans are said to suffer from. The schools don’t teach the children to read. And then everybody stands around wringing their hands. Woe is us. Woe is us. What mysterious ailment do the children suffer from?? At this point, the solution is to start over, teach the victims how to read. In the case of BDS, the solution is similar. Put that person on a bike with training wheels and get them out on the streets until they have regained all the lost ground. The fundamental scam in Whole Word is confusing how we recognize or identify such things as faces, art, cars and buildings, with how we read words in an alphabetic/phonetic language. Explaining the differences between these cognitive activities is a fascinating challenge. I've made a number of graphic videos for YouTube. If you've got patience for just one, let me recommend "How Dolch Words Cause illiteracy and Dyslexia."

2019-04-19T07:19:36Z

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It is located between Avlida and Chalkida. Aulis or “Avlida” as it’s known in Greek was where one of the most dramatic scenes throughout Homer’s Iliad took place. After killing a sacred deer of the Goddess Artemis, the leader of the Greek forces Agamemnon could not set sail for Troy due to a lack of wind. The space has revealed at Aulis is the place of worship of Artemis which is the temple of the goddess. Phase edge of the sanctuary lasted from the Classical to the Roman period. The area was inhabited since Mycenaean times ( 16th-12th century BC), The Homeric Aulis but believed that further north, in Glyfa near Halkida. The continuous use of space certifies finding portion arched building of the Geometric period ( 10th-8th century BC.) beneath the Temple of Artemis in the 5th century BC. At the same time made ​​the Sacred Fountain located 8μ east of the church and surrounded by precinct. In the Hellenistic period ( 330-30 BC ) added a vestibule to the temple and built a complex of laboratories and hostel south. In imperial times (30BC - 330 AD ), the church repaired, while the number of offerings shows the bloom of worship. The temple was destroyed during the invasions of the Goths of Alaric in 396 AD Later, in the place of the church founded baths (thermae) . Aulis was never a town and considered part of the province of Thebes until 387 BC. Since then it belonged territorially to Tanagra. The Spartan king Agesilaus, as '' new ''Agamemnon, sacrificed at the shrine of Artemis Avlideias, before embarking to Asia in 397 BC. There is therefore a continuous habitation from Mycenaean to Roman times. Aulis managed to survive mainly due to the existence of the sanctuary of Artemis and ceramic workshops. Report the sanctuary of Artemis is Avlideias Strabo ( 9,2,8 ) and Pausanias ( 9,19,6 ff. ). This is an important prehistoric settlement and cemetery of the Early Bronze Age (3000-1900 BC ) which is located in a fertile and strategic point of the Evian Gulf, near Chalkida. It is undeniable that the settlement of Manika was an entire city though not as densely structured, after it was found that there were excavated and uncovered several areas. The heyday of the settlement must be that controlled the main sea route communication era, the Evian Gulf, while handled and processed, obsidian and especially metals, which ought and the greatest growth. From J. Davis was caracterized as one of the largest settlements of the Bronze Age in Greece, but if one looks deeper, one finds that to date has not been found in other larger extent. Is also without disputing that the city had a urban plan, because the most places found with orientation of houses addressing NS or EW. This approach seems to have been influenced by natural axes, the coast and the ancient road that went along the direction N.S. The first traces of habitation was encountered since the Paleolithic period, but the first major settlement can be termed as hamlet took place around 3000 BC at the beginning of the Neolithic Period. This first center of town was the northern edge of the current in the sleeves. This first city would live for a millennium and as revealed by archaeological excavations was a well organized city with large blocks, roads and houses that were square or arched ground floor or first floor, and had also a sacred focus, wells and pebbled floors. In the course of other settlements developed around this seems to indicate the overall edge presented with permanent habitation and so acquires its first competitors. The Hellenistic cemetery of Agios Stefanos. A large cemetery from Hellenistic Chalkida has been unearthed along the ancient road that led to Eretria. It includes tombstones and ancient steps leading up to the top, towards the ancient Acropolis of Chalkida. The Fountain of Arethusa at the southern entrance of Halkida, in Agios Stefanos. The grave of John Skarimbas is located opposite the entrance of the Fortress Karababa. Eretria, «the city of rowers» (whose name originates from the verb Eretto, meaning to row) is located on the lush plains southwest of Chalkida, opposite Oropos in Attica. Eretria was once an important naval city of Greece, since the 8th century BC and had numerous colonies along the coasts of the Aegean, the islands, and Greater Greece. Archaeological artefacts from the Mycenaean era demonstrate the high quality of life enjoyed by its residents, a fact further attested by the inclusion of its residents in Homer's catalogue of ships. Eretria began to develop its urban character from the 8th century BC. It took part in the Greek colonial effort, founding a number of colonies, and developed into an important commercial centre, with ties to the eastern Mediterranean. The expansion of Eretria troubled Chalkida, and led the two cities to the well-known war of Lilandio. Despite the negative outcome of the war, Eretria continued to flourish during the archaic period. In 494 BC, it supported Militos in its revolt against the Persians, a move that led to its destruction four years later, in 490 BC Notable residents of Eretria include the painter Filoksenos, who created a painting of the battle of lssos, the tragic poet Achaios, and the philosopher Menedimos, founder of the School of Eretria. The Romans destroyed the city, which was abandoned and slowly fell into ruin. • The Archaeological Museum of Eretria. Notable among its exhibits are the sculptures from the temple of Dafniforos Apollo (the laurel bearer), and especially that ofThiseas and Antiopi. • The Ancient Theatre of Eretria. • The Macedonian Tomb of Eroton. • The temple of Dafniforos Apollo in Eretria. • The temple Isis of Eretria. • The House of Mosaics. • The Baths of Limani, 3rd century BC. • Lower Gymnasium baths in the southeastern part of the city, 4th century B.C. • Archaeological site North of the Museum: Western Gate early archaic period, Sanctuary of Ares, 2nd century BC., Anaktoro 5th century BC., Temple of Dionysos 4th century BC., Upper Gymnasium, 4th century BC., Thesmoforio (sanctuary of Dimitra) 3rd century BC. • Early Christian Basilica in Agia Kyriaki, 3 Km SE of the cities. Lefkanti is located between Chalkida and Eretria. Archaeological expeditions in ancient Kseropoli brought to light important information about the so-called Dark Years. The Monument of Toumba, Lefkanti, is the largest monument from the Early Iron Age to be discovered in Greece. In the settlement of Xeropolis have seen a successive building phases, of which the oldest dates back to the Early Bronze Age. At Touba hill, findings of a vaulted building, this is about 47m long and 10m wide. This is the familiar Memorial bleach, which was constructed probably in the first half of the 10th century BC this is the most monumental structure of the Early Iron Age, which has been discovered in the world. The building had wooden outer colonnade. Inside, the main room, were found two burials hegemonic character, a man and a woman, accompanied by rich grave goods, some of which were imported from the East, and horse burials. This structure is interpreted as a house - ruler of a local government, which after his death turned into a memorial and was covered by mound. The adjacent hills have uncovered the cemeteries of the town, whose research yielded significant number of burials (179 graves and 93 cremations). The cemeteries of the Early Iron Age yielded rich finds, gold jewelry and luxury goods from the East. Archaeological research has shown that the tombs belonged to a community with a high standard of living. The richest burials belonged to warriors buried with their weapons and valuables coming from the East. The guns were usually made of iron, as this new technology had reached the Aegean probably from Cyprus around 1000 BC. Gold jewelry was placed in female burials of which there were missing earrings and rings. Among the imported objects held was a special place of vases of faience and copper. In the region of Halkida in Anthidona lies the Tomb of Salganea. The wetland of Psachna, otherwise, said, the Kolovrechtis, a coastal wetland created by a small river at the beginning of the valley looking at central Evia, which flows into the North Evian. Located 12 km north of Halkida, the Kolovrechtis Wetlands should be famed for the natural utopia it provides to hundreds of different plant and animal species. Amarynthos the natural harbor in the southern Gulf of Evia inhabited throughout the prehistoric and classical times until the Roman period ( 3000 BC - 1st century AD ). The name of Amarinthos mentioned in Linear B tablets. ·Paleochora, evidence of Neolithic human activity. ·Macedonian tomb facade typousto way for Upper deeply. ·Roman Baths of Aliveri. The ancient baths, discovered on site steam electric plants in the Karavos Aliveriou, an interesting monument of the late Roman period. ·Mycenaean tomb at Katakalou. It is the best preserved Mycenaean tholos tomb in Evia. Located about two kilometers north of the village. ·La Cuppa castle this small fortification built with large stone slabs sits at the entrance of the Manikiatis Gorge just above the small hamlet of Vrysi. Researchers have also discovered ruins at this site which date back to the Hellenistic period. ·Skoteini Thourrounion Cave. One of the most intriguing caves throughout Evia is the cave of Skoteini outside of the village of Thourrounia in the middle of central Evia dated to the Early Neolithic period. Near the cave was excavated Neolithic settlement and cemetery. ·Viglatouri Oxylithos. In the region of modern Kymi Viglatouri Oxylithos the hill, three kilometers from the sea, have uncovered the remains of ancient Kymi. ·Viglatouri - ancient Kymi The ancient city has been discovered in Viglatouri Kimi archaeologist and excavator Effie Sapouna - Sakellaraki, which coincides with ancient Kymi that is probably the home of the Latin alphabet. Archaeological finds suggest that the idiotypes " chalcidicum ' alphabet, in which S is written as C, the D as D, the X as X , R to R and Y as U, extracted from Euboeans settlers in Italy later to become the Latin alphabet. Effie Sanouna - Sakellaraki had published in 1984 an article in the Archaeology newspaper, which claimed that indeed the ancient Greek city - Kymi was mentioned by ancient writers as the Italian metropolis of Kymi - despite the scientific controversy, as until then there had been no corresponding archaeological findings. The archaeological site of Kymi is located 3 km from the sea, on the hill of Viglatouri. This revealed an entire village of prehistoric and Geometric period with houses, temples, squares, streets and tombs. The ruins that are visible cover the slopes of the hill, belonging mainly to the settlement of the Geometric period, whose scope is not yet seen as a whole. Has revealed rectangular and arched buildings with paved roads, constructed of small stones, pebbles, pressed shells and a small section of the wall at the foot of the hill. In the central nucleus of the settlement was square and an oval stone building, sanctuary , found looted and given rich pottery , which dates back dated to the mid-8th century BC. The arch was the first that came to light during the excavations of 1984. This building can be interpreted as a shrine - memorial, according to the opinion of the archaeologist Effie Sapouna - Sakellaraki. Corresponding examples of oval buildings from this period are known from Euboea ( in Lefkanti where they celebrate religious festivals in honor of the dead ), but outside of Evia, Smyrna and lift. The hypothesis for the function of the building is strengthened by the existence of the adjacent paved area, which was founded on Protogeometric graves. To the east of free paved area revealed one Rockrose many animal bones, which was probably a kind of grid, where the sacrifices were made. The shape of the altar is known in the East but also in the Cyclades. The sanctuary, which according to the pottery found there, flourished from the mid-8th century BC and destroyed around 700 BC is considered to have served as a place of worship nobles, who traveled and lost away from home. Beneath the ruins of geometric settlement preserved remains a significantly older residential phase, arriving to the. From the settlement of the prehistoric era buildings stand out with craft facilities ( kilns in the Middle Helladic period) and the so-called " mansion " of the Mycenaean period, under the later monument . Kastri Potamias. The ruin of an important settlement of the Classical and Hellenistic period lies on the Kastri hill, north of the village Potamia, in Evia. Surface finds from the southern slopes of the hill indicate that the site was inhabited from the Neolithic period (fourth millennium BC) and onwards. Archampolis in Kafirea, between the villages Thymi and Evaggelismos is the ravine Charchampolis or Archampolis gorge, an impressive but rugged landscape. The archaeological site of the ruins Archampolis organized the ensemble, which includes houses, workshops metallurgy, roads and fortifications. The ancient remains have been found in various locations in the nearby ravine or Charchampolis or Archampolis in Kafirea. In Styra there is an interesting hiking trail that leads to the Ancient Quarries Stone Styria. At the top of the hill overlooks Styra is visited the shambles Cyclopean Wall, where the Megalithic Portal Armenia. Widely known ancient monuments in Karystia are the Drakospita. They are a group of twenty monumental stone constructions, mostly square or rectangular. The best preserved dragon houses are on the top of Mount Ochi a complex of three Drakospita in place Palli - Lakka in Styra. Other Drakospita identified in the mountainous areas around Styra (positions Limiko , Ilkizes , Kourthea, amines ), but lower in Niborio ( Tower Niborio ) in position vigkla in Poplar Nea Styra and elsewhere. The building is a typical Niborio Hellenistic tower and associated with adjacent quarries. Two Drakospita have also been identified in Central Evia, in term and near Dirfys Vatontas New Artakis. The dragon houses of Evia then, some of which are still in excellent condition, are human constructions, the products of people who lived on the island before the 7th century B.C. and used them either as temples or as their house. The locals call Dragan or Dragko referred entirely to the way the structure with grayish limestone, usually of large dimensions, built with courage and knowledge. Dystos In imposing, rocky and steep conical hill castle which dominates the valley near Lake Dystos and is established in antiquity the homonym settlement. The archaeological site Dystos still dominates the imposing walls of the ancient city. In the eastern part of the wall dominates the unique gate flanked by two towers, typical sample fortification technique of classical times. The Venetian Tower Koutoumoula is a well -preserved medieval tower in a prominent spot outside the village of Koutoumoula. Travellers have the opportunity to see one of the best well preserved Venetian towers throughout the country. Artemis Proseoa sanctuary. One of the most important sanctuaries of Evia, which is related to the famous naval battle between the Greeks and the Persians in 480 BC, is located on the northern tip of Euboea, opposite Mount Pelion on the road leading from the villages Istiaia Artemisi and Halkida. An inscription is found in the temple that dates back to the 4th or 3rd century BC refers to the pyrrhic dance. The goddess Artemis named Agrotera honor of the Pyrrhic dance. It's possible the dance to be performed by young people in the region to commemorate the battle and thus worship the goddess. A marble figure, larger than a life statue of a bull and measuring (length: 3.28m preserved height: 1.30m) belonging to a funerary monument of the 4th century B.C. The animal is represented standing, with head bent, in an attacking position. The lower part of the legs, below the knees, and the horns are missing. The statue was raised from the sea in the harbour of Oreoi, in 1965. The Archaeological Collection of Aedipsos. Housed in the hydrotherapy centre of the Greek National Tourism Organisation the visitor has the opportunity to gaze at an archaeological collection comprising finds from the excavations that took place in the area. Pottery, coins, inscribed pedestals of statues and reliefs derived from rescue excavations in the city. The exhibits are mostly related to the spa during the Hellenistic and Roman period. · Roman Valaneiastin beach Gialtra. ·The ancient Acropolis, is located on the top of the mountain country. During Byzantine times was turned into a Castle, where there exists ancient walls and ruins of the Byzantine and Venetian fortifications. ·Mooring Skyros. The settlement at Mooring, the northeastern part of the island, datable between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. It is walled with a clear development plan, roads and pipelines and presents important elements organized habitation ovens, hotplates, benches etc. ·Palamari Skyrou Located in the North-Eastern part of the island, the ancient settlement of Palamari, is a very important prehistoric settlement. It dates between 2500 and 1800 BC. It displays a clear city-plan with fortification walls and bastions, roads and drain-pipes, organized households with ovens, hearths, stone walls etc. On the coastline of the settlement the remains of a port have been discovered while within the settlement and the surrounding area they found many stones, bones and metal tools and utensils, as well as pottery are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Skyros. Magazia of Skyros. An extensive cemetery of cist-graves dated in the early Iron Age (1000-600 BC). In the same area, a short distance to the south, The Mycenaean chamber tombs cut into the rock (are dated to 1600-1100 B.C) and graves of the Early Helladic period (3rd millenium BC) have also been discovered.

2019-04-24T06:36:34Z

http://www.goevia.com/en/evia/culture-and-history/archeological-sites

The 2016 Oakland Raiders season is the franchise's 47th season in the National Football League, the 57th overall and the second under head coach Jack Del Rio. The Raiders improved on the 7–9 campaign from last year and clinched a winning season record for the first time since 2002 where they appeared in Super Bowl XXXVII. The Raiders' lease on the Oakland Alameda Coliseum (known as O.co Coliseum from 2011 through 2015) expired after the 2013 season; the team had spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons in the Coliseum on year-to-year leases. The franchise was subject to a possible relocation to Los Angeles, and the Raiders' 2016 season could have been the first in Los Angeles since 1994, had the team been approved to move there. On January 4, 2016, the team filed a formal relocation application, along with the San Diego Chargers, which was competing against a separate proposal by the St. Louis Rams (now the Los Angeles Rams) to move to the Greater Los Angeles Area. The Raiders, despite their joint project with the Chargers earning the support of the Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities, did not receive enough support from the league as a whole for the relocation and withdrew its request to relocate to Los Angeles on January 12 after the Rams' proposal received a simple majority of votes. The team also scouted the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas as another potential relocation candidate in late 2014, before it began focusing on its failed Carson stadium proposal. More recently, team officials began conversing with officials from Las Vegas, Nevada regarding a potential future relocation there; in January 2016, Raiders owner Mark Davis met with Sheldon Adelson (Las Vegas Sands owner and CEO) about a proposed $1.3 billion, 65,000 seat domed stadium. On March 23, 2016, Davis met with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval about moving his team to Las Vegas and recently on April 1, 2016, Mark Davis toured Sam Boyd Stadium whether it could serve as a temporary home (it would likely pose a problem for the Raiders; the stadium, seats less than 40,000 spectators, less than the 50,000-seat minimum, nor are there any other stadiums in Nevada that meet NFL requirements) and met UNLV coach Tony Sanchez, athletics director Tina Kunzer-Murphy, adviser Don Snyder, and university president Len Jessup about further exploring the possibility of the Raiders moving to Las Vegas. On April 28, 2016, Davis pledged to commit $500 million toward a new stadium in Las Vegas at a panel that included soccer superstar David Beckham, who was backing a proposed Major League Soccer franchise that would share the stadium with the Raiders and UNLV college football. The Raiders' proposal would need approval and funding from the Nevada State Legislature and, ostensibly, league approval to go forward (only ostensibly, since the Raiders have left Oakland without permission at least once before and won their case in court); the league indicated at the May 2016 owner's meetings that it would not object to the Raiders relocating. Davis stated on June 7 that the options for staying in Oakland had been exhausted for the time being and that he fully intended to relocate to Las Vegas in the long term, this despite a rumor that Commissioner Roger Goodell was attempting to undermine a move by orchestrating a counterproposal for an Oakland stadium in collaboration with Ronnie Lott. If the team were willing to stay in the San Francisco Bay Area for 2016, they had the options of signing another short-term extension with the Coliseum or sub-leasing Levi's Stadium from the San Francisco 49ers. Davis opted to seek another one-year lease extension on the Coliseum, which he secured on February 11, keeping the Raiders in Oakland for another season while a long-term solution continues to be sought. The lease included team options for 2017 and 2018. On September 15, 2016, the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee unanimously voted to approve and recommend $750 million for the Las Vegas stadium plan. Then on October 11, 2016, the Nevada State Senate voted 16–5 to approve the stadium funding bill and convention center expansion. Three days later, on October 14, the Nevada Assembly voted to approve funding for the stadium 28–13. On October 18, Governor Brian Sandoval signed the stadium funding bill into law. Reports state that the NFL will not consider the Raiders move until as late as July 2017. Davis confirmed that the Raiders will stay in Oakland through their current lease, meaining the earliest the Raiders would play in Las Vegas would be 2019. The Raiders traded wide receiver Brice Butler and their sixth-round selection to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for the Cowboys' fifth-round selection. The selection swap will only occur if Butler is on the Cowboys' 2015 53-man roster for six games. The Raiders acquired an additional sixth-round selection in a trade that sent linebacker Sio Moore to the Indianapolis Colts. In a high scoring affair, the Raiders took an early lead on a Sebastian Janikowski field goal and a Latavius Murray touchdown run, leading at the end of the first, 10–3. The Saints answered and took a half time lead on two touchdown passes by Drew Brees, 17–10. A 98-yard pass and catch from Brees to Brandin Cooks early in the third quarter put the Saints up by 14. However, the Raiders roared back, scoring 17 of the next 20 points with two rushing touchdowns, including a 75-yard run by rookie Jalen Richard on his first career carry to tie the game at 27 with eight minutes remaining in the game. However, Brees kept his tremendous game going as the Raiders were unable to stop him on the day throwing his fourth touchdown of the game to put the Saints back on top 34–27. The Raiders answered with a touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Seth Roberts with 47 seconds remaining. Coach Jack Del Rio opted to try for the two point conversion instead of trying to stop Brees in an overtime period and Carr hit Michael Crabtree for the conversion to put the Raiders up 35–34. The Saints had time to attempt a 61-yard field goal by rookie kicker Will Lutz, but the kick was wide right. The Raiders moved to 1–0 on the season as they won their season opener for the first time since 2011. The Raiders looked to win their home opener and extend their record to 2–0 for the first time since 2002. But, the Atlanta offense and Raider defense, or lack thereof, would have a say in the game. Neither team could score in the first quarter and the Falcons took an early lead on field goal in the second. However, Latavius Murray answered with a one yard touchdown run to put the Raiders in front 7–3. The Falcons surged back to take a halftime lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones and another field goal. At half, the Raiders trailed 13–7. In the second half, the Raiders retook the lead as Derek Carr hit Clive Walford on a 31-yard touchdown pass. Before the quarter ended, the Falcons answered on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan and a Ryan rush for two points to take a 21–14 lead into the fourth quarter. The Raiders tied it on a two-yard pass from Carr to Michael Crabtree, but the Falcons answered again with the help of a tipped Ryan pass that landed in the arms of Justin Hardy for another Falcon touchdown. Trailing 28–21, the Raiders thought they had tied it up again on a 51-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Amari Cooper, but officials ruled that he had gone out of bounds voluntarily before catching the ball. Head coach Jack Del Rio gambled shortly thereafter on a fourth and two which failed and led to another touchdown for the Falcons, a 13-yard run by Tevin Coleman. Trailing 35–21, the Raiders were able to bring it closer on an Andre Holmes six-yard touchdown reception, but the Falcons salted the game away and won 35–28. The Raiders defense allowed 528 yards of offense, the first team since the 1967 Falcons to give up at least 500 yards in the first two games of the season. The Raiders fell to 1–1. The Raiders traveled to Tennessee looking to shore up their defense that had allowed 500 yards in each of the first two games of the season. The defense responded, forcing three Titan turnovers and holding the Titans to only one touchdown and 393 yards of offense on the day. Latavius Murray scored a touchdown for the third consecutive game, giving the Raiders a lead on their first drive, jumping in front of the Titans 7–3. The Raiders took over in the second quarter, scoring a touchdown on a 19 yard pass from Derek Carr to Seth Roberts and on Sebastian Janikowski's record-setting 52 yard field goal which marked the most field goals over 50 yards by any one player. Titans quarterback, Marcus Mariota, was intercepted on the final play of the first half by Reggie Nelson and the Raiders took a 17–3 halftime lead. DeMarco Murray brought the Titans within seven in the third quarter, scoring on a five-yard run. The Raiders defense held strong for the rest of the half, intercepting Mariota again late in the third quarter. However, the Raiders offense mustered zero points in the second half and, as a result, the Titans had a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. Mariota hit Tajae Sharpe to get to the Raiders three-yard line with just over a minute remaining. However, Titan offensive lineman Taylor Lewan was called for unnecessary roughness for jumping on the pile after the play. The Titans were pushed back 15 yards, but Mariota hit Andre Johnson two plays later for an apparent touchdown, but Johnson was called for pass interference on the play and the touchdown was taken off the board. On fourth down with 16 second remaining, Mariota could not hit Harry Douglas in the endzone and the Raiders pulled out the victory. The win moved the Raiders to 2–1 on the season. The Raiders traveled to Baltimore looking to win their third straight road game to open the season for the first time since 2000. The Ravens, undefeated on the season, looked to continue their good start. The Raiders jumped out early, taking a lead on a six-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts from Derek Carr. A Baltimore field goal tightened the lead before Carr hit Michael Crabtree for his first of three touchdown scores on the day, and the Raiders took a 14–6 lead to the half as the Raiders defense held the Ravens in check. Baltimore answered in the third quarter, pulling within two on a Joe Flacco one-yard touchdown run. Crabtree again answered for the Raiders on a 13-yard pass from Carr. However, the Raiders defense allowed a 52-yard pass and catch from Flacco to Steve Smith Sr. and the Ravens pulled within two after failing to convert on the two-point conversion. The Raiders lead tightened to 21–19. The Ravens struck again following a fumble by Raiders rookie running back DeAndre Washington and Terrance West scored three-yard touchdown run to take the Ravens first lead of the game 27–21. The Raiders answered, driving down the field before Carr hit Crabtree from 23 yards out. The Raiders took the lead 28–27. As time was running out, the Ravens looked for the game-winning field goal, but the Raiders defense held and the Raiders moved to 3–1 for the first time since 2000. The three-touchdown game marked Crabtree's first career three-touchdown game. Carr finished with four touchdowns on 199 yards passing. The Raiders defense, much maligned on the season, gave up 412 yards, but stopped the Ravens when needed. The Raiders returned home to face the San Diego Chargers in their first division game of the season. However, the Raiders offense struggled to score early, unable to score a touchdown on three offensive possessions in Charger territory in the first half and turning the ball over early. Derek Carr was picked on the fourth play from scrimmage, setting up the Chargers for a chance to take an early lead. However, the Raiders defense forced a fumble and prevented the Chargers from scoring. The Raiders offense could not take advantage, only managing three field goals in the first half by Sebastian Janikowski, however he missed a fourth attempt. Tyrell Williams scored for the Chargers on a 29-yard pass from Philip Rivers and the Chargers took a 10–9 lead into the half. In the second half, the Chargers took a 17–9 lead on Melvin Gordon reception from Rivers. The Raiders answered on a 64-yard pitch and catch from Carr to Amari Cooper, his first touchdown catch of the year. However, the Raiders defense continued its struggles, giving up another touchdown pass from Rivers to Hunter Henry as the Raiders fell behind 24–16. A 48-yard field goal by Janikowski brought the Raiders within five before the Raider defense garnered its third turnover of the game, forcing a Gordon fumble. The Raider offense struggled in response and were left with a fourth and two from the Charger 21-yard line. Continuing with the season's gutsy calls, head coach Jack Del Rio went for it and Carr found Michael Crabtree for a diving catch in the corner of the endzone to give the Raiders their first lead of the game. The Raiders added on from there, scoring a touchdown on a Jamize Olawale one-yard run seemingly salting the game away, 34–24. However, the Raider defense allowed the Chargers to move within three on a 76-yard drive capped by an Antonio Gates touchdown catch. Trailing 34–31, the Charges again moved into Raider territory in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter. Forced to attempt a game-tying field goal, the Chargers fumbled the snap and the Raiders were able to run out the clock. Moving to 4–1 on the season, the first time since 2002, the Raider defense still surrendered over 400 yards for the fourth time in five games this season. Del Rio was angered by the continued poor defensive showing. Despite this and combined with a loss by the Denver Broncos, the Raiders moved into a tie for first place in the AFC West. Following the Denver Broncos loss on Thursday night to the San Diego Chargers, the Raiders looked to move into sole possession of first place in the AFC West as they hosted the Kansas City Chiefs. Things began well for the Raiders as Jalen Richard returned the opening kick 50 yards and Derek Carr hit Andre Holmes for a three-yard touchdown pass to put the Raiders up 7–0. However, the struggling Raiders defense continued to have problems stopping opponents as the Chiefs scored on a two-yard touchdown run by Spencer Ware and a four-yard run by Jamaal Charles (extra point failed), putting the Chiefs in front 13–7. The Raiders were able to get a field goal from Sebastian Janikowski as the half ended to pull within 13–10. However, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who is 16–2 in his career coming off of bye weeks, continued to baffle the Raiders defense in the second half. The Chiefs added a one-yard run by defensive lineman Dontari Poe and two field goals by Cairo Santos to go up 26–10. The Raiders offense managed nothing in the second half and the Chiefs won 26–10. The Chiefs offense put up 406 yards on the hapless Raiders defense. The Raiders fell to 4–2 on the season and back into a first place tie with the Broncos. The Raiders traveled to Jacksonville looking to make up for their disappointing performance in Week 6 against Kansas City and to improve their road record to 4–0. Latavius Murray, making his first appearance since Week 4, scored two touchdowns for the Raiders, including the first touchdown of the game to add to a Raiders lead of 6–3 following two Sebastian Janikowski field goals. A five-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Michael Crabtree before the half ended put the Raiders up comfortably, 20–6. The touchdown pass followed a Carr to Crabtree 52-yard pass to set up the touchdown. Janikowski added two more field goals in the second half making four for the game. Murray scored his second touchdown of the game following a fourth and 24 conversion by Raiders punter Marquette King who fielded a low snap and scampered for 27 yards and a first down. The Raiders defense improved their performance and intercepted Blake Bortles twice to secure the victory. Jack Del Rio gained a victory against his former team and the win moved the Raiders to 5–2 for the first time since 2001. The Raiders traveled to Tampa Bay looking to improve to 6–2 overall and 5–0 on the road on the season. Tampa scored on a Roberto Aguayo 41-yard field goal and Jamies Winston threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to put the Buccaneers up 10–0 early in the second quarter. The Raiders started slow, managing only a Sebastian Janikowski field goal in the first half and the Bucs led 10–3 at the half. The Raiders offense came alive in the second half as Derek Carr hit offensive lineman Donald Penn on a tackle elgibile play from the one yard line for his first touchdown pass of the game, to tie the game at 10. On the next Raider possession, Carr hit Amari Cooper on a 34-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders their first lead of the game. However, Tampa Bay answered soon thereafter, taking the lead on Cameron Brate touchdown reception and a Jacquizz Rogers touchdown run to move ahead 24–17 early in the fourth quarter. Carr threw his third touchdown of the game, this itme to tight end Mychal Rivera with 1:38 remaining in the game. With the game tied and the clock running out, the Bucs punted the ball back to the Raiders with 58 seconds remaining. The Raiders drove to field goal position, but Janikowski missed a 50-yard field goal wide left as time expired to force overtime. On the first possession of overtime, the Raiders again moved into scoring position, but due to penalties were forced to settle for a 52-yard field goal attempt which Janikowski missed wide right. The Raider defense held the Buccaneers to consecutive three an out series and the Raiders took over with 3:21 left in overtime. Carr led the Raiders to the Tampa Bay 41, and coach Jack Del Rio chose to go for it on fourth down. Carr hit Seth Roberts for the first down and he broke tackles as he scampered 41 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Carr threw for a franchise record 513 yards on 40–59 passing with four touchdowns. The Raiders won despite setting an NFL record for penalties in a game, with 23 total penalties. The win kept the Raiders in a first place tie with Denver at 6–2. The Raiders moved to 5–0 on the road for the first time since 1977. The Raiders looked to take full possession of first place in the AFC West as they took on the Denver Broncos in Oakland on a Sunday night game for the first time in more than a decade. Things started well for the Raiders as they held Denver to three-and-outs on their first four possessions. Sebastian Janikowski hit two early field goals to give the Raiders a 6–0 lead. On the Raiders third possession, Latavius Murray capped off a 57-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 13–0. Following the Raiders first punt of the game, the Broncos marched 84 yards for a touchdown on a pass from Trevor Siemian to Jordan Norwood to reduce the Raiders lead to 13–7. After Janikowski missed a 48-yard field goal and following another three-and-out for the Broncos, Murray scored his second touchdown of the game and increase the lead to 20–7. The Broncos added a field goal as the first half ended, putting them within 10 at 20–10. No team could muster any points in the third quarter, but a second field goal by Brandon McManus cut the lead to seven with 14:56 left in the game. The Raiders answered with a field goal and Khalil Mack sacked and stripped Siemian to give the Raiders the ball on the Denver 39-yard line. Murray's third one-yard touchdown of the game put the Raiders up comfortably at 30–13. Denver answered immediately on the second play of the ensuing drive when Kapri Bibbs took a screen pass 75 yards to cut the lead to ten. However, the Raider defense stepped up again and intercepted Siemian with 23 seconds remaining to end the threat. The Raiders ran for 218 yards and held Denver to just 33 yards rushing. Carr threw for 184 yards and Murray rushed for 114 in addition to his three touchdown runs. The win put the Raiders at 7–2 on the season and in sole possession of first place in the AFC West as they headed to their bye week. Following the Raiders bye week, the team traveled to Mexico City to play the Houston Texans in a home game. A win for the Raiders would put them in sole possession of first place in the AFC West after a loss by the Kansas City Chiefs the day before. However, the Raiders defense struggled early and were unable to put much pressure on Texans' quarterback Brock Osweiler. However, they were helped all night by controversial calls by the officiating crew. The first was in the Texans' first drive as DeAndre Hopkins appeared to have stayed in bounds and scored on a 60-yard pass from Osweiler. However, officials ruled that Hopkins had stepped out of bounds and the play was blown dead. As a result, the play could not be reviewed and the Raiders only surrendered a field goal on the opening drive of the game. Following consecutive four-and-outs by both teams, the Raiders offense mustered a drive into Houston territory capped off by a 17-yard touchdown pass by Derek Carr to Jalen Richard to give the Raiders a 7–3 lead to begin the second quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, the Texans turned the ball right back over to the Raiders, but the offense could not punch the ball in from the one-yard line and settled for a Sebastian Janikowski 19-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10–3. The Texans quickly answered as Osweiler hit Braxton Miller for a 12-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 10–10. Neither offense was able to manage much for the remainder of the half and a sack by Khalil Mack ended the first half with a tie score. On the first play of the second half, Carr was pressured and threw a deep pass that was intercepted by the Texans. The ensuing 13-play drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown run Lamar Miller gave the Texans the lead, 17–10. The Raiders responded, getting to the Texans two-yard line, but could not punch the ball in again and settled for a second Janikowski field goal cutting the lead to 17–13. The Texans ended a long drive with a Nick Novak field goal to extend the lead to 20–13 with 11 minutes remaining in the game. Carr responded by finding Jamize Olawale wide open for a 75-yard pass and run to tie the game at 20. The Texans pushed the ball deep into Raiders territory again but were stopped on short yardage situations twice as controversial spots of the ball by officials turned the ball over to the Raiders on downs. The Raiders took advantage as Carr hit Amari Cooper on a pass and catch for a 35-yard touchdown play. The extra point gave the Raiders a 27–20 lead with 4:43 remaining in the game. The defense who had mustered little pressure on Osweiler all night, allowed a first down by the Texans, but then forced a punt with 3:13 remaining. On second and seven from their own 23-yard line, Carr heaved a 29-yard pass to Richard for a first down. After the two minute warning and the Texans final timeout, Latavius Murray was able to get another first down and the Raiders were able to run out the clock. The win put the Raiders at 8–2 on the season and gave them the No. 1 seed in the playoffs at the time. Carr finished with 295 yards and three touchdowns while the Raider running game only mustered 30 yards rushing against the Texans defense. The Raiders also clinched a non losing season for the first time since 2011. Another win will clinch the Raiders their first winning season for the first time since 2002. Following their home game in Mexico, the Raiders returned to Oakland to face the Carolina Panthers. The Raiders were looking to extend their winning streak to five games, the longest streak since their Super Bowl season of 2002. Things started well as the Raiders defense held the Panthers to a three-and-out series and the Raiders offense moved right down the field. Seth Roberts caught a two-yard pass from Derek Carr to put the Raiders up 7–0. The Panthers answered on a three-yard touchdown run by Cam Newton to tie the score. The rest of the first half belonged to the Raiders as Latavius Murray scored from four yards out and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 23-yard field goal to put the Raiders up 17–7. The Panther took over with 1:56 remaining in the second quarter looking to cut the Raider lead, but Khalil Mack made an acrobatic catch of Newton pass and returned it six yards for another Raider touchdown. The Panthers took a knee on the final possession of the half as the Raiders held a 24–7 lead. On the second play of the third quarter, Carr injured the pinky finger of his throwing hand on an awkward snap. The play resulted in a fumble recovered by the Panthers. Six plays later, Jonathan Stewart scored from one-yard out to cut the lead to 24–13 after the extra point was blocked. With Carr in the locker room tending to his injured finger, Matt McGloin took over for the Raiders, but they could not muster any offense and were forced to punt. Newton then hit Ted Ginn Jr. on an 88-yard pass and catch to put the Panthers with five. The Panthers opted to go for two points, but failed and, therefore, trailed 24–19. Carr returned to the game with a glove on this throwing hand on the next possession, but after completing two passes, Carr was intercepted by Thomas Davis. The Panthers continued their hot start to the half as Stewart scored his second rushing touchdown of the game. The Panthers again failed on their two-point conversion, but now held the lead, 25–24. Following three straight incompletions by Carr, the Panters took over and extended the lead on a 44-yard pass from Newton to Kelvin Benjamin. Now trailing 32–24, the Raiders answered on a 10-play drive capped off by a Clive Walford 12-yard touchdown reception. The two point conversion was good on a Carr pass to Roberts and the game was tied at 32. The Raiders defense forced a punt by the Panthers and the Raiders took over with 5:05 remaining in the game. The Raiders 12-play drive stalled at the Carolina six-yard line, but Janikowski hit his second field goal of the game to give the Raiders a 35–32 lead. With 1:45 remaining in the game, the Panthers looked to tie or take the lead. However, Mack continued his great day and stripped Newton of the ball and recovered the ball on a fourth and 10 play to ice the game for the Raiders. Mack finished with a sack, an interception, a forced fumble, and a touchdown, the first of his career. Carr finished with 315 yards and two touchdown despite missing a series with his injured finger. The Raiders improved to 9–2 on the season and remained in first place in the division. The win also clinched a winning season for the Raiders for the first time since 2002. 1 2 Rubenstein, Steve (January 28, 2016). "Las Vegas Raiders? Not so fast...". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 28, 2016. ↑ "Rams to relocate to L.A.; Chargers first option to join". NFL.com. ↑ Mark Davis, San Antonio group meet. Associated Press via ESPN.com. Retrieved November 8, 2014. ↑ "Raiders owner willing to give $500M toward Las Vegas stadium". NFL.com. ↑ "Future Super Bowl sites, Las Vegas among topics at NFL meeting". NFL.com. ↑ Youmans, Matt (June 7, 2016). "Roger Goodell using his pull to keep Raiders in Oakland". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 25, 2016. ↑ "Mark Davis: Raiders want to play in Oakland in 2016". NFL.com. ↑ "Raiders sign 1-year lease, will stay in Oakland in 2016: 3 things to know". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2016-10-18. ↑ "Nevada Committee Approves $750m Vegas Stadium Plan For Raiders". Fox News. 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2016-10-18. ↑ BUREAU, SANDRA CHEREB and SEAN WHALEY LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL (2016-10-11). "Raiders stadium project for Las Vegas clears Nevada Senate in 16-5 vote". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2016-10-18. ↑ BUREAU, SEAN WHALEY and SANDRA CHEREB LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL (2016-10-14). "Nevada Senate passes amended Raiders stadium bill; Sandoval to sign Monday". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2016-10-18. ↑ "Stadium". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2016-10-18. ↑ "NFL owners reportedly won't vote on Raiders to Vegas move until mid-2017". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2016-10-18. ↑ "Raiders owner Mark Davis reveals new details on potential Las Vegas move". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2016-10-18. ↑ Levi Damien (16 May 2016). "Raiders 2016 Undrafted Free Agent Tracker". Silver And Black Pride. ↑ "Falcons vs. Raiders - Game Recap - September 18, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-09-21. ↑ "Watch Atlanta Falcons vs. Oakland Raiders [09/18/2016] - NFL.com". www.nfl.com. Retrieved 2016-09-21. ↑ "Watch Oakland Raiders vs. Tennessee Titans [09/25/2016] - NFL.com". www.nfl.com. Retrieved 2016-09-27. ↑ "Raiders vs. Titans - Game Recap - September 25, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-09-27. ↑ "Raiders vs. Ravens - Game Recap - October 2, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03. ↑ "Oakland Raiders 4-1 for the first time since 2002 Super Bowl season". Oakland Raiders. Retrieved 2016-10-10. ↑ "Chargers vs. Raiders - Game Recap - October 9, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10. ↑ "Jack Del Rio postgame on the Raiders defensive collapse, taking over the play-calls late, and much more - Talking Points". Talking Points. 2016-09-18. Retrieved 2016-10-10. ↑ "Raiders vs. Jaguars - Game Recap - October 23, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-10-24. ↑ Times, Los Angeles. "NFL roundup: Raiders set good and bad records in overtime win against the Buccaneers, 30-24". latimes.com. Retrieved 2016-10-31. ↑ "Raiders vs. Buccaneers - Game Recap - October 30, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-10-31. 1 2 "Broncos vs. Raiders - Game Recap - November 6, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07. ↑ "Raiders in control after resounding victory over Broncos". NFL.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07. ↑ Kaleel.Weatherly (2016-11-22). "Texans lost to the Raiders after referees blew two critical calls". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2016-11-22. ↑ "Refs job Texans in Mexico, Raiders steal a win: Final score, 8 things to know". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2016-11-22. ↑ "Blandino stands by his officials on Hopkins non-touchdown". Retrieved 2016-11-22. ↑ "Watch Houston Texans vs. Oakland Raiders [11/21/2016] - NFL.com". www.nfl.com. Retrieved 2016-11-22. ↑ Burke, Chris. "Raiders beat Texans in Mexico City". SI.com. Retrieved 2016-11-22. ↑ "Panthers vs. Raiders - Game Recap - November 27, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.

2019-04-20T09:01:44Z

https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/2016_Oakland_Raiders_season.html

Paying off student loans can sometimes feel like a daunting task, but if you approach it with a serious, rational plan, you could help yourself achieve more financial freedom faster than expected. Here’s some basic advice to help make paying them off easier and less stressful. College is an exciting time, and if you were like most students then you were too busy studying and enjoying campus life to think about your student loans too much. Now that school’s done, though, it’s important to familiarize yourself with your loans. This means understanding how much you’ve taken out, what interest rate you’re paying on each loan, and the repayment period for each loan. An easy thing to do after college is to simply ignore your student loans. It might not be the most pleasant thing to think about, after all. Ignoring your student loans could really damage your financial situation, leading to defaults, lower credit scores, and compounding interest that could leave you more in debt and financial trouble. Life can get really busy, and it’s not always easy to remember when your monthly student loan payments are due, especially if you have to keep track of more than one loan. Log in to your online student loan accounts and set up automatic payments with your credit card. Make sure that your payment dates align with when you get paid so that you’re sure to have cash in your account before the payments go through. A 10-year plan is usually the standard plan for student loan repayment, but you may have the option to stretch it out over 15-25 years. The lower monthly payments on the 15-25 year plans are nice if you have limited income, but it’s important to realize that these plans will lead to significantly higher interest repayments over the course of the loan. Being debt-free might seem like a long way off if you have a lot of student loan debt, but the faster you achieve it the closer you’ll be to financial freedom. If you have an emergency fund saved up and can save any extra money at the end of the month, pay it toward “principal only” payments on your loans. The best plan here is to pay off your biggest and highest interest loans first. If you need any financial assistance at any point along the way, remember that ClearLine Loans is here to help you out with personal loans and advice. Feel free to contact our financial experts at any time. Credit cards, personal loans, and other forms of credit are essential financial services to a wide range of people, providing financial help when you need it. While these different ways of lending can be positive for your financial profile, it’s necessary to remember to make your payments on time. In order to do this, it’s important to manage your budget. You can also consider setting up your account for automatic monthly payments. Find out why it’s so important to make your payments on time, and allow Clearline Loans to help you out when you need it. If you have a credit card or personal loan out, you’ve secured the lowest interest rate that was available to you at the time you took out the loan or credit card. In order to keep the interest rate as low as it is now, though, it’s important to make your monthly payments on time. Failure to do so could end up in a hike of your interest rate, which means bigger payments and more debt for you. Lenders want their clients to make their monthly payments on time, and failure to do so could end up in penalties in the form of late fees. You can avoid late fees by simply setting up your account for automatic monthly payments or setting an automatic reminder on your phone calendar to make the payment on time. If you’re having a hard time making your payment, there’s a tendency to put it off until your financial situation gets better. The problem is, the more you put off making your payments the worse your situation is likely to become. That’s because the next time your payment is due, you’re likely to owe over twice as much, including the current month’s payment, the missed month’s payment, and any late fees that may apply. One of the biggest advantages of paying your monthly loan and credit card payments on time is that it improves your credit score. Your credit score is what lending institutions use to help determine if you qualify for a loan, how much you qualify for, and what your interest rate will be. You’ll be more likely to qualify for a bigger loan and a lower interest rate if you have a better credit score because you made payments on time in the past. There are a lot of different things that can come up in your life that could require you to take out a personal loan. Work with the financial experts at Clearline Loans to find one that works for your needs. Feel free to contact us with questions, and apply for a loan today! Financial difficulties can strike at any time, and it’s often just the fault of circumstance. Sometimes, the best solution available is to file bankruptcy in order to get a fresh start. While bankruptcy isn’t an ideal situation, it can be made a lot easier with some careful planning and an understanding of the need to make financially responsible decisions and reestablish good credit. At Clearline Loans, we’re here to help you take both of these steps. Read on to find out how to get a loan after filing for bankruptcy, and count on our financial experts to help guide you through the process. The most important thing you can do as soon as you file for bankruptcy is to get your financial house in order right away. Take an honest look at your financial situation, which includes your monthly income and all your monthly bills. Make sure that you leave room in your budget every month to pay for your gas and electric, mortgage or rent, taxes, and any other bills you might have. Also consider setting up automatic payments or electronic reminders in order to make sure payments are made on time. By making your payments on time, you’ll be signaling to future lenders that you are financially stable and responsible enough to trust with a loan. This might not sound like the most attractive option, but the fact is that your bankruptcy is going to show up on your credit report for the next seven to ten years. This means that future lenders are likely to be a bit weary to lend you as much money, especially immediately following your bankruptcy. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get a loan, though, and if you do your research you’re likely to find someone to take you on for a personal loan. At Clearline Loans, we understand that financial difficulties can hit even responsible people due to job loss, emergency medical expenses, and a variety of other unexpected circumstances that might come up along the way. We’re here to help you regain financial stability with personal loans—even for those individuals with a bankruptcy on their credit history. In fact, getting a personal loan can provide more than just financial stability following bankruptcy. If you make your payments on time every month, you’ll actually be rebuilding your credit history and improving your credit score. At Clearline Loans, we provide fast underwriting as well as quick and secure funding. Contact our state licensed agency’s top-notch customer service representatives to find out more about securing a personal loan today. We look forward to working with you as you navigate your financial life with clarity and an eye toward the future. Your credit score is arguably the most important number in your financial profile. Your credit rating helps lenders determine whether you qualify for a loan, how much you qualify for, and what kind of interest rate you’ll receive. If you’ve recently applied for a loan and been told that your credit score is too low, then it’s time to take control of your financial future by doing what it takes to fix your credit. Here are some of the steps you can start to take now that will fix your credit score. The most important thing that credit rating agencies consider to determine your credit score is how consistently you’ve met your payment obligations over the years. This includes paying rent, electric, phone, and mortgage, as well as credit cards, car loans, and personal loans. Rating agencies will also consider how late you were if you failed to pay on time, and if any of your payments went to collections. They’ll also check for bankruptcies and foreclosures resulting from the failure to make payments. The next consideration is the amount of total debt you’ve incurred and currently hold. This is considered alongside the amount of available credit you still have. Considerations are also made based on the types of credit accounts you have open to make sure that you have a good mix of credit and are able to manage your different accounts well. The third part of the equation is the amount of time that you’ve been taking out credit. If you’ve been responsibly taking out credit and paying it off for years, that is a more sure sign of financial responsibility than if you just started taking out credit for the first time with no history to track. If you have taken out a lot of new credit accounts lately or have even applied for many, this could hurt your credit score in the short term, because it’s taken as a sign of potential financial vulnerability to other lenders. The last consideration is the nature of the types of accounts you have opened. It’s best to pay off all of your accounts on time but to keep a diverse range of different accounts open, including store accounts, credit cards, car loans, and mortgages. This is the least important part of the equation determining your score, though, so there’s not much need to worry if you have a limited diversity of accounts. If you need help securing a new personal loan, feel free to get in touch with the professionals at Clearline Loans. How to Fix Your Credit Score. If you’ve ever thought about taking out a loan, a mortgage, or a line of credit, or if you plan on doing so in the future, it’s important to understand your credit score. Your credit score is the most important factor that lenders take into consideration when deciding whether to agree to give you the loan and to determine the interest rate you’ll pay as long as the loan is out. Credit scores range from 300 to 850 and are determined by three different ratings agencies—TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. The better your credit score, the lower the interest rate and the higher the amount you’ll be approved for. In order to secure and keep the best credit score possible, it’s helpful to understand how it is determined. There are three different credit reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—and each of them is required by law to provide you with one free copy of your credit report per year. There are a number of groups out there that will make you pay for your credit report, so make sure to go through annualcreditreport.com to avoid a charge. Looking at the report will give you a reality check in terms of your history of making late payments and other factors that could be causing your low score. Your credit report is supposed to be based on your personal financial history, but sometimes something goes wrong and you have the wrong information on your report. This can happen for a number of different reasons, including mistaken identity and other errors. If you see information on your credit report that doesn’t look right, let the credit reporting agency know which information is incorrect in writing and ask them to correct the false information. They must respond to your request within 30 days. The easiest and most immediate thing you can to do help improve your credit score in most circumstances is to make sure that you’re paying all of your bills on time every month. Every time you make a late credit card payment or allow a bill to go to collections, it is potentially having a negative impact on your credit score. Set up automatic payments online or set a reminder for when to pay each bill manually. If paying bills proves really difficult every month, make sure that you’re living on the right kind of budget for your personal income. Another factor is the amount of debt you currently owe compared against your current credit limit. It’s a good idea in terms of how to rebuilt credit and how to ensure financial success and peace of mind in general to work as hard as you can to pay off your current levels of debt and to live within your means. Life is hard, and finances aren’t always easy. If you ever need help securing a personal loan, remember that the team at Clearline Loans is here to help you out. Contact us online and we’ll be glad to help ease your financial burden. From student loans and credit card debt to medical bills and personal loans, there are many different reasons that most people end up with some amount of debt along their way through life. There’s nothing wrong with debt inherently, and sometimes it can help provide you with the leverage you need to get through a difficult month or achieve your personal or financial goals. For most people, though, the goal is ultimately to get out of debt and enjoy more financial freedom. Find out how best to navigate your way through the stressful process of paying down your loans and debts. If you’re only paying the minimum required payment for your debts, you will end up paying significantly more interest in the long run than if you are able to throw more money toward those payments each month. Do some budgeting to determine how much extra you can afford to put toward your debts each month and put that amount toward your debts consistently. Most people have more than one kind of debt to their name. If you do, go through each of them to determine the amount you currently owe and the interest rate you’re paying on each one. In general, the best strategy to paying off your loans the fastest is to throw all of your extra money to high interest, large loans. If you go by the numbers, then paying off large, high interest debt is still the best strategy, but it can sometimes seem slow going. If you’re the kind of person that likes to see some small but meaningful victories along the way and don’t mind paying off a little bit more interest in the process, the snowball method might be the right one for you. The way it works is you throw all of your extra money at the smallest loans, which you’re able to pay off fairly quickly. Once one of those small loans is paid off, you add the total amount you were paying toward that loan each month and throw it at the next smallest loan in line. The result is an ever-increasing amount of extra capital to tackle debt and a feeling of small accomplishment along the way. The most essential thing you can do to make sure you pay off your loans in the most efficient timetable possible is to maintain a strict budget. This means making some sacrifices in the short term in terms of what you buy so that you can enjoy financial freedom in the long run. If you have questions about securing a loan or applying for a loan of your own, feel free to contact the helpful customer service team at Clearline Loans. Keeping your finances in order and saving your money can be very difficult, especially when life throws a curveball. Don’t let a difficult financial situation get worse, though. No matter your financial situation, these are simple, practical steps you can take to get your finances in order, which can decrease anxiety and help you achieve your personal and financial goals. It’s hard to understand what your financial problems are, or even start to make a budget, if you don’t first look at where your money is going. For a month, track how you spend all of your money, including categories for things like groceries, mortgage/rent, utilities, children’s needs, debt, and recreation. Once you’ve tracked your spending habits for a month, you’ll be able to see how much you’ve spent during that period. Compare the amount of money you spend during a month to the amount of money you bring in from your employer, government checks, or other income sources. If the amount of money you take in is less than you bring in, then you should try to cut back in any way you’re able. Whether it’s saving up for a car loan down payment, saying up for a down payment on a home mortgage, putting aside money for retirement, or putting away money for your children’s education, there are a variety of financial goals to consider when setting up a budget. Figure out how much you need to put away each month in order to achieve these goals, and factor that into your budget. One of the big reasons that people end up in financial trouble is that they haven’t built up an emergency savings in case something goes wrong. From medical emergencies to car breakdowns, home expenses, and other surprises, life is full of unexpected expenses. If you can save up $5000 or $10,000 in case of an emergency, it gives you a buffer to keep you out of financial trouble. Take a look at your auto loans, credit car debt, personal loans, and other forms of debt, and try to pay down that debt as quickly as possible. If you have a lot of different forms of debt, try to pay down the larger amounts with the highest debt first. Once you do this, you’ll free up a lot of money in your monthly budget. Even once you have your budget planned and are saving your money, there’s always going to be unexpected expenses in your life. If you need help getting your finances in order with a short term loan, work with the experts at Clearline Loans. We succeed at fast funding, a secure online application, dedicated customer service, and we’re state licensed. Whatever your loan needs or financial goals, our team will work with you to help you achieve them! Saving money a low income can seem nearly impossible, which is probably the reason so many people choose to put it off. The fact is with just a little bit of advice, though, you can learn how to budget on a low income in a way that will reduce anxiety and put you on the path to achieving your personal and financial goals. If you’re having trouble and need some help, you can easily secure a short term loan through Clearline Loans. In the meantime, here are some of the steps to take to making and keeping a budget if you’re on a tight budget. The biggest cost in most people’s lives is their rent or mortgage. Think about your current living situation, and think about how you could lower your costs. If you’re renting, should you move into a smaller or more affordable apartment? If you have a room to spare, why not rent it out to a friend or acquaintance to generate some extra income every month. Finally, keep your utility costs under control by limiting use of heating and air conditioning as much as possible. It can be really easy to let short-term enjoyment take precedent over long term financial goals, but if you can curb your spending and eliminate purchases that are unnecessary, you could end up saving hundreds of dollars or more every week. One way to do this is to set up a budget that limits your extra spending to a certain amount each month. Another easy way to keep to a tighter budget is to avoid going out to restaurants and bars for food and recreation. Instead, purchase a used cookbook or get some recipes from some friends or family and teach yourself how to prepare some of the meals you’ve always wanted to know how to make. When it comes time to hang out with friends, hang out in the backyard, go to the park, or have a movie night at home. One of the easiest ways that people allow their financial situation to get out of control is that when they fail to budget the right way they simply take on more debt then they can handle. They might do this by using the credit card too often, taking out loans to pay for things you can live without, or taking out an auto loan for a car that’s too expensive. The result of this is monthly payments that are too high and that could potentially break your budget. This doesn’t mean there aren’t times when taking out a loan isn’t necessary, though. If you need help getting your budget back on track, take advantage of Clearline Loans, where we have competitive rates and terms on easy-to-secure personal loans. One of the most common anxieties that people have in day-to-day life is the management of finances. From debt to difficulty handling unexpected expenses, your finances can help determine your current and future well-being as well as the well-being of your loved ones. Use this simple guide to help guide yourself through the steps to financial success, and remember that Clearline Loans is always here to help if you need a helping hand with a loan approval. 401(k) Plans: If you have an employer who is willing to invest in your 401(k) plan, it’s a good idea for you to invest any extra income you have each month in order to help you build up a retirement fund. An IRA is also a good investment if a 401(k) is not available to you. Invest in the Stock Market: If you want to take on the stock market, it’s a good idea to educate yourself before you start. Make sure to invest in companies that have been successful over a period of time rather than taking a risky gamble with your hard-earned money. You can also invest in mutual funds—bundles of stocks that are managed by experts to generate safe, reliable savings. If you have savings built up and earn a steady income but still rent, it’s probably a good idea to invest in a home. While you’ll likely have a big mortgage you’ll have to pay off, owning a home comes with a variety of benefits. First, you’re generating equity in your home with each payment you make. You’ll also be able to take advantage of a variety of different home ownership tax incentives. In order to pay as little in interest as possible, though, pay more than the minimum payment on your mortgage principle on a consistent basis. It’s not the most romantic way of spending your money, but paying a little bit extra for good health insurance, home insurance, and car insurance plans is a really good idea. If you pay less, chances are you’ll be getting worse coverage and could be looking at enormous deductibles that might totally break your budget if something ends up going wrong. If you’re a smart consumer then there’s a good chance that you’re wary of credit cards, and that’s a good thing. Debt can really cause problems if you’re not careful. However, it’s smart to use your credit card within your set budget and then pay it off in full at the end of each month. If you do this, you’ll help establish a better credit score, allowing you to secure lower interest loans and mortgages. It’s great to take control of your financial life. If you need any help at any point along the way, though, remember that Clearline Loans is here to help you out throughout the process. If you have questions, get in touch with our team at any time! Getting an loan has never been easier. You can now apply and sign online from our customer portal. Sign in now!

2019-04-25T12:33:31Z

https://www.clearlineloans.com/blog_1.php

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This alternate calls for both a brand new model for teaching, learning and analysis, as well as enhanced the course to recruit, engage and control students during their lifelong learning event. Oracle student Cloud options, together with student administration and Recruiting, will combine seamlessly with Westchester’s latest Oracle Campus student advice device. With Oracle pupil management, the school could be able to stronger inform latest and potential students about courses and capabilities, and Oracle scholar Recruiting will improve and simplify the student recruitment manner. The faculty will furthermore be using Oracle pupil rendezvous to stronger communicate with and engage latest and potential college students. aiding the entire scholar lifestyles cycle, Oracle pupil Cloud is an entire suite of greater schooling cloud options, including student management, scholar Recruiting, scholar Engagement, and scholar fiscal Planning. As a collection of modules, designed to drudgery as a collection, associations are capable of select their own incremental direction to the cloud. The Oracle Cloud presents an entire suite of built-in purposes for earnings, provider, marketing, Human components, Finance, give Chain and Manufacturing, plus incredibly computerized and cozy generation 2 Infrastructure featuring the Oracle self sustaining Database. For greater suggestions about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), tickle seek advice from us at www.oracle.com. The Prada community has introduced a collaboration with Oracle to undertake a collection of Oracle advanced technological options to be able to assist effectivity totality over totality of Prada neighborhood’s core retail strategies. they will furthermore assist the enterprise dissect aged information and existing market demands across its global retail network of 634 stores, more suitable-informing industry choices and providing a distinct consumer experience. With Oracle Retail Cloud services Merchandise economic Planning, Assortment, and merchandise Planning, the Prada neighborhood will optimize its merchandising process including sales and forecasts, efficiency evaluation, margin, open to buy, inventory management, provide chain, and stock allocation. enforcing this retort will occasions a extra suggested analysis of the community’s KPIs and a better capacity to set new goals and allocate greater actual budgets. 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Their collaboration with Oracle is a component of their wider approach concentrated on enhancing their community with a robust funding in expertise to raise operational effectivity and effectiveness,” renowned Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada group Head of advertising and communique. even though questions are more and more being asked concerning the can charge-effectiveness and necessity of blockchain to unravel facts problems, database distinctiveness-company Oracle has announced the regular deployment of a cloud-primarily based disbursed ledger provider for industry consumers. The free up makes utilize of the terms “blockchain” and “distributed ledger” interchangeably and says that the Oracle blockchain cloud service “is constructed on top of” the Linux foundation’s distributed ledger system, Hyperledger material. 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The CEI Program awards special status for a specified geography and cloud service module to those highly qualified consulting companies who gain successful track records and superior customer satisfaction in Oracle Cloud implementations. Says Daniel Robus, Oracle Alliance Director at Britehouse, "We gain taken worthy pride in delivering Oracle Cloud solutions to their clients and as a colleague of the Oracle colleague Network (OPN), they are pleased to receive recognition of their proven track record, and ongoing expertise." In addition to achieving CEI status for HCM Oracle Cloud implementations, Britehouse has furthermore passed the stringent qualifying process to attain special status for ERP fiscal Management for the universal Ledger, Payables, and Receivables and Collections modules. This status is awarded to those who gain undergone the rigorous and unbending process of gaining acceptance to the CEI Programme. This process comprises inviting partners who are OPN Gold plane members (or above) and who meet the competency and customer satisfaction principles. The qualifying criteria involve a specified number of trained, certified Oracle consultants, a weekly self-assessment for totality in-progress engagements, quarterly capacity and skills planning interlocks with Oracle, and a confident number of implementations per year with excellent customer satisfaction scores, amongst other indicators. Moreover, partners will undergo annual performance reviews to ensure they continue to retain their CEI status. As an Oracle Cloud Excellence Implementer company, Britehouse will be on the receiving remain of deeper rendezvous with Oracle and recognition opportunities based on their cloud implementation expertise and success. "Our customers will more easily identify us as a preferred colleague that can align to their specific needs, and based on what these needs are, configure from scratch solutions to assist them tang successful implementation and transform their human capital processes so they can position themselves for future success," says Robus. Furthermore, the CEI program shows Oracle's commitment to cloud solutions and Britehouse's commitment as a Service Integrator. Additionally, it provides a unique occasion to profile the people behind the business, build careers, and raise profiles. As a result, working with those who gain been recognised and differentiated through the CEI program is a win from an internal perspective for Britehouse and a win for customers. This status furthermore serves as counsel to customers in that it recommends only the best for Cloud implementations. Britehouse will furthermore be pursuing CEI status for a number of other Oracle Cloud services in Enterprise Resource Planning, ensuring that they are continually in a position to proffer the selfsame plane of excellence as a preferred colleague for businesses in the ERP arena. TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- An inert healthcare enterprise resource planning software sector grew less than 2 percent in 2015 as hospitals turned available technology funding to conflicting priorities such as ICD 10 conversions, cybersecurity, population health and analytics, with less than 29 percent of totality US hospitals having implemented any ERP product. As provider executives pan compounding value-based risk decisions, recent interest in ERP has climbed sharply according to a recent Black engage survey of 1,158 health system procurement and technology leaders in the fourth quarter of 2016. "Crucial back-end software that manages finance, supply chain and inventory management, purchasing, payroll and coding gain been disregarded into a confused entanglement of different products that don't communicate and left executives with the inability to realize cost savings in preparation of value based care," said Doug Brown, Managing colleague of Black Book. "There has been user opposition to deploying a new or upgraded ERP, perceived as carrying a lofty expense tag in a time when clinical deployments overwhelmed hospital staff and budgets." 57 percent of the C-suite executives surveyed admitted not having a deep understanding of the impact or complexity of their supply chain until the reality of value-based custody set in this year with the accent on accountability to properly measure and compare medical costs with outcomes. "In a payment environment that reimburses for value, it has become more censorious to understand exactly how much it costs to deliver patient care," said Brown. "Clumsy costing based on uncoordinated data will become perilous for hospitals at risk." Supplies accounted for 30.5 percent of the indifferent hospital's annual operating budget in 2016 as reported by survey respondents. Finding new methods of understanding unprejudiced costs per case and per episode of custody gain providers returning to ERP system basics to trek confidently to a valued based model. 69 percent of IT leaders polled pretense they will prioritize their supply chains in 2017 as among the most valuable asset for actionable data mining before overburdening their organizations with population health and sophisticated analytics tools. ERP vendor market share was limited to only a handful of vendors prior to 2013, but the theatrical demand for cloud ERP and the amount of hospitals not using an ERP system has produced a spurt of new ERP vendors as older systems retool products or edge closer to obsolescence. "As the industry emphases the identification and capture of totality costs to determine the actual cost of care, the implementation of newer ERP technologies and advanced costing methods has changed administrator's strategic technology plans," said Brown. "Patients cannot receive lofty trait custody without proper cohesion of supply chain, human resources, finance and operational systems with clinical data as it totality comes down to outcomes." Cloud ERP solutions produced the highest client tang scores for healthcare organizations including quicken in implementations and scalable total costs according to Black engage results. "92 percent of survey respondents recognize that the ERP of healthcare future is mobile and it's in the cloud with secure networking and analytics built in," said Brown. "The design is that you gain universal ledger, accounts payable, budgeting, forecasting and cash management totality accessible anywhere, whether in the operating room, purchasing, or in administration." Cerner and Oracle furthermore received the highest client loyalty and retention rankings from currently installed customers. 86 percent of materials management leaders outsourced supply chain functions to medical and surgical supply distributors. 93 percent furthermore state they enact not suffer from any significant supply chain problems such as product delivery issues. 93 percent of materials managers state their organizations suffer from impecunious inventory control technology and processes that typically remain up with overstocking, lofty supply and labor costs and frustrated nursing staff. According to the 2016 Black engage technology satisfaction survey of nurses, clinical staff spends an indifferent of 34 percent of their time on supply related tasks such as locating products. 72 percent of current ERP users state that their ERP modules in station are too difficult to use. 15 percent believe their current ERP product will be obsolete by 2019. 84 percent of respondents report they currently cannot segment patients based on spending, complexity or resources to adequately expense for 2017 value-based initiatives. Black Book™, its founders, management and staff enact not own or hold any fiscal interest in any of the ERP vendors covered and encompassed in the surveys it conducts. Black engage reports the results of the collected satisfaction and client tang rankings in publication and to media prior to vendor notification of rating results and does not solicit vendor participation fees, review fees, inclusion or briefing charges, consultation requirements, and/or vendor collaboration as Black engage polls vendors' clients. Since 2000, Black Book™ has polled the vendor satisfaction across over thirty industries in the software/technology and managed services sectors around the globe including ERP. In 2009, Black engage began polling the client tang of now over 540,000 healthcare software and services users. Black engage expanded its survey prowess and reputation of independent, unbiased crowd-sourced surveying to IT and health records professionals, physician rehearse administrators, nurses, fiscal leaders, executives and hospital information technology managers.

2019-04-25T14:25:53Z

http://www.stargeo.it/new/cheatsheet.php?pdf=1Z0-960

A total of 23 subjects participated, divided into three groups: seven were trained as spinal cord-injured (Tr-SCI) individuals, seven were able-bodied individuals trained as runners (Tr-AB), and nine were untrained able-bodied individuals (UnTr-AB). We measured the cardiovascular autonomic responses in all three groups during each 5-min head-up tilt (HUT) of 0°, 40°, and 80°. Stroke volume (SV), heart rate (HR), and cardiac output (Qc) as cardiovascular responses were measured by impedance cardiography. Changes in deoxyhemoglobin (∆[HHb]) and total hemoglobin (∆[Hbtot]) concentrations of the right medial gastrocnemius muscle were measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). As the HUT increased from 0° to 80°, Tr-SCI group showed less change in SV at all HUT levels even if HR increased significantly. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) also did not significantly increase as tilting increased from 0° to 80°. Regarding peripheral vascular responses, the alterations of ∆[Hbtot] from 0° to 80° were less in Tr-SCI group compared to AB individuals. There is a specific mechanism whereby blood pressure is maintained during a HUT in Tr-SCI group with the elicitation of peripheral vasoconstriction and the atrophy of the vascular vessels in paraplegic lower limbs, which would be associated with less change in SV in response to an orthostatic challenge. A spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to dramatic central and peripheral cardiovascular adaptation. Decreases in cardiac output (Qc) and dimension have been reported in individuals with SCIs [1, 2]. Below the level of SCI lesions, increased peripheral vascular resistance , reduced peripheral capillarization , and decreased conduit artery diameters have also been observed [5–7]. These findings indicate that less blood pooling may occur in paraplegic lower limbs. However, in individuals with a SCI, orthostatic hypotension resulting from an acute or progressive decline in blood pressure (BP) > 10–15 mmHg in an erect position during standing or tilting may result in poor tolerance for standing, thus prolonging the rehabilitation time and worsening the deleterious effects of remaining immobile . The mechanism that underlies maintenance of BP must therefore play an important role in the tilt-induced increase in leg vascular tone in SCI patients corresponding to reduced central circulatory hypokinesis. By contrast, despite the absence of central sympathetic control of limb vascular adjustment, SCI patients showed remarkable orthostatic tolerance during posture stress and their BP level was maintained during orthostatic challenges by augmented local vasoconstriction, most likely as part of the myogenic response . Theisen et al. also showed a vasoconstriction response during leg dependency in paraplegia, suggesting that a veno-arteriolar axon reflex (VAR) or myogenic activity was present in spinal cord-injured individuals . It is thus still unknown whether the blood pressure of individuals with SCIs can be maintained during an orthostatic challenge (as able-bodied healthy subjects can). It has been demonstrated that individuals with aerobically fit paraplegia had significantly higher maximal cardiorespiratory fitness compared to individuals with sedentary lifestyle paraplegia . During an incremental arm exercise, individuals with aerobically fit paraplegia developed a 34–44% Qc advantage and had a greater stroke volume (SV) relative to their inactive counterparts . If wheelchair exercise training would induce greater Qc and mitigate reduced central circulatory hypokinesis, the arterial inflow of blood into paraplegic limbs might be augmented. In addition, some degree of resultant blood pooling could occur when the individual is in an upright position. However, it is not known whether trained SCI individuals can maintain their BP level in response to an orthostatic challenge. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a useful tool that can observe alterations in the microvascular blood flow into skeletal muscles when a subject is in a resting state. The present study comprehensively evaluated the interaction of central and peripheral circulation for BP maintenance in trained SCI individuals. Seven trained SCI male individuals (Tr-SCI 34.1 ± 4.9 years old, body weight [BW] 58.9 ± 3.7 kg, VO2 max 27.3 ± 1.72 ml kg−1 min−1 during arm cranking, lesion level: thoracic vertebrae 6th (Th6) – lumbar vertebrae 1st (Lu1)) underwent a continuous wheelchair-basketball training program (basic skill and game training, approximately 2 h/day, 3 days/week) with an intensity of approximately 80% HR peak . None of the Tr-SCI group took any antihypertensive agents. The thickness of the subcutaneous adipose tissue (ATT) in the medial gastrocnemius muscle region was determined by B-mode ultrasound (model Logiq 400; GE-Yokogawa Medical Systems, Tokyo) with the Tr-SCI group in the sitting position. All individuals had incomplete lesions classified as American Spinal Injury Association [ASIA] class B . The physical characteristics of the Tr-SCI group, the amount of time since they incurred their SCIs, and their time spent practicing basketball are shown in Table 1. Seven healthy trained able-bodied male individuals (Tr-AB 19.4 ± 0.3 years old, 168.9 ± 1.8 cm, BW 56.6 ± 1.7 kg, VO2 max 60.9 ± 1.61 ml kg−1 min−1 during running) and nine healthy untrained able-bodied male individuals (UnTr-AB; 21.0 ± 0.4 years old, 170.5 ± 1.1 cm, BW 62.8 ± 2.1 kg, VO2 max no measurement) constituted the two other groups tested. The individuals in the Tr-AB group were university level long-distance runners who had run approximately 300 km month−1 each over the prior 10 years. The individuals in the UnTr-AB group were university students who did not engage in any regular sports activity. All Tr-AB and UnTr-AB group had no history of cardiovascular diseases and were healthy as indicated by medical history, physical examination, BP (< 140/90 mmHg), and 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). The experimental protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Institutional Review Board of the Prefectural University of Kumamoto. All subjects provided written consent for their participation after they were fully informed about the study. The investigation was performed in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All three groups of individuals underwent experimental sessions (15 min) using a customized head-up tilt (HUT; Ishinuki steel Co., Kumamoto) table from 0° (supine position), to 40° (tilting position), to 80° (standing position) for 5 min. The body in the Tr-SCI group was fixed on three portions of chest, upper limbs, and lower limbs by three clinical belts with the strong hook-and-loop fastener from both sides of the tilt bed. The Tr-SCI group could stand the foot plate in their shoes. Their shoes produced friction on foot plate to prevent their slip. Tilt gradients were changed slowly to prevent ankle clonus in the Tr-SCI group. During three steps of HUT, we assumed that that energy expenditure in the individuals was almost constant. On each data collection day, individuals reported to the laboratory at least 2 h after their last meal. They were asked to avoid caffeine, alcohol ingestion, and strenuous exercise for 24 h before the test. The temperature and relative humidity of the laboratory were maintained at 25 °C and 50%, respectively. The central hemodynamic values of SV and Qc were continuously determined by an impedance method [14–16] using a computer-based automated technique with an impedance plethysmograph (AI-601G, Nihon Koden, Tokyo). Four disposable electrodes were placed on the neck and chest. The analog change in impedance (ΔZ) data and the voltage changes in the thorax were detected. To avoid the effects of respiration and movement on impedance signals, we averaged the ΔZ values over three heartbeats, with the R-wave from the ECG serving as the trigger . The Qc was estimated noninvasively by measuring the changes in electrical impedance (Z0) transthoracically. Changes in transthoracic impedance have an inverse relationship to changes in the volume of fluid in the thorax. The SV was calculated as follows: SV = ρ × (L2/Z02) × ET × (dZ/dtmax), where SV indicates the stroke volume; ρ, the resistivity of the conductor; L2/Z02, the thoracic impedance (Ω), which is inversely proportional to the amount of fluid (ohms) in the thorax; ET, the ejection time; and dZ/dtmax, the maximum deflection (Ω/s) of the dZ/dt waveform during the ET. Trained SCI patients had already the information of blood examination data before this experiment. The mean value of Hct was 38.5 ± 3.43 (SD) %. As the rho was calculated by Geddes and Sadler equation (rho = 53.2e0.022Hct), the averaged values in rho was 124.4 ± 9.4 Ω cm. Otherwise, the value of rho in both AB groups was constant of 135 Ω cm. Both AB groups did not collect blood for analysis of Hct. The beat-by-beat heart rate (HR) was continuously monitored by ECG (AT-601G; Nihon Kohden, Tokyo), which was conducted using transistor-transistor logic signal intervals synchronized with the R-wave of the ECG by CM5 leads. All data were adopted using a data acquisition system (PowerLab system, A/D Instruments, Castle Hill, NSW, Australia) with an interval resolution of 2 ms (i.e., sampling interval at 500 Hz). A customized software program was used to identify a stable and noise-independent fiducial point on all R-waves for each recording. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) values were measured using a sphygmomanometer (DM-500, Muranaka, Osaka) at heart level on the upper right arm as it rested alongside the subject’s body. The BP was measured twice at 2 min and 4 min at each gradient. The total peripheral resistance (TPR) was calculated when the BP was available. The TPR measure was defined as the mean arterial pressure (MAP) per cardiac output in mmHg L−1 min−1. The MAP was calculated using DBP and SBP, using the formula MAP = DBP + 1/3 (SBP − DBP). The oxygenation and deoxygenation profiles of the right medial gastrocnemius muscle were recorded during the HUT test using continuous-wave NIRS (BOM-L1 TR, Omega Wave, Tokyo). The system monitored the concentration in oxyhemoglobin (HbO2), deoxyhemoglobin (HHb), and total hemoglobin (Hbtot), which were calculated from the light attenuation change by using the modified Beer-Lambert law . ∆[Hbtot] was the sum of ∆[HHb] and ∆[HbO2]. Pulsed light was emitted at 1-s intervals from the emission probe at four different wavelengths (775, 810, 850, and 910 nm) and was detected, as a function of distance, using a three-segment photodiode detection probe that received NIRS signals at 2 Hz. The distance between the emitter and receiver was 40 mm, and the penetration depth was approx. half of the distance between the emitter and the receiver, i.e., 20 mm. This has been validated in both healthy persons and patients and patients [20, 21]. The NIRS data gathered represented the relative concentration changes in the hemoglobin chromophores and were therefore not representative of absolute tissue O2 values. As ∆[HbO2], ∆[HHb], and ∆[Hbtot] were measured as a change from the resting baseline values, the probe gain was zero set prior to testing with the subject at rest in a supine position (0°). All data are expressed as mean ± standard error (SE). Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine whether the central and peripheral parameters were significantly different during the three stages (0°, 40°, and 80°) among the three groups (Tr-SCI, Tr-AB, and UnTr-AB). If significant effects of tilt were observed, Fisher’s PLSD test was used to evaluate the differences between two trials (vs. 0 gradient degree in each group/vs. Tr-AB in each stage). A mixed effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to separately to compare additional significant main (group and HUT) and interaction (group X HUT) effects of HR and BP to the HUT procedures. A probability (p) value of < 0.05 was regarded as significant. There were statistically significant differences in age between the Tr-SCI and Tr-AB groups (F(2,20) = 4.28, p < 0.01) and the Tr-SCI and UnTr-AB groups (F(2,20) = 3.58, p < 0.01). The ATT in the medial gastrocnemius muscle region averaged 8.7 ± 0.8 mm in the Tr-SCI group. Even though the ATT in the two present AB groups could not be measured, our recent ATT data in a different study averaged 3.0 ± 0.8 mm in runners and 3.9 ± 1.2 mm in untrained young subjects (unpubl. observations). Figure 1 shows the central circulatory responses for HR, SV, and Qc during the HUT tests. Significantly increased HR and inversely decreased SV were proportionally observed in association with increased HUT from 0° to 80° in both AB groups, whereas the Tr-SCI group exhibited no change in SV at any degree of tilt. In the supine position (0°), the HR in the Tr-SCI group (73 ± 6 bpm) was significantly greater than that in the Tr-AB group (58 ± 3 bpm, F(2,20) = 3.63, p < 0.01), whereas a significantly lower SV at 0° was found in the Tr-SCI group (78 ± 9 mL) in comparison with the Tr-AB group (104 ± 11 mL, F(2,20) = 4.10, p < 0.05) (Fig. 2). The HR in both the Tr-AB and UnTr-AB groups increased significantly with proportionally increased gradients (from 58 ± 3 bpm to 74 ± 3 bpm in Tr-AB; from 64 ± 2 bpm to 91 ± 4 bpm in UnTr-AB, F = 3.89, F(2,20) = 3.63, p < 0.01, respectively) (Table 2). The HR in Tr-SCI group also increased significantly with proportionally increased gradients (from 73 ± 6 bpm to 85 ± 6 bpm, F(2,20) = 4.10, p < 0.01, respectively) (Table 2). The corresponding SV in both AB groups was significantly decreased at 80° compared to 0° (from 104 ± 11 mL to 71 ± 6 mL in Tr-AB; from 93 ± 6 mL to 62 ± 4 mL in UnTr-AB, F(2,20) = 3.89, F(2,20) = 3.63, p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively). On the other hand, the Tr-SCI group had a distinct profile in that the SV did not change significantly, even though the HR increased significantly, as the gradient of the tilt table increased (Table 2). The resultant Qc was not significantly different in any group or at any gradient of the tilt table. Significantly increased MAP values at 80° in Tr-AB group and significantly increased DBP and MAP values were observed at both 40° and 80° in UnTr-AB group, whereas no significant differences in SBP, DBP, MAP, or TPR changes were observed in the Tr-SCI group as the gradient increased from 0° to 40° and 80° (Table 2). For all three groups at each gradient, there were no significant differences in any SBP variables. Figure 3 shows the representative peripheral circulatory responses estimated from ∆[HbO2], ∆[HHb], and ∆[Hbtot] in each group during an orthostatic challenge. ∆[HbO2], ∆[HHb], and ∆[Hbtot] in the gastrocnemius muscle increased greatly as the gradient increased from 0° to 40° and 80° in UnTr-AB subjects. Interestingly, there was a significant difference in ∆[HbO2] between Tr-AB and UnTr-AB subjects at 40° (Tr-AB, − 0.01 ± 0.08; UnTr-AB, 0.62 ± 0.21 μmol dL−1, F(2,20) = 3.49, p < 0.05, Fig. 4). However, the average ∆[HbO2] in the Tr-SCI subjects remained stable at all gradients. In all three groups, there was a common trend in which the ∆[HHb] proportionally increased with the gradients, and a significant difference in ∆[HHb] was observed between 0° and 80° even in the Tr-SCI group (F(2,20) = 3.55, p < 0.01, Fig. 4). In particular, the ∆[HHb] in the Tr-AB group (1.74 ± 0.23 μmol dL−1) increased compared to the Tr-SCI group at 80° (Tr-SCI, 0.45 ± 0.07 μmol dL−1, F(2,20) = 3.49, p < 0.01) and compared to the UnTr-AB group (0.73 ± 0.08 μmol dL−1, F(2,20) = 3.49, p < 0.05). ∆[Hbtot], which was the sum of ∆[HHb] and ∆[HbO2], was mostly reflected in the alterations in ∆[HHb] and was significantly increased as the tilt gradient increased (Fig. 4). At 80° HUT, the ∆[Hbtot] in the Tr-AB group (1.53 ± 0.16 μmol dL−1) was shown to be significantly greater than those in the UnTr-AB and Tr-SCI groups (1.05 ± 0.25, 0.52 ± 0.22, μmol dL−1, F(2,20) = 3.40, p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively). Compared to the UnTr-AB group, significantly smaller ∆[Hbtot] values were observed in Tr-SCI group (F(2,20) = 3.49, p < 0.05). Thus, the status of the change (AB vs. SCI) could be reflected by ∆[HHb] and ∆[HbO2] responses to orthostatic stress associated with central circulation. The present study examined the differential changes in central and peripheral circulatory responses to an orthostatic challenge in the Tr-SCI group in comparison with the Tr-AB and UnTr-AB groups at different tilt gradients (0°, 40°, and 80°). Regarding the peripheral circulation corresponding to the central circulation, small alterations of ∆[HHb] and ∆[Hbtot] from 0° to 40° to 80° were shown by the Tr-SCI group. Significantly greater increases of ∆[HHb] and ∆[Hbtot] occurred in the Tr-AB group (p < 0.05), corresponding to significantly decreased SV and increased HR in both AB groups. Therefore, trained individuals with spinal cord injuries (Tr-SCI) are capable of maintaining their MAP even in response to an orthostatic challenge, and the mechanism underlying this maintenance of MAP may be similar to or the same as that by which peripheral vasoconstriction and less blood pooling are elicited in paraplegic limbs. In Tr-SCI group, the HR in a supine position was significantly higher than that in the two AB groups. It was reported previously that paraplegics had a higher HR in a supine position compared to able-bodied controls . In another study, SCI individuals exhibited significantly higher resting values of plasma renin and catecholamines (particularly epinephrine) than able-bodied individuals . Among higher HR responders in able-bodied individuals, the plasma norepinephrine responses were all greater than those exhibited by individuals with lower HR responses . We therefore speculate that in the present Tr-SCI group, the cardiovascular effects of chronically elevated vasoactive hormones might play a very significant role in setting the mean HR (Fig. 2). In both AB groups of the present study, significantly increased HR and inversely decreased SV were proportionally observed in association with increased HUT from 0° to 80°, whereas the Tr-SCI group exhibited less change in SV at all degrees of tilt. The resultant Qc showed no significant differences among any of the groups or gradient degrees. In addition, it has been suggested that in the Tr-SCI group, the venous return blood volume remained constant with less blood pooling under orthostatic stress. Sympathetic neurogenic vasoconstriction is quantitatively important in terms of successful responses to orthostasis . Aslan et al. indicated that an SCI results in decreased stimulation of arterial baroreceptors and less engagement of feedback control . However, in the present investigation, the Tr-SCI group was able to maintain their MAP during HUT tests even though their responses showed no significant changes, whereas in the AB groups, the MAP and DBP were significantly increased at increased gradient degrees. This suggests that the baroreflex sensitivity in the Tr-SCI group might not be activated because less venous blood pools from the limbs to the thoracic region . Tr-SCI group was characterized by slightly but significantly increased ∆[HHb], even though the HR and the BP responses were not greatly altered. This might be due to the maintenance of residual sympathetically mediated vasoconstriction for paraplegic individuals with lesions below the Th6 level of the incomplete spinal cord. At an 80° tilt, the ∆[HHb] in the Tr-AB group was increased approximately threefold compared to the Tr-SCI and compared to the UnTr-AB groups; the ∆[Hbtot] was mostly reflected in the alterations in ∆[HHb]. In previous studies involving SCI individuals, the central blood volume was found to be decreased by approximately 20% compared to healthy subjects at supine rest because there is less blood pooling volume and/or fewer blood vessels in the lower limb muscles . The former possibility would result from the increasing leg vascular resistance in individuals with an SCI during HUT in order to maintain the mean arterial pressure . The latter possibility would result from the gastrocnemius circulation volume per se being reduced due to the atrophy of the vascular vessels . The vascular atrophy of the peripheral vascular bed was confirmed by some studies that observed a smaller femoral artery (FA) or reduced capillary supply in SCI individuals compared to able-bodied subjects [3, 7]. Consistent with the reduced FA diameter, the FA blood flow in SCI individuals (from 220 to 150 mL min−1) during HUT also appeared to be reduced when compared with values reported in able-bodied individuals (from 350 to 230 mL min−1) . Indeed, the increase in leg vascular resistance during HUT not only in SCI individuals but also in healthy controls was unaffected during an intra-arterial infusion of phentolamine (an adrenergic antagonist), irrespective of whether the sympathetic baroreflex was intact . The Tr-SCI group was characterized by slightly but significantly increased ∆[HHb] at 80° HUT compared to 0°, demonstrating that even the trained SCI individuals also exhibited venous distensibility and venous capacity in the lower limbs . In addition, differences in ∆[Hbtot] and ∆[HHb] between our Tr-AB and UnTr-AB individuals might be due to the increased number of vessels resulting from the Tr-AB subjects’ endurance exercise training. This is thought to be caused by the volume of blood pooling having increased much more in the Tr-AB group than in UnTr-AB group because endurance exercise training imparts a powerful stimulus for vascular remodeling . In general, the 20- and 30-year-old subjects would be defined as young individuals. The age difference between the trained SCI and two AB groups is not very important, because the metabolism in working muscles would be similar in potential between a 30-year-old and a 20-year-old . The continuous-wave (CW)-NIRS we used in the present study assesses relative rather than absolute [HbO2], [HHb], and [Hbtot] values, which may have obscured the underlying response(s). The ATT in the medial gastrocnemius muscle region averaged 8.7 ± 0.8 mm in the Tr-SCI group, which might influence the optic strength of each wavelength in the Tr-SCI group. Thus, there may be a possibility that we underestimated the optical coefficients in the cases of > 5 mm ATT . The ATT in young subjects were mostly < 5 mm, as observed in our other study , even though the ATT in the two present AB groups could not be measured. By contrast, Binzoni et al. reported that the deoxygenation [HHb] of CW-NIRS did not vary as a function of the fat layer, whereas the oxygenation [HbO2] was definitely higher in muscle than in fat, as shown by the lower ATT data . In the present study, as the larger alterations in ∆[HHb] and ∆[Hbtot] were observed during HUT, the clinical implications for CW-NIRS might have been less influenced. Since we did not measure EMG in paralyzed limbs as muscle spasms were often assessed in previous studies , thus, we could not quantify muscle activity (e.g., spasm). This is one of the technical limitations in the present study; however, we carefully observed and did not find any symptoms of muscle spasm in all patients. Despite this, future studied should be warranted. In a supine posture, the Tr-SCI group had significantly higher HR and lower SV values compared to the two AB groups. During subsequent HUT tests, Tr-SCI group exhibited less decreased SV and small alterations of ∆[HHb] and ∆[Hbtot] compared to those in both AB groups. MAP also did not significantly increase as the tilting increased from 0° to 80°. These results suggest that there is less blood pooling due to peripheral vasoconstriction and fewer blood vessels in paraplegic lower limbs of exercise-trained SCI individuals. These results are associated with less change in SV in response to an orthostatic challenge. We would like to thank the expert technical assistance by the academic staffs (M Iwamizu, C Murakami, M Arima). This study was supported in part by Kumamoto Frontier Science Promotion (to YF), Sasagawa Heath Science Grant (to MYE), and Grants-in-Aid for Science Research from the Ministry of Education and Science of Japan (22370091 to YF). MI conceived and designed the study. MYE and MI managed the data collection. MYE analyzed the data with MY. YF and TH contributed to the physiological and clinical interpretations in the present study. MI and YF drafted the initial manuscript with important intellectual contributions from all co-authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. The experimental protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Institutional Review Board of the Prefectural University of Kumamoto. All subjects provided written consent for their participation after they were fully informed about the study. The investigation was performed in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. We fully understand and agree to all the terms and conditions stated here by you. Thank you for your consideration of my submitted paper.

2019-04-23T22:49:31Z

https://jphysiolanthropol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40101-018-0182-x

In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion. The precise definition of folk religion varies among scholars. Sometimes also termed popular belief, it consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of a religion, but outside official doctrine and practices. In The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, John Bowker characterized "folk religion" as either "religion which occurs in small, local communities which does not adhere to the norms of large systems" or "the appropriation of religious beliefs and practices at a popular level." Don Yoder argued that there were five separate ways of defining folk religion. The first was a perspective rooted in a cultural evolutionary framework which understood folk religion as representing the survivals of older forms of religion; in this, it would constitute "the survivals, in an official religious context, of beliefs and behavior inherited from earlier stages of the culture's development". This definition would view folk religion in Catholic Europe as the survivals of pre-Christian religion and the folk religion in Protestant Europe as the survivals of Medieval Catholicism. The second definition identified by Yoder was the view that folk religion represented the mixture of an official religion with forms of ethnic religion; this was employed to explain the place of folk religion in the syncretic belief systems of the Americas, where Christianity had blended with the religions of indigenous American and African communities. Yoder's third definition was that often employed within folkloristics, which held that folk religion was "the interaction of belief, ritual, custom, and mythology in traditional societies", representing that which was often pejoratively characterised as superstition. The fourth definition provided by Yoder stated that folk religion represented the "folk interpretation and expression of religion". Noting that this definition would not encompass beliefs that were largely unconnected from organised religion, such as in witchcraft, he therefore altered this definition by including the concept of "folk religiosity", thereby defining folk religion as "the deposit in culture of folk religiosity, the full range of folk attitudes to religion". His fifth and final definition represented a "practical working definition" that combined elements from these various other definitions. Thus, he summarized folk religion as "the totality of all those views and practices of religion that exist among the people apart from and alongside the strictly theological and liturgical forms of the official religion". Yoder described "folk religion" as existing "in a complex society in relation to and in tension with the organized religion(s) of that society. Its relatively unorganized character differentiates it from organized religion". Alternately, the sociologist of religion Matthias Zic Varul defined "folk religion" as "the relatively un-reflected aspect of ordinary practices and beliefs that are oriented towards, or productive of, something beyond the immediate here-and-now: everyday transcendence". In Europe the study of "folk religion" emerged from the study of religiöse Volkskund, a German term which was used in reference to "the religious dimension of folk-culture, or the folk-cultural dimension of religion". This term was first employed by a German Lutheran preacher, Paul Drews, in a 1901 article that he published which was titled "Religiöse Volkskunde, eine Aufgabe der praktischen Theologie". This article was designed to be read by young Lutheran preachers leaving the seminary, to equip them for the popular variants of Lutheranism that they would encounter among their congregations and which would differ from the official, doctrinal Lutheranism that they had been accustomed to. Although developing within a religious environment, the term came to be adopted by German academics in the field of folkloristics. During the 1920s and 1930s, theoretical studies of religiöse Volkskund had been produced by the folklorists Josef Weigert, Werner Boette, and Max Rumpf, all of whom had focused on religiosity within German peasant communities. Over the coming decades, Georg Schreiber established an Institut für religiöse Volkskund in Munich while a similar department was established in Salzburg by Hanns Koren. Other prominent academics involved in the study of the phenomenon were Heinrich Schauert and Rudolf Kriss, the latter of whom collected one of the largest collections of folk-religious art and material culture in Europe, later housed in Munich's Bayerisches Nationalmuseum. Throughout the 20th century, many studies were made of folk religion in Europe, paying particular attention to such subjects as pilgrimage and the use of shrines. In the Americas, the study of folk religion developed among cultural anthropologists studying the syncretistic cultures of the Caribbean and Latin America. The pioneer in this field was Redfield, whose 1930 book Tepoztlán: A Mexican Village contrasted and examined the relationship between "folk religion" and "official religion" in a peasant community. Yoder later noted that although the earliest known usage of the term "folk religion" in the English language was unknown, it probably developed as a translation of the German Volksreligion. One of the earliest prominent usages of the term was in the title of Joshua Trachtenberg's 1939 work Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion. The term also gained increasing usage within the academic field of comparative religion, appearing in the titles of Ichiro Hori's Folk Religion in Japan, Martin Nilsson's Greek Folk Religion, and Charles Leslie's reader, the Anthropology of Folk Religion. Courses on the study of folk religion came to be taught at various universities in the United States, such as John Messenger's at Indiana University and Don Yoder's at the University of Pennsylvania. Although the subject of folk religion fell within the remit of scholars operating in both folkloristics and religious studies, by 1974 Yoder noted that U.S.-based academics in the latter continued to largely ignore it, instead focusing on the study of theology and institutionalised religion; he contrasted this with the situation in Europe, where historians of religion had devoted much time to studying folk religiosity. He also lamented that many U.S.-based folklorists also neglected the subject of religion because it did not fit within the standard genre-based system for cataloguing folklore. The term "folk religion" came to be increasingly rejected in the 1990s and 2000s by scholars seeking more precise terminology. Yoder noted that one problem with the use of the term "folk religion" was that it did not fit into the work of those scholars who used the term "religion" in reference solely to organized religion. He highlighted the example of the prominent sociologist of religion Émile Durkheim, who insisted that "religion" was organized in order to contrast it with "magic". Yoder noted that scholars adopting these perspectives often preferred the term "folk belief" over "folk religion". A second problem with the use of "folk religion" that Yoder highlighted was that some scholars, particularly those operating in the sociology of religion, used the term as a synonym for ethnic religion (which is alternately known as national religion or tribal religion), meaning a religion closely tied to a particular ethnic or national group and is thus contrasted with a "universal religion" which cuts across ethnic and national boundaries. Among the scholars to have adopted this use of terminology are E. Wilbur Bock. The folklorist Leonard Norman Primiano argued that the use of "folk religion", as well as related terms like "popular religion" and "unofficial religion", by scholars, does "an extreme disservice" to the forms of religiosity that scholarship is examining, because – in his opinion – such terms are "residualistic, [and] derogatory". He argued that using such terminology implies that there is "a pure element" to religion "which is in some way transformed, even contaminated, by its exposure to human communities". As a corrective, he suggested that scholars use "vernacular religion" as an alternative. Defining this term, Primiano stated that "vernacular religion" is, "by definition, religion as it is lived: as human beings encounter, understand, interpret, and practice it. Since religion inherently involves interpretation, it is impossible for the religion of an individual not to be vernacular". Kapaló was critical of this approach, deeming it "mistaken" and arguing that switching from "folk religion" to "vernacular religion" results in the scholar "picking up a different selection of things from the world". He cautioned that both terms were "ideological and semantic load[ed]" and warned scholars to pay attention to the associations that each word had. Philippine mythology is a body of myths, tales, and superstitions held by Filipinos (composed of more than a hundred ethnic peoples in the Philippines), mostly originating from beliefs held during the pre-Hispanic era. Some of these beliefs stem from pre-Christian religions that were specially influenced by Hinduism and were regarded by the Spanish as "myths" and "superstitions" in an effort to de-legitimize legitimate precolonial beliefs by forcefully replacing those native beliefs with colonial Catholic Christian myths and superstitions. Today, some of these precolonial beliefs are still held by Filipinos, especially in the provinces. Folk Islam is an umbrella term used to collectively describe forms of Islam that incorporate native folk beliefs and practices. Folk Islam has been described as the Islam of the "urban poor, country people, and tribes", in contrast to orthodox or "High" Islam (Gellner, 1992). Sufism and Sufi concepts are often integrated into Folk Islam. In one of the first major academic works on the subject, titled Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion, Joshua Trachtenberg provided a definition of Jewish folk religion as consisting of ideas and practices that whilst not meeting with the approval of religious leaders enjoyed wide popularity such that they must be included in what he termed the field of religion. This included unorthodox beliefs about demons and angels, and magical practices. Later studies have emphasized the significance of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem to the many Jewish folk customs linked to mourning and in particular to the belief in hibbut ha-qever (torture of the grave) a belief that the dead are tortured in their grave for three days after burial by demons until they remember their names. This idea began with early eschatalogical aggadah and was then further developed by the kabbalists. Raphael Patai has been acknowledged as one of the first to utilize anthropology to study Jewish folk religion. In particular he has drawn attention to the important role of the female divine element, which he sees in the goddess Asherah, the Shekhinah, the Matronit, and Lilith. Writer Stephen Sharot has stated that Jewish popular religion in common with other forms of folk religion, has a focus on the apotropaic, or thaumaturgical, i.e. it is used to assist in protecting the individual from sickness, and misfortune. He emphasizes that while Rabbinical Judaism dealt with orthodox Jewish ritual, and halakah, magicians claimed to use unorthodox magical rituals to help people in everyday life. He points to the example of a relatively professionalised type of magician being the ba'al shem of Poland, who beginning in the 16th century thrived with the popularity of practical kabbalah in the 18th century. These ba'al shem promised to use their knowledge of the names of god, and the angels, along with exorcism, chiromancy, and herbal medicine to bring harm to enemies, and success in areas of social life such as marriage, and childbirth. Charles Liebman has written that the essence of the folk religion of American Jews is their social ties to one another, illustrated by the finding that religious practices that would prevent social integration -such as a strict interpretation of dietary laws and the Sabbath- have been abandoned, whilst the practices that are followed -such as the Passover seder, social rites of passage, and the High Holy Days- are ones that strengthen Jewish family and community integration. Liebman described the rituals and beliefs of contemporary Jewish folk religion in his works, The Ambivalent American Jew (1973) and American Jewry: Identity and Affiliation. In sociology, folk religion is often contrasted with elite religion. Folk religion is defined as the beliefs, practices, rituals and symbols originating from sources other than the religion's leadership. Folk religion in many instances is tolerated by the religion's leadership, although they may consider it an error. A similar concept is lived religion, the study of religion as practiced by believers. ^ a b Bowman, Marion (2004). "Chapter 1: Phenomenology, Fieldwork, and Folk Religion". In Sutcliffe, Steven (ed.). Religion: empirical studies. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-0-7546-4158-2. ^ a b c Yoder 1974, p. 12. ^ Yoder 1974, pp. 12–13. ^ Yoder 1974, p. 13. ^ Yoder 1974, pp. 13–14. ^ Yoder 1974, p. 14. ^ Yoder 1974, p. 11. ^ Varul 2015, p. 449. ^ Yoder 1974, p. 2. ^ Yoder 1974, pp. 2–3. ^ a b c Yoder 1974, p. 3. ^ a b Yoder 1974, pp. 3–4. ^ a b c d e f Yoder 1974, p. 5. ^ Yoder 1974, p. 6. ^ Yoder 1974, p. 9. ^ Kapaló 2013, p. 4. ^ a b c Yoder 1974, p. 10. ^ Yoder 1974, pp. 10–11. ^ Bock 1966, p. 204. ^ Primiano 1995, p. 38. ^ Primiano 1995, p. 39. ^ Primiano 1995, pp. 41–42. ^ Primiano 1995, p. 44. ^ Kapaló 2013, p. 9. ^ Kapaló 2013, pp. 15–16. ^ Kuah-Pearce, Khun Eng (2007-02-23). Reinventing Chinese Syncretic Religion: Shenism. ISBN 9789812308658. 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ISBN 978-0-7486-3793-5. ^ Makris, JP (2006). Islam in the Middle East: A Living Tradition. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-4051-1603-9. ^ Chelkowski, Peter J; et al. (1988). Ideology and Power in the Middle East: Studies in Honor of George Lenczowski. Duke University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-8223-0781-5. ^ Hinde, Robert (2009). Why Gods Persist: A Scientific Approach to Religion. Routledge. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-415-49761-9. ^ Hefner, Robert W; et al. (1997). Islam In an Era of Nation-States: Politics and Religious Renewal in Muslim Southeast Asia. University of Hawaii Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-8248-1957-6. ^ Khan, IK (2006). Islam in Modern Asia. MD Publications. p. 281. ISBN 978-81-7533-094-8. Bock, E. Wilbur (1966). "Symbols in Conflict: Official versus Folk Religion". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 5 (2): 204–212. doi:10.2307/1384846. JSTOR 1384846. Bowker, John (2003) . "Folk religion". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford University Press. 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Chinese folk religion (Chinese popular religion or traditional Chinese religion) or Han folk religion or Shenism is the religious tradition of the Han Chinese, including veneration of forces of nature and ancestors, exorcism of harmful forces, and a belief in the rational order of nature which can be influenced by human beings and their rulers as well as spirits and gods. Worship is devoted to a multiplicity of gods and immortals (神 shén), who can be deities of phenomena, of human behaviour, or progenitors of lineages. Stories regarding some of these gods are collected into the body of Chinese mythology. By the 11th century (Song period), these practices had been blended with Buddhist ideas of karma (one's own doing) and rebirth, and Taoist teachings about hierarchies of gods, to form the popular religious system which has lasted in many ways until the present day.Chinese religions have a variety of sources, local forms, founder backgrounds, and ritual and philosophical traditions. Despite this diversity, there is a common core that can be summarised as four theological, cosmological, and moral concepts: Tian (天), Heaven, the transcendent source of moral meaning; qi (氣), the breath or energy that animates the universe; jingzu (敬祖), the veneration of ancestors; and bao ying (報應), moral reciprocity; together with two traditional concepts of fate and meaning: ming yun (命運), the personal destiny or burgeoning; and yuan fen (緣分), "fateful coincidence", good and bad chances and potential relationships.Yin and yang (陰陽) is the polarity that describes the order of the universe, held in balance by the interaction of principles of growth (shen) and principles of waning (gui), with yang ("act") usually preferred over yin ("receptiveness") in common religion. Ling (靈), "numen" or "sacred", is the "medium" of the two states and the inchoate order of creation.Both the present day government of China and the imperial dynasties of the Ming and Qing tolerated village popular religious cults if they bolstered social stability but suppressed or persecuted those that they feared would undermine it. After the fall of the empire in 1911, governments and elites opposed or attempted to eradicate folk religion in order to promote "modern" values, and many condemned "feudal superstition". These conceptions of folk religion began to change in Taiwan in the late 20th century and in mainland China in the 21st. Many scholars now view folk religion in a positive light. In recent times Chinese folk religions are experiencing a revival in both mainland China and Taiwan. Some forms have received official understanding or recognition as a preservation of traditional Chinese culture, such as Mazuism and the Sanyi teaching in Fujian, Huangdi worship, and other forms of local worship, for example the Longwang, Pangu or Caishen worship. Chinese shamanism, alternatively called Wuism (Chinese: 巫教; pinyin: wū jiào; literally: 'wu religion, shamanism, witchcraft'; alternatively 巫觋宗教 wū xí zōngjiào), refers to the shamanic religious tradition of China. Its features are especially connected to the ancient Neolithic cultures such as the Hongshan culture. Chinese shamanic traditions are intrinsic to Chinese folk religion, an overarching term for all the indigenous religions of China. Wu masters remain important in contemporary Chinese culture. Various ritual traditions are rooted in original Chinese shamanism: contemporary Chinese ritual masters are sometimes identified as wu by outsiders, though most orders don't self-identify as such. Also Taoism has some of its origins from Chinese shamanism: it developed around the pursuit of long life (shou 壽/寿), or the status of a xian (仙, "mountain man", "holy man"). Smaller household shrines or votive niche, such as the worship of Zaoshen and Caishen.Gōng (宫), meaning "palace" is a term used for a templar complex of multiple buildings, while yuàn (院) is a generic term meaning "sanctuary" or "shrine". Some forms of belief are not recognised by the government as a religion for statistical purposes although such practices are not outlawed. There is a deep interaction between the Chinese folk religion of the large Malaysian Chinese population, and the indigenous Malaysian folk religion. Manchu folk religion is the ethnic religion practiced by most of the Manchu people, the major of the Tungusic peoples, in China. It can also be called Manchu Shamanism by virtue of the word "shaman" being originally from Tungusic šamán ("man of knowledge"), later applied by Western scholars to similar religious practices in other cultures. It is a pantheistic system, believing in a universal God called Apka Enduri ("God of Heaven") which is the omnipotent and omnipresent source of all life and creation. Deities (enduri) enliven every aspect of nature, and the worship of these gods is believed to bring favour, health and prosperity. Many of the deities are original Manchu kins' ancestors, and people with the same surname are generated by the same god.Shamans are persons of unusual ability, strength and sensitivity, capable of perception and prediction of the ways of the gods. They are endowed with the social function to conduct the sacrificial ceremonies and approach the deities asking them intervention or protection. Because of their abilities the shamans are people of great authority and prestige. Usually, every Manchu kin has its own shaman.Manchu folk religious rites were standardised by the Qianlong Emperor (1736-96) in the "Manchu Sacrificial Ritual to the Gods and Heaven" (Manjusai wecere metere kooli bithe), a manual published in Manchu in 1747 and in Chinese (Manzhou jishen jitian dianli) in 1780. With the conquest of imperial power in China (Qing dynasty) the Manchu people gradually adopted Chinese language and assimilated into the Chinese religion, although Manchu folk religion persists with a distinct character within broader Chinese religion. Miao folk religion or Hmong folk religion is the common ethnic religion of Miao peoples, primarily consisting in the practice of kev dab qhuas (Hmongic: "worship of deities"). The religion is also called Hmongism by a Hmong American church established in 2012 to organise it among Hmong people in the United States.It has a pantheist theology, centered on worship of deities and progenitors of the Miao peoples. Throughout its history it has incorporated theoretical and ritual elements from Taoism, and broader Chinese religion, especially the emphasis on the pattern of the forces of the natural universe and the need of human life to be in accordance with these forces.Most Hmong continue to practice the traditional religion, although many Hmong in Asia have converted to Buddhism or have mixed it with Buddhism, and many Hmong Americans and Hmong Australians have adopted Christianity or Buddhism. Mo or Moism (Chinese: 摩教; pinyin: Mó jiào), occasionally called Zhuang Shigongism (Chinese: 壮族师公教; pinyin: Zhuàngzú shīgōng jiào; literally: 'Zhuang Ancestral Father Religion'), is the religion of most Zhuang people, the largest ethnic minority of China. It has a large presence in Guangxi. While it has a supreme god, the creator Bu Luotuo (布洛陀), numerous other deities are venerated as well. It has a three-element-theory (sky, earth and water). Mo is animistic, teaching that spirits are present in everything.Mo developed from prehistoric beliefs of the Zhuang people; it also has similarities to Chinese folk religion, and has developed similar doctrines to Buddhism and Taoism, in the process of competition with the influence of these religions on Zhuang culture. The Cultural Revolution of China weakened Mo, though the religion has undergone a revival since the 1980s. Moism varies from region to region. Mongolian shamanism, more broadly called the Mongolian folk religion, or occasionally Tengerism, refers to the animistic and shamanic ethnic religion that has been practiced in Mongolia and its surrounding areas (including Buryatia and Inner Mongolia) at least since the age of recorded history. The Mongolian endonym is Böö mörgöl (In Mongolian cyrillic: Бөө мөргөл). In the earliest known stages it was intricately tied to all other aspects of social life and to the tribal organization of Mongolian society. Along the way, it has become influenced by and mingled with Buddhism. During the socialist years of the twentieth century it was heavily repressed and has since made a comeback. Yellow shamanism is the term used to designate the particular version of Mongolian shamanism which adopts the expressive style of Buddhism. "Yellow" indicates Buddhism in Mongolia, since most Buddhists there belong to what is called the Gelug or "Yellow sect" of Tibetan Buddhism, whose members wear yellow hats during services. The term also serves to distinguish it from a form of shamanism not influenced by Buddhism (according to its adherents), called black shamanism.Mongolian shamanism is centered on the worship of the tngri (gods) and the highest Tenger (Heaven, God of Heaven, God) or Qormusta Tengri. In the Mongolian folk religion, Genghis Khan is considered one of the embodiments, if not the main embodiment, of the Tenger. The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ordos City, in Inner Mongolia, is an important center of this worship tradition. Nuo folk religion, or extendedly Chinese popular exorcistic religion, is a variant of Chinese folk religion with its own system of temples, rituals, orders of priests and gods, which is interethnic and practiced across central and southern China but is also intimately connected to the Tujia people. It arose as an exorcistic religious movement, which is the original meaning of nuó (simplified Chinese: 傩; traditional Chinese: 儺), and it spread even outside the boundaries of China exporting such practices in Japan and Korea. It has strong influences from Taoism.One of the most distinguishing characters of Nuo folk religion is its iconographic style, which represents the gods as wooden masks or heads. This is related to its own mythology, which traces the origin of Nuo to the two very first humans, who were unjustly killed by beheading and are since then worshipped as responsive divine ancestors. Nuo rituals began as efficacious methods to worship them, Lord Nuo and Lady Nuo. Since the 1980s Nuo folk religion has undergone a revitalisation in China, and today is a folk religion endorsed by the central government. Nuo priests are classified as 巫 wu (shamans) and their historical precursors were the 方相氏 fangxiangshi ("masters who assist the (astral) square"). Slavic paganism or Slavic religion define the religious beliefs, godlores and ritual practices of the Slavs before the formal Christianisation of their ruling elites. The latter occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century: The Southern Slavs living on the Balkan Peninsula in South Eastern Europe, bordering with the Byzantine Empire to the south, came under the sphere of influence of Byzantine Orthodox Christianity, beginning with the creation of the Slavic alphabet (first Glagolic, and then Cyrillic script) in 855 by the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius and the adoption of Christianity in Bulgaria in 863 CE. The East Slavs followed with the official adoption in 988 CE by Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus'.The West Slavs came under the sphere of influence of the Roman Catholic Church since the 12th century, and Christianisation for them went hand in hand with full or partial Germanisation,.The Christianisation of the Slavic peoples was, however, a slow and—in many cases—superficial phenomenon, especially in what is today Russia. Christianisation was vigorous in western and central parts of what is today Ukraine, as they were closer to the capital Kiev, but even there, popular resistance led by volkhvs, pagan priests or shamans, recurred periodically for centuries. Even though the Byzantine Christianization firstly has slowed down the Eastern Slavic traditions in Rus', it has preserved the Slavic traditions in the long term. While local Slavic figures and myths, such as Baba Roga in Croatia were forgotten, Slavic culture continued to exist and even flourish in the Eastern Slavic countries. In the case of a Christian Latinization of the Eastern Slavic countries, this may not have been the case. The West Slavs of the Baltic withstood tenaciously against Christianity until it was violently imposed on them through the Northern Crusades. Among Poles and East Slavs, rebellion outbreaks occurred throughout the 11th century. Christian chroniclers reported that the Slavs regularly re-embraced their original religion (relapsi sunt denuo ad paganismus).Many elements of the indigenous Slavic religion were officially incorporated into Slavic Christianity, and, besides this, the worship of Slavic gods has persisted in unofficial folk religion until modern times. The Slavs' resistance to Christianity gave rise to a "whimsical syncretism" which in Old Church Slavonic vocabulary was defined as dvoeverie, "double faith". Since the early 20th century, Slavic folk religion has undergone an organised reinvention and reincorporation in the movement of Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery). The Tai folk religion, known in Lao and Thai as Satsana Phi (Lao: ສາສະໜາຜີ; Thai: ศาสนาผี, /sàːt.sa.nǎː.pʰǐː/, "religion of spirits"), is a form of animist religious beliefs traditionally and historically practiced by groups of ethnic Tai peoples. Tai folk animist traditions are practiced by the Lao, Tai Ahom, Lao Isan and Thais of Thailand. These religions are pantheistic and polytheistic and their practice involves classes of shamans. Among the Lao, the Lao Loum and Lao Lom are predominantly Buddhist, while the Lao Theung and Lao Sung are predominantly folk religious. Tai folk animist traditions have also been incorporated into Laotian Buddhism. Vietnamese folk religion or Vietnamese indigenous religion (Vietnamese: tín ngưỡng dân gian Việt Nam, tôn giáo bản địa Việt Nam), is the ethnic religion of the Vietnamese people. About 45.3% of the population in Vietnam are associated with this religion, making it dominant in Vietnam. Vietnamese folk religion is not an organized religious system, but a set of local worship traditions devoted to the thần, a term which can be translated as "spirits", "gods" or with the more exhaustive locution "generative powers". These gods can be nature deities or national, community or kinship tutelary deities or ancestral gods and the ancestral gods of a specific family. Ancestral gods are often deified heroic persons. Vietnamese mythology preserves narratives telling of the actions of many of the cosmic gods and cultural heroes. The Vietnamese indigenous religion is sometimes identified as Confucianism since it carries values that were emphasized by Confucius. Đạo Mẫu is a distinct form of Vietnamese folk religion, giving prominence to some mother goddesses into its pantheon. The government of Vietnam also categorises Cao Đài as a form of Vietnamese indigenous religion, since it brings together the worship of the thần or local spirits with Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, as well as elements of Catholicism, Spiritism and Theosophy.

2019-04-22T06:42:32Z

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Mentors make a difference! The Office of Undergraduate Research officially launched our research Faculty Mentor of the Week recognition on August 28, 2017. Each week our office will highlight one of our outstanding and very much appreciated research faculty mentors who offer leadership and support of our undergraduate student researchers. Dr. Babak Bazrgari is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering. Dr. Bazrgari is also the Director of the Human Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Lab with research focusing on the mechanical behaviors of the active neuromuscular and the passive musculoskeletal systems in the human body, and aims at controlling and managing musculoskeletal disorders. In the last year, Dr. Bazrgari has mentored eight graduate students and eight undergraduate students. Mentoring is a great opportunity to deliver a rewarding and potentially life-changing experience for both the mentor and the mentee. "Mentoring students for me has not only involved giving and coaching, but equally learning from students," Dr. Bazrgari explained, "Particularly as related to differences in individuals' strengths and weaknesses, and how those personal characteristics can be properly implemented or managed to achieve one's goals in day-to-day life." When considering an undergraduate student for his lab, he appreciates a student's strong desire to learn, a willingness to accept responsibility, persistence, and hard work. When asked about the value of undergraduate research, Dr. Bazrgari replied, "Getting involved in undergraduate research will enhance the educational experience of undergraduate students. It allows them to better realized the applicability of materials covered in the classroom and helps them develop important skills that can be leveraged toward achieving their career and educaitonal goals." Thank you Dr. Babk Bazrgari for your support of undergraduate research at the University of Kentucky! We greatly appreciate the outstanding mentoring Dr. Bazrgari provides and the difference he is making for so many UK undergraduates. Dr. Martin Nielsen is an Associate Professor and Schlaikjer Professor in Equine Infectious Disease in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment with research interests including equine parasitology, parasite control programs, and anthelmintic resistance. In the last year, Dr. Nielsen has mentored ten undergraduate students and four graduate students. Dr. Nielsen is a dedicated supporter of undergraduate research and explained how mentoring adds value to his life, "Mentoring undergraduate students is one of the most rewarding activities in my work life. Hosting an undergraduate student is an opportunity to provide an experience that could be life-changing. Most of them come to me because they are curious about research and want to find out whether it might be something for them. We always need help with our many projects, so we provide some training in our laboratory methods and have the students start out working on some of those projects. After a while, many of them develop an interest in doing more and we encourage them to work on their own projects. I engage my graduate students in mentoring and supervising these students and help them develop a project idea. When we get to this point, it starts being really fun." He takes great pride in mentoring and developing undergraduate research students and aims to give them "an experience as a part of a research team, where people work together and help each other." Neilsen is proud of his undergraduate students' efforts, "Most of my undergraduate students have published their work in peer-reviewed research journals, and several have presented their work at scientific conferences. Needless to say that those are both tremendous achievements for undergraduate students. Whether they decide to pursue graduate studies or not, I consider such a research experience invaluable." When looking for an undergraduate research mentee, Dr. Nielsen found that UK "is just full of smart, talented, hard-working and motivated young people, so I don't need to do much in terms of vetting or selecting the right students. That's our gold." Nielsen's passion for mentoring and research is tremendous. "In this day and age, there is no shortage of information available, and a lot of it is misrepresented, misinterpreted, and cherry-picked," he continued, "As a higher learning institution we should aim at educating our student to acquire and assess information in an unbiased manner. Research experience is key to achieve this." Thank you Dr. Martin Nielsen for your support of undergraduate research! We greatly appreciate the outstanding mentoring Dr. Nielsen provides and the difference he is making for so many UK undergraduates. Dr. Suzanne Segerstrom is a Professor of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences with research interests including personality, self-regulation, and health. Dr. Segerstrom's research primarily addresses the influence of individual differences in personality, cognition, and emotion on psychological health and physiological functions. In the last year, she has mentored six undergraduate students and four PhD students. Dr. Segerstrom appreciates the opportunity to mentor students and explained, "My students challenge me to deeply understand what we are studying and how we are approaching science. Are we doing the best we can? What more do we need to do before we really know the answer to a scientific question?" When considering students for undergraduate research, she values two characteristics, no matter what career stage, "First, being smart and intellectually curious generates ideas. Second, being conscientious and hardworking realizes the potential of those ideas. The first gets a lot of attention, but the second is equally, if not more, important." "Being a researcher is a great job, because you get to pursue answers to the questions that interest you." Dr. Segerstrom continued, "Undergraduate students who do research get a taste of that pursuit, which can be frustrating but is more fulfilling and exciting." Thank you Dr. Segerstrom for your unwavering support of undergraduate research at the University of Kentucky. We are pleased to recognize your dedication this week as our Faculty Mentor of the Week. Dr. Mariantonieta Gutierrez Soto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. Her field of specialization is Structural Engineering. Dr. Gutierrez Soto is also the director of the Multidisciplinary Smart Structures Knowledge Research Lab at the University of Kentucky. Her specific research interests include sustainable and humanitarian engineering, smart structures, multi-hazard resilience, vibration control, game theory, and green engineering to name a few. While this is her first year at UK, Dr. Gutierrez Soto has already mentored five undergraduate students and two graduate students. When asked about her role as a research mentor, she explained, "I find it rewarding to be a mentor, because I had great mentors in my life that influenced the person I am today. Working with my mentees opened new avenues and viewpoints to solve an interesting problem. We are working together to make a difference in protecting structures from natural disasters." When looking for an undergraduate research mentee, Dr. Gutierrez Soto looks for "an undergraduate that is self-motivated. Someone that not only has the drive to carry on the tasks at hand, but also comes to the meetings with creative new ideas to take the project to the next level." Dr. Mariantonieta Gutierrez Soto values research and supports the undergraduate research experience at UK. When asked about the value of an undergraduate student engaging in research, she replied, "Research experience is one way to learn more about oneself and see the adventure that lies in the unknown. Research can be challenging and is supposed to be, because you are in nthe path of creating new knowledge; no matter how small, you are contributing and impacting the field." Thank you Dr. Gutierrez Soto for your continued support and encouragement of undergraduate research. Your dedication makes a profound difference to students at the University of Kentucky. We are pleased to recognize you as this week's research Faculty Mentor of the Week. Dr. Margaret Mohr-Schroeder is an Associate Professor of mathematics education in the Department of STEM Education, where she is also the Associate Deam of Clinical Preparation and Partnerships within the College of Education. Dr. Mohr-Schroeder enjoys researching pre-service teacher Mathematics Education, Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching, and Assessment. In the last year, Dr. Mohr-Schroeder has mentored 2 undergraduate research students. When asked about her role as a mentor, she replied, "I love working with undergraduate students! I love the fresh and innocent perspective they bring to a project. Watching them analyze data and discuss the results and their impact gives me a renewed sense of purpose. Further, the lens through which they analyze the data provides a different generational take, which in our work in education, is extremely important! They often times have insights that we would not traditionally think of." When considering a student for undergraduate research, Dr. Mohr-Schroeder looks for students with enthusiasm for learning new things, persistence, and critical thinking skills. She explains, "Communication skills are of great value, as well, but I found those to be easier to teach than the former characteristics." Dr. Margaret Mohr-Schroeder supports and values undergraduate research at UK and explained,"I think it's important to create more acces to the high quality undergraduate research experiences offered at UK, because I think it opens more opportunities for our students. Through undergraduate research opportunities, they get to explore and investigate a whole other world that will hopefully have a long term impact. The skills gained through an undergraduate research experience may not have direct connections to their future careers, but the 21st century knowledge and skills gained through these experiences will enable them to be better prepared UK graduates." Thank you for your dedication and support of undergraduate research at UK. The Office of Undergraduate Reseach is pleased to recognize Dr. Margaret Mohr-Schroeder as this week's Faculty Mentor of the Week! Jessica Houlihan is a Lecturer in the Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition in the College of Agriculture and PA-C in the Department of Pediatrics at the Kentucky Children's Hospital. She is interested in clinical and community-based research, quality improvement research, preventative and primary clinical care, women's health issues, and teaching/precepting students. In the past year, Houlihan has mentored approximately 60 undergraduate seniors that are enrolled in the DHN 474 and 475 Research Theory and Application class. Ms. Houlihan explains, "Being a mentor has helped me to continue to see the value of research and the research process. My goal is to help students feel confident as researchers and have the interest to pursue research endeavors in their future careers." She continues, "I am amazed at the thought process and research curiosity of the students I have worked with over the years. Often students have questions and concerns regarding health disparities that they hope to answer through research." When looking for an undergraduate research mentee, Houlihan appreciates students with a natural curiosity and critical thinking skills. When asked about the value of undergraduate students engaging in research, she replied "Research activity in undergraduate students builds confidence and strengthens critical thinking skills. It is a great transition process for upper-level students to prepare for careers or graduate education." Thank you Jessica Houlihan for your continued support and encouragement of undergraduate research. Your dedication makes a profound difference to students at the University of Kentucky! Dr. Samuel Awuah is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences. Dr. Awuah's research focuses on innovative drug discovery through computer-aided drug design, genetic editing, and rigorous chemical synthesis of organic and inorganic small molecule probes to interograte human biology processes and disease states towards new therapeutics. His laboratory is pivoted on three overarching themes involving drug discovery, chemical biology, and chemical immunology. In the past year, Dr. Awuah has mentored five undergraduate students. When asked how mentoring adds value to his life, Dr. Awuah explains, "Working with talented undergraduate students at UK constantly stimulates personal learning as they ask important scientific questions that I would not under normal circumstances think about. They bring great enthusiasm and energy to my research program becuase of their desire to make discoveries." When considering an undergraduate research mentee, Dr. Awuah looks for students who are "passionate about solving problems using science as the vehicle." He also appreciates "traits of persistence and hard work" in his research mentees. Dr. Samuel Awuah supports and values undergraduate research at UK and notes, "Our future scientific breakthrough lies in training undergraduate researchers." Thank you Dr. Awuah for your continued support and dedication! We are honored to recognize Dr. Samual Awuah as this week's Faculty Mentor of the Week! Dr. Yang Jiang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral Science in the College of Medicine. She is also an affiliated faculty member of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center at the College of Medicine. Dr. Jiang's research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying visual perception and cognition in healthy and clinical populations. In the past year, Dr. Jiang has mentored eight undergraduate students. "It has been a gratifying experience to work with talented undergraduates through various UK undergraduate programs, such as Honors College and STEMCats. I have learned a lot from these students who have majors and minors in neuroscience, psychology, biology, public health, history, German, and engineering," she notes, "I feel rewarded through their achievements including getting into Ivy League universities, medical schools, or winning an undergraduate teaching award for assisting research training." When asked what Dr. Jiang looks for in an undergraduate research mentee, she replied, "What I look for in a student is his/her research interests and passion and willingness to work for their goals. The most successful students in behavioral and clinical neuroscience are those who are self-motivated, excited to learn new skills, and team-players." She believes that "being a mentor comes with tremendous responsibility for guiding and developing a mentee's mind and soul, beyond simply passing on knowledge." She continues, "I have seen time after time that research accomplishment is a great predictor for undergraduates' future success. I am most proud when students tell me that their research experience has helped and shaped them into achieving bigger dreams." The Office of Undergraduate Research would like to thank Dr. Yang Jiang for her dedication and support of undergraduate research. We greatly appreciate your efforts and celebrate you as this week's Faculty Mentor of the Week! Dr. Gail Hoyt is a Professor of Economics and Gatton College Teaching Fellow in UK's Gatton College of Business & Economics. Dr. Hoyt is the co-coordinator for the Lab for Economics and Accounting Proficiency. Gail has won numerous teaching awards including the UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award, the UK Provost's Award for Outstanding Teaching, and the Kenneth Elzinga Distinguished Teacher Award from the Southern Economic Association. Dr. Hoyt's dedication to education and mentoring makes such a difference to her students and mentees. Thank you Dr. Hoyt for your support and encouragement of undergraduate research! Dr. Ana Liberato is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Graduate Studies in the Sociology Department in the College of Arts & Science. Her research interests include race, ethnicity, and gender and their interplay with political identity and political attitudes. Dr. Liberato's role as mentor giver her "satisfaction and pure joy from my successful mentees". She explains that "through interactions with them, I "renew" the love for my career and the energies and commitment needed for the constant pursue of effective teaching." When asked what she looks for in an undergraduate research mentee, she replied that she wants students to be "engaged, open-minded, and reliable. I feel I can work through any issue if these characteristics are present." Dr. Ana Liberato supports and values undergraduate research at UK and explained, "Research can be a vehicle for multiple realizations by students in regard to what they are learning, what they can do with it, how they think, what they need academically and skills wise, and what really matters to them." Thank you Dr. Liberato for your continued support and dedication! We are honored to recognize Dr. Liberato as this week's Faculty Mentor of the Week! Dr. John D'Orazio is a Professor of Pediatrics in the UK College of Medicine, as well as the Interim Director of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. Dr. D'Orazio is a physician scientist who combines a clinical career in pediatric hematology/oncology, caring for children with cancer and blood diseases, with melanoma and melanocyte research. Over the last year, Dr. D'Orazio has mentored 4 students in his lab and many others in the hospital as clinical observers onn Pediatric Hematology/Oncology rounds. Dr. D'Orazio enjoys mentoring undergraduate students and explains, "Though it doesn't happen with every student, it is rewarding to see the spark of curiosity lit by scientific discovery. I enjoy energizing a love of research in students. A good mentor-mentee relationship goes both ways - the mentor helps give perspective and guidance, while the mentee brings fresh ideas and a sense of untapped potential." When considering an undergraduate mentee, he looks for a student with an innate scientific curiosity. When asked about the importance of undergraduate research, Dr. D'Orazio replied, "Why should students engage in undergraduate research? At some point in every student's undergraduate studies, she or he should question what they're being taught. Where did the "facts" come from in the textbooks they're learning from? - they came from research! When a student is no longer satisfied to accept knowledge simply by passive absorption, but feels the need to create knowledge by discovery, then they are ready to do research." Thank you Dr. John D'Orazio for your dedication and support of undergraduate research at UK. Susie Thiel is a multi-media artist, choreographer, performer and educator. She is the Director of the Dance Program and Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Kentucky. Over the past year, Ms. Thiel has mentored 10 undergraduate students and explained, "I work hard to teach my students the importance of dance research and practice as research. Most students do not realize the importance of dance scholarship or that dance performance and choreography is research. I help my students expand on their artistry to include a variety of research methodologies and methods, as well as gain new perspectives that can be interwoven into choreographic endeavors." When looking for mentees, Susie looks for students with questions, someone that wants to employ collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches. Ms. Thiel told us about one of her former undergraduate research students who was a dance minor and also in her third year of medical school at UK. This student's research was based on biological science and dance and culminated into the resulting work, A Production on the Production of Cortisol: Glucocorticoids Made Personal that explored how stress impacted a person physically, mentally, and physiologically. Susie believes "it is crucial for students to begin to conduct research at the undergraduate level as they are the future dance makers and scholars. Student research at the University of Kentucky provides the student with a foundation to conduct research in their fields. Thank you Susie Thiel for your dedication and support of undergraduate research at UK. Dr. Sarah Kercsmar is Director of Undergraduate Studies and CLM Assistant Professor in the College of Health Sciences. Dr. Kercsmar loves teaching and working with students, from the very first year until graduation. She especially likes trying out new teaching methods and active learning tools to help students learn through hands-on experience. Her research interests include the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, service-learning, and population level public health interventions. Thank you for all the efforts you put in research and for your dedication to undergraduate research and your undergraduate students. The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to recognize Dr. Sarah Kercsmar as this week’s Faculty Mentor of the Week! Dr. Christia Brown is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Psychology, as well as the Director of Center for Equality and Social Justice. Over the past year, Dr. Brown has mentored 15 students. When asked how her role as a mentor creates value in her life, she explained, "I am deeply inspired by my mentees. The most rewarding part of my job is helping students develop a passion for research and a drive to ask the kinds of questions that can improve the world." Dr. Brown enjoys when students get excited "by the work we're doing and helps me see the research with new eyes." When looking for mentees, Dr. Brown appreciates students who have a strong work ethic, inquisitive and passionate, and those who can bring a diverse perspective to the conversation. Thank you Dr. Christia Brown for all the efforts you put in research and for your dedication to undergraduate research and your undergraduate students. Puleo joined UK in 1991 after receiving his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. He became director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering (now the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering) in 2005 and associate dean for research and graduate studies in 2015. He received UK’s Excellence in Teaching for Biomedical Engineering in 2011, 2013 and 2015 and the College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research in 2013. During the 2017-2018 academic year, Dr. Puleo mentored one high school student, two undergraduates, three graduate students, one postdoctoral dental resident, and two postdoctoral scholars. When asked about how his role as a mentor has added value to his life, he replied, "As cliche as it sounds, mentoring students is one of the most enjoyable aspects of being a faculty member...I view guiding young researchers as they begin their careers in science and engineering as a critically important responsibility of faculty at a top level research university." Dr. Puleo takes great pride in mentoring students and meets individually with his "lab folks" on Fridays as "that gives me something to look forward to at the end of the week." When looking for undergraduate student researchers, Dr. Puleo not only looks for motivation and grit, but also questions why the student wants to get involved in research, as well as their interests and desired career pathway. "Regarding grit, will the student be self-motivated, rise to independence, and be persistent in the face of challenges, such as when a research experiment does not go as planned? Gift is a key attribute not just for conducting research, but for success beyond the university." Dr. Puleo is a true advocate for undergraduate research and we are pleased to recognize him as this week's Facutly Mentor of the Week. Dr. Joao Costa is an Assistant Professor in Dairy Sciences at the Department of Animal Sciences. Over the past year, Dr. Costa has mentored 5 graduate, 12 undergraduates and 3 undergraduates from France as well as a section of the StemCats research mentorship program in Animal behavior. When looking for mentees, Dr. Costa looks for students with a motivation to learn, professionalism, and responsibilityl. Dr. Costa believes that students should be motivated to explore and learn from the opportunities that are given to them during this fundamental period of their lives at the same time that they are learning the essential professionalism that will help them in being successful in life. Thank you for all the efforts you put in research and for your dedication to undergraduate research and your undergraduate students. The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to recognize Dr. Joao Costa as this week’s Faculty Mentor of the Week! Dr. DaMaris B. Hill is an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing in the College of Arts and Sciences. Over the past year, Dr. Hill has mentored many over 15 students including graduate students across many colleges at the University of Kentucky. When looking for mentees, Dr. Hill looks for students with commitment, creativity, and vision. Dr. Hill believes that students should engage in undergraduate research "in order explore and engage with their interests in a way that can impact their "glocal" community." Thank you for all the efforts you put in research and for your dedication to undergraduate research and your undergraduate students. The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to recognize Dr. DaMaris B. Hill as this week’s Faculty Mentor of the Week! Rebekah Radtke is an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky. She has mentored 4 students and has said that mentoring students brings vibrancy to her work and allows her to think about her research from a different perspective. She says mentees have influenced how she approaches her research by providing valuable insights and energy to projects that impact our communities. When looking for a student to mentor, she looks for self-directed, passionate students who are also good comunnicators. Thank you for all the efforts you put in research and for your dedication to undergraduate research and your undergraduate students. The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to recognize Rebekah Radtke as this week’s Faculty Mentor of the Week! Dr. Amanda Adams is an associate professor at the University of Kentucky. She has over 20 referred publications and has been working with students in research at the university since 2011. Working at the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, she has involved her investigations around models of ‘stress’ in particular how the process of weaning, as a model of stress, impacts immune and metabolic functions. Her research is focused on understanding how endocrine disorders —Particularly, Equine #Cushing’s disease— affects the immune response of aging horses. Thank you Dr. Adams for all the efforts you put in research and for your dedication to undergraduate research and your undergraduate students. This week our Faculty Mentor of the Week is Dr. Martina Vasil! Dr. Vasil is an Assistant Professor of Music Education and Director of the Orff Schulwerk and Dalcroze Summer Institute. She’s mentored eight undergraduate music students over the past year. When she looks for undergraduate mentees, she looks for curiosity, a natural propensity for writing and thinking, and a drive to learn more on a topic that interests them! Dr. Vasil's role as a mentor evolved from her love of having mentors throughout her life. "Mentors have helped me to grow my knowledge in the field, gain confidence in my own thinking and ability to communicate my ideas, and take advantage of professional development and research opportunities. It has been extremely rewarding to give back and become a mentor myself to provide the same benefits to others. I have learned more about life and how people learn best from my students and have expanded my knowledge according to my students’ specific research and teaching interests. In many cases, I have gained new friends as my mentees have graduated and become professionals in our field of music education." When asked about the value of undergraduate research, Dr. Vasil explained, "It is valuable for undergraduate music education majors to do research so that there is an empirical base for their teaching. Understanding why we do what we do and best practices only strengthen our pedagogy and impact on the field. Further, providing a platform for undergraduates to showcase their research (whether as a “Ted Talk” as I did with my MUS 361 class or a research poster) instills confidence in students that their ideas and curiosity have value and furthers their drive to continue to be reflective and responsive teachers." Thank you Dr. Vasil for your continued support and encouragement of undergraduate research. Your dedication makes a profound difference to students at the University of Kentucky.

2019-04-18T22:23:43Z

https://www.uky.edu/chellgren/undergraduate-research/faculty-mentor-week